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July 20, 2021



                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
                                       
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Table of Contents

Table of Contents	2
List of Appendices	4
List of Tables	5
PART A OF THE SUPPORTING STATEMENT	6
A.1	IDENTIFICATION OF THE INFORMATION COLLECTION	6
A.1.a	Title of the Information Collection Request	6
A.1.b	Short Characterization	6
A.2	NEED FOR AND USE OF THE COLLECTION	7
A.2.a	Authority and Need for the Collection	7
2(b) Practical Utility/Users of the Data	7
A.3	NONDUPLICATION, CONSULTATIONS AND OTHER COLLECTION CRITERIA	7
A.3.a	Non-duplication	8
A.3.b	Public Notice Required Prior to ICR Submission to OMB	8
A.3.c	Consultations	8
A.3.d 	Effects of Less Frequent Collection	9
A.3.e	General Guidelines	9
A.3.f	Confidentiality Questions	9
A.3.g	Sensitive Questions	10
A.4	THE RESPONDENTS AND THE INFORMATION REQUESTED	10
A.4.a	Respondents/NAICS Codes	10
A.4.b	Information Requested	10
A.5	INFORMATION COLLECTED: AGENCY ACTIVITIES, COLLECTION METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT	12
A.5.a	Agency Activities	12
A.5.b	Collection Methodology and Management	12
A.5.c	Small Entity Flexibility	14
A.5.d	Collection Schedule	14
A.6.a	Respondent Burden	15
A.6.b	Respondent Costs	15
A.6.c	Agency Burden and Cost	18
A.6.d	Estimating Respondent Universe and Total Burden and Costs	20
A.6.e	Bottom Line Burden Hours and Costs	20
A.6.f	Reasons for Change in Burden	21
A.6.g	Burden Statement 	21
PART B OF THE SUPPORTING STATEMENT (FOR STATISTICAL SURVEYS)	24
B.1	SURVEY OBJECTIVES, KEY VARIABLES AND OTHER PRELIMINARIES	26
B.1.a	Survey Objectives	26
B.1.b	Key Variables	26
B.1.c	Statistical Approach	27
B.1.d	Feasibility	27
B.2	SURVEY DESIGN	28
B.2.a	Target Population and Coverage	28
B.2.b	Sample Design	28
B.2.c	Precision Requirements	30
B.2.d	Data Collection Instrument Design	30
B.3	PRE-TESTS AND PILOT TEST	32
B.3.a	Pre-tests	32
B.3.b	Pilot Test	32
B.4	COLLECTION METHODS AND FOLLOW-UP	33
B.4.a	Collection Method	33
B.4.b	Survey Response and Follow-up	33
B.5	ANALYZING AND REPORTING SURVEY RESULTS	34
B.5.a	Data Preparation	34
B.5.b	Analysis	34
B.5.c	Reporting Results	34
Appendix A  -  Data Collection Instruments	35



