[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]
BILLING CODE 4310-94-M