[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