List of Appendices

Appendix A  -  Data Collection Instrument

List of Tables

Table 1. List of names and contact information for three individuals who provided consultations	9
Table 2. Estimated Burden	15
Table 3. Average Hourly Wages for General and Operations Managers and Natural Sciences Managers	16
Table 4. Calculation of Weighted Average Hourly Wage for Stewardship Survey	17
Table 5. Estimated Cost Per Response	17
Table 6. Agency Burden and Cost	19
Table 7. Total Respondents Burden and Cost for Survey Respondents	20
Table 8. Bottom-Line Annual Burden and Cost for Respondents	20
Table 9. Bottom-Line Annual Agency Burden and Cost	21
Table 10. Target and Sampled Populations for Each Survey	28
Table 11. Sample by State for Stewardship Survey	29
Table 12. Statistical Precision Estimates for Stewardship Survey	30
PART A OF THE SUPPORTING STATEMENT
A.1	IDENTIFICATION OF THE INFORMATION COLLECTION	
A.1.a	Title of the Information Collection Request	
Chesapeake Bay Program Citizen Stewardship Index, Diversity Profile, and Local Leadership Surveys (New) 
EPA ICR Number 2679.01, OMB Control No. 2003-NEW
A.1.b	Short Characterization 	
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Chesapeake Bay Program (the Program) is interested in tracking its progress at attaining its goals under the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement (the Agreement). To do this, the Program plans to implement three surveys: the Citizen Stewardship Survey, the Diversity Profile Survey, and the Local Leadership Survey. 
EPA has specified the target audience and the implementation approach for each to maximize the data that can be obtained. The Citizen Stewardship Survey will be implemented as a multi-mode survey that includes phone, web, and mail components and will target approximately 5,200 residents living in the Chesapeake Bay area, stratified by jurisdiction (states and the District of Columbia). The Diversity Profile Survey will be implemented among people who work on partnership efforts within the Bay area as a web-based survey. The Local Leadership Survey will be implemented among state and local elected officials involved in policy making in the Bay area also as a web-based survey. The Diversity Profile Survey and the Local Leadership Survey will be implemented by having the survey link distributed via email by partner organizations and through list-servs. The Diversity Profile Survey will be distributed to approximately 900 people while the Local Leadership Survey will be distributed to approximately 15,000 people. 
The Program will be using the data from these three surveys to track it progress under the Stewardship goal of the 2014 Agreement. The Stewardship goal includes three outcomes: (1) Citizen Stewardship, (2) Local Leadership, and (3) Diversity. The three surveys under this ICR each address one of the outcomes and contribute to EPA's Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) goals (EPA Goal 1, A Cleaner, Healthier Environment; Objective 1.2: Provide for Clean and Safe Water). 
Both the Stewardship and Diversity Profile surveys were funded and implemented by other partners in the Chesapeake Bay area in prior years; the Local Leaders survey is new to the Program. The Program determined that the best approach for continued implementation of these surveys would be for the EPA to assume the responsibility for implementing these surveys; thus, EPA is seeking approval for implementing these surveys under this ICR. 
Collecting these data and publishing them for public review will allow the public to track how well the Agreement is working to preserve and protect the Chesapeake Bay region from the standpoint of the Stewardship goal outlined in the Agreement. Overall, the Agreement contains 10 goals and their associated outcomes; data for the other nine goals are collected through other means. Combining the data for Stewardship goal outcomes from these surveys with the data for the other nine goals will provide the public with a comprehensive picture of the progress being made to preserve and protect the Chesapeake Bay. 
A.2	NEED FOR AND USE OF THE COLLECTION	
A.2.a	Authority and Need for the Collection 	
The Section 117(b) of the Clean Water Act (CWA), amended in 2002, calls for the continuation of the Chesapeake Bay Program. Furthermore, Section 117(b)(2)(B)(iii) of the Act calls for "...implementing specific action plans to carry out the responsibilities of the signatories to the Chesapeake Bay Agreement" and Section 117(b)(2)(B)(i) calls for "...implementing and coordinating science, research, modeling, support services, monitoring, data collection, and other activities that support the Chesapeake Bay Program" (underlining added for emphasis). The three surveys being requested under this ICR are being implemented as data collection efforts to support the Program's Goals and Outcomes (an action plan) within the Agreement. 
The data are needed to track performance under the Stewardship goal under the Agreement. The Stewardship goal is stated as: 
      Increase the number and the diversity of local citizen stewards and local governments that actively support and carry out the conservation and restoration activities that achieve healthy local streams, rivers and a vibrant Chesapeake Bay.
To track progress in attaining this goal, the Agreement specifies three outcomes:
 Citizen Stewardship Outcome: Increase the number and diversity of trained and mobilized citizen volunteers with the knowledge and skills needed to enhance the health of their local watersheds.
 Local Leadership Outcome: Continually increase the knowledge and capacity of local officials on issues related to water resources and in the implementation of economic and policy incentives that will support local conservation actions.
 Diversity Outcome: Identify stakeholder groups that are not currently represented in the leadership, decision-making and implementation of conservation and restoration activities and create meaningful opportunities and programs to recruit and engage these groups in the Partnership's efforts.
The three surveys are aligned with the three outcomes stated above. 
2(b) Practical Utility/Users of the Data
The data will allow the EPA and the Program itself to track its progress at attaining the Stewardship goal under the Agreement. The data, when made public, will also allow the public to track the extent to which the Program is attaining its outcomes under the Stewardship goal.
A.3	NONDUPLICATION, CONSULTATIONS AND OTHER COLLECTION CRITERIA	
The following sections verify that this information collection satisfies the OMB's non-duplication and consultation guidelines and does not duplicate another collection.
A.3.a	Non-duplication	
To the best of EPA's knowledge, no other entity is collecting data that can be used to track the outcomes under the Agreement's Stewardship goal. As noted above, some of EPA's partners in the Chesapeake Bay area were implementing two of these surveys previously but will not do so in the future. Thus, EPA has agreed to assume the responsibility for these data collection efforts to ensure the data are available in the future to track outcomes.
Using non-survey approaches is not considered feasible to collect these data. A key consideration in this regard is the ability of EPA to compare this collection with prior years' data to allow for identifying trends in the metrics. Using an alternative approach would not be feasible for allowing comparison over time.
A.3.b	Public Notice Required Prior to ICR Submission to OMB 	
To comply with the 1995 Amendments to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), EPA solicited public comment on this ICR for a 60-day period on May 3, 2021. Specifically, EPA published a notice in the Federal Register (86 FR 23362) requesting comment on the estimated respondent burden and other aspects of this ICR (2679.01). This notice is included in Appendix A. EPA received no comments on the surveys. An additional Federal Register notice will be published when this ICR is submitted to OMB. The public comment period for this additional notice will be 30 days.
A.3.c	Consultations 	
In the preparation of this ICR, the EPA contacted a set of potential respondents for each survey. Those respondents are listed in Table 1 below. The names for the Local Leaders survey and the Diversity Profile survey were provided by the survey leads. For the Stewardship survey, ERG, EPA's contractor for developing this ICR, asked five of its employees who live in the Chesapeake Bay area to provide feedback. ERG conducted the consultations and asked the individuals in Table 1 to (1) complete a paper version of the survey, (2) provide feedback on the question wording or other aspects that may be confusing, and (3) provide an estimate of the time to complete the survey 
Feedback for each survey was as follows:
 For the Local Leaders survey, the average time among the three consultations was 8.5 minutes. Two of the respondents provided a few suggestions on wording to specific questions, but for the most part each respondent indicated it was easy to understand. 
 For the Diversity Profile survey, the average time to complete the survey was 3 minutes. In terms of content, respondents identified a few typos and made some suggestions for expanding response options for some questions. EPA implemented most of the suggested changes into final versions of the instrument. To ensure comparability with prior versions, EPA made only necessary revisions.
 For the Stewardship Survey, the average time to complete the survey was 25.6 minutes with a high of 30 and a low of 13 minutes. Overall, the respondents found the survey understandable. Suggestions from the consultations indicated some confusion over relevancy of some questions to the respondent's situation; these comments, however, were due to the consulting respondents using a paper copy and not the phone- or web-based version that would also be administered. Based on these comments, EPA ensured that the skip patterns in the draft version were correct to ensure respondent were only asked relevant questions. 

