Document ID: NHTSA-2022-0008-0001
Agency: nhtsa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery
Posted Date: 2022-01-13T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 9 (Thursday, January 13, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2235-2237]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00528]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. DOT-NHTSA-2022-0008]

Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for 
Comment; Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service Delivery

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments for a reinstatement of a 
previously approved information collection.

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SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 
invites public comments about our intention to request approval from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to reinstate a previously 
approved information collection. Before a Federal agency can collect 
certain information from the public, it must receive approval from OMB. 
Under procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA), before seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies must solicit 
public comment on proposed collections of information, including 
extensions and reinstatements of previously approved collections. This 
document describes a collection of information for which NHTSA intends 
to seek OMB approval on generic clearance for qualitative feedback on 
agency service delivery.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted by March 14, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. DOT-NHTSA-
2022-0008 through one of the following methods:
     Electronic submissions: Go to the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions 
for submitting comments.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail or Hand Delivery: Docket Management Facility, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey

[[Page 2236]]

Avenue SE, West Building, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except on Federal holidays. To 
be sure someone is there to help you, please call (202) 366-9322 before 
coming.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number for this notice. Note that all comments received will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading 
below.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit https://www.transportation.gov/privacy.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the street 
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
dockets via internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or access 
to background documents, contact Walter Culbreath, NIO-0300, (202) 366-
1566, Office of the Chief Information Officer, W51-316, U.S. Department 
of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. 
Please identify the relevant collection of information by referring to 
its OMB Control Number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), before an agency submits a proposed 
collection of information to OMB for approval, it must first publish a 
document in the Federal Register providing a 60-day comment period and 
otherwise consult with members of the public and affected agencies 
concerning each proposed collection of information. The OMB has 
promulgated regulations describing what must be included in such a 
document. Under OMB's regulation (at 5 CFR 1320.8(d)), an agency must 
ask for public comment on the following: (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the agency, including whether the information will 
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) how to enhance 
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; 
and (d) how to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses. In compliance with these requirements, NHTSA 
asks for public comments on the following proposed collection of 
information for which the agency is seeking approval from OMB.

    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service Delivery.
    OMB Control Number: 2127-0682.
    Form Number(s): To be determined by specific collections.
    Type of Request: Reinstatement of a previously approved information 
collection.
    Type of Review Requested: Regular.
    Requested Expiration Date of Approval: 3 years from date of 
approval.
    Summary of the Collection of Information: Executive Order 12862 
directs Federal agencies to provide the highest quality service 
possible to the public. This proposed information collection 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.
    This feedback collected through this information collection will 
provide insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences 
and expectations; provide 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. The feedback 
will allow for ongoing, collaborative and actionable communication 
between the Agency and its customers and stakeholders. This information 
collection will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the 
improvement of program management.
    The Agency will only submit a collection for approval under this 
generic clearance if it meets the following conditions:
     The collection is voluntary;
     The collection is low-burden for respondents (based on 
considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or 
burden-hours per respondent) and is low-cost for both the respondents 
and the Federal Government;
     The collection is non-controversial and does 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 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 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 non-response 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 under this request 
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.

[[Page 2237]]

Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information

    Improving agency programs requires ongoing assessment of service 
delivery--systematic review of the operation of a program compared to a 
set of explicit or implicit standards--as a means of contributing to 
the continuous improvement of the those programs. The Agency will 
collect, analyze, and interpret information gathered through this 
generic clearance to identify strengths and weaknesses of current 
services and make improvements in service delivery based on that 
feedback. 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 were not collected, vital feedback from customers and 
stakeholders on the Agency's services would be unavailable and the 
Agency would not know if adjustments would be warranted.
    Affected Public: Individuals and Households, Businesses and 
Organizations, State, Local or Tribal Government.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 113,582.
    Frequency: On occasion, per request.
    Number of Responses: 113,582.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 20,204.
    The 20,204 annual burden hours requested are based on the number of 
collections we expect to conduct over the requested period for this 
clearance.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: $0.
    Participation in this collection is voluntary, and there are no 
costs to respondents beyond the time spent participating in the 
surveys.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the Department, including whether the information will 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Department's estimate 
of the burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways f 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 the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology. The agency will 
summarize and/or include your comments in the request for OMB's 
clearance of this information collection.
    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 
35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1:49; and DOT Order 1351.29.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on January 10, 2022.
William Berry,
Director, Office of IT Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2022-00528 Filed 1-12-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P