The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) requests your participation in an online survey to understand how stakeholders receive, use, and contribute to BOEM-funded environmental studies and assessments. This survey is part of an ongoing BOEM-sponsored project on “Evaluating Connections: BOEM’s Environmental Studies and Assessments.” This important project aims to understand how BOEM’s scientific research contributes to BOEM’s environmental assessments and vice versa, as well as their influence on the external (i.e., non-BOEM) community.
During the internal portion of this project, BOEM identified you as a key contact at an agency, institution, or other organization that BOEM collaborates with on environmental studies and/or assessment work (e.g., NEPA, Section 106, etc.). The survey focuses on how external stakeholders like you use BOEM studies and assessment information; and how information is exchanged between BOEM and external stakeholders.
The survey will ask whether and how you receive and use information about the results from BOEM studies and assessments. It will also ask you to confirm individuals within BOEM with whom you communicate on studies and assessments, provide information about those connections, and indicate whether you disseminate information from your interactions with BOEM to other organizations. Your responses will be used to develop network maps and metrics that explain the structure of BOEM’s “network” and how information flows throughout the network.
The PDF attachment includes the names of BOEM personnel in each BOEM office/region who work on studies, assessments, or both or who supervise staff who do. You may wish to review the attached list of personnel to refresh your memory prior to completing the survey regarding your connections to BOEM’s studies and assessments.
Your participation in the survey is voluntary. Full and candid responses will help ensure that the study results are accurate and helpful. Please do not provide any Personal Identifiable Information (PII) that you view as sensitive or that viewed in the context of the survey would be considered sensitive (e.g., Social Security number, driver’s license, etc.). BOEM has contracted with an independent consulting firm, Industrial Economics, Incorporated (IEc), to collect and analyze the survey responses. All responses will be presented at the organization level; individual names will not be disclosed in the presentation of findings or analysis.
Please complete the survey at the following link: {insert survey link}.
Please complete the survey within the next two (2) weeks. It should take 20 minutes or less to complete. We encourage you to take the survey on your laptop or desktop – not a mobile device – for a more user-friendly experience.
BOEM’s Environmental Studies Program and Environmental Assessment Program
BOEM’s mission is to manage the development of U.S. Outer Continental Shelf energy and mineral resources in an environmentally and economically responsible way. In fulfilling its mission, BOEM must comply with a range of environmental requirements, including but not limited to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Endangered Species Act, Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Coastal Zone Management Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act. BOEM develops environmental assessments, including NEPA documents, consultation documents, and other analyses that use the best available information to comply with relevant statutes and policies. Environmental studies funded by BOEM’s Environmental Studies Program (ESP) provide scientific information (including the biological, physical, and social sciences as broadly defined) to inform BOEM’s environmental assessments.
For purposes of the current project, the term “environmental assessment” encompasses the diversity of analyses that BOEM’s Environmental Assessment Program undertakes and is not restricted to NEPA environmental assessments. For example, the following types of documents are considered within BOEM’s environmental assessments: NEPA environmental impact statements; NEPA environmental assessments; National Historic Preservation Act documents (including section 106 evaluations of effects on historic properties and programmatic agreements); essential fish habitat assessments for Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act consultations; Endangered Species Act section 7 biological evaluations or biological assessments; analyses and assessments prepared to comply with the Clean Air Act, Coastal Zone Management Act, and Marine Mammal Protection Act; and analyses and assessments such as engineering analyses, regulatory impact analyses, resource evaluations, additional NEPA-related analyses, site assessments, and cost-benefit analyses prepared for the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and other regulatory requirements.
Privacy Notice
We invite you to review the attached Privacy Notice, which provides information about the authority for the data collection, purpose of the collection, method of the collection, who will have access to the collected information, and how the BOEM Evaluation Team and contractor will maintain and use the collected information.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) Statement
BOEM is collecting this information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) to gather feedback to better understand how stakeholders receive, use, and contribute to BOEM-funded environmental studies and assessments.
Responses are voluntary, and BOEM will not share the results publicly. BOEM estimates the survey will take you 20 minutes to complete. This includes the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the survey.