Table 1. List of names and contact information for three individuals who provided consultations
Name
Email Address
Local Leaders Survey
Richard Baugh
RBaugh@hooverpenrod.com
Donna Iannone 
Diannone@sullivancounty-pa.us
Ann Simonetti
asimonetti@comcast.net
Diversity Profile Survey
Gregory Barranco
Barranco.Greg@epa.gov
Laura Cattell Noll
Lnoll@allianceforthebay.org
Amy Handen
Handen.amy@epa.gov
Stewardship Survey
Raquel Drummond
Raquel.Drummond@erg.com
Sumayal Shrestha
Sumayal.Shrestha@erg.com
Mindy Mitchell
Mindy.Mitchell@erg.com
Lori Rhoades
Lori.Rhoades@erg.com
Sarah Biscardi
Sarah.Biscardi@erg.com

A.3.d 	Effects of Less Frequent Collection 	
Each of these surveys will be implemented once every two to three years. This will allow EPA to conduct at least one each year of the ICR approval and ensure respondents are not overly burdened in responding to these surveys. Additionally, EPA expects that once every two to three years is a reasonable frequency to identify changes in the data to discern trends. 
EPA will use these data to track progress in attaining its Stewardship goal under the Agreement. Less frequent collection of these data would mean EPA would have reduced knowledge of trends in the data and lead to a reduced ability to react to those trends. 
A.3.e	General Guidelines 	
These reporting or recordkeeping requirements do not violate any of the regulations promulgated by OMB under 5 CFR Part 1320, Section 1320.5.
A.3.f	Confidentiality Questions 	
None the information being collected in the three surveys is confidential. 
A.3.g	Sensitive Questions	
The Diversity Profile Survey asks respondents about their sexual orientation and whether or not they are disabled. In both cases, respondents can choose to provide no response or select a "prefer not to say" option. 


A.4	THE RESPONDENTS AND THE INFORMATION REQUESTED	
A.4.a	Respondents/NAICS Codes 	
The Local Leaders survey targets individuals in leadership positions in local governments in the Chesapeake Bay area. Thus, for the Local Leaders survey, the relevant NAICS codes are:
 921110 - Public Administration - Executive Offices
 924110 - Public Administration - Administration of Air and Water Resource and Solid Waste Management Programs
 924120 - Public Administration - Administration of Conservation Programs
The Diversity Profile Survey targets individuals working in roles to help preserve the Chesapeake Bay environment. Thus, the relevant NAICS codes are:
 541330 - Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services - Environmental engineering service
 813312 - Other Services (except Public Administration) - Environmental advocacy organizations
 924110 - Public Administration - Environmental protection program administration
Finally, since the Stewardship survey primarily targets the general public, the most relevant NAICS code is 814110, Other Services (except Public Administration) - Private Households

