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###### Department of Transportation

###### Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

          - [Docket No. FMCSA-2014-0237]

# AGENCY:

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

# ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

# SUMMARY:

                        In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA announces its plan to submit the Information Collection Request (ICR) described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its review and approval and invites public comment. Executive Order 12862 directs Federal agencies to provide service to the public that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private sector. In order to work continuously to ensure that our programs are effective and meet our customers' needs, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) seeks to obtain OMB approval of a generic clearance to collect feedback on our service delivery. By feedback we mean information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but are not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of study. On August 29, 2014, FMCSA published a notice in the                         **Federal Register**                         (79 FR 51639) allowing for a 60-day comment period on this ICR. The agency received no comments in response to that notice.                    

# DATES:

Please send your comments by January 14, 2015. OMB must receive your comments by this date in order to act on the ICR.

# ADDRESSES:

                        All comments should reference Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2014-0237. Interested persons are invited to submit written comments on the proposed information collection to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget. Comments should be addressed to the attention of the Desk Officer, Department of Transportation/Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and sent via electronic mail to                         *oira_submission@omb.eop.gov,*                         or faxed to (202) 395-6974, or mailed to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503.                    

# FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

                        Mr. Brian Ronk, Program Manager, FMCSA, Office of Enforcement and Program Delivery, Outreach Division/MC-ESO. Telephone (202) 366-1072; or email                         *brian.ronk@dot.gov.*                         Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.                    

                        Mr. Jeff Loftus,, Supervisory Transportation Specialist, Technology Division/MC-RRT, Office of Analysis, Research and Technology, Telephone (202) 385-2363; or email                         *jeff.loftus@dot.gov,*                         Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.                    

# SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

*Title:*                     Generic Clearance of Customer Satisfaction Surveys.                

*OMB Control Number:*                     2126-00XX.                

*Type of Request:*                     New collection.                

*Respondents:*                     State and local agencies, general public and stakeholders, original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and suppliers to the commercial motor vehicle (CMV) industry, fleets, owner-operators, state CMV safety agencies, research organizations and contractors, news organizations, safety advocacy groups, and other Federal agencies.                

*Estimated Number of Respondents:*                     5,900.                

*Estimated Time per Response:*                     Range from 10—120 minutes per response.                

*Expiration Date:*                     N/A. This is a new ICR.                

*Frequency of Response:*                     Generally, on an annual basis.                

*Estimated Total Annual Burden:*                     5,274 hours.                

## Background

Executive Order 12862 “Setting Customer Service Standards,” direct Federal agencies to provide service to the public that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private sector (58 FR 48257, September 11, 1993). In order to work continuously to ensure that our programs are effective and meet our customers' needs, FMCSA seeks to obtain OMB approval of a generic clearance to collect qualitative feedback from our customers on our service delivery. The surveys covered in this generic clearance will provide a means for FMCSA to collect this data directly from our customers. By qualitative feedback we mean information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but are not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of study. This feedback will provide insights into customer or stakeholder perception, experiences and expectations, provide an early warning of issues with service, or focus attention on areas of communication, training or changes in operations that might improve delivery of products or services. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative and actionable communications between the Agency and its customers and stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of program management.

The solicitation of feedback will target areas such as: Timeliness, appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. Responses will be assessed to plan and inform efforts to improve or maintain the quality of service offered to the public. If this information is not collected, vital feedback from customers and stakeholders on the Agency's services will be unavailable.

The Agency will only submit a collection for approval under this generic clearance if it meets the following conditions:
    - The collections are voluntary.
    - The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government.
    - The collections are noncontroversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies.
    - Any 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 near future.       ( print page 74159)      
    - Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to the extent necessary and is not retained.
    - Information gathered is intended to be used only internally for general service improvement and program management purposes and is not intended for release outside of the agency (if released, the agency must indicate the qualitative nature of the information).
    - Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions; and
    - Information gathered will yield qualitative information; the collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically reliable results or used as though the results are generalized to the population of study.

Feedback collected under this generic clearance provides useful information, but does not yield data that can be generalized to the overall population. This type of generic clearance for qualitative information will not be used for quantitative information collections that are designed to yield reliably actionable results, such as monitoring trends over time or documenting program performance. Such data uses require more rigorous designs that address: The target population to which generalizations will be made, the sampling frame, the sample design (including stratification and clustering), the precision requirements or power calculations that justify the proposed sample size, the expected response rate, methods for assessing potential nonresponse bias, the protocols for data collection, and any testing procedures that were or will be undertaken prior to fielding the study. Depending on the degree of influence the results are likely to have, such collections may still be eligible for submission for other generic mechanisms that are designed to yield quantitative results. As a general matter, information collections will not result in any new system of records containing privacy information and will not ask questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.

*Public Comments Invited:*                     You are asked to comment on any aspect of this information collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed collection is necessary for the FMCSA to perform its functions; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways for the FMCSA to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the collected information; and (4) ways that the burden could be minimized without reducing the quality of the collected information.                

Issued under the authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.87 on December 8, 2014

G. Kelly Regal,

Associate Administrator,  Office of Research and Information Technology, and Chief Information Officer.

[FR Doc. 2014-29292 Filed 12-12-14; 8:45 am]

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