BOEM may not conduct or sponsor and you are not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. OMB has reviewed and approved this survey and assigned OMB Control Number 1010-xxxx. Comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this form may be submitted to the Information Collection Clearance Officer, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, VA 20166.
Information Collection Request
{Placeholder for OMB Control Number and expiration date}
Questions
If you have any questions about this project, please contact Megan Davidson at: Megan.Davidson@boem.gov.
Introduction
Thank you for participating in this survey. You received this survey because a BOEM scientist identified you as an external contact for studies and assessment work. The survey focuses on how external (i.e., non-BOEM) stakeholders like you use BOEM studies and assessment information and how information is exchanged between BOEM and external stakeholders.
Your participation in the survey is voluntary. Full and candid responses will help ensure that the study results are accurate and helpful. Please do not provide any Personal Identifiable Information (PII) that you view as sensitive or that viewed in the context of the survey would be considered sensitive (e.g., Social Security number, driver’s license, etc.). All responses will be presented at the organization level; individual names will not be disclosed in the presentation of findings or analysis.
While taking the survey, it is possible that you will run across a question that is difficult to answer. Please answer to the best of your ability, using your professional judgment. Your responses are important to this research. The survey requires approximately 20 minutes or less to complete. Please ensure that you have ample time to complete the survey as it will reset automatically if you close the browser prematurely.
Note: To move backwards, do not use your web browser’s back button as this will erase your responses. Instead, click the “previous” button at the bottom of the screen. The “next” button will advance you to the next page. Please take the survey on a laptop/desktop for a smoother experience.
Respondent’s Role in Communicating with BOEM
Note: Throughout this survey, “your work” refers to tasks and responsibilities that you personally carry out for your agency, institution, or organization.
In your work, in what role(s) have you communicated with BOEM within the last 24 months? Select all that apply.
Principal investigator on one or more BOEM studies
Member of a research team on one or more BOEM studies
Subject matter expert for BOEM studies and/or assessments
Federal, state, or other public agency that manages similar trust resources as BOEM
Research program at a federal, state, or other public agency
Research program at a college or university
Cooperating agency that works with BOEM on assessments
Organization/entity affected by BOEM policy or planning decisions
Other – please specify [open text]
Receiving Information from BOEM Studies
Do you receive information from BOEM studies?
Yes
No [skip to Question 8]
How do you receive information from BOEM studies? Check all that apply.
Conferences
Webinar presentations
Direct interactions with staff at BOEM
Direct interactions with staff at federal agencies other than BOEM
Direct interactions with staff at state agencies
Direct interactions with academics collaborating with BOEM on a study
Newsletter from BOEM office
Internet searches for specific topical information which includes results from BOEM studies or assessments
Visiting BOEM website
Using the BOEM Environmental Studies Program Information System (ESPIS)
Not applicable
Other – please specify [open text]
Use of Information – Studies
How do you use the information that you receive from BOEM studies? Select all that apply. If you do not use information from BOEM studies, select “Not applicable.”
To inform policy
To develop NEPA analyses
To develop other types of environmental, social, or economic assessments
To develop or implement mitigations
For use in an environmental damage assessment
To inform future research
For use in a model
To teach others
Not applicable [skip to Question 6]
Other – please specify [open text]
Please list specific examples for your answer to the previous question – i.e., specific policies, analyses, assessments, mitigations, damage assessments, research, models, teaching opportunities, etc. that were informed by information you received from BOEM studies. [open text]
Overall, how useful are BOEM studies in providing scientific information to inform your environmental analyses? If you do not use information from BOEM studies to inform your environmental analyses, or you do not conduct environmental analyses, select “Not applicable.”
Useless
Somewhat useless
Neither useful nor useless
Somewhat useful
Very useful
Not applicable
Overall, how useful are BOEM studies in providing scientific information to inform your organization’s relevant policy and planning decisions? If your organization does not use information from BOEM studies to inform its policy and planning decisions, or if your organization does not make policy and planning decisions that relate to BOEM study topics, select “Not applicable.”
Useless
Somewhat useless
Neither useful nor useless
Somewhat useful
Very useful
Not applicable
Receiving Information from BOEM Assessments
Do you receive information from BOEM assessments?
