[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 5 (Friday, January 7, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1089-1092]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-410]


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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 
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 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 5 / Friday, January 7, 2000 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

January 3, 2000.
    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, 
DC 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.

Forest Service

    Title: Urban Connections.
    OMB Control Number: 0596-NEW.
    Summary of Collection: Urban residents are increasingly looking to 
the National Forests as a source of recreation and relaxation and to 
gain some relief from dense urban settings. As a result National Forest 
System lands are under increased pressure from urban residents to meet 
their need for relief from dense urban environments. The Forest Service 
(FS) is legally bound to conduct public involvement activities, as 
referenced in FSM 1626, FSM 1950.1, 36 CFR 219.6, (NEPA, NFMA), and has 
a long history of doing so. The purpose of the information collection 
is to help the FS better understand the demands urban residents make on 
the agency's programs and services, how well the agency communicates it 
programs and services to these residents, and how well the agency meets 
the needs and expectations of urban residents, how opportunities might 
be made available to involve urban residents in participating in 
volunteer activities on National Forest System lands. Communicating 
with people who live in close proximity to the National Forests has 
been of great value to the agency. Because of the increased demands on 
the natural resources, the FS is collecting information to identify the 
concerns that urban residents have regarding the agency's ability to 
meet these additional demands. The FS will collect information using 
telephone interviews, telephone surveys and focus groups.
    Need and Use of the Information: FS will collect information to 
create opportunities for public involvement with urban residents; 
provide written information to them; provide them future opportunities 
to comment on national policy and initiatives; design communications 
that will meet urban residents needs; make urban residents aware of 
volunteer opportunities; provide the opportunity to correct any 
misinformation; let people know about land management planning 
activities and opportunities to be involved; share information about 
State and Private Forestry activities; and ensure FS communications 
reach diverse audiences. The results of this information collection 
will be used by FS employees to provide information to urban people in 
the cities of Boston, MA; Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN; and Detroit, MI. 
Without the results of the study, the FS would not know which urban 
residents are interested in public involvement or whom to share 
information with.
    Description of Respondents: Individuals or households.
    Number of Respondents: 4,148.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On occasion.
    Total Burden Hours: 1,549.

Foreign Agricultural Service

    Title: Buyer Alert.
    OMB Control Number: 0551-0024.
    Summary of Collection: Under 7 U.S.C. part 1761, the Foreign 
Agricultural Service (FAS) and the AgExport Connections Office 
facilitates trade contracts between U.S. exporters and foreign buyers 
seeking U.S. food and agricultural products. The Buyer Alert service is 
designed to help U.S. firms introduce their products to new foreign 
markets, as well as expand their presence in existing markets. This 
service provides the U.S. firm an opportunity to have its products 
listed in a biweekly newsletter which is distributed to foreign buyers.
    Need and Use of the Information: Buyer Alert is a biweekly overseas 
newsletter which advertises U.S. food and agricultural products to 
foreign buyers. Buyer Alert Announcements (advertisements) are 
processed by the USDA/FAS AgExport connections office and transmitted 
electronically to 80 FAS overseas offices, who distribute the 
information to more than 22,000 interested buyers world-wide. Each 
Announcement features a product description, and optional price 
indicator, and information about the exporter. U.S. firms may submit up 
to five Buyer Alert Announcements for distribution in each issue of the 
newsletter.
    Description of Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Number of Respondents: 600.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On occasion.
    Total Burden Hours: 306.

Foreign Agricultural Service

    Title: FAS/Cooperator Foreign Market Development Program.
    OMB Control Number: 0551-0026.

