February 25, 2009
To:Chris Knopes and Jim Pendergast, NPMAS
John Dombrowski, Lucy Reed, Daniel Palmer, ETDD
Rick Colbert, AgD
Rick Duffy, Ken Gigliello, CAMPD
Fr:Karin Koslow, CASPD/s/
Re:OECA reporting “no GPRA results available” in FY2009 for Compliance Assistance
GPRA Measures 988 and 992
For FY2009 OECA will report “no GPRA results available” for GPRA Measures 988 and 992[1]. No meaningful results are available this year because the compliance assistance (CA) program does not have an approved Information Collection Request (ICR) in place for conducting surveys to collect outcome measures. The survey instrument is the primary tool for assessing whether there has been a behavior change after assistance has been provided. The Regional and Headquarter offices conducting compliance assistance have been encouraged to conduct outcome measurement whenever possible without an ICR[2], however the data set is expected to be quite small. Given that the data collected and certified this year represents only a small subset of all the CA work being done, OECA believes it is not representative of the program, and would be misleading to report as a GPRA measure for the year. To ensure that the data we do collect this year is complete and accurate, we will still be requiring data certification at mid-year and end of year.
Background
Since 1998, EPA has used an OMB-approved survey to collect outcome measurement data from individuals who were recipients of our compliance assistance activities. Historically, the survey was in the form of a Generic ICR, reviewed and approved by OMB, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act[3]. In 2007, OMB began to raise specific and significant concerns about the Generic ICR, which was up for its 3-year renewal in March 2008. EPA and OMB reached an agreement for extending the use of the Generic ICR through the end of the 2008 fiscal year so that we could report meaningful data for FY2008. Since then, OMB has determined that EPA may no longer use a Generic ICR to collect program-wide data. As a result, OECA is currently implementing a statistically valid measurement pilot that will lay the groundwork for developing a significantly more complex Standard ICR for program-wide data collection in future years.
In the interim, the compliance assistance program does not have an approved survey for data collection in FY2009. There are other means for collecting outcome measures from direct compliance assistance activities (e.g., observing a behavior change during a facility visit), however they are quite limited and don’t apply to all types of compliance assistance activities. Therefore, the compliance assistance program will have a relatively small sub-set of data for FY2009 program results.
[1] Measure 988 refers to percent of respondents improving their environmental management practices as a result of the assistance provided (EMP measure); Measure 992 refers to the percent of respondents reporting they reduced, eliminated or treated pollution as a result of the assistance provided.
[2]See Memo signed by Lisa Lund, Director, OC, “Continuing to Measure Results from Compliance Assistance Activities in FY2009 without a Generic ICR,” December 19, 2008.
[3] Pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an OMB approved Information Collection Request is required if a federal agency wishes to collect the same information from more than 9 non-federal entities.