A.4.b	Information Requested 	
A.4.b.i 	Data Items 	
The Local Leaders survey asks about the following data items:
 The respondent's role in the community (title, in decision-making, functionally)
 The size and location of the community
 Several questions on the extent to which their community takes into account upstream and downstream communities when making decisions, both overall and in specific policies
 Priorities for conservation and restoration activities and policies
 The impact that protecting the Chesapeake Bay has on the various aspects (e.g., economic, water quality) of the community
 Tools that the community considers in protecting Chesapeake Bay
 Their level of understanding of rules and regulations at various levels of government 
 Which federal rules the community is subject to
 Access to knowledgeable people to provide assistance in implementing environmental policy
 Resources (e.g., trainings, individuals, guidance documents) the respondent would use to learn more about environmental policy or water resources 
 Activities the community has undertaken in the last three years related to water quality
 An assessment of the respondent's understanding of watersheds
 A set of demographics (age, gender, years in current position)
The Diversity Profile survey asks about the following data items:
 The respondent's role in protecting Chesapeake Bay, including the type of organization they work for, their role at that organization, whether they are in leadership role in the Chesapeake Bay Program, and their tenure in the Chesapeake Bay Program
 Gender identity
 Age
 Racial identity 
 Identification as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community
 Disability status
 Where they live in terms of geographic location and characteristics (e.g., urban) 
 A list of groups they engage with as part of the Program
 Whether they completed the survey in prior years
Finally, the Stewardship Survey asks several questions that can be grouped into eight broad categories:
 Information on the respondent's location within the Chesapeake Bay watershed
 Information on activities the respondent performs related to lawn and/or yard care
 Stewardship behaviors (e.g., use of rain barrels, use of fertilizer) that the respondent performs currently and an assessment of the likelihood the respondent would perform them in the future
 The respondent's volunteer-related activities and attitudes toward volunteer activities 
 The respondent's civic engagement and attitudes toward civic engagement
 The respondent's perceptions and attitudes towards environmental and/or water quality
 A set of demographics 

A.4.b.ii	Respondent Activities 	
Each of the three surveys only asks respondents to complete the survey. No activities beyond completing the survey are needed. Some respondents to the Local Leaders survey may feel the need to ask others in their office for information that can be used to complete the survey, but that is not required nor does EPA expect this to be commonplace. 

