1093-0006 Supporting Statement A 06232015

Supporting Statement A

Volunteer Partnership Management

Terms of Clearance: None

1. Justification

1. Explain the circumstances that make the col­lection of information necessary. Iden­tify any legal or administrative require­ments that necessitate the collection. Attach a copy of the appropriate section of each statute and regulation mandating or authorizing the col­lection of information.

Federal land management agencies are authorized to work with volunteers, youth programs, and partner organizations to plan, develop, maintain, and manage projects and service activities on public lands and adjacent projects throughout the nation. Agencies and partners may recruit, train, and accept the services of volunteers, youth programs, and partners to aid in interpretive functions, visitor services, conservation measures and development, research and development, recreation, and or other activities in nearly all areas of service. Volunteers, youth programs, and partners can be an efficient, effective, and cost-beneficial use of public resources. The participants of these efforts, especially youth, benefit from skill development and service learning that enhances their capacity to find meaningful employment opportunities and be stewards for public lands.

In order to effectively engage hundreds of thousands of volunteers, youth participants, and partners in meaningful service activities at multiple locations, participating agencies and non-federal organizations, we must collect information from youth program participants and volunteers who are interested in participating, supporting, and managing programs on public lands. The information collected from individuals includes contact information, demographic data including ethnicity and veterans and disability status. Information from partner organizations includes agreement, cost, contact information, IRS status, public financial reports, and supporting documentation such as project completion reports, pictures, and hours contributed.

Participating Agencies:

• Department of Agriculture: U.S. Forest Service, National Resources Conservation Service

• Department of the Interior: National Park Service (NPS), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of Reclamation (BR), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Laws, Statutes and Regulations:

• 16 U.S.C. §1721 et. seq., Public Lands Corps Act (PLC)

• 16 U.S.C. §460l – Outdoor Recreation Authority

• Public Law 92-300: Volunteers in the National Forest Act of 1972

• 16 USC 558 a-d – Volunteers in the National Forests Program

• 16 USC 583j-4 – Forest Foundation Volunteers

• 16 USC 1246 – Administration and development of national trails system

• 16 USC 1250 – Volunteer trails assistance

• 31 USC 3325 – Authorizes payment of vouchers

• 16 U.S.C. § 1g - Agreements for the Transfer of Appropriated Funds to Carry Out NPS Programs

• 16 U.S.C. § 1246(h)(1) - Agreements to Operate, Develop, and Maintain Portions of National Trails

• 16 U.S.C. § 1a-2(j)) - Agreements Concerning Cooperative Research and Training on NPS Resources

• 38 USC §4301 The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act

• Presidential Memorandum -- Expanding National Service, July 15, 2013

• Department of the Interior Secretary Order No: 3332

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what pur­pose the information is to be used. Except for a new collec­tion, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the infor­ma­tion received from the current collec­tion.

1. What information will be collected - reported or recorded? (If there are pieces of information that are especially burdensome in the collection, a specific explanation should be provided.)

NPS Volunteer-In-Parks (VIP) Reporting Module

On-line forms will be used to collect and store information from partners engaged in volunteer and service learning on behalf of the federal agencies. Currently, we are collecting information by paper, annual reports, and interviews from existing partners that manage heritage areas, rivers, trails, and conservation assistance programs. The information collected now is in various formats and is consolidated by hand from paper and placed into spreadsheets. This information is being collected to demonstrate the value and impact of federal dollars by providing American citizens with opportunities to manage and use public lands. Unlike the recruitment and tracking effort currently on volunteer.gov, the on-line form allows partners to provide information on the annual volunteer efforts they manage independently on behalf of the federal agencies in communities and federal lands through assistance programs. Managed by the Department of the Interior and Federal Interagency Team on Volunteerism this central volunteer.gov database houses modules that will provide specific access and information based on agency needs.

