Justification for Generic Collection

OMB Control # 2010-0042 Expiration Date: 3/31/2021

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 2010-0042)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Focus Groups with Farmworkers – Evaluating Draft Radio Scripts.

PURPOSE: EPA is planning to conduct focus groups to evaluate the effectiveness and cultural acceptability of four Spanish-language radio scripts on pesticide safety practices from the EPA’s Worker Protection Standard (WPS). To accomplish this, EPA is proposing to conduct focus groups sessions with farm workers to listen to the radio messages and share their perceptions.

The objective of the focus group sessions will be to evaluate the content of the radio messages to ensure the radio scripts are clearly communicating the message as intended and are culturally acceptable.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Respondents will be Spanish-speaking adult men and women who are seasonal or migratory farmworkers who work in agriculture. The moderator will split men and women into separate groups.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

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

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

[X] Focus Group [ ] Other:______________________

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: Jeanne Kasai | kasai.jeanne@epa.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 [X] No

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

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [X ] Yes [] No $25/person.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Individuals	40	60 minutes	60 minutes
Totals	40	240 minutes	4 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $25,443.51. The budget is:

Hispanic Communications Network for the preparation of radio scripts, radio message recordings, preparation for focus group sessions:

• Project Director: $ 921.51 (4 hours @$230.38)

• Project Manager: $4,022.39 (24 hours @ $167.60)

• Art/Creative Director: $1,532.41 (8 hours @ $191.55)

• Communications Manager/Advisor: $1,445.46 (8 hours @ $180.68)

• Writer/Editor: $ 957.73 (8 hours @ $119.72)

$8,879.51

University of California At Berkley –

School of Public Health and Health Initiative of the Americas

- $3,750 per focus group session (includes $25 incentive)

X 4

$15,000

*Travel/Lodging: $1,564.00

Estimate for travel of focus group moderator and 3 facilitators,

and one director from the Hispanic Communications Network.  

*NOTE: Travel funds may not be incurred given the CORVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions. In that case, focus groups will be conducted remotely using smartphones.

TOTAL $25,443.51

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? [ ] 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?

• DESCRIPTION

Local community leaders will work with farmworker communities to identify participants using the following screening questions:

• Are you older than 18?

• Are you a worker who handles, comes in contact, or works with surfaces treated with pesticides or an agricultural worker?

• Do you listen to Spanish-language radio more than 5 hours each week?

• Do you have a smartphone? If so, are you able to connect to a focus group session via a hyperlink or a toll-free number?

Persons who answer yes to all questions may be recruited. Participants will be adult men and women Spanish-speaking farmworkers recruited from the Fresno and Sonoma areas of California. Xochitl Castaneda – of the University of California at Berkeley-School of Public Health and Executive Director of Health Initiative of the Americas, plus her team of bilingual/bicultural health media and education experts will help recruit up to 20 farmworkers per location (up to 40 total).

Administration of the Instrument

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

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ X ] Other, Explain

The plan has changed to use Zoom or WhatsApp to accommodate social distancing amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic. (They are pre-testing Zoom now and are considering WhatsApp if Zoom does not work well.) Participants will be recruited if they have a smartphone and can connect to digital focus groups via a hyperlink sent or a toll-free number to connect. Local team leaders working with farm workers and pesticide handlers will hold initial tutorial sessions for participants so they can easily connect and understand how to participate in the focus groups via Zoom or WhatsApp.

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

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice:

This collection of information is approved by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. (OMB Control No. 2010-0042). An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to be 1.67 hours per response. Send comments on the Agency’s need for this information, the accuracy of the provided burden estimates and any suggested methods for minimizing respondent burden including through the use of automated collection techniques to the Director, Regulatory Support Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2821T), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20460.  Include the OMB control number in any correspondence.  Do not send the completed form to this address.

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