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    Summary of Collection: The basic authority for the Foreign Market 
Development Program is contained in Title VII of the Agricultural Trade 
Act of 1978, 7 U.S.C. 5721, et seq. Program regulations appear at 7 CFR 
1550. Title VII directs the Secretary of Agriculture to ``establish 
and, in cooperation with eligible trade organizations, carry out a 
foreign market development cooperator program to maintain and develop 
foreign markets for United States agricultural commodities and 
products.'' All data collected is used by the Foreign Agricultural 
Service (FAS) marketing specialists and program managers for the 
allocation of funds, program management, planning and evaluation. The 
data collection has, in almost every case, been mandated by either the 
General Accounting Office or the Office of the Inspector General to 
eliminate perceived deficiencies in program management and to establish 
additional program controls. FAS will collect information using an 
application submitted by prospective Cooperators.
    Need and Use of the Information: FAS will collect information to 
manage, plan, evaluate, and account for government resources. 
Specifically, data is used to assess the extent to which: applicant 
organizations represent U.S. commodity interests; benefits derived from 
market development efforts will translate back to the broadest possible 
range of beneficiaries; the market development efforts will lead to 
increases in consumption and imports of U.S. agricultural commodities; 
the applicant is able and willing to commit personnel and financial 
resources to assure adequate development, supervision and execution of 
project activities; and private organizations are able and willing to 
support the promotional program with aggressive marketing of the 
commodity in question. If information is not available which provides 
evidence that taxpayer funds are being disbursed in accordance with 
authorizing legislation, ethical standards, and standard Government 
rules and regulations, regulatory offices such as the General 
Accounting Office or the Office of the Inspector General would likely 
recommend terminating the program.
    Description of Respondents: Not-for-profit institutions; State, 
Local or Tribal Government.
    Number of Respondents: 30.
    Frequency of Responses: Recordkeeping; Reporting: Annually.
    Total Burden Hours: 43,748.

Agricultural Marketing Service

    Title: Regulations Governing the Inspection and Grading of 
Manufactured or Processed Dairy Products--Recordkeeping.
    OMB Control Number: 0581-0110.
    Summary of Collection: The Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 
directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop programs 
which will provide and enable a more orderly marketing of agricultural 
products. One of these programs is the USDA voluntary inspection and 
grading program for dairy products where these dairy products are 
graded according to U.S. grade standards by a USDA grader. The dairy 
products so graded may be identified with the USDA grade mark. Dairy 
processors, buyers, retailers, institutional users, and consumers have 
requested that such a program be developed to assure the uniform 
quality of dairy products purchased. In order for any service program 
to perform satisfactorily, there must be written guides and rules, 
which in this case are regulations for the provider and user. The 
Agricultural Marketing Service will require records be maintained on 
dairy processing activity for visual review during inspections.
    Need and Use of the Information: The Agricultural Marketing Service 
will collect information to administer the dairy inspection program and 
insure that dairy products are produced under sanitary conditions and 
buyers are purchasing a quality product. Without laboratory testing 
results requiring recordkeeping, inspectors would not be able to 
evaluate the quality of dairy products. The required records are 
routinely reviewed and evaluated during the inspection of the dairy 
plant facilities for USDA approval.
    Description of Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Number of Respondents: 508.
    Frequency of Responses: Recordkeeping.
    Total Burden Hours: 1,525.

Rural Housing Service

    Title: Form RD 410-8, ``Application Reference Letter'' (A Request 
for Credit Reference).
    OMB Control Number: 0575-0091.
    Summary of Collection: The Rural Housing Service (RHS) is required 
by the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, as amended, and the 
Housing Act of 1949 as amended to obtain information about an 
applicant's credit history that might not appear on a credit report in 
conjunction with its loanmaking operations. Form RD 410-8, ``Applicant 
Reference Letter'' is used by RHS to gather this information. It can be 
used to document an ability to handle credit effectively for applicants 
who have not used sources of credit that appear on a credit report. The 
form asks only for specific relevant information to determine the 
applicant's creditworthiness and to provide clarification on the 
promptness of applicant's payments on debts which enables RHS to make 
better creditworthiness decisions.
    Need and Use of the Information: RHS will collect information to 
supplement or verify other debts when a credit report is limited or 
unavailable to determine the applicant's eligibility and 
creditworthiness for RHS loans and grants.
    Description of Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Number of Respondents: 28,523.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On occasion.
    Total Burden Hours: 28,238.

Forest Service

    Title: Customer and Use Survey Techniques for Operations, 
Management, Evaluation and Research.
    OMB Control Number: 0596-0110.
    Summary of Collection: The National Forest Management Act (NFMA) of 
1976 and the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Act (RPA) of 1974 
require a comprehensive assessment of present and anticipated uses, 
demand for, and supply of renewable resources from the nation's public 
and private forests and rangelands. The Forest Service (FS) is required 
to report to Congress and others in conjunction with these legislated 
requirements as well as the use of appropriated funds. An important 
element in the reporting is the number of visits to National Forests 
and Grasslands, as well as to Wilderness Areas that the agency manages. 
The Customer and Use Survey Techniques for Operations, Management, 
Evaluation and Research (CUSTOMER) project combines several different 
survey approaches to gather data describing visitors to and users of 
public recreation lands, including their trip activities, satisfaction 
levels, evaluations, demographic profiles, trip characteristics, 
spending, and annual visitation patterns. FS will use fact-to-face 
interviewing for collecting information on-site as well as written 
survey instruments to be mailed back by respondents.
    Need and Use of the Information: FS plans to collect information 
from a variety of National Forests and other recreation areas. 
Information gathered through the various CUSTOMER modules has been and 
will continue to be used by planners, researchers, managers, policy 
analysts, and legislators in resources management areas, regional 
offices, regional research

