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: 2434.270)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

“Pipe Up” Campaign Phase 3: Campaign Message Testing

PURPOSE:

Sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) are generally caused by a lack of treatment capacity, systemic breakdowns (equipment failure, blockages due to fats/oils/grease or non-flushable items), and/or excessive inflow and infiltration to both public and private elements of the wastewater system (illicit connections, leaky pipes). There is a shared responsibility to address the systematic causes of SSOs by both public entities (maintain treatment capacity at wastewater treatment plants, maintain equipment and prevent failure, fix leaky manholes/public main distribution lines) and private citizens (proper disposal of fats/oils/grease and non-flushable items, eliminate illicit connections, repair/replace failing privately-owned lateral lines, etc.). Within the Tampa Bay watershed, Pinellas County Utilities is now offering a Private Sewer Lateral (PSL) Rebate Program to eligible homeowners in neighborhoods identified as priority areas for PSL inspection and subsequent replacement or rehabilitation, if needed. Prior research has identified financial incentives as a potential solution to key barriers precluding homeowners from inspecting and repairing their PSLs. However, more research is needed to identify the most effective messages for increasing homeowners' participation in the PSL Rebate Program to ensure these financial resources are efficiently utilized and instances of SSOs can be significantly reduced within the watershed.

TBEP proposes to create a community-based social marketing campaign focused on private citizen behaviors that reduce the future occurrence of SSOs. Preliminary research funded through the TBEP was conducted during 2020-2021 to better understand the barriers and benefits to residential inspection, repair, and replacement of aging PSLs, with a focus on the behavioral determinants that could be leveraged to encourage the desired behaviors. A brief campaign titled “Pipe Up” was launched in 2021 targeting homebuyers, home inspectors, and plumbers, which produced a mostly positive sentiment in audiences, increased awareness of PSLs, and increased website engagement in the target audiences.With this new Rebate Program comes an opportunity to test the effectiveness of these financial incentives in generating real behavior change in target audiences and launch a new evidence-based social marketing campaign to increase homeowners' inspection and repair of their PSLs. The focus groups outlined in this request will be used to inform the design of a new study testing the effectiveness of campaign messages and a future social marketing campaign promoting voluntary homeowner inspection and subsequent repair (if needed) of PSLs using the Rebate Program as a financial incentive. This study will thus expand upon the existing knowledge of key drivers and barriers to voluntary PSL inspections/repairs to determine the most effective “Pipe Up” campaign messaging strategy for implementation in Pinellas County.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Approximately 55,000 single-family homes are within the eligible neighborhood zones of the PSL Rebate Program. Each focus group will consist of 8 residents (N = 24), with each focus group targeted toward residents within a specific neighborhood that qualifies for the Pinellas County PSL Rebate Program: Lealman, Seminole, or East Lake. To be included in the focus group, residents must meet the following criteria: (1) they own a home in the respective neighborhood, (2) they are between the ages of 25 to 60, and (3) they have not previously inspected or repaired their home's PSL.

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? [ ] 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

NOTE: Anonymized results will be published as open-access TBEP Technical Reports and/or peer-reviewed journal articles and made publicly available in the TBEP’s online library. No data or results containing PII will be disseminated to the public.

Gifts or Payments:

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

Focus group participants will be compensated $60, which is based on a rate of $20/hr and an additional $30 for travel costs, caregiving expenses, and other financial burdens that could be incurred due to participation.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Individuals	24	90 minutes	36 hr
Totals	24 respondents	1.5 hours	36 hr

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is: $2,930.52

• Compensation provided to focus group participants: 24*$60.00 = $480.00

• Assume 36 hours total of EPA senior team member (GS 13, Step 10) review all the information:

  • Average hourly rate of a GS-13, Step 10 in the Atlanta area for 2024: $68.07

  • Cost for EPA senior team member: 36*$68.07 = $2,450.52

• Total Federal Cost per year: $480.00 + $2,450.52 = $2,930.52

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?

TBEP has access to a list of addresses for all properties within the eligible neighborhood zones of the PSL Rebate Program. Participants will be recruited through advertisements on social media, at key meeting places (e.g., community/recreation centers), and other points of contact (e.g. homeowner or neighborhood associations, local community leaders). To be included in the focus group, residents must meet the following criteria: (1) they own a home in the respective neighborhood, (2) they are between the ages of 25 to 60, and (3) they have not previously inspected or repaired their home's PSL. Efforts will be made to maximize the diversity of participants according to age, gender, and race.

Administration of the Instrument

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

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[X] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

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: Felicia Burks, EPA Region 4

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