A.5	INFORMATION COLLECTED: AGENCY ACTIVITIES, COLLECTION METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT	
A.5.a	Agency Activities 	
EPA's activities related to this survey include the following:
 EPA worked with partners at the Chesapeake Bay Program to review the existing survey instrument deployed in prior years and to update those instruments as needed.
 EPA worked with its subcontractor, ERG, to develop this ICR.
 EPA has collected and updated lists of individuals who will receive the survey.
 EPA will set up a database to store the resulting data.
 EPA will tabulate and analyze the resulting data.
A.5.b	Collection Methodology and Management 	
Survey
For the three surveys being requested under this ICR, EPA plans to use phone, web-based, and mail data collection efforts. The Local Leaders survey and the Diversity Profile surveys will be web-based survey instrument and the Stewardship Survey will be a include phone-, web-, and mail-based data collection efforts. 
Data from each survey will be stored in an electronic database such as an MS Excel or Access database. 
Pre-Testing
During the consultation process for this ICR, ERG contacted several potential respondents and asked them to provide feedback on the survey instruments and EPA used some of that information to make minor revisions to the instruments. These modes correspond to how the data were collected previously and EPA is seeking to maximize comparability with previous version of the survey. 
Additionally, as noted above, since these surveys were implemented by EPA's partners in previous years, the instruments have undergone pre-testing and revisions at that time. To ensure consistency between this collection and those prior collection efforts, EPA has limited the amount of revision to the current instruments.
Data Quality
For the web-based surveys (all three), EPA will perform the following data quality checks:
 Prior to implementation, the web-based survey instruments will undergo review to ensure all skip patterns work properly and to ensure all codes are correctly entered into the data.
 EPA will review the collected data to ensure responses are complete.
 EPA will not use any response where the respondent did not explicitly "submit" the response in the computer software.
 EPA will review the data to identify whether some respondents provided the same type of answer to each question (e.g., selecting the top, bottom, or middle choice from all scaled questions).
 EPA will review all open-ended responses to assess whether some respondents were providing facetious or non-serious responses based on the comment provided for open-ended responses. 
 Prior to deleting any response, EPA staff will review those data points to determine if deletion is warranted. 
 EPA will ensure that the data dictionary and the collected data match.
For the phone version of the Stewardship Survey:
 Prior to implementation, EPA will ensure the CATI-coded instrument working properly and the skip patterns are working properly. 
 EPA will not include any response where the respondent did not reach the end of the survey instrument with the interviewer. 
 EPA will review the data to identify whether some respondents provided the same type of answer to each question (e.g., selecting the top, bottom, or middle choice from all scaled questions).
 EPA will flag any response where it appeared the respondent was providing a facetious or non-serious response. 
 Prior to deleting any response, EPA staff will review those data points to determine if deletion is warranted. 
 EPA will ensure that the data dictionary and the collected data match.
For the mail version of the Stewardship Survey:
 EPA will perform a detailed review to ensure the printed questionnaire matches the web- and phone-based versions and that the skip patterns are all correct.
 EPA will not include responses to any item where the respondent did not follow instructions (e.g., selected more than on option for a single option response question). 
 For any question where the respondent "corrected" his or her response on the paper version, EPA will ensure at least two survey reviewers agree on the intent of the respondent; if agreement is not simple and straightforward, EPA will discard the item from the respondent's survey.
 EPA will not include any response where the respondent did not reach the end of the survey instrument with the interviewer. 
 EPA will review the data to identify whether some respondents provided the same type of answer to each question (e.g., selecting the top, bottom, or middle choice from all scaled questions).
 EPA will flag any response where it appeared the respondent was providing a facetious or non-serious response. 
 Prior to deleting any response, EPA staff will review those data points to determine if deletion is warranted. 
 EPA will ensure that the data dictionary and the collected data match.
Public Access to Data
EPA does not envision providing the raw, unprocessed data to the public unless specifically requested under a FOIA request. EPA will provide data tabulations for the survey. EPA will make the quality-checked and summarized data available to the public via ChesapeakeProgress.com. The privacy of individual respondents will be protected.
A.5.c	Small Entity Flexibility 	
EPA expects that some small governments and some small organizations may be asked to take either the Local Leaders survey or the Diversity Profile Survey. EPA does not expect either survey represents an undue burden to those entities. 
For the Local Leader survey, we estimate that the survey can be completed in less than 10 minutes. EPA does not expect this to represent an undue burden for small government entities. Additionally, the survey itself is voluntary and those asked to take the survey can choose to not incur the time to take the survey.
For the Diversity Profile survey, the target respondents are the individuals working at the organizations and not the entity itself. Nevertheless, we have estimated that the survey can be completed in less than 5 minutes. EPA does not expect this to represent an undue burden for small entities. Additionally, the survey itself is voluntary and those asked to take the survey can choose to not incur the time to take the survey.
A.5.d	Collection Schedule
Once EPA obtains approval for this ICR, it will begin the process of implementing the surveys using the following schedules: 
For the Stewardship Survey, EPA will begin the survey effort and continue until the target of 5,200 respondents is reached. EPA expects this will take approximately 2-3 weeks. 
For the Local Leaders and the Diversity Profile survey, EPA will use the following schedule:
 EPA will send each respondent an email inviting them to respond to the survey. EPA will target sending this on the Monday or Tuesday during the week implementation begins. 
 EPA will send reminders email every 3-4 business days. EPA expects to send up to five reminders over the implementation time frame. The last reminder will indicate a date on which EPA plans to close the survey. To the extent feasible, EPA will send the reminders to those who have not responded; however, this may not be feasible in cases where EPA implements by sending the survey invitation through a list server. 
 EPA will close the survey 3-5 days after the last reminder.
 In total, EPA expects to hold the survey open for approximately 4 weeks. 
A.6.a	Respondent Burden 	
As discussed in Section A.4, the only activity that respondents are expected to perform is to provide a response to the survey questions. Thus, we provide an estimate of the burden of providing that response in Table 2. Overall, EPA expects 5,200 responses from the three surveys for a total burden estimate of 2,208 hours.
Table 2. Estimated Burden
Survey
Respondent Type
Response Activity
Time per Response (Minutes) [a]
Stewardship Survey
                                General public
                                Complete survey
                                      25
Local Leaders Survey
      People in local leadership positions (mayors, city managers, etc.)
                                Complete survey
                                      8.5
Diversity Profile Survey
             People working in Chesapeake Bay conservation efforts
                                Complete survey
                                       3
[a] Based on consultations performed for ICR.

A.6.b	Respondent Costs 
Each survey has a different target population and requires a separate set of estimates to arrive at an average hourly rate. For each survey, we relied on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) data for wages. EPA identified the relevant occupations from those data based on expert judgment and then accessed data local to the Chesapeake Bay region for those occupations. 
For the Local Leaders survey we assumed that most respondents would be classified under the OES Standard Occupation Code (SOC) `General and Operations Managers' (SOC 11-1021). EPA assumed that most respondents would be in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, or Virginia. Table 3 provide the average hourly rates for `General and Operations Managers' for those five states. EPA took the average across the five states to get an average of $68.18 for May 2019. Using the BLS Employment Cost Index (ECI) for "Management, Professional, and Related" occupations, EPA updated this value to third quarter 2020 dollars to be $70.11.
For the Diversity Profile survey, ERG assumed that respondents would be either in the `General and Operations Managers' or the `Natural Sciences Managers' categories. Table 3 provides data for both and calculates an average across both categories in all five states. This resulted in an average of $68.83 in May 2019 dollars, updated to $70.78 in third quarter 2020 dollars. 