[[Page 1091]]

stations, agency headquarters, and legislative offices.
    Description of Respondents: Individuals or households.
    Number of Respondents: 57,000.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Quarterly; Annually.
    Total Burden Hours: 9,917.

Food and Nutrition Service

    Title: Child Nutrition Labeling Program.
    OMB Control Number: 0584-0320.
    Summary of Collection: The Child Nutrition Labeling Program is a 
voluntary technical assistance program administered by the Food and 
Nutrition Service (FNS). The program is designed to aid schools and 
institutions participating in the National School Lunch Program, the 
School Breakfast Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and 
the Summer Food Service Program in determining the contribution a 
commercial product makes towards the meal pattern requirements. By 
requiring that companies who sell food to the government for use in 
nutrition program to identify the contribution of a product to the 
established meal pattern requirements. The Child Nutrition Labeling 
Program is implemented in conjunction with existing label approval 
programs administered by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), 
the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), and the U.S. Department of 
Commerce. In addition to an application for approval of a child 
nutrition label, companies must include a separate statement on how the 
product satisfies meal pattern requirements. All information is 
submitted to FSIS on form FSIS 7234-1, Application for Approval of 
Labels, Marking or Device.
    Need and Use of the Information: FNS uses the information collected 
by FSIS to aid school food authorities and other institutions 
participating in child nutrition programs in determining the 
contribution a commercial product makes towards the established meal 
pattern requirements.
    Description of Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Number of Respondents: 795.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Other (as needed).
    Total Burden Hours: 3,122.

Food and Nutrition Service

    Title: SMI Implementation Study--Year 3 Data Collection.
    OMB Control Number: 0584-0485.
    Summary of Collection: The Healthy Meals for Healthy Americans Act 
of 1994 (Pub. L. 103-448), as amended, provided the framework for 
implementing the School Meals Initiative (SMI) for Healthy Children. 
The SMI was launched for the purposes of modifying school meals in 
order to meet the Dietary Guidelines, which were established in 1980 as 
a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and 
the Department of Health and Human Services. In order to assess the 
progress of the SMI, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) developed 
plans for a multi-year longitudinal research project that collects 
information on SMI implementation at the state, district, and school 
levels. The study project plan calls for a three phase approach. FNS 
collected evaluation data in the Spring of 1996 and again in 1997. FNS 
is now seeking approval to proceed with the third phase of the project 
planned for the 1999-2000 school year.
    Need and Use of the Information: FNS plans to collect information 
from 51 State Child Nutrition Directors, and a representative sample of 
School Food Authorities to: (1) Describe the status of the 
implementation of the SMI and (2) provide descriptive information on 
the operations and characteristics of the school-based Child Nutrition 
Programs. Two separate surveys have been developed--one for each sample 
group--that will be mailed to respondents in hardcopy format. Without 
the information to be collected in this study, FNS would not have 
continuous and reliable data about the status of the SMI, its effects 
on school food programs, problems encountered, and progress in 
achieving its objectives.
    Description of Respondents: State, Local, or Tribal Government.
    Number of Respondents: 2,039.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Other (one-time).
    Total Burden Hours: 2,039.