Yes
No [skip to Question 12]
How do you receive information from BOEM assessments? Check all that apply.
Conferences.
Webinar presentations.
Direct interactions with staff at BOEM
Direct interactions with staff at federal agencies other than BOEM
Direct interactions with staff at state agencies
Direct interactions with academics collaborating with BOEM on a study
Newsletter from BOEM office
Internet searches for specific topical information which includes results from BOEM studies or assessments
Visiting BOEM website
Public meetings
Public notices on availability of NEPA documents
Not applicable
Other – please specify [open text]
Use of Information – Assessments
How do you use the information from BOEM assessments? Select all that apply. If you do not use information from BOEM assessments, select “Not applicable.”
To inform policy
To develop NEPA analyses
To develop other types of environmental, social, or economic assessments
To develop or implement mitigations
For use in an environmental damage assessment
To inform public comments submitted on specific agency actions
To inform future research
For use in a model
To teach others
Not applicable [skip to Question 12]
Other – please specify [open text]
Please list specific examples for your answer to the previous question – i.e., specific policies, analyses, assessments, mitigations, damage assessments, public comments, research, models, teaching opportunities, etc. that were informed by information you received from BOEM assessments. [open text]
Information About You
Please provide your first name, last name, and organization. This information is needed for the survey analysis to describe connections between your organization and contacts in BOEM programs/regional offices. For example, your response may show if you identified the same contact(s) in your response as the BOEM contact(s) who identified you in their response. As a reminder, all responses will be presented at the organization level; individual names will not be disclosed in the presentation of the survey findings or analysis.
First name: [open text]
Last name: [open text]
Organization: [open text]
What office or department do you work in? [open text]
BOEM Contacts
Please list up to five (5) people at BOEM that you interact with in the development or implementation of BOEM studies, the development of analyses for environmental assessments, or from whom you receive information about BOEM studies or assessments. If you interact with more than five (5) people at BOEM, include the five (5) that you consider the most important for your work. Consider people you interacted with at least once within the last 24 months.
You may wish to refer to the PDF version of the list you received with the notification email to gather your thoughts about your most important connections (and limit scrolling).
[Note for reviewers: A PDF file with the names of BOEM personnel who work on studies and/or assessments will be attached to the survey notification email. Question 14 will include a dropdown menu with the list of names in the PDF file. Respondents will be allowed to select up to five names from the dropdown menu.]
For each person in the table, please report the subject of interactions you have with the individual. Fill out the boxes as though completing the sentence, “I interact with this person to. . .” [Note for reviewers: The survey will show the list of names reported in Question 14]
Name |
(a)…collaborate on BOEM studies |
(b)…collaborate on BOEM assessments |
(c)…receive information from BOEM studies |
(d)…receive information from BOEM assessments |
[Pre-filled] |
[Yes/No] |
[Yes/No] |
[Yes/No] |
[Yes/No] |
For each person, please indicate how often you interact with the person related to your studies and/or assessment work. Please use the drop-down menus in each column to indicate your answer. [Note for reviewers: The survey will show the list of names reported in Question 14]
Name |
Frequency of Interactions |
[Pre-filled] |
[Drop-down:
|
Did you interact with these contacts more often, less often, or about the same before the COVID-19 pandemic started? If you did not interact with any of these contacts before COVID-19 started, select “not applicable.”
I interacted with my contacts more often before COVID.
I interacted with my contacts less often before COVID.
I interacted with my contacts about the same amount before COVID.
Not applicable.
Other Contacts
Please indicate up to five (5) organizations that you interacted with to share information about BOEM studies and assessments within the last 24 months. This includes sharing information from studies and assessments, even if you do not share the study reports or assessment documents themselves. If you shared information with more than five (5) organizations, please include the five (5) that you consider the most important for your work. Please consider contacts at federal agencies, state agencies, academics/universities, tribes, regional organizations, and other external partners. If none, please indicate “None.”
External Organization |
Office |
[Open text] |
[Open text optional] |
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Catherine Foley |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2022-01-30 |