41666 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 169 / Friday, September 1, 2017 / Notices 

Foreign Assistance Act by reason of the 

application of any provision of the 

Foreign Assistance Act or any other 

provision of law are listed below. This 

list is based on legal prohibitions 

against economic assistance that apply 

as of July 21, 2017. 

Prohibited Countries: Low Income 

Category 

Bolivia is ineligible to receive U.S. 

economic assistance pursuant to section 

706(3) of the Foreign Relations 

Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 

(Pub. L. 107–228), regarding adherence 

to obligations under international 

counternarcotics agreements and other 

counternarcotics measures. 

Burma is ineligible to receive U.S. 

economic assistance, absent special 

authority, because of concerns relative 

to its record on human rights. 

Eritrea is ineligible to receive U.S. 

economic assistance, including due to 

its status as a Tier 3 country under the 

Victims of Trafficking and Violence 

Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 

et seq.). 

North Korea is ineligible to receive 

U.S. economic assistance, including 

pursuant to section 7007 of the FY 2017 

SFOAA, which prohibits direct 

assistance to the government of North 

Korea. 

South Sudan is ineligible to receive 

U.S. economic assistance pursuant to 

section 7042(i)(2) of the FY 2017 

SFOAA, which prohibits, with limited 

exceptions, assistance to the central 

government of South Sudan until the 

Secretary of State certifies and reports to 

Congress that such government is taking 

effective steps to end hostilities and 

pursue good faith negotiations for a 

political settlement of the internal 

conflict; provide access for 

humanitarian organizations; end the 

recruitment and use of child soldiers; 

protect freedoms of expression, 

association, and assembly; reduce 

corruption related to the extraction and 

sale of oil and gas; establish democratic 

institutions; establish accountable 

military and police forces under civilian 

authority; and investigate and prosecute 

individuals credibly alleged to have 

committed gross violations of human 

rights, including at the Terrain 

compound in Juba, South Sudan on July 

11, 2016. 

Sudan is ineligible to receive U.S. 

economic assistance, including 

pursuant to section 7042(j) of the FY 

2017 SFOAA, which prohibits (with 

limited exceptions) assistance to the 

government of Sudan. 

Syria is ineligible to receive U.S. 

economic assistance, including 

pursuant to section 7007 of the FY 2017 

SFOAA, which prohibits direct 

assistance to the government of Syria. 

Zimbabwe is ineligible to receive U.S. 

economic assistance, including 

pursuant to section 7042(k)(2) of the FY 

2017 SFOAA, which prohibits (with 

limited exceptions) assistance for the 

central government of Zimbabwe unless 

the Secretary of State certifies and 

reports to Congress that the rule of law 

has been restored, including respect for 

ownership and title to property, and 

freedoms of expression, association, and 

assembly. 

Countries identified above as 

candidate countries, as well as countries 

that would be considered candidate 

countries but for the applicability of 

legal provisions that prohibit U.S. 

economic assistance, may be the subject 

of future statutory restrictions or 

determinations, or changed country 

circumstances, that affect their legal 

eligibility for assistance under part I of 

the Foreign Assistance Act by reason of 

application of the Foreign Assistance 

Act or any other provision of law for FY 

2018. 

[FR Doc. 2017–18657 Filed 8–31–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9211–03–P 

NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE 

ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES 

National Endowment for the Arts 

Proposed Collection; Comment 

Request; 60-Day Notice for Generic 

Clearance for the Collection of 

Qualitative Feedback on Agency 

Service Delivery 

AGENCY: National Endowment for the 

Arts, National Foundation on the Arts 

and the Humanities. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The National Endowment for 

the Arts (NEA), as part of its continuing 

effort to reduce paperwork and 

respondent burden, invites the general 

public to take this opportunity to 

comment on the ‘‘Generic Clearance for 

the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 

on Agency Service Delivery’’ for 

approval under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et 

seq.). This collection was developed as 

part of a Federal Government-wide 

effort to streamline the process for 

seeking feedback from the public on 

service delivery. This notice announces 

our intent to submit this collection to 

OMB for approval and solicits 

comments on specific aspects for the 

proposed information collection. 

