Justification

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery”

(OMB Control Number: 2030-0051; EPA ICR Number: 2434.277)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Crisfield Resilience Academy

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this generic information collection is to collect information from Crisfield Resilience Academy participants and examine community capacity for adaptation to coastal flooding and sea level rise. The study is part of an applied research project with a community that is experiencing increasingly severe coastal flooding to provide information and develop recommendations for infrastructure strategies and nature-based solutions. The Crisfield Resilience Academy focuses on the town of Crisfield, Maryland. As part of its efforts to deal with current environmental challenges such as nuisance flooding, storms, and erosion, Crisfield is partnering with EPA and others to explore nature-based solutions such as green infrastructure and marsh restoration. This study examines outcomes associated with community participation and knowledge as the result of educational programming for community members. The Crisfield Resilience Academy will provide opportunities to interact with researchers and experts and gain practical knowledge of environmental challenges, policies, and programs that participants can share with their community networks, thereby supporting increased capacity for local leadership and participation on environmental issues. The study will evaluate the effectiveness of the program in order to improve our capacity for engaging community members in research and education.

Under this ICR, EPA will collect information necessary to 1) gauge participants’ knowledge and community capacity related to nature-based solutions and environmental science prior to and after participation in the Academy, 2) gauge respondents’ satisfaction with the Academy training sessions, and 3) evaluate participants’ feedback, comments, experiences, and recommendations to modify, tailor, and/or improve future training events.

This information collection will be conducted using low-burden web surveys, evaluation forms, and semi-structured interviews.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Respondents are people 15 and older who live or work in Crisfield, Maryland or the surrounding areas and have volunteered to participate in the Crisfield Resilience Academy.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [X] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [X] Other: Interview

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ X ] Yes [ ] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ X ] No

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ X ] Yes [ ] No

Participants who agree to a follow-up interview will be provided a support payment of $40 for their time.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Number of responses per unique respondent	Total responses	Participation Time per response	Burden Hours
Cohort 1 & 2 pre-survey	40	1	40	15 - 20 minutes	10 - 13
Cohort 1 post-survey	20	1	20	15 - 20 minutes	5 - 7
Cohort 2 (control) post-survey	20	2	40	15 - 20 minutes	10 - 13
Cohort 1 & 2 session evaluations	40	5	200	5 – 10 minutes	17 - 33
Cohort 1&2 follow-up interviews	40	1	40	45 minutes	30
Public session evaluation	100	4	400	5 – 10 minutes	33 - 67
Totals	140	5 responses	740	5 – 45 minutes	105 - 163

Average response time = 105 hours/740 responses = .14 (or 8.4 minutes); 163 hours/740 = .22 hours (or 13.2 minutes)

Average responses per unique respondent = 740 responses/140 respondents = 5 responses

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is: $56,664.60.

• Contractor support to assist with distribution and collection of surveys and evaluation forms, entering survey data, arranging interviews, and transcription - $12,235

• ORD staff – planning, implementation, review of summary report –

  • GS13 x 170 hours x $53.67 x 1.6 (https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/23Tables/html/RUS_h.aspx) - $14,598.24

  • GS13 x 170 hours x $49.17 x 1.6 (https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/23Tables/html/DCB_h.aspx) - $13,374.24

  • RG-A x 130 hours x $59.89 x 1.6 (https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/23Tables/html/DCB_h.aspx) - $12,457.12

• Travel costs for ORD to attend 2 Academy sessions in Crisfield, MD – 2 from outside DC area, approximately $750 x 2 x 2 = $3200, 1 from Washington, D.C. area approximately $400 x 2 = $800.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [X ] Yes [ ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

1. Applicants, Pre- and Post-Academy Surveys

Crisfield Resilience Academy participants will be recruited via multiple methods: 1) an email campaign to advertise this opportunity to Crisfield residents that have been involved with similar, recent efforts conducted by The Nature Conservancy; 2) with flyers posted at the local library and local establishments; 3) via presentations to local teachers and educationally-related Professional Learning Communities (PLCs); and 4) with paper letters distributed throughout the community as City of Crisfield leadership will permit. Given the small size of Crisfield, Maryland, with a population was 2,515 at the 2020 census, we think that recruiting 10-20 participants initially will be achievable. We are hopeful that using a snowball sampling technique (Goodman, 1961) in subsequent cohorts will help to recruit additional participants for the additional cohorts.

To measure how the Academy, developed as a result of this project, impacts Crisfield residents’ environmental literacy, knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors, all participants (including, potentially, minors who elect to participate in the Academy) will be invited to complete a survey before and after the Academy implementation. The surveys will be delivered to all participants either in-person on paper or online through Qualtrics. The study will employ a control-treatment design, with applicants to the Academy being assigned to a first cohort (treatment group) or a second cohort (control group) that will begin after completion of the first cohort. The treatment and control groups will take the pre- and post- surveys at the beginning and end of the first cohort. The control group participants (second cohort) will take the post-survey a second time after their participation in the Academy. The control-treatment design will allow us to determine the effect of participation in the Academy, controlling for other factors such as events that may happen in the community and could also have an effect on participants.

2. Evaluation forms

Academy participants will attend up to 8 sessions throughout the year, 2 of which will also be open to the general public. At the end of each session participants will either be given an online (Qualtrics) or printed evaluation form (based on their preference) to complete, which will take approximately 10-15 minutes at the end of each session.

3. Semi-structured Interviews

Six months following the cohort’s completion, Academy participants will be invited to participate in a 45-minute semi-structured interview to explore long-term impacts of the Academy.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[X] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ x ] Yes [ ] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Emily Eisenhauer

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