Food and Nutrition Service

    Title: The Impacts of Food Stamp Program Time Limits on Able-Bodied 
Adults Without Dependents.
    OMB Control Number: 0584-NEW.
    Summary of Collection: Under the Personal Responsibility and Work 
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, P.L. 104-193 (PRWORA), able-
bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) are subject to a time limit 
on the receipt of food stamps unless they work or participate in an 
approved work or training program. The time limit on the receipt of 
food stamp benefits represents a significant change to the Food Stamp 
Program (FSP) rules and an operational challenge to administer, yet 
relatively little is know about how states are implementing this policy 
or how many people are affected by the new provisions. The Food and 
Nutrition Service (FNS) is proposing to conduct a study to (1) describe 
how the ABAWD provisions have been implemented, and (2) to provide 
national estimates of how many people are affected by the ABAWD 
provisions. FNS has contracted with an outside firm to conduct the 
study which will involve telephone and written surveys with state 
agency personnel, local office FSP personnel, and representatives from 
selected advocacy groups. For a smaller sample, some site visits will 
also be conducted.
    Need and Use of the Information: FNS plans to collect information 
in order to develop a national picture of how the ABAWD provisions are 
implemented from state to state and to determine how many people are 
affected by the provisions. It will also provide information on the 
range of policy decisions that were available to the states and the 
factors that affected the choice of policies by individual states, 
counties, and local offices. The information will be shared by FNS with 
the states and the Congress to inform ongoing discussions on strategies 
for responding to this segment of the FSP population. The findings 
generated from the information collection will be presented in the form 
of a final reported and a public-use file containing the state and 
local responses to the survey questionnaires.
    Description of Respondents: Not-for-profit institutions; State, 
Local, or Tribal Government.
    Number of Respondents: 897
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Other (one-time).
    Total Burden Hours: 2,193.

Food and Nutrition Service

    Title: Summer Food Service Program.
    OMB Control Number: 0584-0280.
    Summary of Collection: The National School Lunch Act, as amended, 
authorizes the Summer Food Service Program for Children (SFSP). The 
SFSP is administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). The 
purpose of the SFSP is to provide nutrition meals to children from low-
income areas during periods when schools are not in session. 
Information is gathered from state agencies and other organizations 
wishing to participate in the program to determine eligibility. If 
selected, additional reporting requirements apply to determine the 
amount of meals served and other program volume information. FNS used a 
variety of forms to collect information.
    Need and Use of the Information: FNS uses the information collected 
to determine an organizations eligibility to participate and to monitor 
program

[[Page 1092]]

performance for compliance and reimbursement purposes.
    Description of Respondents: Individuals or households.
    Number of Respondents: 76,733.
    Frequency of Responses: Recordkeeping; Reporting: On occasion; 
Quarterly; Monthly; Weekly.
    Total Burden Hours: 316,005.

Rural Housing Service

    Title: 7 CFR 1944-I, ``Self-Help Technical Assistance Grants''.
    OMB Control Number: 0575-0043.
    Summary of Collection: This regulation prescribes policies and 
responsibilities, including the collection and use of information, 
necessary to administer the Section 523 program. Rural Housing Service 
(RHS) will be collecting information from the non-profit organizations 
who want to develop a Self-Help program in their area to increase the 
availability of affordable housing. The information is collected at the 
local, district, and state levels. The information requested by RHS 
includes financial and organizational information about the non-profit 
organization.
    Need and Use of the Information: RHS needs this information to 
determine if the organization is capable of successfully carrying out 
the requirements of the Self-Help program. The information is collected 
on an as requested or needed basis. RHS has reviewed the program's need 
for the collection of information versus the burden placed on the 
public.
    Description of Respondents: State, Local or Tribal Government; Not-
for-profit institutions.
    Number of Respondents: 100.
    Frequency of Responses: Recordkeeping; Reporting: Monthly, 
Annually.
    Total Burden Hours: 3,095.

Rural Housing Service

    Title: 7 CFR 1944-B, Housing Applications Packaging Grants.
    OMB Control Number: 0575-0157.
    Summary of Collection: Section 509 of the Housing Act of 1949, as 
amended, authorizes the Rural Housing Service (RHS) to make grants to 
private and public nonprofit organizations and State and local 
governments to package housing applications for Section 502, 504, 514/
515 and 533 to colonials and designated counties. Eligible 
organizations aid very low and low-income individuals and families in 
obtaining benefits from RHS housing programs.
    Need and Use of the Information: RHS field personnel use this 
information, required for approval of housing application packaging 
grants, to verify program eligibility requirements and to secure grant 
assistance. The information is also to insure that the program is 
administered in a manner consistent with legislative and administrative 
requirements.
    Description of Respondents: Not-for-profit institutions.
    Number of Respondents: 200.
    Frequency of Responses: Recordkeeping; Reporting: On occasion.
    Total Burden Hours: 900.
Nancy B. Sternberg,
Departmental Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 00-410 Filed 1-6-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-01-M