[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 119 (Monday, June 22, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33948-33950]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-16495]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Sixty-Day Notice of Intention To Request Clearance of 
Information; Opportunity for Public Comment

AGENCY: Department of the Interior, National Park Service.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice announces the National Park Service's (NPS') intention to 
request approval of nine information collections to be carried out 
pursuant to the Government Productivity and Results Act and the NPS 
Strategic Plan. Seven of the proposed information collections are 
surveys of customer satisfaction with certain NPS programs and types of 
assistance. The other two collections seek information on the number of 
historic properties designated as such and/or protected by State and 
local governments that have an official partnership with NPS. The 
information sought through these nine efforts is not currently 
collected elsewhere.
    NPS' National Center for Recreation and Conservation is proposing 
to conduct annual mail surveys of the clients of five recreation and 
conservation assistance programs to assess client satisfaction with the 
services received and to identify needed program improvements. The NPS 
goal in conducting these surveys is to use the survey information to 
identify areas of strength and weakness in its recreation and 
conservation assistance programs, to provide an information base for 
improving those programs, and to provide a required performance 
measurement (Goal IIIb1 of the 1997 National Park Service Strategic 
Plan) under the Government Performance and Results Act.
    NPS' National Center for Cultural Resources, Stewardship, and 
Partnerships is proposing to collect information on customer 
satisfaction with technical assistance publications (using response 
cards) and technical training, conferences, etc. through responses to 
training evaluation questions. The National Center for Cultural 
Resources, Stewardship, and Partnerships also is proposing to collect 
information on the number of historic properties officially designated 
and/or protected at the State and local governmental level 
respectively. The historic property information will be collected from 
State Historic Preservation Offices and Certified Local Governments 
(CLGs). CLGs are local governments that have an official historic 
preservation partnership agreement with their State and NPS pursuant to 
the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended. The NPS goal in 
collecting this information is to assist in the evaluation of NPS' 
historic preservation partnership program effectiveness in achieving 
the historic preservation results sought and specified in Goals IIIa1, 
IIIa2, and IIIa3 of the 1997 National Park Service Strategic Plan 
produced pursuant to the Government Performance and Results Act.
    Under provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 5 CFR 
Part 1320, Reporting and Record Keeping Requirements, the National Park 
Service is soliciting comments on the need for all nine information 
collections. The NPS also is asking for comments on the practical 
utility of the information being gathered; the accuracy of the burden 
hour estimate; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and ways to minimize the burden to 
respondents, including use of automated information collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.

DATES: Public comments will be accepted on or before August 21, 1998.

SEND COMMENTS TO: Diane M. Cooke, Information Collection Clearance 
Office, WASO Administrative Program Center, National Park Service, 1849 
C Street NW, Washington, DC 20240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Contact Rob Campellone--Voice: 202-565-1198, 
Email: <<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c6b4a9a49999a5a7abb6a3aaaaa9a8a386a8b6b5e8a1a9b0"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fc8e939ea3a39f9d918c999090939299bc928c8fd29b938a">[email protected]</span></a>>--for further information regarding the 
surveys related to Recreation and Conservation Assistance customer 
satisfaction.
    Contact Stephen Newman--Voice: 292-343-9577, Email: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f7849992809a9699b79f8784d99485d9998784d9909881">[email protected]</a>__for further information regarding the 
questionnaires related to historic preservation technical assistance 
customer satisfaction.
    Contact John Renaud--Voice: 202-343-1059, Email: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7a10081f141b0f1e3a120a0954190854140a09541d150c57571c1508">[email protected]</a> further information regarding the 
collection of data on the number of historic properties designated or 
protected at the State and local government level.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Titles: National Park Service Partnership Programs' GPRA 
Information Collections; Recreation and Conservation Assistance 
Customer Satisfaction Survey, Historic Preservation Technical 
Assistance Customer Satisfaction Questionnaires, Historic Properties 
Designated or Protected By State Government Partners, and Historic 
Properties Designated or Protected By Local Government Partners
    Bureau Form Number: None.
    OMB Number: To be requested.
    Expiration Date: To be requested.
    Type of request: Request for new clearance.
    Description of need: The Government Productivity and Results Act 
requires Federal agencies to prepare annual performance report 
documenting the

