Supporting Statement B 11-29-12

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods.

The agency should be prepared to justify its decision not to use statistical methods in any case where such methods might reduce burden or improve accuracy of results. When Item 17 on the Form OMB 83-I is checked, “YES”, the following documentation should be included in the Supporting Statement to the extend that it applies to the methods proposed:

1. Describe (including a numerical estimate) the potential respondent universe and any sampling or other respondent selection methods to be used.

Data on the number of entities (e.g., establishments, State and local government units, households, or persons in the universe covered by the collection and in the corresponding sample are to be provided in tabular form for the universe as a whole and for each of the strata in the proposed sample.

DOE seeks 100 annual responses to its survey.  This value 100 for the number of responses sought is an estimate based on the universe of Clean Cities Coalitions that exist and that will work with their local jurisdictions and metropolitan regions to identify a representative who can complete the scorecard. Currently, 85 Clean Cities Coalitions exist, and DOE expects a few additional communities may learn of this scorecard initiative and want to participate and take advantage of the scorecard.

DOE does not plan to solicit responses from more than these Coalitions. DOE does not plan to shut down the survey once the total number of surveys, not to exceed 300, are submitted.  If DOE encounters a situation in which redundant scorecards are completed (multiple cards for the same community), DOE will request the communities work together to identify a single representative. DOE does not expect to shut down this information collection at the end of three years, but rather hopes to continue the program as its relevance is expected to continue to be viable as communities continue to grow their PEV readiness.

2. Describe the procedures for the collection of information including:

Statistical methodology for stratification and sample selection, estimation procedure, Degree of accuracy needed for the purpose describe in the justification, unusual problems requiring specialized sampling procedures, and any use of periodic data collection cycles to reduce burden.

DOE will issue a solicitation letter/email to Clean Cities Coordinator contacts. This is a discrete universe of entities (i.e., a broadcast email will not be sent, but rather solicitation will be made of a defined and limited audience, each member of which will be solicited, rather than a sampling of the universe of entities). Once respondents are identified, each will be asked to access the online collection instrument and undertake steps to complete the multiple choice questions.

3. Describe methods to maximize response rates and to deal with issues of non-response.

The accuracy and reliability of information collected must be shown to be adequate for intended uses. For collections base on sampling, a special justification must be provided for any collection that will not yield “reliable” data that can be generalized to the universe studied.

The DOE Clean Cities Program has extensive experience related to outreach and specific working relationships with Clean Cities Coalitions through the Clean Citieis Coordinators associated with each Coalition. DOE is confident that through this well-established network it will be able to obtain the participation necessary to ensure a strong and viable program. If it becomes necessary to enhance participation, DOE will issue additional email solicitations, hold one of its monthly webinars for Coordinators specifically focused on the scorecard initiative, and otherwise promote the initiative through its regular communications with Coordinators, including the annual Coordinator meetings. Moreover, because participation in the initiative is voluntary, there is no specific harm if a community or Coalition does not participate.

4. Describe any tests of procedures or methods to be undertaken.

Testing is encouraged as an effective means of refining collections of information to minimize burden and improve utility. Tests must be approved if the call for answers to identical questions from 10 or more respondents.

A proposed test or set of test may be submitted for approval separately or in combination with the main collection of information.

Each multiple-choice answer to each question has been assigned a value between 0 and 1 (0 being generally assigned only to "I don't know" answers—we want to incentivize knowing the answer, even if it's not an ideal "excellent" answer—and 1 being assigned to best practices). Each question was then assigned a weighting of 1, 2, or 3 (representing importance of the answer as somewhat important, very important, or critical, respectively). All values were generated by a focus group at NREL and then vetted through reviews with DOE, other national laboratories, Rocky Mountain Institute (expert in PEVs and PEV infrastructure), and EV specialist contractors (e.g., ICF and Energetics). The overall score (and similarly the topic scores) are generated by multiplying each answer score by the question weighting, and summing the results. More detail is included in attachment: “121018 CleanCities PEV Scorecard Scoring.pptx”

DOE does not plan to compare scores between specific communities. No one city or region has been identified as the standard for PEV readiness. The scorecard questions were gathered to represent the issues DOE, NREL, and the various stakeholders contacted for review of the scorecard have found most common. Many of the questions have specific case studies associated with them that do identify what some other communities and/or businesses have done, but the subject is not identified as a benchmark. Participants/respondents will be able to compare their own scores from year to year, and thereby obtain a fuller understanding of the area’s progress in the context of PEV readiness.

DOE will be providing a numberless rating to each city, which is summarized in attachment: “121018 CleanCities PEV Scorecard Scoring.pptx”. This scoring system is described above.

5. Provide the name and telephone number of individuals consulted on statistical aspects of the design and the name of the agency unit, contractor(s), grantee(s) or other person(s) who will actually collect and/or analyze the information for the agency.

Self-explanatory.

The design of the collection instrument and materials, as well as the design of the database that will sort the information was undertaken by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), under the guidance of Mike Simpson, Vehicle Systems Engineer, Center for Transportation Technologies and Systems. (303) 275-3209; mike.simpson@nrel.gov. NREL will be responsible for collecting and/or analyzing the information for DOE.