Scope of the Programmatic Clearance Process

The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) requires agencies to demonstrate the practical utility of the information that they propose to collect and to balance this against the burden imposed on the public. Thus, it is critical that agencies describe the need for the information and how it will be used. Without a clear justification, OMB cannot approve the collection. The burden on the public must also be completely accounted for and minimized to the extent possible while still yielding useful information.

The Programmatic Clearance Process is designed for information collections that focus on the awareness, understanding, attitudes, preferences, or experiences of NPS visitors or other stakeholders relating to existing or future services, products or communication materials. The data collections eligible for the Programmatic Clearance Process will typically be used to improve existing or future services/programs, products, or communication materials.

As a general matter, the following kinds of collections fall under the Programmatic Clearance Process:

• Visitor feedback;
• Focus groups;
• One-time or panel discussion groups;
• Moderated, un-moderated, in-person, and/or remote-usability studies;
• Testing of a survey or other collection to refine questions;
• On-line surveys; and
• Customer satisfaction qualitative surveys (e.g., those designed to detect early warning signs of dissatisfaction with agency service delivery).

The programmatic review process is designed for data collections meeting the following criteria:

• The purpose of the collection is to assist the agency in improving existing or future service deliveries, products, or communication materials;
• Participation by respondents is voluntary;
• The collection does not impose a significant burden on respondents;
• The collection must have practical utility for improving existing or future service deliveries, products, or communication materials; and
• Public dissemination of results is not intended.

Examples of collections that DO NOT fall under the Programmatic Review Process and would require submission through the regular review process are:

• Surveys that will be used for making significant policy or resource allocation decisions;
• Collections that impose significant burden on respondents or significant costs on the government;
• Collections that involve potentially controversial topics or that raise issues of significant concern to other agencies;
• Collections that require or request the use of monetary or non-monetary incentives; (NOTE: Incentives of a de minimis nature (e.g., no cost to the government) may be considered.)
• Collections that are intended for the purpose of basic research and do not directly benefit the agency’s customer service delivery;
• Collections that will be used for program evaluation and performance measurement purposes;
• Collections that employ stated preference or stated choice techniques (to estimate economic values for ecosystem services or environmental goods).

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