Volunteer Time Tracking Portal

An on-line form will be used to capture the hours and volunteers engaged on public lands for providing America the Beautiful Volunteer Passes for those individuals that have contribute more than 250 hours. Volunteers’ hours can be used to earn an American the Beautiful Pass that provides free access to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites. Each pass covers entrance fees at national parks and national wildlife refuges as well as standard amenity fees at national forests and grasslands, and at lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A pass covers entrance and standard amenity fees for a driver and all passengers in a personal vehicle at per vehicle fee areas (or up to four adults at sites that charge per person). Children age 15 or under are admitted free. This time reporting is required to receive the benefit of the America the Beautiful pass. As government property with monetary value, the passes are required to be tracked and audited yearly. The on-line form allows for management of passes and provides a means to account for passes, and aids in the prevention of fraud and misuse of government property. The business impact of misused or abused passes could reach millions of dollars of lost revenue yearly without management. The on-line form offers agencies an hours tracking log by allowing volunteers to provide address, name, email, and places where volunteer service was provided prior to receiving the pass.

FWS Volunteer Tracker Module

The FWS Volunteer Tracker Module is a proto-type for all agencies seeking better tools to manage the security, safety, reporting, and experience of volunteers. The online forms provide volunteers and volunteer managers in the field the ability to share recruitment, selection, orientation, project, and recognition information locally and nationally in a friendly web-based format. Each volunteer is required to create an account using on-line forms that compile demographics, timesheets, project details, training history, and qualifications for volunteer positions improving the ability of the agency for assessing and monitoring personnel risks, business impacts and mission accomplishment. The Volunteer Tracker Module allows for improved deployment and recruitment in event of natural and man-made disasters such as hurricanes, oil spills, floods, and fire. The capturing of volunteer data on-line provides an improved method for ensuring proper safeguards and management of volunteer records from site to site. The module also standardizes volunteer management process for volunteers and volunteer mangers saving personnel time and saving government dollars.

Youth Partner Tracking Module

The Youth Partner Tracking module will collect data from individuals between 16 and 35 which is considered the eligibility age for youth programs under the 16 U.S.C. §1722 et. seq., Public Lands Corps (PLC) Act and Interior Departmental Secretarial Order 3332.

The PLC Act under Section 1726 of Title 16 of the United States Code (USC) authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of the Interior to grant members of the Public Lands Corps (PLC) credit for time served with the PLC, which may be used towards future Federal hiring; and provide former members of the PLC noncompetitive hiring status for a period of not more than 120 days after completion of PLC service. We will collect contact information, hours of service performed, date of birth, and optional demographic data such as race, veterans’ and disability status from these individuals to document and report their eligibility for non-competitive hiring status. Demographic data is optional as it is for all job applicants. The information is currently collected on paper, and in various formats at the local level to manage projects locally. The optional demographic data will be collected in order to continually monitor the Administration’s and Secretary’s goals of attaining a more diverse workforce. This information will not be made available to hiring managers and will not be used for selection purposes.

Outreach Recruitment Resume Module

The Outreach-Recruitment Resume Module will collect data provided by citizens, including veterans and youth, seeking employment opportunities at career fairs, outreach events, military programs, and from Public Land Corps participants. Paper resumes are collected by federal employees and will be entered via an online form for tracking interests, eligibility, and for promoting employment opportunities. In addition to resume information, optional demographic data is requested and entered by federal employees if provided. This process digitizes and centralizes resumes that are currently collected locally in paper form and shared by faxing, mailing, or storing in filing cabinets or pdf on shared computer systems. The on-line collection form is more efficient for sharing and securing prospective job seekers’ name, address, and other PII data than faxing and mailing resumes. In addition, it allows for more effective customer service by centralizing and organizing the data for outreach purposes.

Partnerships Module

Formal partners such as Friends groups, which are under national agreements to manage services and programs on public lands for citizens, provide an annual summary of their activities. The information collected from these partners includes reporting yearly events, contact information, annual reports, IRS public financial data, and program highlights. The information is currently collected in paper format and compiled by staff as needed for reporting impact of partnerships and value added to the federal operations by entering into these formal partnerships. Collecting this information and housing it electronically allows the Department to easily track all partnership data and conduct real time reports.

