Document ID: EPA-HQ-OEI-2009-0328-0003
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2009-06-02T04:00Z

B.	Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods

1.	Universe and Respondent Selection

The rating activities under this clearance will be made available to all
end users who access the Regulations.gov ‘feedback exchange’ web
site.  The end users are not required to complete the ratings however
they are allowed to do so when accessing the Regulations.gov ‘feedback
exchange’ web site.

The ratings are to be completed with an in-house tool to change or
improve programs, products or services.  The accuracy and reliability of
the results of these surveys is adequate to their purpose.

The ratings approach for the Regulations.gov ‘feedback exchange’ web
site does not require statistical sampling, just as statistical sampling
is often not included for customer satisfaction surveys.  5,000 ratings
per year are expected and this will be a subset of the number of overall
visitors to the site based on end user interest to respond.	The number
of responses anticipated is based on responses to the Regulations.gov
web site.  

The email address field on the Registration section is made available to
all end users who access the Regulations.gov ‘feedback exchange’ web
site.  The end users are not required to complete the email address
field, however, they are allowed to do so when accessing the
Regulations.gov ‘feedback exchange’ web site.

The email address field on the Registration section is to be completed
with an in-house tool and will be used by the end user to establish a
user account or profile.  The accuracy and reliability of the results of
this field is adequate to its purpose.

The email address field collection for the Regulations.gov ‘feedback
exchange’ web site does not require statistical sampling, just as
statistical sampling is often not included for contact forms.  1,000
users per year are expected and this will be a subset of the number of
overall visitors to the site based on end user interest to respond.	The
number of responses anticipated is based on responses to the
Regulations.gov web site.  

The tagging of content is made available to all end users who access the
Regulations.gov ‘feedback exchange’ web site.  The end users are not
required to tag or label information about themselves or tag information
they or another visitor provided, however, they are allowed to do so
when accessing the Regulations.gov ‘feedback exchange’ web site.

The tagging of content is to be completed with an in-house tool and will
be used by end users to define themselves and their own or other’s
content.  The accuracy and reliability of the results of this form is
adequate to its purpose.

The tagging of content for Regulations.gov ‘feedback exchange’ web
site does not require statistical sampling, just as statistical sampling
is often not included for customer satisfaction surveys or contact
forms.  1,000 tags per year are expected and this will be a subset of
the number of overall visitors to the site based on end user interest to
respond.  The number of responses anticipated is based on responses to
the Regulations.gov web site.  

The submission of support or oppose comments is made available to all
end users who access the Regulations.gov ‘feedback exchange’ web
site.  The end users are not required to tag or label information about
themselves or tag information they or another visitor provided, however,
they are allowed to do so when accessing the Regulations.gov ‘feedback
exchange’ web site.

The submission of support or oppose comments is to be completed with an
in-house tool and will be used to change or improve programs, products
or services.  The accuracy and reliability of the results of this form
is adequate to its purpose.

The submission of support or oppose comments for the Regulations.gov
‘feedback exchange’ web site does not require statistical sampling,
just as statistical sampling is often not included for customer
satisfaction surveys or contact forms.  1,000 support or oppose comments
per year are expected and this will be a subset of the number of overall
visitors to the site based on end user interest to respond.  The number
of responses anticipated is based on responses to the Regulations.gov
web site.  

2.	Procedures for Collecting Information

End users will access the Regulations.gov ‘feedback exchange’ web
site and will be presented with options to browse the web site.  Within
the Regulations.gov ‘feedback exchange’ web site are web pages
displaying different potential functionalities or capabilities under
consideration for the Regulations.gov web site.  The end user will be
allowed to submit ratings of one through five stars for a given
functionality they view on the Regulations.gov ‘feedback exchange’
web site.

End users on the Regulations.gov ‘feedback exchange’ web site will
also be provided with a link to a “Comment page”.  This web page
will include the ability for end users to rate content, tag content,
submit a comment, or submit a ‘support or oppose’ comments on these
different functionalities or on other end user’s comments if they so
desire.

End users on the Regulations.gov ‘feedback exchange’ web site will
also be provided with a link to a Registration section, “User
Account” web page.  This web page will include an optional email
address field for the end user to submit their email address if they so
desire.  It will also include a field for the user to tag content about
themselves (e.g., Professional Category – such as ‘Academic /
Professor’.)

3.	Methods to Maximize Response

The results of the ratings will be prominently displayed on the
Regulations.gov ‘feedback exchange’ web site and this prominent
placement will help maximize responses.  The brevity of the rating
approach and simplicity of the rating categories themselves will also
aid in maximizing responses.

The email address field on the Registration section will be prominently
displayed and this prominent placement will help maximize responses. 
The brevity of the email address field and simplicity of the field will
also aid in maximizing responses.

The tagging of content will be linked from the comment page and the
Registration section of the Regulations.gov ‘feedback exchange’ web
site and these prominent placements will help maximize responses.  The
brevity of the form and simplicity of the questions will also aid in
maximizing responses.

The support or oppose comments will be linked from the comment page of
the Regulations.gov ‘feedback exchange’ web site and this prominent
placement will help maximize responses.  The brevity of the form and
simplicity of the questions will also aid in maximizing responses.

4.	Testing of Procedures

The responses to the ratings, email address field on the Registration
section, tagging of content, and support or oppose comments will all be
treated like customer satisfaction surveys and will not be formally
tested against statistical practices.  It is the intention of the
eRulemaking Program to leverage the responses to provide feedback on
potential functionalities under consideration for the Regulations.gov
web site.  The intent is to leverage this voluntary feedback to deliver
enhanced Regulations.gov capabilities to improve public access to,
participation in, and understanding of the rulemaking process and
similar federal public notice and comment decision making.  The
information will not be used for statistical purposes or sampling
purposes.

5.	Contacts for Statistical Aspects and Data Collection

There are no applicable statistical contacts.  The Project Manager for
Regulations.gov ‘feedback exchange’ web site is John Moses and he
can be contacted at   HYPERLINK "mailto:moses.john@epa.gov" 
moses.john@epa.gov  or at 202.566.1352.