Justification

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery”

(OMB Control Number: 2030-0051; EPA ICR Number: 2434.256)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Focus groups for feedback on the EJ TCTACs

PURPOSE:

EPA has selected 17 Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACs) in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy to help underserved and overburdened communities across the country.  Each center, operating in cooperative agreements with EPA, will assist in removing barriers and improve accessibility for communities with environmental justice concerns by providing training and other assistance to build capacity for navigating federal grant application systems, writing strong grant proposals, and effectively managing grant funding. In addition, these centers will provide guidance on community engagement, meeting facilitation, and translation and interpretation services for limited English-speaking participants, thus removing barriers and improving accessibility for communities with environmental justice concerns. Each center will also create and manage communication channels to ensure all communities have direct access to resources and information.

With this ICR, the TCTACs seek authorization to collect information from program participants (i.e., those community stakeholders who receive the technical assistance from the EJ TCTACs) on services or products (such as guidance, information, training, and technical assistance) needed to address environmental and energy justice. The TCTACs will be in operation for a five-year period. This information will initially be collected with focus groups. The focus groups will allow the TCTACs to better understand the needs of the program participants receiving technical assistance (TA) and help the TCTACs identify pathways for how to best address those needs. The focus groups will be used to collect targeted information in moderated, small group settings.

The EJ TCTAC program supports Executive Order 13985 Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through the Federal Government (January 20, 2021), Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad (January 27, 2021), and Executive Order 14096 to Revitalize Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for all. Executive Order 14096 includes a mandate to “provide opportunities for the meaningful engagement of persons and communities with environmental justice concerns…” These efforts will seek input, ideas, recommendation, and feedback to influence the TCTAC program and services provided.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The target audiences for this effort will be both other participating TCTACs and recipients of TCTACs services and products. Program participants will vary but may include community leaders, community members, community-based organization staff, locally elected officials, and local government staff from underserved communities and communities in remote and rural areas from across the nation, including Indian Country and territories.

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:

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

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [X] Yes [ ] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [X] Yes [ ] 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

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Individuals	510	3 hours/person	1,530 hours
State, local, or tribal governments	340	3 hours/person	1,020 hours
Totals	850		2,550 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $0. The TCTACs, operating as cooperative agreements, are solely responsible for executing this outreach and collecting the information resulting from these focus groups.

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?

Administration of the Instrument

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

   1. [ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

   2. [ ] Telephone

   3. [ ] In-person

   4. [ ] Mail

   5. [ X ] Other, Explain – A focus group may be supported virtually or in-person

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

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

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: Larissa Mark, PhD

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