From: Klara Zimmerman [mailto:Klara_Zimmerman@abtassoc.com] 
Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2015 9:11 AM
To: [Addressees]
Cc: Wen, Chen <Wen.Chen@epa.gov>; Williams, Bridget <Williams.Bridget@epa.gov>
Subject: Request for feedback on Safer Choice Partner of the Year Awards

I'm writing from Abt Associates on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Safer Choice Program.  We're currently supporting Safer Choice in conducting research on the burden associated with its Partner of the Year Awards.  The Paperwork Reduction Act requires that federal agencies re-evaluate every three years the recordkeeping and reporting burden associated with information collection requests of this nature.  

As a potential respondent, we would value your feedback about the burden associated with the Partner of the Year Awards to ensure that our estimates are reasonable.  In this ICR renewal, there is no change in the number of hours in the total estimated respondent burden compared with that identified in the ICR currently approved by OMB.  

Attached is a copy of the Information Collection Request (ICR) for the Safer Choice 2016 Partner of the Year Awards.  For your reference, here is a link to the federal register notice:  https://federalregister.gov/a/2015-25172. 

Please give particular attention to Section 6 of the ICR, which includes burden estimates associated with the Partner of the Year Awards application.  When reviewing, please consider the following questions:

      (i) is the proposed collection of information necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, including whether the information will have practical utility?;

      (ii) are the Agency's estimates of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used, reasonable and accurate?;

      (iii) could the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected be improved?

We would greatly appreciate your feedback on the above items and also value your suggestions for future improvements to the Partner of the Year awards.  Please send me any comments or feedback by Tuesday, December 1st.

Thanks in advance for your time and assistance.

Sincerely,
Klara Zimmerman


Klara Zimmerman
Environment & Natural Resources Division | Abt Associates
4550 Montgomery Avenue Suite 800 North | Bethesda, MD 20814
301·634·1722 | www.abtassociates.com
