[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 54 (Monday, March 20, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15000-15001]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-6812]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WO-350-1430-PF-01-24 1A]


Extension of Currently Approved Information Collection; OMB 
Approval Number 1004-0004

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is announcing its intention to request 
extension of approval for the collection of information from those 
persons who submit an application (Form 2520-1), to apply for a desert-
land entry to reclaim, irrigate, and cultivate arid and semiarid public 
lands in the Western United States. The BLM uses the information to 
determine if the applicant is eligible to make a desert-land entry 
under the appropriate land entry laws.

DATES: Comments on the proposed information collection must be received 
by May 19, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Regulatory Management Team (420), 
Bureau of Land Management, 1849 C Street NW., Room 401LS, Washington, 
D.C. 20240.
    Comments may be sent Internet to: WOC[email protected]. Please include 
``Attn: 1004-0004'' and your name and address in your Internet message.
    Comments may be hand delivered to the Bureau of Land Management 
Administrative Record, Room 401 L Street NW., Washington, D.C.
    Comments will be available for public review at the L Street 
address during regular business hours (7:45 am to 4:15 pm, Monday 
through Friday).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alzata L. Ransom, Lands and Realty 
Group, at (202) 452-7772.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with 5 CFR 1320.12(a), BLM is 
required to provide 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning a 
collection of information contained in published current rules to 
solicit comments on of information to solicit comments on (a) whether 
the proposed 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 the burden of the proposed collection of 
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (c)

[[Page 15001]]

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and (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 technological 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
    The Desert Land Act of March 3, 1877 (19 Stat. 377; 43 U.S.C. 321-
323), as amended by the Act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. 1096; 43 U.S.C. 
231, 323, 325, 327-329), was passed by the Congress to encourage and 
promote the economic development of the arid and semiarid public lands. 
Through the Act, you may apply for a desert-land entry to reclaim, 
irrigate, and cultivate arid and semiarid public lands in the Western 
United States. The regulations in 43 CFR 2520 provide guidelines and 
procedures to obtain public lands under the Act. These regulations were 
adopted on June 13, 1970, 35 FR 9581.
    You qualify to file a desert-land entry if you are a citizen of the 
United States; 21 years old; and a resident in the States of Arizona, 
California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South 
Dakota, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming (no residency is required in the 
State of Nevada).
    You may apply for one or more tracts of public lands totaling no 
more than 320 acres. The lands are located in the States of Arizona, 
California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, 
Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The lands must be 
surveyed or unsurveyed, unappropriated, non-mineral, non-timber, and 
incapable of producing an agricultural crop without irrigation. The 
lands must be suitable for agricultural purposes and more valuable for 
that purpose than any other. The tracts of land must be sufficiently 
close to each other to be managed satisfactorily as an economic unit.
    You must find lands that you feel can be economically developed and 
determine the legal description. You must contact the BLM State Office 
where the lands are located and verify the lands are available for 
desert-land application.
    The information collected on Form No. 2520-1 is required by the 
regulations in 43 CFR 2720 to process requests for public lands under 
the provisions of the Desert Land Act. If you desire to enter the 
public lands under the desert-land laws, you must file an application 
with the BLM District Office where the lands are located. The following 
information is collected on the form: (1) Your name and address, and 
description of the lands you are applying for; (2) $15 filing fee plus 
advanced payment of 25 cents per acre; (3) age, residence, and 
citizenship requirements; (4) information about previous desert land 
entry applications, assignments, or acquisitions; (5) declaration of 
your on-the-ground examination of the lands; (6) mineral information; 
(7) cultivation information; (8) characteristics of the land 
(irrigated, watered, overflowed); (9) soil characteristics; (10) 
irrigation requirements; (11) irrigation plan; (12) water rights 
information; (13) estimated farm budget; (14) explanation of the 
economic feasibility of farming the lands as an economic unit, if the 
lands do not have a common boundary); (15) type of assistance you 
received in completing the application; (16) petition classification 
information; (17) disclosure of your plans, and financial arrangements 
to develop, cultivate, and irrigate the lands; (18) date of 
application, and signature of applicant; and; (19) certified statement 
of your acquaintance with the lands described in your application.
    After receiving the application, the BLM will examine your 
application for completeness and accuracy, and classify the lands 
included in the application. The BLM will approve your application if 
the lands are classified suitable of desert-land entry, or reject your 
application if the lands are classified unsuitable for desert-land 
entry.
    If the BLM approves your application, your have 4 years from the 
date your application is approved to comply with the requirements of 
the desert-land laws. You are required to develop an adequate water 
supply to reclaim, irrigate, and cultivate all of the lands in your 
desert-land entry, and one-eighth of the lands must be properly 
cultivated and irrigated.
    If you successfully meet the requirements of the desert-lands laws, 
you will receive a patent from the BLM which gives you legal title to 
the lands. If you experience an unavoidable delay in reclaiming and 
cultivating the lands, BLM will grant you an extension if you clearly 
show that the failure to reclaim and cultivate the lands within the 4-
year period was due to no fault of your own. If you failed to act or 
were unable to get financial backing to make the required development, 
the BLM cannot grant you an extension.
    The BLM estimates that approximately 20 applications (Form 2520-1) 
are received annually. Based on the BLM's experience in processing an 
application, it will take an average time of 90 minutes for a applicant 
to supply the requested information. Based on the estimated 20 
applications the BLM receives annually and the average time of 90 
minutes it takes an applicant to supply the requested information, the 
total annual burden is collectively 30 hours.
    Any interested member of the public may request and obtain, without 
charge, a copy of the R&PP application (Form 2520-1) by contacting the 
person identified under

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: All responses to this notice will be 
summarized and included in the request for Office of Management and 
Budget approval. All comments will also become part of the public 
record.

    Dated: March 15, 2000.
Carole Smith,
BLM Information Collection Officer.
[FR Doc. 00-6812 Filed 3-17-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-84-M