E9-4499. Notice of Proposed Information Collection for 1029-0035

AGENCY:

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is announcing that the information collection request for the title described below has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The information collection request describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden and cost.

DATES:

OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove the information collections but may respond after 30 days. Therefore, public comments should be submitted to OMB by April 6, 2009, in order to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES:

Please send comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Department of the Interior Desk Officer, via e-mail at [e-mail], or by facsimile to [phone]. Also, please send a copy of your comments to the Information Collection Clearance Officer, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 1951 Constitution Ave, NW., Room 202-SIB, Washington, DC 20240, or electronically to [e-mail]. Please reference 1029-0035 in your correspondence.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To receive a copy of the information collection request contact John A. Trelease at [phone]. You may also contact Mr. Trelease at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations at 5 CFR 1320, which implement provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13), require that interested members of the public and affected agencies have an opportunity to comment on information collection and recordkeeping activities [see 5 CFR 1320.8(d)]. OSM has submitted a request to OMB to renew and consolidate its approval for the collections of information found at 30 CFR Part 779 and 30 CFR Part 783, Surface and Underground Mining Permit Applications—Minimum Requirements for Information on Environmental Resources. Once approved by OMB, OSM will discontinue the collection number 1029-0038, currently assigned to 30 CFR Part 783. OSM is requesting a 3-year term of approval for this information collection activity.

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 OMB control number. The OMB control number for this collection of information is 1029-0035.

As required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), a Federal Register notice soliciting comments on this collection of information was published on December 15, 2008 (73 FR 76056). No comments were received. This notice provides the public with an additional 30 days in which to comment on the following information collection activity:

Title: 30 CFR Parts 779 and 783—Surface and Underground Mining Permit Applications—Minimum Requirements for Information on Environmental Resources.

OMB Control Number: 1029-0035.

Summary: Applicants for surface and underground coal mining permits are required to provide adequate descriptions of the environmental resources that may be affected by proposed underground coal mining activities.

Bureau Form Number: None.

Frequency of Collection: Once, at time of application submission.

Description of Respondents: 314 surface and underground coal mining applicants and 24 State regulatory authorities.

Total Annual Responses: 314 coal mining applications and 309 State responses.

Total Annual Burden Hours: 240,444 hours.

Send comments on the need for the collections of information for the performance of the functions of the agency; the accuracy of the agency's burden estimates; ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information collections; and ways to minimize the information collection burdens on respondents, such as use of automated means of collections of the information, to the addresses listed under ADDRESSES. Please refer to 1029-0035 in all correspondence.

Before including your address, phone number, e-mail 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 can 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.

Dated: February 25, 2009.

John A. Trelease,

Acting Chief, Division of Regulatory Support.