99-13000. Information Collection Activities Under OMB Review  

  • [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
    
    
    

Document Information

Published:
05/24/1999
Department:
Reclamation Bureau
Entry Type:
Notice
Action:
Notice.
Document Number:
99-13000
Dates:
Your comments must be received on or before June 23, 1999.
Pages:
28011-28012 (2 pages)
PDF File:
99-13000.pdf