2023-01773. Agency Information Collection Activities; Production Estimate

AGENCY:

U.S. Geological Survey, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice of Information Collection; request for comment.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is proposing to renew an Information Collection.

DATES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before March 31, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Send your comments on this Information Collection Request (ICR) by mail to U.S. Geological Survey, Information Collections Officer, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive MS 159, Reston, VA 20192; or by email to [e-mail]. Please reference OMB Control Number 1028-0065 in the subject line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request additional information about this ICR, contact Elizabeth S. Sangine by email at [e-mail], or by telephone at 703-648-7720. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services offered within their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States. You may also view the ICR at http://www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

In accordance with the PRA, we provide the general public and other Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on new, proposed, revised, and continuing collections of information. This helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public understand our information collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format.

We are soliciting comments on the proposed ICR that is described below. We are especially interested in public comments addressing the following issues: (1) is the collection necessary to the proper functions of the USGS minerals information mission; (2) will this information be processed and used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden accurate; (4) how might the USGS enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (5) how might the USGS minimize the burden of this collection on the respondents, including through the use 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 personally identifiable information (PII) in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your PII—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your PII from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Abstract: This collection is needed to provide data on mineral production for annual reports published by commodity for use by Government agencies, Congressional offices, educational institutions, research organizations, financial institutions, consulting firms, industry, academia, and the general public. This information will be published in the “Mineral Commodity Summaries,” the first preliminary publication to furnish estimates covering the previous year's nonfuel mineral industry.

Title of Collection: Production Estimate.

OMB Control Number: 1028-0065.

Form Number: USGS Forms 9-4042-A and 9-4124-A.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Respondents/Affected Public: Businesses or other For-Profit Institutions: U.S. nonfuel mineral producers.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 1,100.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 1,100.

Estimated Completion Time per Response: 15 minutes.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 275.

Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.

Frequency of Collection: Annually.

Total Estimated Annual Non-hour Burden Cost: There are no “non-hour cost” burdens associated with this ICR.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, nor is a person required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The authorities for this action are the PRA, the National Materials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development Act of 1980 (30 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), the National Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 21(a)), and the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C. 98 et seq.).

Steven Fortier,

Director, National Minerals Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey.