NOAA - Great Lakes Beach Hazards Interviews

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number 0690-0030)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Great Lakes Beach Hazards Interviews

PURPOSE: Drownings in the Great Lakes—often the result of dangerous currents and waves—were up 100 percent in 2012 compared to 2011. The proposed interviews are part of a data collection effort to support the development of a risk communication strategy that addresses all the threats in the swim zone of the Great Lakes (particularly Lake Michigan, with its short-period wave action, rip currents, and structural currents). This project will evaluate the effectiveness of current outreach on swim zone hazards, including National Weather Service Surf Zone Forecasts and existing rip current messages, and identify improved messaging, target audiences, and dissemination mechanisms for use in a new outreach and social marketing campaign on dangerous currents and waves in the Great Lakes.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Great Lakes shoreline change researchers, resource managers, and related practitioners who are familiar with the hazards of currents and waves.

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: Telephone Interviews to Develop Risk Messaging

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: Audra Luscher-Aissaoui, NOAA, Coastal Services Center, (301) 713-0525, ext. 185,

Audra.Luscher@noaa.gov

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
Federal Government	10	30 min	5 hrs
State, Local or Tribal Government	10	30 min	5 hrs
Private Sector (Not-for-Profit Organizations)	10	30 min	5 hrs
Totals	30		15 hrs

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is _$1,000.__

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

Statistical methods are not being used.

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? [ ] Yes [X] 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?

With assistance from the National Weather Service and Minnesota SeaGrant, NOAA’s CSC will develop a list of approximately 30 people from governmental and private organizations who are active in beach safety and/or knowledgeable about dangerous waves and currents; demographics of people at risk of drowning in the Great Lakes; and risk communication messages, dissemination mechanisms, and strategies to prevent incidents and drowning from Great Lakes beach hazards. While we will strive to include interviewees from all the Great Lakes, the sample is not intended to be a statistically representative sample of the complete universe of potential respondents.

Administration of the Instrument

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

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ x ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain.

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

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