[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 237 (Friday, December 10, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69220-69222]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-32010]


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 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
 and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
 statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 237 / Friday, December 10, 1999 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

December 6, 1999.
    The Department of Agriculture has submitted the following 
information collection requirement(s) to OMB for review and clearance 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. Comments 
regarding (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; (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 should be addressed to: Desk 
Officer for Agriculture, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Washington, DC 20503 and to 
Departmental Clearance Office, USDA, OCIO, Mail Stop 7602, Washington, 
D.C. 20250-7602. Comments regarding these information collections are 
best assured of having their full effect if received within 30 days of 
this notification. Copies of the submission(s) may be obtained by 
calling (202) 720-6746.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information 
unless the collection of information displays a currently valid OMB 
control number and the agency informs potential persons who are to 
respond to the collection of information that such persons are not 
required to respond to the collection of information unless it displays 
a currently valid OMB control number.

Food and Nutrition Service

    Title: USDA National Hunger Clearinghouse Database Form.
    OMB Control Number: 0584-0474.
    Summary of Collection: The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is 
interested in maintaining and further developing an information 
clearinghouse (named ``USDA National Hunger Clearinghouse'') for groups 
that assist low-income individuals and communities concerning nutrition 
assistance programs or other assistance. Section 26 of the National 
School Lunch Act, which was added to the Act by Section 123 Pub. L. 
102-448 on November 2, 1994 (Appendix A), mandated that FNS enter into 
a 4 year contract with a non governmental organization to develop and 
maintain a national information clearinghouse of grassroots 
organizations working on hunger, food, nutrition, and other 
agricultural issues, including food recovery. This legislation was 
further amended on October 13, 1998 by section 112 of Pub. L. 105-336 
to continue maintenance of the database through FY 2004. The USDA 
National Hunger Clearinghouse uses state-of-the art computer and 
telecommunications technologies to connect the target audience, sharing 
information on effective program models, pending legislation and rule 
makings, surplus and emergency food distribution networks, and USDA 
programs and policies. FNS will collect the information through fax, 
regular mail, e-mail, and the Internet.
    Need And Use of the Information: FNS will collect information to 
provide a resource for groups that assist low-income individuals or 
communities regarding nutrition assistance program or other assistance. 
The information provided by the Clearinghouse database enables these 
groups to do a better job of assisting the target audience.
    Description of Respondents: Not-for-profit institutions; Business 
or other for-profit; Farms.
    Number of Respondents: 1,850.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Annually.
    Total Burden Hours: 148.

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

    Title: Pseudorabies in Swine; Payment of Indemnity.
    OMB Control Number: 0579-0137.
    Summary of Collection: Title 21, U.S.C. authorizes sections 111, 
114, 114a, 114-1, 115, 120, 125, 126, 134a, 134c, 134f, and 134g of 21 
U.S.C. These authorities permit the Secretary to prevent, control and 
eliminate domestic diseases such as brucellosis and tuberculosis, as 
well as to take actions to prevent and to manage exotic diseases such 
as foot-and-mouth disease and rinderpest. More specifically, 21 U.S.C. 
111, 115, 118, authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to take such 
measures as he or she may deem proper to prevent the introduction or 
dissemination of any contagious or communicable disease of animals or 
live poultry from a foreign country into the United States or from one 
state to another. Disease prevention is the most effective method for 
maintaining a healthy animal population and enhancing our ability to 
compete in exporting animals and animal products. The Animal and Plant 
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is conducting a pseudorabies 
eradication program (in cooperation with State governments and swine 
producers) that involves the systemic identification of pseudorabies-
infected swine in the United States, and herd management to eliminate 
pseudorabies from the United States. APHIS will collect information 
using forms VS 1-23, VS 7-1, VS 7-3,       VS 7-4, and PRV Eradication 
Acceleration Payment Form.
    Need and Use of the Information: APHIS will collect information 
from herd owners on the number of pseudorabies-infected herds in each 
state and the number of herds vaccinated for pseudorabies. APHIS will 
also collect information on the appraised value of the swine being 
depopulated.
    Description of Respondents: Business or other-for-profit; Farms; 
State, Local or Tribal Government.
    Number of Respondents: 1,300.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On occasion.
    Total Burden Hours: 1,387.

