Generic Clearance Form

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 1910-5160)

T ITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: WINDExchange Newsletter Survey

PURPOSE:

WINDExchange is the EERE Wind and Water Power Technologies Office's (WWPTO's) platform for disseminating information about wind energy. Its purpose is to enable well-informed decisions about the appropriate deployment of wind energy and it is responsible for stakeholder engagement and outreach activities critical to WWPTO’s market acceleration and wind deployment efforts.

WINDExchange maintains an online newsletter with over 11,000 readers. Because WINDExchange is WWPTO's outreach program for wind, improving the accuracy, quality, and usability of the newsletter will increase the office's ability to reach and communicate meaningfully to its primary audiences: the wind industry and private citizens interested in wind energy. User feedback will help us identify ways to improve the newsletter.

None of the information collected will be distributed publicly. It will only be used internally, by the WINDExchange team, to improve the quality of the newsletter.

The survey asks which parts of the newsletter the readers like most and if they would like the content or frequency of the newsletter to change. The survey asks no questions about the readers and requests no PII.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

As of September 18, 2014, the newsletter had 10,726 subscribers from the private sector. These are individuals who have chosen to sign up for the WINDExchange newsletter. They are industry professionals and wind enthusiasts nationwide who are interested in news, webinars, and events from the wind industry. There are also approximately 673 federal employees from organizations and laboratories across the country.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

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

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

[ ] 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: Patrick Gilman _____________________________

(patrick.gilman@ee.doe.gov)

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

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
Newsletter subscribers:	10,726	5 minutes	893 hours
Totals			893 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is

Approximately $5,000. This includes:

• Drafting survey questions

• Revisions to the questions with the U.S. Department of Energy and the Office of Management and Budget

• Coding the survey in Survey Monkey

• Writing a story that invites readers to take the survey. This will be used in 2 issues of the newsletter.

• Collecting and analyzing survey information at the end of the survey

• Preparing a basic report showing the results of the survey. This report will be an internal-only document that will only be reviewed by the WINDExchange team and the Wind and Water Power Program.

This work is being primarily produced by staff at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Communications Office. Due to their billing rate, this represents about 35 hours of work for the project.

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?

We will only send the survey to subscribers of the WINDExchange newsletter. This is an opt-in newsletter. All of its readers requested their subscription through EERE's GovDelivery account.

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 make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

Instructions for completing Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback”

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Provide the name of the collection that is the subject of the request. (e.g. Comment card for soliciting feedback on xxxx)

PURPOSE: Provide a brief description of the purpose of this collection and how it will be used. If this is part of a larger study or effort, please include this in your explanation.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Provide a brief description of the targeted group or groups for this collection of information. These groups must have experience with the program.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: Check one box. If you are requesting approval of other instruments under the generic, you must complete a form for each instrument.

CERTIFICATION: Please read the certification carefully. If you incorrectly certify, the collection will be returned as improperly submitted or it will be disapproved.

Personally Identifiable Information: Provide answers to the questions. Note: Agencies should only collect PII to the extent necessary, and they should only retain PII for the period of time that is necessary to achieve a specific objective.

Gifts or Payments: If you answer yes to the question, please describe the incentive and provide a justification for the amount.

BURDEN HOURS:

Category of Respondents: Identify who you expect the respondents to be in terms of the following categories: (1) Individuals or Households; (2) Private Sector; (3) State, local, or tribal governments; or (4) Federal Government. Only one type of respondent can be selected per row.

No. of Respondents: Provide an estimate of the Number of Respondents.

Participation Time: Provide an estimate of the amount of time (in minutes) required for a respondent to participate (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group)

Burden: Provide the Annual burden hours: Multiply the Number of Respondents and the Participation Time then divide by 60.

FEDERAL COST: Provide an estimate of the annual cost to the Federal government.

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. Please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them. If the answer is yes, to the first question, you may provide the sampling plan in an attachment.

Administration of the Instrument: Identify how the information will be collected. More than one box may be checked. Indicate whether there will be interviewers (e.g. for surveys) or facilitators (e.g., for focus groups) used.

Submit all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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