[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 21, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71492-71493]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-32981]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
Agency 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 (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request
(ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for review, comment, and approval. The ICR describes
the nature of the information collection and its expected cost and
burden.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before January 20, 2000.
ADDRESSES: Send comments regarding the information collection to the
following addresses: Mr. Larry Schluntz, Bureau of Reclamation,
Reclamation Law and Revenues Office, D-5200, P.O. Box 25007, Denver, CO
80225, and 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.
Our practice is to make comments, including names and home
addresses of respondents, available for public review. Individual
respondents may request that we withhold their home address from pubic
disclosure, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There
also may be circumstances in which we would withhold a respondent's
identity from public disclosure, as allowable by law. If you wish us to
withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently at
the beginning of your comment. We will make all submissions from
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or
businesses, available for public disclosure in their entirety.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information or a copy of
the forms contact Larry Schluntz, Bureau of Reclamation, P.O. Box
25007, Denver, CO 80225; telephone: (303) 445-2901.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Crop Acreage and Yields and Water Distribution (OMB Control
No. 1006-0001). This is a request for a reinstatement of a previous
data collection with changes. The titles of the forms and the form
numbers associated with this information collection are: Form 7-332,
Water User Crop Census Report, and Form 7-2045, Crop and Water Data.
Since this is a request for reinstatement of a previously approved
collection of information, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation)
decided it would be less confusing for the public to use the earlier
titles for these forms.
Abstract: The annual crop census is taken on all Bureau of
Reclamation (Reclamation) projects, along with collection of related
statistics, primarily for use as a tool in administering, managing, and
evaluating the Federal reclamation program. The census is used to
assist in the administration of repayment and water service contracts
which are used to repay the irrigators obligation to the Federal
Government. Data from the census also are utilized to determine Class 1
equivalency computations, i.e., determining the number of acres of
Class 2 and 3 land that are required to be equivalent in productivity
to Class 1 land. Crop production data are also used to analyze the
double subsidy occurring on Reclamation project lands. Double subsidies
occur when an irrigator receives interest-free irrigation water and is
also eligible for farm program payments from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. In recent years, the census has provided data which are
used to administer international trade agreements, such as the North
American Free Trade Agreement. Data from the census are also used by
the Office of the Inspector General, General Accounting Office, and the
Congressional Research Service to independently evaluate the
Reclamation program and to estimate the impacts of proposed
legislation. These data are also supplied to other Federal and State
agencies to evaluate the program and provide data for research. The
census will provide data to provide the required 5-year review of
ability-to-pay analysis which is being incorporated into new repayment
and water service contracts. The basis for these reviews is an audit by
the Office of the Inspector General, Department of the Interior.
Burden: The respondent burden is estimated at 6,250 hours for
farmers and 1,800 for irrigation districts. These estimates are derived
as follows. There are an estimated 50,000 farm operators in the
sampling universe and if a 50 percent sampling rate is assumed there
will be 25,000 respondents in any given year. It is estimated that each
respondent will require 15 minutes to complete the form. In most cases,
the individual irrigators will have the requested data of crop
production and yields in their own records and it only takes a few
minutes to transfer these data to the respondent form. This yields an
estimated 6,250 hours. In addition, the irrigation districts compile
the individual responses into a district-wide response which is
submitted to Reclamation. It is estimated that each of the 225
districts will require 8 hours to complete this compilation, which is a
total of 1,800 burden hours for the districts. The overall total is
estimated at 8,050 burden hours.
Respondents/Affected entities: Irrigators who receive irrigation
water from Bureau of Reclamation projects and irrigation districts.
[[Page 71493]]
Estimated number of respondents: Estimated 50,000 irrigators in the
universe; reporting burden estimate based on a 50 percent sample or
25,000 respondents annually. Approximately 225 districts will
consolidate the respondent data and provide a summarized report
annually to Reclamation.
Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 6,250 hours for
irrigators and 1,800 hours for irrigation districts.
Frequency of Collection: Annually.
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 number. Reclamation will display a valid
OMB control number on the survey forms. A Federal Register notice with
a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on this collection of
information was published in the Federal Register (63 FR 10243, Mar. 2,
1998). Reclamation did not receive any comments on this collection of
information during the comment period.
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;
(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.
OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove this information
collection, but may respond after 30 days; therefore, public comment
should be submitted to OMB within 30 days in order to assure maximize
consideration.
Murlin Coffey,
Manager, Property and Office Services.
[FR Doc. 99-32981 Filed 12-20-99; 8:45 am]
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