Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 202 / Friday, October 20, 2017 / Notices 48807 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Energy Information Administration 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request; Generic Clearance 

for the Collection of Qualitative 

Feedback on Agency Service Delivery 

AGENCY: U.S. Energy Information 

Administration, Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: EIA intends to extend with 

changes for three years with the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) its 

Generic Information Collection Request 

(Generic ICR): ‘‘Generic Clearance for 

the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 

on Agency Service Delivery’’ under 

OMB Control No. 1905–0210. As part of 

a Federal Government-wide effort to 

streamline the process to seek feedback 

from the public on service delivery, this 

generic clearance enables EIA to collect 

customer and stakeholder feedback in 

an efficient, timely manner, in 

accordance with our commitment to 

ensure that our programs are effective, 

meet our customers’ needs, and receive 

feedback on improving service delivery 

to the public. 

DATES: Consideration will be given to all 

comments received by December 19, 

2017. If you anticipate difficulty in 

submitting comments within that 

period, contact the person listed in 

ADDRESSES as soon as possible. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be 

sent to Jacob Bournazian, U.S. Energy 

Information Administration, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW., EI–21 

Washington, DC 20585 or by email at 

jacob.bournazian@eia.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

copies of the information collection 

supporting statement should be directed 

to Jacob Bournazian, U.S. Energy 

Information Administration, telephone: 

202–586–5562, email: 

jacob.bournazian@eia.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

proposed information collection activity 

provides a means to collect 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. This 

feedback also provides an early warning 

of issues with service, or focuses 

attention on areas where 

communication, training or changes in 

operations might improve the accuracy 

of data reported on survey instruments 

or the 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. 

This information collection request 

contains: 

(1) OMB Control No.: 1905–0210; 

(2) Information Collection Request 

Title: Generic Clearance for the 

Collection of Qualitative Feedback on 

Agency Service Delivery; 

(3) Type of Request: Renewal with 

changes; 

(4) Purpose: The solicitation of 

feedback will target areas such as: 

Timeliness, understanding of questions 

and terminology used in survey 

instruments, perceptions on data 

confidentiality and security, 

appropriateness and relevancy of 

information, 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 lowburden for respondents (based on 

considerations of total burden hours, 

total number of respondents, or burdenhours 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 for initially contacting 

respondents and is not retained; 

Information gathered is intended to be 

used only internally for general service 

improvement, the design, modification, 

and evaluation of survey instruments, 

modes of data collection, and program 

management purposes. It 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 the collections 

will not be designed or expected to 

yield statistically reliable results or used 

as though the results are generalizable to 

the population of study. The 

information gathered will only generate 

qualitative type of information. 

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. 

(5) Annual Estimated Number of 

Respondents: 80,600. 

(6) Annual Estimated Number of 

Responses: 80,600. 

(7) Annual Estimated Number of 

Burden Hours: 8,450. 

Request for Comments: Comments 

submitted in response to this notice will 

be summarized and/or included in the 

request for OMB approval. Comments 

are invited on: (a) Whether the 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

collection of information; (c) ways to 

enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 

of the information to be collected; (d) 

ways to minimize the burden of the 


srobinson on DSKBC5CHB2PROD with NOTICES
48808 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 202 / Friday, October 20, 2017 / Notices 

collection of information on 

respondents, including through the use 

of automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology; 

and (e) estimates of capital or start-up 

costs and costs of operation, 

maintenance, and purchase of services 

to provide information. Burden means 

the total time, effort, or financial 

resources expended by persons to 

generate, maintain, retain, disclose or 

provide information to or for a Federal 

agency. This includes the time needed 

to review instructions; to develop, 

acquire, install and utilize technology 

and systems for the purpose of 

collecting, validating and verifying 

information, processing and 

maintaining information, and disclosing 

and providing information; to train 

personnel and to be able to respond to 

a collection of information, to search 

data sources, to complete and review 

the collection of information; and to 

transmit or otherwise disclose the 

information. All written comments will 

be available for public inspection at 

www.Regulations.gov. Comments 

submitted in response to this notice may 

be made available to the public through 

relevant Web sites. 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. An 

agency may not conduct or sponsor, and 

a person is not required to respond to, 

a collection of information unless it 

displays a currently valid Office of 

Management and Budget control 

number. 