DATES: Written comments are due by 

October 31, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to: Sunil 

Iyengar, National Endowment for the 

Arts, 400 7th Street SW., Washington, 

DC 20506–0001, telephone (202) 682– 

5424 (this is not a toll-free number), fax 

(202) 682–5677, or send via email to 

research@arts.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

specific questions related to collection 

activities, please contact Melissa 

Menzer, 202–682–5548, menzerm@

arts.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Comments 

submitted in response to this notice may 

be made available to the public through 

posting on a government Web site. For 

this reason, please do not include in 

your comments information of a 

confidential nature, such as sensitive 

personal information or proprietary 

information. If you send an email 

comment, your email address will be 

automatically captured and included as 

part of the comment that is placed in the 

public docket and made available on the 

Internet. Please note that responses to 

this public comment request containing 

any routine notice about the 

confidentiality of the communication 

will be treated as public comments that 

may be made available to the public 

notwithstanding the inclusion of the 

routine notice. 

The proposed information collection 

activity provides a means to garner 

qualitative customer and stakeholder 

feedback in an efficient, timely manner, 

in accordance with the Administration’s 

commitment to improving service 

delivery. 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 perceptions, 

experiences and expectations, provide 

an early warning of issues with service, 

or focus attention on areas where 

communication, training or changes in 

operations 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. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 169 / Friday, September 1, 2017 / Notices 41667 

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; 

• Personally identifiable information 

(PII) is collected only to the extent 

necessary and is not retained; 

• Information gathered is used only 

internally for general service 

improvement and program management 

purposes and is not intended for release 

outside of the agency; 

• Information gathered is not used for 

the purpose of substantially informing 

influential policy decisions; and 

• Information gathered yields 

qualitative information; the collections 

are not designed or expected to yield 

statistically reliable results or used as 

though the results are generalizable to 

the population of study. 

Feedback collected under this generic 

clearance provides useful information, 

but it 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. 

Current Actions: Extension of 

approval for a collection of information. 

Type of Review: Extension. 

Affected Public: Individuals and 

Households, Businesses and 

Organizations, State, Local or Tribal 

Government. 

Below we provide projected average 

estimates for the next three years: 

Estimated Number of Respondents 

Across All Three Years: 15,000. 

Average Expected Annual Number of 

Activities: 3. 

Average Number of Respondents per 

Activity: 1,667. 

Annual Responses: 5,000. 

Frequency of Response: Once per 

request. 

Average Minutes per Response: 15. 

Average Expected Annual Burden 

hours: 1,167. 

Dated: August 29, 2017. 

Kathy Daum, 

Director, Administrative Services, National 

Endowment for the Arts. 

[FR Doc. 2017–18551 Filed 8–31–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7537–01–P 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To 

Establish an Information Collection 

AGENCY: National Science Foundation. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The National Science 

Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans 

to request approval for the collection of 

research and development data through 

the Evaluation of the National Science 

Foundation Advanced Technological 

Education (ATE) Program survey. In 

accordance with the requirement of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we 

are providing opportunity for public 

comment on this action. After obtaining 

and considering public comment, NSF 

will prepare the submission requesting 

that OMB approve clearance of this 

collection for no longer than 3 years. 

DATES: Written comments on this notice 

must be received by October 31, 2017 to 

be assured of consideration. Comments 

received after that date will be 

considered to the extent practicable. 

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT: 

Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance 

Officer, National Science Foundation, 

4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1265, 

Arlington, Virginia 22230; or send email 

to splimpto@nsf.gov. Individuals who 

use a telecommunications device for the 

deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1– 

800–877–8339, which is accessible 24 

hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a 

year (including federal holidays). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Comments 

are invited on (a) whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the NSF, including whether 

the information shall have practical 

utility; (b) the accuracy of the NSF’s 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection of information; (c) ways to 

enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 

of the information on respondents, 

including through the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology; and (d) ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on those who are to 

respond, including through the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. 

Title of Collection: Evaluation of the 

National Science Foundation Advanced 

Technological Education (ATE) 

Program. 

OMB Approval Number: 3145–NEW. 

Expiration Date of Current Approval: 

Not applicable. 

Type of Request: Intent to establish an 

information collection. 

Abstract: NSF’s ATE program focuses 

on providing Federal funds for the 

education of technicians at the local, 

regional, and national levels in 

advanced technology fields (i.e., 

advanced manufacturing, agricultural 

and environmental technology, 

biological and chemical technology, 

engineering, information and security, 

micro/nanotechnologies, and general 

advanced technological education) to 

expand the pool of skilled technicians 

and improve the competitiveness of the 

United States in international trade. The 

program supports the education of 

technicians in strategic advanced 

technology fields by establishing 

partnerships between academic 

institutions and industry and providing 

resources for the development of 

curriculum, professional development 

for college faculty and secondary 

teachers, and career pathways from 

secondary schools to 2-year institutions 

and from 2-year institutions to 4-year 

institutions. The program also aims to 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES