Notice2026-01254
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Generic Clearance Improving Customer Experience: OMB Circular A-11, Section 280 Implementation
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
January 23, 2026
Issuing agencies
Commerce Department
Abstract
The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment preceding submission of the collection to OMB.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 15 (Friday, January 23, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 15 (Friday, January 23, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2903-2904]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-01254]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Office of the Secretary
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Generic Clearance Improving Customer Experience: OMB Circular
A-11, Section 280 Implementation
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of information collection, request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other
Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information
collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information
collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The
purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment
preceding submission of the collection to OMB.
DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed
information collection must be received on or before March 24, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by
mail to the Departmental Paperwork Reduction Act Clearance Officer,
Department of Commerce, 14th and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20230 or via the internet at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d3838192b0bcbebeb6bda7a093b7bcb0fdb4bca5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b5e5e7f4d6dad8d8d0dbc1c6f5d1dad69bd2dac3">[email protected]</span></a>. Please reference OMB
Control Number 0690-0035 in the subject line of your comments. Do not
submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or
protected information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or
specific questions related to collection activities should be directed
to the Departmental Paperwork Reduction Act Clearance Officer,
Department of Commerce, 14th and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20230 or via the internet at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e9b9bba88a8684848c879d9aa98d868ac78e869f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7a2a283b191517171f140e093a1e1519541d150c">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
This is a request for an extension of a currently approved
information collection.
In March 2018, the Administration of President Trump launched the
President's Management Agenda (PMA) and established new Cross-Agency
Priority (CAP) Goals. Excellent service was established as a core
component of the mission, service, stewardship model that frames the
entire PMA, embedding a customer-focused approach in all of the PMA's
initiatives. This model was also included in the 2018 update of the
Federal Performance Framework in Circular A-11, ensuring `excellent
service' as a focus in future agency strategic planning efforts. The
PMA included a CAP Goal on Improving Customer Experience with Federal
Services, with a primary strategy to drive improvements within twenty-
five of the nation's highest impact programs. This effort is supported
by an interagency team and guidance in Circular A-11 requiring the
collection. of customer feedback data and increasing the use of
industry best practices to conduct customer research.
The continuation of this information collection will enable the
Department of Commerce to act in accordance with OMB Circular A-11
Section 280 to ultimately transform the experience of its customers to
improve both efficiency and mission delivery and increase
accountability by communicating about these efforts with the public.
Commerce will collect, analyze, and interpret information gathered
through this generic clearance to identify services' accessibility,
navigation, and use by customers, and make improvements in service
delivery based on customer insights gathered through developing an
understanding of the user experience interacting with Government. To
support this, OMB Circular A-11 Section 280 established government-wide
standards for mature customer experience organizations in government
and measurement. To enable Federal programs to deliver the experience
taxpayers deserve, they must undertake three general categories of
activities: conduct ongoing customer research, gather, and share
customer feedback, and test services and digital products.
These data collection efforts may be either qualitative or
quantitative in nature or may consist of mixed methods. Additionally,
data may be collected via a variety of means, including but not limited
to electronic or social media, direct or indirect observation (i.e., in
person, video and audio collections), interviews, questionnaires,
surveys, and focus groups. DOC will limit its inquiries to data
collections that solicit strictly voluntary opinions or responses.
Steps will be taken to ensure anonymity of respondents in each activity
covered by this request.
All High Impact Service Providers listed at <a href="https://www.performance.gov/cx/HISPList.pdf">https://www.performance.gov/cx/HISPList.pdf</a> are required to ask questions in
these domains of their customers. However, all agencies are encouraged
to conduct their customer experience measurements in line with these
standard measures.
As discussed in OMB guidance, agencies should identify their
highest-impact customer journeys (using customer volume, annual program
cost, and/or knowledge of customer priority as weighting factors) and
select touchpoints/transactions within those journeys to collect.
feedback. For the purposes of this collection, Federal customer
experience will focus on real-time transaction-level measures.
The results will be used to improve the delivery of Federal
services and programs. It will also provide government-wide data on
customer experience that can be displayed on <a href="http://www.performance.gov">www.performance.gov</a> to
help build transparency and accountability of Federal programs to the
customers they serve.
As a general matter, these information collections will not result
in any new system of records containing privacy information and will
not ask questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and
attitudes, and religious beliefs.
The Department of Commerce will only submit collections under this
generic clearance if it meets the following conditions:
The collections are voluntary.
The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on
considerations of total burden hours or burden hours per respondent)
and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government.
The collections are non-controversial and do not raise issues of
concern to other Federal agencies. Any collection is targeted to the
solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the
program or may have experience with the program in the near future.
Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to the
extent necessary and is not retained. Information gathered is intended
to be used for general service improvement and program management
purposes.
Upon agreement between OMB and the agency all or a subset of
information may be released as part of A-11, Section 280 requirements
only on <a href="http://performance.gov">performance.gov</a>. Summaries of customer research and user
testing activities may be included in public-facing customer journey
maps.
Additional release of data must be done coordinated with OMB. These
collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative, and actionable
communications between the Agency,
[[Page 2904]]
its customers and stakeholders, and OMB as it monitors agency
compliance on Section 280. These responses will inform efforts to
improve or maintain the quality of service offered to the public. If
this information is not collected, vital feedback from customers and
stakeholders on services will be unavailable.
II. Method of Collection
The Department of Commerce will collect this information by
electronic means, when possible, as well as by mail, fax, telephone,
technical discussions; and customer experience activities such as
feedback surveys, focus groups, user testing, and in-person interviews.
The Department of Commerce may also utilize observational techniques to
collect this information.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0690-0035.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Review: Regular submission, extension without change of a
currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Collections will be targeted to the solicitation
of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or
may have experience with the program in the near future. For the
purposes of this request, ``customers'' are individuals, businesses,
and organizations that interact with a Federal Government agency or
program, either directly or via a Federal contractor. This could
include individuals or households; businesses or other for-profit
organizations; not-for-profit institutions; State, local or tribal
governments; Federal government; and Universities.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 100,000.
Estimated Time per Response: Varied, dependent upon the data
collection method used. The possible response time to complete a
questionnaire or survey may be 3 minutes or up to 2 hours to
participate in an interview or focus group.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 13,863.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: Zero.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
IV. Request for Comments
We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department/Bureau
to: (a) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is
necessary for the proper functions of the Department, including whether
the information will have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the accuracy
of our estimate of the time and cost burden for this proposed
collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions
used; (c) Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of
the information to be collected; and (d) Minimize the reporting burden
on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information technology.
Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request
to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, phone
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available
at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold your
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental PRA Compliance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2026-01254 Filed 1-22-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-17-P
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