Notice of Request for Approval To Collect New Information: Collection of Data for Program Evaluation
Federal Register Notice
May 10, 2006
Volume 71, Number 90
[Docket Number: RITA-2006-24715]
AGENCY: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Research and
Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS) intends to request the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) to approve a data collection effort to evaluate a five-year
research program on using information from close calls and near misses
to improve safety in the rail industry. The study is conducted by the
Office of Human Factors in the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)
and is designed to identify safety issues and propose corrective
actions based on voluntary reports of close calls submitted to BTS.
Because of the innovative nature of this program, the FRA is
implementing an evaluation to determine whether the program is
succeeding, how it can be improved, and what is needed to implement the
program through out the railroad industry. This collection is necessary
to obtain the data needed to carry out the evaluation. This notice is
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act.
DATES: Comments must be received by July 10, 2006.
ADDRESSES: You can mail or hand-deliver comments to the U.S. Department
of Transportation (DOT), Dockets Management System (DMS). You may
submit your comments by mail or in person to the Docket Clerk, Docket
No. RITA-2006-24715, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh
Street, SW., Room PL-401, Washington, DC 20590-0001. Comments should
identify the docket number; paper comments should be submitted in
duplicate. The DMS is open for examination and copying, at the above
address, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except federal
holidays. If you wish to receive confirmation of receipt of your
written comments, please include a self-addressed, stamped postcard
with the following statement: ``Comments on Docket RITA-2006-24715.''
The Docket Clerk will date stamp the postcard prior to returning it to
you via the U.S. mail. Please note that due to delays in the delivery
of U.S. mail to Federal offices in Washington, DC, we recommend that
persons consider an alternative method (the Internet, fax, or
professional delivery service) to submit comments to the docket and
ensure their timely receipt at U.S. DOT. You may fax your comments to
the DMS at (202) 493-2251.
If you wish to file comments using the Internet, you may use the
DOT DMS Web site at http://dms.dot.gov. Please follow the online
instructions for submitting an electronic comment. You can also review
comments on-line at the DMS Web site at http://dms.dot.gov.
Please Note that anyone is able to electronically search all
comments received into our docket management system by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or signing
the comment if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor
union, etc.). You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in
the Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70;
pages 19477-78) or you may review the Privacy Act Statement at http://dms.dot.gov .
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Demetra V. Collia, RTS 31, Room 3430,
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20590; (202) 366-1610; FAX NO. (202) 493-0568; e-mail: demetra.collia@dot.gov.
Data Confidentiality Provisions: The confidentiality of data
collected by BTS is protected under the BTS confidentiality statute (49
U.S.C. 111 (k) and the Confidential Information Protection and
Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-347, Title V).
In accordance with these confidentiality statutes, only statistical and
non-identifying data will be made publicly available through reports.
Further, BTS will not release to FRA or any other public or private
entity any information that might reveal the identity of individuals or
organizations mentioned in the collected survey data.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. The Data Collection
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35; as
amended) and 5 CFR part 1320 require each Federal agency to obtain OMB
approval to initiate an information collection activity. BTS is seeking
OMB approval for the following BTS information collection activity:
Title: Collection of Data for Program Evaluation.
OMB Control Number: 2139-NEW.
Type of Review: Approval of data collection.
Respondents: Employees of selected (pilot) railroad sites.
Number of Respondents: 1,200 (per annum).
Estimated Time per Response: 0.50 hours.
Frequency: The evaluation survey will be conducted three times: (1)
At the onset of the Close Calls research program (baseline); (2) two to
three years later; and (3) at the end of the Close Calls research
program (five to six years from the baseline data collection.).
Total Annual Burden: 600 hours.
II. Background
Collecting data on the nation's transportation system is an
important component of BTS' responsibility to the transportation
community and is authorized in BTS statutory authority (49 U.S.C.
111(c)(1) and (2) and 49 U.S.C. 111(c)(5) (j)). Further, BTS and FRA
share a common interest in promoting rail safety based on better data.
In recognition of the need for new approaches to improving safety, the
FRA has initiated a research program called the Confidential Close Call
Reporting System (C3RS). The C3RS is designed to
identify safety issues and propose corrective actions based on
voluntary reports of close calls submitted to BTS. A close call
represents a situation in which an ongoing sequence of events was
stopped from developing further, preventing the occurrence of
potentially serious safety-related consequences. This might include the
following: (1) Events that happen frequently, but have low safety
consequences; (2) events that happen infrequently but have the
potential for high consequences (e.g., a train in dark territory
proceeds beyond its authority); (3) events that are below the FRA
reporting threshold (e.g., an event that causes a minor injury); and
(4) events that are reportable to FRA but have the potential for a far
greater accident than the one reported (e.g., a slow speed collision
with minor damage to the equipment and no injuries.)
BTS will collect close call reports submitted by railroad
employees, develop an analytical database containing the reported data
and other pertinent information, and protect the confidentiality of
these data through its own statute (49 U.S.C. 111(i)) and the
Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of
2002 (CIPSEA). The operating assumption behind C3RS is that
by assuring confidentiality, employees will report events which, if
dealt with, will decrease the likelihood of accidents. C3RS
therefore has both a confidential reporting component, and a problem
analysis/solution component. C3RS is expected to affect
safety in two ways. First, it will lead to problem solving concerning
specific safety conditions. Second, it will engender an organizational
culture and climate that supports greater awareness of safety and a
greater cooperative willingness to improve safety. BTS is seeking a
separate OMB approval for the collection of close call reports (71 FR
24913, April 27, 2006) which does not involve the evaluation of the
reporting system.
While C3RS has been developed and is being implemented
with the participation of the FRA, railroad labor, and railroad
management, there are legitimate questions about whether it is being
implemented in the most effective way, and whether it will have its
intended effect. Further, even if C3RS is successful, it
will be necessary to know if it is successful enough to implement on a
wide scale. To address these important questions, the FRA is
implementing a formative evaluation to guide program development, a
summative evaluation to assess impact, and a sustainability evaluation
to determine how C3RS can continue after the test period is
over. The evaluation is needed to provide the FRA with guidance as to
how it can improve the program, and how it might be scaled up
throughout the railroad industry.
Program evaluation is an inherently data driven activity. Its basic
tenet is that as change is implemented, data can be collected to track
the course and consequences of the change. Because of the setting in
which C3RS is being implemented, that data must come from
the railroad employees (labor and management) who may be affected.
Employees of selected railroad sites (pilot sites) will be asked to
fill out a questionnaire which will be made available to them at town
hall meetings and mail back to BTS. The evaluation program
questionnaire will request the respondent to provide information such
as: (a) Beliefs about rail safety; (b) issues and personal concerns
related to implementation of safety programs in their work environment;
(c) knowledge and views on voluntary reporting of unsafe events; and
(d) opinions and observations about the operation of C3RS at
their work site.
III. Request for Comment
BTS requests comments on any aspects of these information
collections, including: (1) The accuracy of the estimated burden; (2)
ways to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the collected
information; and (3) ways to minimize the collection burden without
reducing the quality of the information collected, including additional
use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology.
Issued in Washington, DC, on May 3, 2006.
William Bannister,
Acting Deputy Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Research
and Innovative Technology Administration.
[FR Doc. E6-7109 Filed 5-9-06; 8:45 am]
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