[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 99 (Monday, May 24, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28011-28012]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-13000]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
Information Collection Activities Under OMB Review
AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces the following Information
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for review and comment: Certification Summary Form,
Reporting Summary Form for Acreage Limitation, 43 CFR part 426 and
Proposed Rule 43 CFR part 428, OMB Control Number: 1006-0006. The ICR
describes the nature of the information collection and its expected
cost and burden.
DATES: Your comments must be received on or before June 23, 1999.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments regarding the burden estimate, or any
other aspect of the information collection, including suggestions for
reducing the burden, to the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for
the Department of the Interior, 725 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC
20503. A copy of your comments should also be directed to the Bureau of
Reclamation, Attention: D-5200, PO Box 25007, Denver, CO 80225-0007.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information or a copy of
the proposed forms contact Marilyn Rehfeld, D-5200, PO Box 25007,
Denver, CO 80225-0007; or by telephone: (303) 445-2899.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Certification Summary Form, Reporting Summary Form for
Acreage Limitation, 43 CFR part 426 and Proposed Rule 43 CFR part 428.
Abstract: These forms are to be used by district offices to
summarize individual landholder (direct or indirect landowner or
lessee) certification and reporting forms as required by the
Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (RRA), Acreage Limitation Rules and
Regulations, 43 CFR part 426.
This collection of information allows the Bureau of Reclamation
(we, our, or us) to confirm districts' compliance with Federal
reclamation law.
Changes to the RRA Forms and the Instructions to Those Forms
We made a few changes to the current Form 7-21SUMM-C and Form 7-
21SUMM-R and rewrote the instructions to those forms in ``plain
language'' to meet the requirements of the President's June 1, 1998,
memorandum. Other changes to the forms and the instructions to the
forms are editorial in nature and are designed to increase the
respondents' understanding of the forms, instructions to the forms, and
what information is required to be submitted with the forms to the
districts. The proposed revisions to the RRA forms will be effective in
the 2000 water year.
Draft of a New RRA Form
We published a proposed rulemaking, Information Requirements for
Certain Farm Operations in Excess of 960 Acres and the Eligibility of
Certain Formerly Excess Land, 43 CFR part 428, in the Federal Register
on November 18, 1998 (63 FR 64154, Nov. 18, 1998), and requested
comments on the proposed rule and the information collection to be
submitted to us by January 19, 1999. This comment period was later
extended to February 18, 1999, and then reopened to April 12, 1999. The
proposed rulemaking requires farm operators who provide services to
more than 960 nonexempt acres westwide, held by a single trust or legal
entity or any combination of trusts and legal entities to submit RRA
forms to the district(s) where such land is located. We requested
comments from the public on whether to revise an existing RRA form or
create a new form for farm operators to prepare.
We anticipate that if the rule is finalized, the districts will be
required to provide specific information about declaring farm operators
to us annually. We have developed a new Tabulation G to be used with
Form 7-21SUMM-C and Form 7-21SUMM-R, and instructions on how to
complete that tabulation form to accommodate this requirement. We do
not believe the estimated burden hours will increase by requiring
districts to complete Tabulation G since only a few districts should
have farm operators in this category. Nevertheless, Tabulation G will
not be used unless the proposed rule is published as a final rule in
the Federal Register.
Frequency: Annually.
Respondents: Contracting entities that are subject to the acreage
limitation provisions of Federal reclamation law.
Estimated Total Number of Respondents: 276.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.25.
Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 345.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 13,800 hours.
Estimate Burden for Each Form:
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Estimated
Form No. number of Frequency of Total annual Burden hours Total burden
respondents response responses per response hours
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7-21SUMM-C and tabulation sheets 222 1.25 278 40 11,120
7-21SUMM-R and tabulation sheets 54 1.25 67 40 2,680
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Total....................... 276 1.25 345 .............. 13,800
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Comments
Comments are invited on:
(a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of our functions, including whether the
information will have practical use;
(b) The accuracy of our burden estimate for the proposed collection
of information;
[[Page 28012]]
(c) Ways to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
(d) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
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. Reclamation will display a valid OMB
control number on the survey form. A Federal Register notice with a 60-
day comment period soliciting comments on this collection of
information was published in the Federal Register on January 4, 1999
(64 FR 174, Jan. 1999). A list of comments received and our responses
to those comments is being sent to: (1) All districts, (2) all
commenters, and (3) OMB with this ICR, it is also available from us
upon request.
OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove this information
collection, but may respond after 30 days; therefore, public comments
should be submitted to OMB within 30 days in order to assure maximum
consideration.
Wayne O. Deason,
Acting Director, Program Analysis Office.
[FR Doc. 99-13000 Filed 5-21-99; 8:45am
BILLING CODE 4310-94-M