Forest Service

    Title: Baseline and Trend Information on Wilderness Use and Users.

[[Page 69221]]

    OMB Control Number: 0596-0108.
    Summary of Collection: The Wilderness Act (P.L. 88-577) directs 
that wilderness be managed to preserve natural conditions and to 
provide outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and 
unconfined type of recreation. To meet these management goals, managers 
must adapt their programs to changes in the amount and type of use and 
resultant conditions. It is also important for managers to be aware of 
likely visitor response to proposed management actions and their 
preferences for resource conditions. Very little is known about trends 
in the characteristics, activities and preferences of visitors to 
wilderness and other wildlands. The Forest Service (FS) will collect 
information using mailback survey forms, face-to-face and on-site 
interviews to establish usage baselines and monitor trends in some 
areas for critical use and user characteristics for representative 
Forest Service wilderness area.
    Need and use of the Information: FS will collect information from 
visitors to find out how many times they visit, when they plan their 
next visit, or if they plan to visit at all. Visitors will be asked, 
when visiting, if they come in groups, and if so, the size of those 
groups and how long they stay when visiting. Also, visitors will be 
asked do they use equipment such as stoves, wood for fires and do they 
have preferences for social conditions? If the information is not 
collected FS will have no basis for making management decisions and 
establishing policy for guiding wilderness management in general.
    Description of Respondents: Individuals or households.
    Number of Respondents: 1,000.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On occasion.
    Total Burden Hours: 416.

Farm Service Agency

    Title: Farm Reconstitution (7 CFR part 718).
    OMB Control Number: 0560-0025.
    Summary of Collection: The Agricultural Act of 1938, as amended, 
provides for the reconstitution of farms. A reconstitution is a change 
in the land constituting a farm as a result of combining or dividing 
tracts or land or farms. The reconstitution process ensures that the 
farm and tract records in the County Farm Service Agency (FSA) Office 
are correct and up to date. A reconstitution is a required procedure 
when a producer wishes to increase or decrease acreage attributed to 
the farm from lease, sale of land, or purchase of land. Form FSA-155, 
Request for Reconstitution, is used as the request for a farm 
reconstitution initiated by the producer.
    Need and use of the Information: FSA will collect information to 
determine farm and tract numbers, farmland, cropland, agricultural use 
land, distribution of tobacco quota and allotments, peanut quota, and 
production flexibility contract acres resulting from combination or 
division of the farming operation. The information is used by the 
County Office employees to document farm owners and operators, 
farmland, cropland, crop acreages, and whether land is being purchase 
or sold. Failure to collect the information required by FSA-155 would 
result in inaccurate farm records.
    Description of Respondents: Farms.
    Number of Respondents: 112,820.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On occasion.
    Total Burden Hours: 197,435.

