Alaska Weather Info Line Statewide Survey Submission Request

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance

for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback”

(OMB Control Number 0690-0030)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Alaska Weather Information Line Statewide Survey

PURPOSE:

The Alaska Weather Information Line (AWIL) provides toll-free telephone access to weather information throughout the state. This service is available outside of Alaska but is not toll-free.

The information provided via AWIL includes public forecasts, marine forecasts and weather observations via a menu-based system. Public forecasts include 7-day zone forecasts. Marine forecasts are available for all coastal marine areas with outlooks for 5 days. Observations from certain land stations and marine buoys are available and updated hourly.

NWS Alaska Region Headquarters intends to conduct a statewide survey to determine usage of the Alaska Weather Information Line (AWIL) service. If the area served by the AWIL can be reduced, the Starcaster personal computer hardware and software could be eliminated and AWIL functionality could be provided using only AWIPS/CRS (a personal computer-based broadcasting console that automatically translates and schedules written National Weather Service forecasts and warnings into synthesized-voice broadcasts over NOAA Weather Radio.

This will free NWS staff to spend more time on critical warning and forecasting duties, and provide a more efficient means of disseminating severe weather watches, warnings and emergency information.

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DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The respondents are mayors, village/tribal presidents and school district representatives across the state of Alaska.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [x ] Other: online survey sent via email

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The 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 future.

Name: Audrey Rubel

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [x] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [] No

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [x] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
State, local or tribal governments (Mayors)	194	10 minutes	32 hours
State, local or tribal governments (Village/Tribal Presidents)	384	10 minutes	64 hours
State, local or tribal governments (School District Representatives)	54	10 minutes	9 hours
Totals	632		105 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $4,000.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [ x] Yes [ ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

This will be a census. The respondents will be all the mayors, village tribal presidents and school district representatives from the state of Alaska’s database contacts located on their Community and Regional Affairs page at: http://commerce.alaska.gov/dca/apps/DCRAExternal/community

We will send an email to: 54 Alaska Public School District representatives, 194 mayors, and 384 tribal leader contacts found in the state’s community database.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[x] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [ x ] No

Please submit all instruments, instructions, correspondences (emails, letters, etc.) to respondents, and scripts as separate documents along with this request document.

Every instrument must have the following displayed –

OMB Control No. 0690-0030

Expiration Date: 04/30/2014

Required Additional Information (check ROCIS in IC List for this info ---needed for OCIO staff to complete request)

1. Line of Business: Natural Resources

2. Subfunction: Conservation, Marine and Land Management

3. Privacy Act System of Records: Title:

4. Federal Registration citation information: Volume Pg. No.

5. Number of respondents for small entities: 632

6. Percentage of respondents reporting electronically: 100

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