Table 3. Average Hourly Wages for General and Operations Managers and Natural Sciences Managers 
State
May 2019 Avg. Hourly Wage Rate for `General and Operations Managers' (SOC 11-1021)
May 2019 Avg. Hourly Wage Rate for `Natural Sciences Managers' 
(SOC 11-9121)
Delaware 
                                    $72.72
                                    $69.93
District of Columbia
                                    $73.56
                                    $65.05
Maryland
                                    $64.90
                                    $71.00
Pennsylvania
                                    $63.51
                                    $71.53
Virginia
                                    $66.22
                                    $69.92
Average (May 2019)
                                    $68.18
                                    $69.49
Overall Average (May 2019)
                                    $68.83
Average Values Updated to Third Quarter 2020 [a]
                                    $70.11
                                    $71.45
Overall Average Value Updated to Third Quarter 2020 [a]
                                    $70.78
        Source: Wage data: BLS. https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm.
        [a] Updated based on Employment Cost Index (ECI) for "Management, Professional, and Related" occupations. The ECI for compensation for second quarter 2019 (May 2019) was 134.5 and the ECI for third quarter 2020 is 138.3. Based on extraction of BLS Series CIU1020000100000I from BLS databases

For the Stewardship survey, we used data from Opinion Works who performed the last version of the survey for EPA's partners. Their Method and Profile of Respondents report provided a distribution of respondents across the states listed in Table 4. EPA used the May 2019 OES average wage or `All Occupations' (SOC 00-0000) for each state and calculated a weighted average across the states of $28.99. EPA updated this to $30.00 using the ECI for all civilian workers. 
Table 4. Calculation of Weighted Average Hourly Wage for Stewardship Survey
State
                    Sample Percentage from Previous Survey
                May 2019 Avg. Hourly Rate for All Occupations 
                                 (SOC 00-0000)
Delaware
                                     7.7%
                                    $26.14
District of Columbia
                                     15.4%
                                    $43.17
Maryland
                                     19.3%
                                    $28.95
New York
                                     7.7%
                                    $30.76
Pennsylvania
                                     19.2%
                                    $24.68
Virginia
                                     19.2%
                                    $27.28
West Virginia
                                     11.5%
                                    $20.88
Weighted Average, May 2019 Dollars
                                       -
                                    $28.99
Weighted Average Updated to Third Quarter 2020 Dollars [a]
                                       -
                                    $30.00
           Source: Wage data: BLS. https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm; Sample percentages: Opinion Works, 2017.
           [a] Updated based on Employment Cost Index (ECI) for "All Civilian Workers". The ECI for compensation for second quarter 2019 (May 2019) was 135.7 and the ECI for third quarter 2020 is 140.4. Based on extraction of BLS Series CIU1020000000000I from BLS databases.

Table 5 provides EPA's estimate of the cost per response for the three surveys. First, the hourly wages estimated above were adjusted for benefits paid to employees. BLS provides data to indicate that average total compensation in the United States in June 2020 (most recent estimate) was $38.20 per hour and that wages and salaries comprised $26.17 per hour of that total; the ratio, 1.36, was used to adjust each wage rate for benefits. Applying these adjusted hourly wages to the time per response resulted in an estimated cost of response for each survey identified in the table. 
Table 5. Estimated Cost Per Response
Survey
Time Per Response (Minutes)
Time per Response (Hours)
Avg. Hourly Wage (2020)
Avg. Hourly Wage Adjusted for Benefits (2020) [a]
Cost Per Response
Stewardship Survey
                                      25
                                     0.417
                                    $30.00
                                    $40.80
                                    $17.01
Local Leaders Survey
                                      8.5
                                     0.142
                                    $70.11
                                    $95.35
                                    $13.54
Diversity Profile Survey
                                       3
                                     0.050
                                    $70.78
                                    $96.26
                                     $4.81
[a] Wages were increased by a factor of 1.36 reflecting the ratio of total compensation in June 2020 ($38.20 per hour; most recent estimate) to wages and salaries for that month ($26.17 per hour). https://www.bls.gov/web/ecec/ececqrtn.pdf.

