Agency information collection activities; proposals, submissions, and approvals,

[Federal Register: December 16, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 241)]

[Notices]

[Page 74841-74842]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr16de05-94]

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary

Proposed Agency Information Collection With Applicant Background Survey; Comment Request

AGENCY: Office of Civil Rights.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In compliance with section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of Civil Rights, Office of the Secretary, Department of the Interior (DOI), announces the proposed extension of a public information collection and seeks public comments on the provisions thereof.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received by February 14, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations on the proposed information collection should be sent to the Office of Civil Rights, Attn: Samuel Bowser, Department of the Interior, 1849 C St., NW., Washington, DC 20240. Individuals providing comments should reference OMB control 1091-0001, Applicant Background Survey.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on this proposed information collection or to obtain a copy of the proposal and associated collection instrument, please write to the above address, or call Samuel Bowser, (202) 208-5549. The collection instrument is also available on the Internet at: http://www.doi.gov/diversity/doc/di_1935.pdf .

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Abstract

   DOI is below parity with the Relevant Civilian Labor Force representation for many mission critical occupations. The Department's Strategic Human Capital Management Plan identifies the job skills that will be needed in its current and future workforce. The job skills it will need are dispersed throughout its eight bureaus and include, among others, making visitors welcome to various facilities, such as parks and refuges, processing permits for a wide variety of uses of the public lands, collecting royalties for minerals extracted from the public lands, rounding-up and adopting-out wild horses and burros found in the west, protecting archeological and cultural resources of the public lands, and enforcing criminal laws of the United States. As a result of this broad spectrum of duties and services, the Department touches the lives of most Americans.

   The people who deal with the Department bring with them a wide variety of backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. A diverse workforce enables the Department to provide a measure of understanding to its customers by relating to the diverse background of those customers. By including employees of all backgrounds, all DOI employees gain a measure of knowledge, background, experience, and comfort in serving all of the Department's customers.

   In order to determine if there are barriers in our recruitment and selection processes, DOI must track the demographic groups that apply for its jobs. There is no other statistically valid method to make these determinations, and no source of this information other than directly from applicants. The data collected is not provided to selecting officials and plays no part in the merit staffing or the selection processes. The data collected will be used in summary form to determine trends covering the demographic make-up of applicant pools and job selections within a given

   [[Page 74842]]

   occupation or organizational group. The records of those applicants not selected are destroyed in accordance with DOI's records management procedures.

2. Data

   (1) Title: Applicant Background Survey.

   OMB Control Number: 1091-0001.

   Current Expiration Date: March 31, 2006.

   Type of Review: Information Collection Renewal.

   Affected Entities: Applicants for DOI jobs.

   Estimated annual number of respondents: 668,905.

   Frequency of response: once per job application.

   (2) Annual reporting and record keeping burden.

   Average reporting burden per application: 5 minutes.

   Total annual reporting: 55,746 hours.

   (3) Description of the need and use of the information: This information is required to obtain the source of recruitment, ethnicity, race, and disability data on job applicants to determine if the recruitment is effectively reaching all aspects of relevant labor pools and to determine if there are proportionate acceptance rates at various stages of the recruitment process. Response is optional. The information is used for evaluating recruitment only, and plays no part in the selection of who is hired.

3. Request for Comments

   Request for Comments: Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

   Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide information to or for a federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; to 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; to train personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of information, to search data sources, to complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the information.

   All written comments will be available for public inspection in the Main Interior Building, 1849 C Street, NW., Washington, DC from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. For an appointment to inspect comments, please contact Samuel Bowser by telephone on (202) 208-5549, or by e-mail at Samuel_S_Bowser@ios.doi.gov. A valid picture identification is required for

   entry into the Department of the Interior. If you wish us to withhold your personal information, you must prominently state at the beginning of your comment what personal information you want us to withhold. We will honor your request to the extent allowable by law.

   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 Office of Management and Budget control number.

   Dated: December 12, 2005. Samuel Bowser, Assistant Director for Workforce Diversity, Department of the Interior.

   [FR Doc. 05-24106 Filed 12-15-05; 8:45 am]

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