Cooperating Association Module

Cooperating Associations are public lands formal partners under national agreements to manage bookstores and sales items with federal agencies. These not-for-profit partners enhance park visits through services such as operating bookstores, developing publications, and supporting the educational and interpretive programs of their public land partners. The information collected from these partners includes reporting yearly events, contact information, annual sales reports, and IRS public financial data and program activities. The information is currently collected in paper format and compiled by staff for reporting impact of cooperating associations. The time and energy that it takes federal employees to process this information and to consolidate into spreadsheets is $176,000 annually. The collection of information on line will save cooperating association 40 hours annually and allow public lands agencies to make public to citizens the overall benefit of cooperating associations. The on-line form would assist in gathering this information in a more timely and cost effective manner and establish common data elements for all submitting reducing the burden on partners.

Table 1: Itemized Listing of Modules

These modules are designed to meet the requests and expectations of customers for on-line access and transactions. The information collected from the on-line forms is stored in a common database which is a more efficient and effective way of ensuring that information is collected once and reused for multiple purposes. Customers also have easy access to update and review data.

Modules	Name, Address, Phone, and E-mail	Contact and Emergency Notification Information	Consent of Parent/Guardian	Areas of Interest	Physical Limitations	Qualifications/ Experience	Gender and Age (optional)	Ethnicity (optional)	Pubic Financial	Photo and Program Reports	Time Volunteered
NPS VIP Reporting Module	X									X	X
Volunteer Time Tracking Portal	X										X
FWS Volunteer Tracker Module – Agency Volunteer Manager Tracker Module	X	X		X	X	X	X	X		X	X
Youth Partner Tracking Module	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X			X
Outreach Recruitment Resume Module	X	X		X	X	X	X	X
Partnership Module	X								X	X
Cooperating Association Module	X								X	X

2. From whom will the information be collected? If there are different respondent categories (e.g., loan applicant versus a bank versus an appraiser), each should be described along with the type of collection activity that applies.

The information is collected from potential and selected volunteers; youth program participants, veterans, prospective job applicants, cooperating associations, and partner organizations. Those under 18 years of age must have written consent from parent or guardian.

3. What will this information be used for - provide ALL uses?

Participating natural and cultural resource agencies will use this information to manage agency volunteer, youth, outreach, recruitment and partner programs that support work on public lands. The federal agencies will be more accountable to taxpayer by providing annual reports and program description of partnership activities which will be accessible on-line. This information can be found on the Volunteer.gov website and on the participating federal agency websites. The specific uses for each of the on-line forms are as follows:

NPS Volunteer in Parks (VIP) Reporting Module

Volunteer annual project tracking is used to track the scope and impact of partners to advance volunteer programs and opportunities that benefit agencies. Such activities are managed on national trails and shared public lands.

Volunteer Time Tracking Portal This module is used for volunteers to capture their volunteer hours for obtaining benefits of the America the Beautiful pass. Those individuals that volunteer over 250 hours are eligible for an American the Beautiful Pass which allows them free access to over 2000 federal recreation site. It also provides a means for agencies to account and track passes given to volunteers.

FWS Volunteer Tracker Module

The module allows for time and cost saving by providing standard volunteer management processes to field managers and also a means to address volunteer security, safety and operational readiness by tracking volunteer required training and orientation and projects on public lands. The module is intended to reduce redundancies and replications and have safeguards to manage volunteer vital deployment records and forms.

Youth Partner Tracking Module

Collecting youth program hours and demographic information will allow federal agencies to provide better customer service to youth participants who have earned Public Lands Corps (PLC) credit for time served with the PLC, which may be used towards future Federal hiring; and provide former members of the PLC noncompetitive hiring status for a period of not more than 120 days after completion of PLC service. In addition, youth program trends and project impacts can be shared with congressionally established foundations that assist in raising funds to expand the number of projects to address future needs.

Outreach Recruitment Resume Module

Customers have demanded real time and better responsiveness to temporary or permanent employment requests. This data will provide the opportunity to better serve prospective job applicants and veterans by matching their interest with available opportunities in natural and cultural resources management agencies. The Outreach Recruitment Resume module will be used to assist youth, volunteers, veterans, and citizens to share interests and skills with agencies for positions.

