Document ID: FRA-2014-0011-0002
Agency: fra
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals
Posted Date: 2014-02-12T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 12, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8529-8530]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-03054]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2014-0011-N-02]

Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The information collection requirements described below will 
be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') for 
review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA''). FRA is 
seeking public comments on its proposal to renew its PRA clearance to 
participate in the OMB program ``Generic Clearance for the Collection 
of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery.'' This program was 
created to facilitate federal agencies' efforts to streamline the 
process to seek public feedback on service delivery. Current FRA 
clearance under this program expires July 31, 2014.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than April 14, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments on any or all of the following 
proposed activities by mail to Ms. Kimberly Toone, Office of 
Information Technology, RAD-20, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 
New Jersey Ave. SE., Mail Stop 35, Washington, DC 20590. Commenters 
requesting FRA to acknowledge receipt of their respective comments must 
include a self-addressed stamped postcard stating, ``Comments on OMB 
control number 2130-0593.'' Alternatively, comments may be transmitted 
via facsimile to (202) 493-6497, or via email to Ms. Toone at 
Kim.Toone@dot.gov. Please refer to the assigned OMB control number in 
any correspondence submitted. FRA will summarize comments received in 
response to this notice in a subsequent notice and include them in its 
information collection submission to OMB for approval.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Kimberly Toone, Office of 
Information Technology, RAD-20, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 
New Jersey Ave. SE., Mail Stop 35, Washington, DC 20590 (telephone: 
(202) 493-6132). (These telephone numbers are not toll-free.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Executive Order 12862 (1993) (``Setting 
Customer Service Standards'') directed all Federal executive 
departments and agencies and

[[Page 8530]]

requested independent Federal agencies to provide service to 
``customers'' that matches or exceeds the best service available in the 
private sector. See also Executive Order 13571 (2011) (``Streamlining 
Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service''). For purposes of 
these orders, ``customer'' means an individual who or entity that is 
directly served by a department or agency. FRA seeks renewed OMB 
approval of a generic clearance to collect qualitative feedback on our 
service delivery (i.e., the products and services that FRA creates to 
help consumers and businesses understand their rights and 
responsibilities, including Web sites, blogs, videos, print 
publications, and other content).
    Below is a brief summary of the information collection activity 
that FRA will submit for clearance by OMB as required under the PRA:
    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service Delivery OMB Control Number: 2130-0593.
    Status: Regular Review.
    Type of Request: Extension without change of a previously approved 
collection.
    Abstract: This collection of information is necessary to enable the 
Agency to garner customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, 
timely manner, in accordance with our commitment to improving service 
delivery. The information collected from our customers and stakeholders 
will help ensure that users have an effective, efficient, and 
satisfying experience with the Agency's programs. 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 also allows feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of 
program management.
    Improving agency programs requires ongoing assessment of service 
delivery, by which we mean 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 program. 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 
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 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:
     Information gathered will be used only internally for 
general service improvement and program management purposes and is not 
intended for release outside of the agency (if released, procedures 
outlined in Question 16 will be followed);
     Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of 
substantially informing influential policy decisions;
     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;
     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 non-controversial 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; and
     With the exception of information needed to provide 
remuneration for participants of focus groups and cognitive laboratory 
studies, personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to 
the extent necessary and is not retained.
    Affected Public: Individuals and Households, Business and 
Organizations, State, Local or Tribal Governments.
    Frequency of Submission: Once per request.
    Total Annual Number of Respondents: 2100.
    Total Estimated Responses: 2100.
    Average Minutes per Response: 10 minutes.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 354 hours.

    Authority:  44 U.S.C. 3501-3520.

    Issued in Washington, DC on February 6, 2014.
Rebecca Pennington,
Chief Financial Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-03054 Filed 2-11-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P