IC Justification Document

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: 2434.249)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Water Technical Assistance Request Form

PURPOSE:

The Office of Water (OW) is renewing their approval to conduct one Customer Satisfaction Survey housed within its Water Technical Assistance website. OW would like to collect this data from users so that it can be used to determine ways OW and other partners can improve access to technical assistance for support under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). This survey will also be helpful for tracking metrics related to BIL water infrastructure technical assistance. This data is not intended to be disseminated to the public; however, it is possible that a very broad summary of overall collection efforts (number of respondents, number of communities who received assistance, etc.) would be shared publicly as part of the metric reporting requirements. The information gathered will also not be used for the purpose of substantially informing policy decisions, but it might inform program decisions.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The OW Water Technical Assistance resource webpage is for people interested in BIL and water infrastructure resources. The form had 292 respondents during the first year from February 16, 2023-February 16, 2024, so we estimate that the form will receive approximately 300 responses during its second year.

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 [ ] Other: ___ _________

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

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

There is an option for respondents to voluntarily provide their name, email, and phone if they’d like a response from the agency to help them identify technical assistance opportunities. EPA will not retain this information in a database after replying to the individual.

Gifts or Payments:

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

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden Hours
State, local, or tribal governments	220	3 minutes	11 hours
Private Sector	80	3 minutes	4 hours
Totals	300	3 minutes	15 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is: 15 hrs x $77.36 technical hourly rate = $2,321

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? [ ] Yes [X] 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?

We plan to identify our potential group of respondents through EPA’s Water Technical Assistance webpage. EPA will not be selecting the survey respondents, but will conduct proactive outreach and marketing on BIL technical assistance through the Water Finance Center Newsletter and webinars, and similar outreach methods.

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? [ ] Yes [X] 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: Laura Doody

Office of Wastewater Management