Partnerships Module

Collects partnership agreements and partner information including public financial data, annual reports, and contact information for sharing with employees and compiling reports. This information will leverage program assistance, challenge cost share, and foundation dollars to support programs on public lands using volunteers, youth program participants, and partners. We will use partnership data to expand the number of projects addressing critical needs and or to support disaster recovery efforts.

Co-operating Association Module

The Cooperating Association On-line Form collects education, sales, contributions, and events that are subsequently provided to engage all citizens in stewardship of our public lands. The effectiveness of this on-line capture of information will enable federal agencies to share with citizens who wish to participate and donate their time and resources to improve public lands.

4. How will the information be collected (e.g., forms, non-forms, electronically, face-to-face, over the phone, over the Internet)? Does the respondent have multiple options for providing the information? If so, what are they?

The information is collected using the on-line forms listed and/or given to federal employees to enter into on-line forms. All of these on-line forms are accessible via the Internet and the data is stored in a centralized database for ongoing use.

5. How frequently will the information be collected?

On-line Form	Frequency of Information Collected
NPS VIP Reporting
Create Account	Once for each new partner organization
Expense Entry	Once per week during volunteer periods
Time Entry	Once per week during volunteer periods
Volunteer Time Tracking Portal
Time Entry	Weekly or Monthly - contingent on type of volunteer position. requested
FWS Volunteer Tracker Module
Create Account	Once for each new volunteer
Create Profile	Once per year for each volunteer
Time Entry	Estimated at 6 times per year based on the number of projects
Youth Partner Tracking On-Line Form	;
Manage Partner	Once yearly for contact information.
Manage Project	Multiple times per year based on the number of projects a particular partner works on
Manage Youth Volunteers	Multiple times per year depending the number of youth volunteers that are added to or leave a particular partner
Report Time	Once weekly, per respondent for hours during volunteer periods
Outreach Recruitment Resume On-Line Form	Once per year per respondent
Partnership On-Line Form	Once per year per respondent
Cooperating Association On-Line Form	Once per year per respondent

6. Will the information be shared with any other organizations inside or outside Department of the Interior or the government?

General and summary information is shared in reports to participating agencies youth, recruitment, and partnership programs. This information is also provided to Congress and the public in reports. No information regarding individuals is shared.

7. If this is an ongoing collection, how have the collection requirements changed over time?

Collection requirements have evolved over time to include data collection that will result in enhanced ability to centralize and standardize reporting across participating agencies concerning volunteers, youth programs, and partnership demographics and activities. The retirement of the National Park Service paper legacy systems will allow 401 park units’ individual system of records for youth and partnerships to be consolidated into one system allowing for greater security and accessibility of data across the Service. The same will be accomplished for U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Geological Survey.

PLEASE NOTE: With this submission, some forms associated with this request will be classified as “Common Forms”, and with this submission the DOI will no longer account for the other participating Agencies’ burden. Upon OMB approval of this request, other participating Agencies will be responsible to account for their own burden as separate requests to OMB.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of auto­mat­ed, elec­tronic, mechani­cal, or other techno­log­ical collection techniques or other forms of information technol­o­gy, e.g. permit­ting elec­tronic sub­mission of respons­es, and the basis for the decision for adopting this means of collection. Also, describe any con­sideration of using in­fo­r­m­a­t­ion technolo­gy to re­duce bur­den.

Only electronic on-line versions of these forms are available. The citizen can request assistance from federal employees if they cannot provide data electronically and data will be entered by federal employees. This increases the efficiency and accuracy of the process by eliminating the inconsistently used paper forms.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplica­tion. Show specifically why any sim­ilar in­for­mation already avail­able cannot be used or modified for use for the purpos­es de­scri­bed in Item 2 above.