A.6.b.ii Estimating Capital and Operations and Maintenance Costs
There are no capital or operations and maintenance costs.
A.6.b.iii Capital/Start-up Operating and Maintenance (O&M) Costs
There are no capital/startup operating and maintenance costs.
A.6.b.iv Annualizing Capital Costs
There are no capital costs.
A.6.c	Agency Burden and Cost 
Table 6 provides a calculation of EPA's burden and cost for the data collection. Each survey requires four general activities: reviewing existing survey instruments, updating survey lists (as needed), setting up a database to store data, and tabulating and analyzing results. As noted, the Stewardship and the Diversity Profile surveys had been previously implemented by EPA's partners while the Local Leaders Survey is new. Thus, EPA's primary activities in taking over the implementation of these surveys is to update work that was done previously by EPA's partners. One activity (developing this ICR) covers all three surveys and is new to EPA's work on these surveys. 
Overall, EPA has assumed that most of the work being performed by EPA staff will be done by GS-12 employees with GS-14, GS-11, and GS-9 level employees contributing as well. EPA used 2020 salary table for the "Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA" area from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). EPA used the "Step 5" value from each GS level and multiplied each by 1.6 to arrive at a loaded rate for each GS level.
A number of non-profit partner and contractor hours will also be needed to complete the tasks; for these, EPA has assumed that BLS Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code 19-0000 (Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations) provides a reasonable approximation of the staff who would perform these duties. This BLS SOC code includes natural and social science workers, including survey researchers. Given that the non-profits and contractors in this field tend to employ these types of workers, EPA has assumed that the master code provides a sufficient wage rate value, rather than using rate for sub-codes. The average hourly rate for SOC code 19-0000 is $37.28 for May 2019. EPA updated this value to $38.03 (two percent increase) based on the change in the Consumer Price Index between May 2019 and December 2020. Finally, EPA multiplied by 1.6 to calculate a loaded wage rate of $60.84.
Overall, EPA has estimated a total effort of 6,528 hours to develop the survey materials, including updating lists used for the survey. Of note, EPA has estimated that 6,000 of those hours are incurred in updating the list for the Stewardship Survey. 


Table 6. Agency Burden and Cost
Survey/Activity
                       GS-Level / BLS Occupational Code
                                  Total Time
                            Cost Per Hour (Loaded)
                                  Total Cost
Stewardship Survey
Review existing survey
                                     GS-12
                                      10
                                    $75.01
                                     $750
                                                                               
                                    19-0000
                                      10
                                    $60.84
                                     $608
Update list / Collect Data
                                     GS-12
                                      20
                                    $75.01
                                    $1,500
                                                                               
                                    19-0000
                                     6000
                                    $60.84
                                   $365,046
Set up database
                                     GS-12
                                      10
                                    $75.01
                                     $750
                                                                               
                                    19-0000
                                      40
                                    $60.84
                                    $2,434
Tabulate/Analyze Results
                                     GS-12
                                      40
                                    $75.01
                                    $3,000
                                                                               
                                    19-0000
                                      120
                                    $60.84
                                    $7,301
Local Leaders Survey
Review existing survey
                                    19-0000
                                       4
                                    $60.84
                                     $243
                                                                               
                                    19-0000
                                       4
                                    $60.84
                                     $243
Update list
                                    19-0000
                                      20
                                    $60.84
                                    $1,217
                                                                               
                                    19-0000
                                      20
                                    $60.84
                                    $1,217
Set up database
                                    19-0000
                                       4
                                    $60.84
                                     $243
                                                                               
                                    19-0000
                                       4
                                    $60.84
                                     $243
Tabulate/Analyze Results
                                    19-0000
                                       8
                                    $60.84
                                     $487
                                                                               
                                    19-0000
                                      40
                                    $60.84
                                    $2,434
Diversity Profile
Review existing survey
                                     GS-12
                                       1
                                    $75.01
                                      $75
Update list
                                     GS-12
                                       3
                                    $75.01
                                     $225
                                                                               
                                    19-0000
                                       3
                                    $60.84
                                     $183
Set up database
                                     GS-12
                                       1
                                    $75.01
                                      $75
Tabulate/Analyze Results
                                     GS-12
                                      20
                                    $75.01
                                    $1,500
                                                                               
                                    19-0000
                                      30
                                    $60.84
                                    $1,825
All Surveys
Develop ICR
                                     GS-14
                                      28
                                    $102.30
                                    $2,865
                                                                               
                                     GS-12
                                      13
                                    $75.01
                                     $975
                                                                               
                                     GS-11
                                      35
                                    $62.59
                                    $2,191
                                                                               
                                     GS-9
                                      40
                                    $51.73
                                    $2,069
Total
                                       -
                                     6,528
                                       -
                                   $399,699


A.6.d	Estimating Respondent Universe and Total Burden and Costs	 		
Table 7 provides an estimate of the total respondent burden and the total cost of the burden for the survey respondents. Overall, EPA expects a total of 6,430 responses from the three surveys resulting in 2,298 burden hours. The total cost of those 2,298 hours is expected to be $100,931.
Table 7. Total Respondents Burden and Cost for Survey Respondents
Survey
Survey 
Population
Sample Selected
Expected Response Rate
Expected Number of Responses
Total Burden (Hours)
Cost per Response
Total Cost of Burden
Stewardship Survey
                                 18.2 million
                                    50,200
                                    10% [b]
                                     5,200
                                     2,167
                                    $17.01
                                    $88,467
Local Leaders Survey
                                    15,000
                                    15,000
                                    5% [a]
                                      750
                                      107
                                    $13.54
                                    $10,154
Diversity Profile Survey
                                      900
                                      900
                                    53% [b]
                                      480
                                      24
                                     $4.81
                                    $2,310
Total
                                       -
                                       -
                                       -
                                     6,430
                                     2,298
                                       -
                                   $100,931
[a] Assumed response rate.
[b] Based on prior implementation of the survey in the area.