[[Page 33949]]

progress made toward achieving long-term goals. The National Park 
Service needs the information in the proposed collections to assess the 
annual progress being made toward meeting Long-term Goals IIIa1, IIIa2, 
IIIa3, and IIIb1 of the National Park Service Strategic Plan of 1997. 
The information sought is not collected elsewhere by the Federal 
Government. The proposed information collections impose no data 
collection or recordkeeping burden on the potential respondents. 
Responding to the proposed collections is voluntary and is based on 
data that the respondents already collect and/or personal opinion.
    The National Park Service needs information to help evaluate and 
improve its recreation and conservation assistance programs and its 
historic preservation programs.
    Automated data collection and statistical sampling: NPS is 
exploring means to supplement hard copy information with electronic 
submittal and/or sampling. Total automation would have the potential to 
skew the results because many potential respondents do not have the 
ability to respond electronically. NPS intends to test Internet and e-
mail submittal for some of the information collections. The results of 
the initial rounds of these information collections will help to 
determine the suitability of automation, electronic submittal, and 
sampling in terms of quality control and in terms of confidence in 
making extrapolations from the responses available.
    Description of respondents: The type of respondents will vary as 
follows depending upon the information collection.
    For the Recreation and Conservation Assistance Customer 
Satisfaction Surveys, the potential respondents will be all principal 
contact persons of principal cooperating organizations and agencies 
which have received substantial assistance from any of the five 
participating programs during the prior Fiscal Year (October 1 through 
September 30).
    For the Historic Preservation Technical Assistance Customer 
Satisfaction Questionnaires, the potential respondents will be any 
recipient of a NPS historic preservation technical assistance 
publication (an estimated 30,000 distributed annually) and any person 
receiving NPS historic preservation technical assistance information in 
a course, workshop, conference, etc. (an estimated 5,000 participants 
annually).
    For collecting information on the number of Historic Properties 
Designated or Protected By State Government Partners, the potential 
respondents will be 56 State Historic Preservation Offices. There is 
one State Historic Preservation Office for each State, Territory, etc. 
defined as a State by the National Historic Preservation Act, as 
amended.
    For collecting information on the number of Historic Properties 
designated or Protected By Local Government Partners, the potential 
respondents will be the Certified Local Governments (CLGs). A CLG is a 
local government that has executed a formal agreement with its State 
Historic Preservation Office and NPS and thereby has committed itself 
to carry out the historic preservation responsibilities specified by 
the National Historic Preservation Act for participants in the CLG 
program. There will be an estimated 1,300 CLGs by the end of the 
approval period being sought for this information collection.
    Estimated average number of respondents: 36,845. See the chart 
below for a breakdown by each information collection.
    Estimated average number of responses: 9,974. See the chart below 
for a breakdown by each information collection.
    Estimated average burden hours per response: 2.78 minutes. See the 
chart below for a breakdown by each information collection.
    Frequency of Response: Various. For the Historic Preservation 
Technical Assistance Customer Satisfaction Questionnaires, the 
frequency of response is one time per publication or technical 
assistance event. For the other seven proposed information collections 
the frequency of response is one time per respondent per year.
    Estimated annual reporting burden: 464 hours. See the chart below 
for a breakdown by each information collection.

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                                                               Estimated number of:                             
                                                 ------------------------------------------------               
             Information collection                                                Average time     Total hours 
                                                    Respondents      Responses     per response                 
                                                                                   (in minutes)                 
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Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance                                                                      
 Program........................................             250             250              10              42
Federal Lands to Parks Program..................             100             100              10              17
Long Distance Trails Program....................             125             125              10              21
Heritage Areas Program..........................              10              10              10               2
Wild and Scenic Rivers Coordination Program.....               4               4              10               1
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Subtotal....................................             489             489              10              83
Historic Preservation Technical Assistance                                                                      
 Publications Customer Satisfaction.............          30,000           4,500               2             150
Historic Preservation Technical Assistance                                                                      
 Training (etc.) Customer Satisfaction..........           5,000           4,500               2             150
Historic Properties Designated or Protected by                                                                  
 State Partners.................................              56              56              10               9
Historic Properties Designated or Protected by                                                                  
 CLG Partners...................................           1,300             429              10              72
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Subtotal....................................          36,356           9,485            2.41             381
                                                 ===============================================================
    Grand Total.................................          36,845           9,974            2.78             464
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[[Page 33950]]

Diane M. Cooke,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, WASO Administrative Program 
Center, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 98-16495 Filed 6-19-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-M


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