These on-line forms were developed to help centralize tracking and reporting and to provide better customer service. The public expects on-line methods to provide information which is essential to providing great customer service. The on-line forms will also eliminate duplication of efforts by creating one central point for volunteer partner tracking as opposed to using various independent systems among agencies and by streamlining individual cumbersome reporting and tracking tools currently used within large decentralized agencies. These on-line forms are available for use by all Federal natural and cultural resource agencies. The on-line forms can be customized for agency specific needs, but contain data elements common for all participating agencies. The 21^st Century Service Corps, the Federal Interagency Team on Volunteerism, and the Corps Network which includes federal agencies and not-for-profit organization members have been consulted and have endorsed development of these on-line forms. The U. S. Forest Service is planning on using the Youth Programs Tracking Module with all of their program managers

5. If the collection of information im­pacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to mini­mize burden.

Small businesses which have entered into partnership agreements currently collect this information for multiple federal, state, and private purposes. This effort establishes common data elements and centralizes the data collected for repurposing. The information on the on-line form is minimal and does not add new data elements that are not currently collected by the small businesses. They will repurpose the already collected data for use by multiple federal agencies rather than reporting different data elements that are unique to each federal agency. Information collected is the minimal necessary for program participation and reporting. The on-line forms were developed to minimize the number of forms collected from members of non-profit organizations, youth, volunteers, and prospective applicants; it eliminates the need for multiple forms and formats when partners serve on or organize a project. Additionally, because partner organizations are asked to input the data on the front end of each project, partners experience a lessened burden due to a large decrease in data calls.

6. Describe the consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is con­ducted less fre­quent­ly, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

The expectation of citizens is that we provide on-line services and this effort allows us to better meet customer expectations and lessens the burden on partners. We have centralized the data elements across agencies and this allows for those providing the data to have one way of provided data rather than different ways for each different federal agency. If these methods of collection are not implemented, the current disorganized and less efficient methods will continue. Data is collected as infrequently as possible, given that it is generally collected once, yearly or updated only as necessary.

6. Explain any special circumstances that would cause an information collecti­on to be con­ducted in a manner:

• Requiring respondents to report informa­tion to the agency more often than quarterly;

The time tracking portions of the system is updated weekly or monthly contingent on the type of volunteer position. Some positions require (i.e. children caretaker vs weed removal) to track their hours due to audit requirements, and therefore this data is collected more frequently than quarterly.

• Requiring respondents to prepare a writ­ten response to a collection of infor­ma­tion in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it;

Not a requirement.

• Requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any docu­ment;

Not a requirement.

• Requiring respondents to retain re­cords, other than health, medical, governm­ent contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records for more than three years;

Not a requirement.

• In connection with a statisti­cal sur­vey, that is not de­signed to produce valid and reli­able results that can be general­ized to the uni­verse of study;

Not a requirement.

• Requiring the use of a statis­tical data classi­fication that has not been re­vie­wed and approved by OMB;

Not a requirement.

• That includes a pledge of confidentiality that is not supported by au­thority estab­lished in statute or regu­la­tion, that is not sup­ported by dis­closure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unneces­sarily impedes shar­ing of data with other agencies for com­patible confiden­tial use; or

Not a requirement.

• Requiring respondents to submit propri­etary trade secret, or other confidential information unless the agency can demon­strate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information's confidentiality to the extent permit­ted by law.

There are no other special circumstances. The collection of information is conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.6.

6. If applicable, provide a copy and iden­tify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency's notice, required by 5 CFR 1320.8 (d), soliciting com­ments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB. Summarize public com­ments received in response to that notice and describe actions taken by the agency in response to these comments. Specifically address com­ments received on cost and hour burden.

A notice asking for comments on this information collection was published in the Federal Register on February 15, 2015, at 80 FR 7627. No public comments were received in response to this notice.

Describe efforts to consult with persons out­side the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and record keeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.

These interagency forms are part of an effort by participating agencies to adopt a standardized approach. Cooperating Associations, Friend Groups, Youth organizations, HR managers, youth program managers, and volunteer managers were engaged in the design and review of the on-line forms.

The following individuals represent the agencies currently participating (or who have participated in the past) as proponents of this information collection for one or more of the on-line forms. These agencies were contacted to obtain their views on availability of data; frequency of collection; the clarity of instructions and record keeping; disclosure or reporting format; and data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.

