[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 238 (Tuesday, December 10, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65009-65010]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-31346]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Commodity Credit Corporation


Request for Extension and Revision of a Currently Approved 
Information Collection

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice announces the intention of the Commodity Credit Corporation 
(CCC) to request an extension and revision to a currently approved 
information collection relating to the Upland Cotton User Marketing 
Certificate Program regulations issued under authority of the Federal 
Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (1996 Act). Other 
administrative decisions make obsolete several forms and result in a 
decrease in the number of burden hours for information collection under 
the

[[Page 65010]]

Upland Cotton User Marketing Certificate Program.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received on or before February 
10, 1997 to be assured of consideration.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janise Zygmont, Farm Service Agency, 
United States Department of Agriculture, Stop 0515, P.O. Box 2415, 
Washington, DC 20013-2415 or call (202) 720-8841.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Cotton, 7 CFR Part 1427.
    OMB Control Number: 0560-0136.
    Expiration Date: April 30, 1997.
    Type of Request: Extension and Revision of a Currently Approved 
Information Collection.
    Abstract: The information collected under Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) Number 0560-0136, as identified above, is needed to enable 
the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to effectively administer the Upland 
Cotton User Marketing Certificate Program.
    In order to participate in the Upland Cotton User Marketing 
Certificate Program, U.S. exporters and domestic mills must sign an 
Upland Cotton Domestic User/Exporter Agreement (CCC-1045). CCC-1045 
contains the terms and conditions for receiving payments and outlines 
the responsibilities of the participant. Two changes to form CCC-1045 
were made in response to the passage of the 1996 Act. First, the 1996 
Act extended the authority to conduct the Upland Cotton User Marketing 
Certificate Program through July 31, 2003. Previous legislation had 
authorized the program only through July 31, 1998. Second, the 1996 Act 
limits the total amount of payments that can be made under the program 
to no more than $701 million during fiscal years 1996 through 2002. 
CCC-1045 has been revised to reflect the new date and the restriction 
on payments. Neither change results in a change in the annual reporting 
and recordkeeping burden.
    CCC determined that exporters will no longer be required to report 
their shipments each week. Instead, only for weeks in which a payment 
rate is in effect will exporters be required to report to CCC the 
amount of cotton that has been exported. This reporting will be done on 
CCC 1045-2 or a report generated by the exporters containing the same 
information. This results in a 1,950-hour reduction in the annual 
reporting burden for exporters. Domestic users must continue to report 
to CCC on a weekly basis in a somewhat revised format. Instead of two 
reports (Domestic User Application for Payment and Weekly Inventory 
Summary Report), the information collection has been combined into one 
report called ``Weekly Consumption Report/Application For Payment.'' 
The annual reporting burden increase of 25 hours connected with this 
report is due not to a change in the burden, but to rounding the 
Average Time to Respond associated with the Weekly Consumption Report/
Application for Payment report to 13 minutes. The net reduction in the 
burden is 1,925 hours.
    Respondents: U.S. cotton exporters and domestic mills.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 300.
    Estimated Average Time to Respond: 14 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 11,700.
    Estimated Number of Reports Filed per Person: 39.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 2,750.
    Topics for comments include but are not limited to the following: 
(a) whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information will have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of burden including the validity of the methodology 
and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility and 
clarity of the information to be collected: or (d) ways to minimize the 
burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, 
including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, 
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms 
of information technology. Comments should be sent to the Desk Officer 
for Agriculture, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office 
of Management and Budget, Washington, D.C. 20503 and to Janise Zygmont, 
Farm Service Agency, United States Department of Agriculture, Stop 
0515, P.O. Box 2415, Washington, DC 20013-2415; telephone (202) 720-
8841. Copies of the information collection may be obtained from Janise 
Zygmont at the above address.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for OMB approval. All comments will also become a matter of 
public record.

    Signed at Washington, D.C., on November 20, 1996.
Grant Buntrock,
Executive Vice President, Commodity Credit Corporation.
[FR Doc. 96-31346 Filed 12-9-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P