National Agricultural Statistics Service

    Title: Agricultural Economics and Land Ownership Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0535-NEW.
    Summary of Collection: The Agricultural Economics and Land 
Ownership Survey (AELOS) is an integral part of the 1997 Census of 
Agriculture and is conducted under the authority of the Census of 
Agriculture Act of 1997 (Pub. L. 105-113). This law requires the 
Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a census of agriculture in 1998 and 
every fifth year following 1998. With the end of the 20th Century 
rapidly approaching, farmers are facing much uncertainty about their 
future livelihood and ability to maintain sustainable farm operations. 
Lower farm prices coupled with increased input costs and farmland 
values that have only increased slightly in recent years have placed 
incredible economic pressures on the Nation's agriculture economy. The 
1999 AELOS will obtain data to accurately define the economic status of 
U.S. farm operations and households. The AELOS is designed to provide 
statistically reliable estimates of key economic and demographic 
variables at the U.S. and state level. The National Agricultural 
Statistics Service (NASS) will collect information using a survey.
    Need and use of the Information: NASS will collect information to 
provide a current measure of key variables in agricultural economy that 
can be used by economists, financial organizations, and Congress to 
assess the overall condition of the U.S. farm population. The data will 
provide not only state level profiles of farm assets, liabilities, and 
operator debt, but will also include tabulations of information on farm 
household income and wealth. The absence of the AELOS data would 
negatively affect economic and financial policy decisions. Federal 
programs, legislation, and impact studies would be subject to greater 
uncertainty and error.
    Description of Respondents: Farms.
    Number of Respondents: 77,600.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Other (One-time survey).
    Total Burden Hours: 57,600.

National Agricultural Statistics Service

    Title: Fruit and Vegetable Agricultural Practices Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0535-0239.
    Summary of Collection: In October 1997, the President signed a 
directive entitled ``Initiative to Ensure the Safety of Imported and 
Domestic Fruits and Vegetables.'' Part of this initiative directed the 
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue a guidance document on good 
agricultural practices for fresh fruits and vegetables to ensure the 
safety of the Nation's food supply. FDA and the National Agricultural 
Statistics Service (NASS) are working together to establish a baseline 
of current agricultural practices. A 14-state survey of fruit and 
vegetable growers and packers will be the first step in gathering 
information which will assist in developing educational outreach 
programs for growers and packers. Education outreach is an important 
component of the President's initiative. NASS will collect information 
using a survey.
    Need and use of the Information: NASS will collect information to 
establish a baseline of current agricultural practices as outlined in 
FDA's ``Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh 
Fruits and Vegetables.'' In addition, data from the operational survey 
will be used for development of educational outreach programs for 
growers, packers, and the public. Without the data, sound policy 
decisions could not be made and improved grower education strategies 
could not be developed.
    Description of Respondents: Farms; Business or other for-profit.
    Number of Respondents: 13,000.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Biennially.
    Total Burden Hours: 10,400.

National Agricultural Statistics Service

    Title: Aquaculture Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0535-0150.
    Summary of Collection: The primary function of the National 
Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is to estimate production and 
stocks of all important

[[Page 69222]]

agricultural food, fiber, and specialty commodities and collect data 
relating to rural America for other Federal agencies. In this capacity, 
NASS prepares estimates for trout sales, catfish processed, inventory, 
acreage, and sales. General authority for these data collection 
activities is granted under U.S. Code Title 7, Section 2204. This 
statute specifies that ``The Secretary of Agriculture shall procure and 
preserve all information concerning agriculture which he can obtain * * 
* by the collection of statistics * * * and shall distribute them among 
agriculturists.'' Congress has mandated the collection of basic data 
for aquaculture and provides funding for these surveys. Aquaculture is 
an alternative method to produce a high protein, low fat product 
demanded by the consumer. Information on the producing areas and 
quantities is very limited. The Census of Aquaculture, which NASS 
completed earlier this year, provides detail information relating to 
on-farm aquaculture practices. NASS will collect information using a 
survey.
    Need and use of the Information: NASS will collect information to 
demonstrate the growing importance of aquaculture to officials of 
Federal and State government agencies who manage and direct policy over 
programs in agriculture and natural resources. The type of information 
collected and reported provides extension educators and research 
scientists with data that indicates important areas that require 
special educational and/or research efforts, such as causes for losses 
of fish and pond inventories of fish of various sizes.
    Description of Respondents: Farms; Business or other for-profit.
    Number of Respondents: 3,025.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Semi-annually.
    Total Burden Hours: 825.
Nancy B. Sternberg,
Departmental Information Collection Officer.
[FR Doc. 99-32010 Filed 12-9-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-01-M