Participating Agencies and Contact Information

Agency	Contact Information
USDA – FS	Merlene Mazyck, 202-205-0650, mmazyck@fs.fed.us
DOI – All bureaus	Marta Kelly, 202-513-7229 marta_kelly@nps.gov
National Resources Conservation Service	Michele Brown, (515) 289-0325, Michele.Brown@ia.usda.gov
Army Corps of Engineers	Mary Coulombe, Heather Burke, (503) 808-4313, heather.d.burke@usace.army.mil
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration	Michelle Miller, Kim Marshall, Tracy Hajduk, 301-713-7279

Via a series of meetings during 2014, these staffers provided input on the desired content, format, and collection processes for this on-line collection of forms.

Consultation with representatives of those from whom information is to be obtained or those who must compile records should occur at least once every 3 years even if the col­lection of information activity is the same as in prior periods. There may be circumstances that may preclude consultation in a specific situation. These circumstances should be explained.

Many of our partners and program participants have been requesting an on-line method to provide information for many years. We are meeting customer expectations with this effort. The following individuals are a list of partner organizations that have been consulted and provided comments during 2014. The on-line forms were made available and input from these individuals was incorporated. General comments were that the on-line forms and information being requested are easy to understand and that the forms are very similar to the current efforts and reduce the burden on partners to share data with federal agencies. It would take about 3 to 10 minutes to fill out each form.

POC	Partner Organization	Contact Information
Valarie Bailey	Student Conservation Association	(703) 524-2441
Sherrie Barker	Individual Volunteer	g_shan_12@yahoo.com
Eugenie Bostrom	Conservation Legacy	(970) 403-1149
Harry Bruell	Conservation Legacy	(970) 403-1149
Michael Degnan	Council on Environmental Quality	(202) 456-1414
Ray Foote	National Forest Foundation	(406) 542-2805
Joe Gersen	Public Lands Service Coalition	(202) 737-6272
Rob Glazier	Corporation for National and Community Service	(202) 606-7548
Stephanie Hall	US Senator John McCain	(602) 952-2410
Erin Healy	California Conservation Corps	(703) 524-2441
Laura Herrin	Student Conservation Association	(703) 524-2441
Don Hunger	Student Conservation Association	(703) 524-2441
Destry Jarvis	Public Lands Service Coalition	(202) 737-6272
John Kelly	Corporation for National and Community Service	(202) 606-7556
William Kirell	Individual Volunteer	wkirell@gmail.com
Dan Knapp	Los Angeles Conservation Corps	(213) 362-9000
Ruth Lampi	Corporation for National and Community Service	(202) 606-3915
Devin Lang	Individual Volunteer	dml96@comcast.net
Julie Marsh	The Wilderness Society	(202) 833-2300
Tess Mason-Elder	Franklin Project, Civic Enterprises	(202) 898-0310
Jono McKinney	Montana Conservation Corps	(406) 587-4475
Maureen Melson	Individual Volunteer	mmelson@gmail.com
Rosa Moreno-Mahoney	Corporation for National and Community Service	(202) 606-7556
Levi Novey	The Corps Network	(202) 737-6272
Jody Olsen	National Fish and Wildlife Foundation	(202) 857-0162
Jeff Parker	Northwest Youth Corps	(541) 349-5055
Tess Richey	The Corps Network	(202) 737-6272
Bruce Saito	Los Angeles Conservation Corps	(213) 362-9000
Paul Sanford	The Wilderness Society	(202) 833-2300
Parc Smith	American Youth Works	(512) 744-1900
Rob Spath	Arizona Conservation Corps	(928) 526-3280
Mary Ellen Sprenkel	The Corps Network	(202) 737-6272
Ben Thomas	Rocky Mountain Youth Corps	(970) 879-2135
Bobby Tillett	The Corps Network	(202) 737-6272
Hannah Traverse	The Corps Network	(202) 737-6272
Marie Walker	The Corps Network	(202) 737-6272
Scott Weaver	Student Conservation Association	(703) 524-2441
Jaclyn Zelcko	Individual Volunteer	jzelko28@gmail.com

6. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than re-enumeration of contractors or grantees.