A.6.e	Bottom Line Burden Hours and Costs 
A.6.e.i Respondent Tally
Table 8 provides the bottom-line estimate for respondent burden. Overall, EPA expects that the three surveys will result in 6,430 responses (one per respondent) for a total of 2,298 burden hours and $100,931 in costs. 
Table 8. Bottom-Line Burden and Cost for Respondents
                                Survey Activity
                             Number of Respondents
                              Number of Responses
                              Total Burden Hours
                             Total Cost of Burden
Stewardship Survey
                                     5,200
                                     5,200
                                     2,167
                                    $88,467
Local Leaders Survey
                                      750
                                      750
                                      107
                                    $10,154
Diversity Profile Survey
                                      480
                                      480
                                      24
                                    $2,310
Grant Totals
                                     6,430
                                     6,430
                                     2,298
                                   $100,931


A.6.e.ii Agency Tally
Table 9 presents the agency bottom line estimate. EPA estimates that the 6,430 responses will result in an Agency burden of 6,528 hours and $399,699.


      
Table 9. Bottom-Line  Agency Burden and Cost
                                Survey Activity
                             Number of Respondents
                              Total Agency Hours
                               Total Agency Cost
Stewardship Survey
                                     5,200
                                     6,250
                                   $381,389
Local Leaders Survey
                                      750
                                      104
                                    $6,327
Diversity Profile Survey
                                      480
                                      58
                                    $3,883
Develop ICR
                                       -
                                      116
                                    $8,099
Grant totals
                                     6,430
                                     6,528
                                   $399,699

A.6.e.iii Variations in the Annual Bottom Line
This ICR is for a single collection and annual variations are not relevant. 
A.6.f	Reasons for Change in Burden 	
This ICR does not modify an existing ICR. 
A.6.g	Burden Statement 	
Stewardship Survey
The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 25 minutes per response. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; adjusting the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable applications and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; search data sources; complete and review the collection of information; and transmit, or otherwise disclose the information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. 
To comment on the Agency's need for this information, the accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondent burden, including the use of automated collection techniques, EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket Number EPA - R03 - CBP - 2021 - 0235, which is available for online viewing at www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Office of Environmental Information Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA William Jefferson Clinton West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m.  -  4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the Office of Environmental Information Docket is (202) 566-9744. An electronic version of the public docket is available at www.regulations.gov. This site can be used to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the public docket, and to access those documents in the public docket that are available electronically. Also, comments can be sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17[th] Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20503, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA. Please include the EPA Docket ID Number EPA - R03 - CBP - 2021 - 0235, OMB Control No. 2003-NEW in any correspondence.
Local Leaders Survey
The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 8.5 minutes per response. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; adjusting the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable applications and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; search data sources; complete and review the collection of information; and transmit, or otherwise disclose the information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. 
To comment on the Agency's need for this information, the accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondent burden, including the use of automated collection techniques, EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket Number EPA - R03 - CBP - 2021 - 0235, which is available for online viewing at www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Office of Environmental Information Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA William Jefferson Clinton West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m.  -  4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the Office of Environmental Information Docket is (202) 566-9744. An electronic version of the public docket is available at www.regulations.gov. This site can be used to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the public docket, and to access those documents in the public docket that are available electronically. Also, comments can be sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17[th] Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20503, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA. Please include the EPA Docket ID EPA - R03 - CBP - 2021 - 0235, OMB Control No. 2003-NEW in any correspondence.
Diversity Profile Survey 
The annual public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 3 minutes per response. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; adjusting the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable applications and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; search data sources; complete and review the collection of information; and transmit, or otherwise disclose the information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. 
To comment on the Agency's need for this information, the accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondent burden, including the use of automated collection techniques, EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket Number EPA - R03 - CBP - 2021 - 0235, which is available for online viewing at www.regulations.gov, or in person viewing at the Office of Environmental Information Docket in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA William Jefferson Clinton West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m.  -  4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the Office of Environmental Information Docket is (202) 566-9744. An electronic version of the public docket is available at www.regulations.gov. This site can be used to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the public docket, and to access those documents in the public docket that are available electronically. Also, comments can be sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17[th] Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20503, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA. Please include the EPA Docket ID Number EPA - R03 - CBP - 2021 - 0235, OMB Control No. 2003-NEW in any correspondence.




