Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration

Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;

Comment Request

AGENCY: Energy Information Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Agency information collection activities: Proposed collection;

comment request.

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SUMMARY: The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is soliciting

comments on the proposed three-year extension of existing Form DOE-887,

``Department of Energy Customer Surveys.''

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before February 28,

2000. If you anticipate difficulty in submitting comments within that

period, contact the person listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Herbert T. Miller, Statistics and Methods

Group, EI-70, Forrestal Building, U.S. Department of Energy,

Washington, D.C. 20585. Alternatively, Mr. Miller may be reached by

phone at 202-426-1103, by e-mail at [email protected], or by FAX 202-

426-1081.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information

should be directed to Herbert Miller at the address listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

II. Current Actions

III. Request for Comments

I. Background

The Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (Pub. L. No. 93-275,

15 U.S.C. 761 et seq.) and the Department of Energy Organization Act

(Pub. L. No. 95-91, 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), require the Energy

Information Administration (EIA) to carry out a centralized,

comprehensive, and unified energy information program. This program

collects, evaluates, assembles, analyzes, and disseminates information

on energy resource reserves, production, demand, technology, and

related economic and statistical information. This information is used

to assess the adequacy of energy resources to meet near and longer term

domestic demands.

The EIA, as part of its effort to comply with the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), provides

the general public and other Federal agencies with opportunities to

comment on collections of energy information conducted by or in

conjunction with the EIA. Any comments received help the EIA to prepare

data requests that maximize the utility of the information collected,

and to assess the impact of collection requirements on the public.

Also, the EIA will later seek approval by the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) of the collections under Section 3507(h) of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995.

On September 11, 1993, the President signed Executive Order No.

12862 aimed at ``* * * ensuring the Federal government provides the

highest quality service possible to the American people.'' The

voluntary surveys the Department proposes will be used to ascertain

customer satisfaction with the Department of Energy in terms of

services, products, and information our customers want and expect, as

well as their satisfaction with and awareness of existing products,

services, and information. Respondents will be businesses, academic

institutions, associations, researchers, and other individuals,

organizations, or institutions that are the recipients of the

Department's services, products, and information. Previous customer

surveys have provided useful information to the Department for

assessing how well services, products, and information are delivered

and for making improvements. The results are used internally and

summaries are provided to the Office of Management and Budget on an

annual basis, and are used to satisfy the requirements and the spirit

of Executive Order No. 12862.

II. Current Actions

The request to OMB will be for a three-year extension of the

expiration date of approval for DOE to conduct customer surveys. During

the past approval period of about three years, 14 customer surveys have

been conducted by telephone, mail, and through the Web site. (Examples

of previously conducted customer surveys are available upon request.)

Our planned activities in the next three fiscal years reflect our

increased emphasis on and expansion of these activities, including an

increased use of electronic means for obtaining customer input. Surveys

may be conducted by focus groups, reply cards that accompany product

distribution, web-based surveys that offer customers the opportunity to

express their levels of satisfaction with DOE products, services, and

information, and for on-going dialogue with the Department. DOE will

collect this information by electronic means, as well as by mail, fax,

telephone, and person-to-person. Steps will be taken to assure

anonymity of respondents in each activity covered under this request.

III. Request for Comments

Prospective respondents and other interested parties should comment

on the actions discussed in item II. The following guidelines are

provided to assist in the preparation of comments.

General Issues

A. Are the proposed collections of information necessary for the

proper performance of the functions of the agency and does the

information have practical utility? Practical utility is defined as the

actual usefulness of information to or for an agency, taking into

account its accuracy, adequacy, reliability, timeliness, and the

agency's ability to process the information it collects.

B. What enhancements can be made to the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be collected?

As a potential respondent:

A. Public reporting burden for this collection is estimated to

average .25 hours per response (8,333 respondents per year x 15

minutes per response = 2,083 hours annually). The response time varies

from two minutes to four hours depending upon the complexity of the

information collection. The estimated burden includes the total time,

effort, or financial resources expended to generate, maintain, retain,

disclose and provide the information. Please comment on the accuracy of

the estimate.

B. The agency estimates that the only costs to the respondents are

for the time it will take them to complete the collection of

information. Please comment if respondents will incur start-up costs

for reporting, or any recurring annual costs for operation,

maintenance, and purchase of services associated with this information

collection?

C. What additional actions could be taken to minimize the burden of

this collection of information? Such actions my involve the use of

automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection

techniques or other forms of information technology.

D. Does any other Federal, State, or local agency collect similar

information? If so, specify the agency, the data element(s), and the

methods of collection.

As a potential user:

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A. Are there alternate sources for the information and are they

useful? If so, what are their weaknesses and/or strengths?

Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized

and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the form. They also

will become a matter of public record.

Statutory Authority: Section 3506 (c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. No. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).

Issued in Washington, D.C., December 22, 1999.

Jay H. Casselberry,

Agency Clearance Officer, Statistics and Methods Group, Energy

Information Administration.

[FR Doc. 99-33822 Filed 12-28-99; 8:45 am]

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