No payment or gifts are provided for the collection of the information.

6. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

The following Privacy Act Systems of Record cover the collection of this information:

• OPM/GOVT-1: General Personnel Records

• OPM/GOVT-5: Recruiting, Examining, and Placement Records

• DOI—5: Interior Volunteer Services file System

• DOI—58: Employee Administrative Records--Interior

Each on-line form will shows the presence of online Privacy Act statement and Burden Statement.

In addition, the Privacy Act requirements of some modules are satisfied by Government-wide Systems of Records and others are satisfied by DOI specific Systems of Records. Since this ICR establishes common forms, agencies using the common forms are responsible to ensure they have satisfied the Privacy Act Requirements with their own Systems of Records as necessary.

6. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior or attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private. This justification should include the reasons why the agency considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.

Gender, disability, race, ethnicity, and veteran status is optional to provide for those who earn credit for time served with the PLC, which may be used towards future Federal hiring; and provide former members of the PLC noncompetitive hiring status for a period of not more than 120 days after completion of PLC service This information is commonly captured government-wide for prospective job applicants.

6. Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information. Indicate the number of respondents, frequency of response, annual hour burden, and an explanation of how the burden was estimated.

Please note: with this submission, the Agency is requesting that some of these forms be approved as Common Forms. This submission will only report DOI’s burden, and not the burden of other participating Agencies. Upon approval of this request, other participating Agencies will become responsible to report and account for their individual burden to OMB independently.

The estimate of the number of respondents was estimated by reviewing the program and participant accomplishment report data for Fiscal Years 2011 - 2013. All time estimates were established through system testing and will be validated by partner organizations once each module is implemented. Most partner organizations are seasonal in nature so time reporting estimates were made based on a 6 month season which is 26 weekly reporting cycles. Based on these assumptions, the following annual burden table was prepared:

The estimated hourly wage estimate is from the Independent Sector’s Value for Volunteer Time located at: http://www.independentsector.org/volunteer_time , which establishes in arrears (by one year) the average national value of a contributed volunteer hour in the United States. The 2013. value $22.55 per hour and has been increasing by approximately 2% per year for the last several years. Based on this we projected the value to be approximates $23.00 in 2014, $23.46 for 2015, and $23.93 for 2016. These three amounts were averaged to arrive at an average volunteer rate of $23.46 per hour.

Based on these assumptions the entire information collection is estimated at 80,411 hours for a total cost equivalent of $1,885,663.

Record keeping burden:

There is no record keeping burden placed upon respondents in relation to this Information Collection.

6. Provide estimates of the total annual cost burden to respondents or record keepers resulting from the collection of information, (do not include the cost of any hour burden shown in items 12 and 14). The cost estimates should be split into two components: (a) a total capital and start-up cost component annualized over its expected useful life, and (b) a total operation and maintenance and purchase of services component.

There are no non-hour costs.

6. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government. Provide a description of the method used to estimate cost and any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information.

*Rate taken from OPM salary table for current year

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2015/GS_h.pdf

Note that all costs listed above are being funded with existing government FTEs and program funds.

6. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported.

This is a renewal of what was originally submitted as an emergency collection. As such, all burden estimates are the same with the exception of the two new modules that have been added. The new modules caused a program increase of burden as follows:

Module	Hours Increase	Cost Increase
Volunteer Time Tracking Portal	1,733	$40,664
FWS Volunteer Tracker Module	6,875	$161,288
Total	8,608	$201,952

6. For collections of information whose results are planned to be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication.

Other than inclusion in general summary agency reports, there were no plans for publishing or tabulation of partner, youth programs or volunteer information. No specific individuals or partner information will be reported.

6. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

The valid OMB control number, expiration date and Burden Statement will be displayed on the login page for the system prior to any information collections being presented.

6. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in item 19, "Certification Requirement for Paperwork Reduction Act."

No exceptions.

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