Statutory Authority: Executive Order 

(E.O.) 13571, Streamlining Service Delivery 

and Improving Customer Service. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on August 24, 

2017. 

Nanda Srinivasan, 

Director, Office of Survey Development and 

Statistical Integration, U.S. Energy 

Information Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2017–22802 Filed 10–19–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

U.S. Energy Information 

Administration 

Notice and Request for Comments 

AGENCY: U.S. Energy Information 

Administration (EIA), Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: EIA, pursuant to the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

intends to extend with changes for three 

years with the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) Form EIA–63C 

Densified Biomass Fuel Report. Form 

EIA–63C collects data on pellet fuel and 

other densified biomass fuel production, 

sales, and inventory levels from 

operators of U.S. pellet fuel 

manufacturing facilities. The data 

collected is used for the purpose of 

estimating densified biomass fuel 

consumption in the United States, as 

well as production, sales, and inventory 

at state, regional, and national levels. 

DATES: Comments regarding this 

proposed information collection must 

be received on or before December 19, 

2017. If you anticipate difficulty in 

submitting comments within that 

period, contact the person listed in 

ADDRESSES as soon as possible. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be 

sent to Connor Murphy, U.S. 

Department of Energy, EI–23, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 2058, or by email at 

DensifiedBiomass2018@eia.gov. The 

draft form and instructions are available 

at https://www.eia.gov/survey/#eia-63c. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

copies of the information collection 

instrument and instructions should be 

directed to Connor Murphy at 202–287– 

5982, or by email at Connor.Murphy@

eia.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Comments 

are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; (c) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on respondents, including through the 

use of automated collection techniques 

or other forms of information 

technology. 

This information collection request 

contains: 

(1) OMB No.: 1905–0209; 

(2) Information Collection Request 

Title: Densified Biomass Fuel Report; 

(3) Type of Request: Renewal, with 

Changes; 

(4) Purpose: Form EIA–63C Densified 

Biomass Fuel Report is part of EIA’s 

comprehensive energy data program. 

The survey collects information on the 

manufacture, shipment, exports, energy 

characteristics, and sales of pellet fuels 

and other densified biomass fuel 

products data from facilities that 

manufacture densified biomass fuel 

products, primarily pellet fuels, for 

energy applications. The data collected 

is a primary source of information for 

the nation’s growing production of 

biomass products for heating and 

electric power generation, for both 

domestic use and export markets. 

(4a) Proposed Changes to Information 

Collection: To reduce reporting burden, 

EIA proposes to eliminate the following 

seven questions: Part 2 Question 2.2 

‘‘What is the operational month’’ Part 2 

Question 2.4 ‘‘What is the total installed 

horsepower of the pellet extrusion 

machinery at this facility’’; Part 2. 

Question 2.5 ‘‘If the pellet extrusion 

machinery was not fully utilized during 

the month, choose the applicable 

explanation’’ and all of explanation 

selection choices’’; Part 2. Question 2.6 

‘‘What is the planned maximum annual 

production capacity at this facility’’; 

Part 2. Question 2.7 ‘‘What is the 

planned total installed horsepower of 

the pellet extrusion machinery at this 

facility’’; Part 3. Question 3.2 ‘‘In the 

reporting period, did the mill utilize any 

portion of the above feedstock for uses 

other than transformation into densified 

biomass products, such as to operate the 

mill, produce electricity (combined heat 

and power) or other beneficial use of 

energy produced (such as heating/ 

cooling)’’; Part 4. Question 4.2, Delete 

the column for reporting ‘‘Export Port.’’ 

Respondents will continue to report on 

all other data elements in section 4.2. 

EIA is proposing to delete these data 

elements based on consultations with 

respondents during the collection cycle. 

The questions that EIA proposes to 

delete were questions that respondents 

stated were either confusing or difficult 

to answer, or are questions that EIA 

receives too few responses to allow 

publication because of the data 

confidentiality rules that EIA applies to 

the aggregate statistical estimates. EIA is 

also proposing to change the due date 

for annual respondents (small biomass 

fuel manufacturers having a capacity of 


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