[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 184 (Thursday, September 21, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57161-57163]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-24218]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service


Notice of Intent To Revise and Request an Extension of a 
Currently Approved Information Collection

AGENCY: Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, 
USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) implementing regulations this 
notice announces the Cooperative State Research, Education, and 
Extension Service's (CSREES) intention to revise and extend a currently 
approved information collection, Forms CSREES-662, ``Assurance 
Statement(s);'' CSREES-663, ``Current and Pending Support;'' CSREES-
708, ``Summary Vita--Teaching Proposal;'' CSREES-710, ``Summary Vita--
Research Proposal;'' CSREES-711, ``Intent to Submit a Proposal;'' 
CSREES-712, ``Higher Education Proposal Cover Page;'' and CSREES-713, 
``Higher Education Budget''

[[Page 57162]]


DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by November 27, 2000 to 
be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this notice to Dr. Sally J. 
Rockey, Deputy Administrator; Competitive Research Grants and Awards 
Management; Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension 
Service; U.S. Department of Agriculture; STOP 2240; 1400 Independence 
Avenue, SW; Washington, DC 20250-2240. E-mail: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Sally J. Rockey, (202) 401-
1761.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:   
    Titles: Assurance Statement(s), Current and Pending Support, 
Summary Vita--Teaching Proposal, Summary Vita--Research Proposal, 
Intent to Submit a Proposal, Higher Education Proposal Cover Page, and 
Higher Education Budget.
    OMB Number: 0524-0030.
    Expiration Date of Current Approval: December 31, 2000.
    Type of Request: Revise and extend a currently approved information 
collection.
    Abstract: The Higher Education Program (HEP) unit of USDA/CSREES 
administers several competitive, peer-reviewed research and teaching 
programs, under which grants of a high-priority nature are awarded. 
These programs are authorized pursuant to the authorities contained in 
the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act 
of 1977, as amended (7 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), section 1417(b)(1) for the 
Higher Education Challenge Grants Program (7 U.S.C. 3152), section 
1417(b)(4) for the 1890 Institution Capacity Building Grants Program (7 
U.S.C. 3152), section 1417(j) for the Secondary Agriculture Education 
Challenge Grants Program (7 U.S.C. 3152), section 1455 for the 
Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grants Program (7 U.S.C. 3241), 
and the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 
301 note) for the Tribal Colleges Education Equity Grants Program and 
Tribal Colleges Research Grants Program. The Higher Education Challenge 
Grants Program is intended to assist colleges and universities in the 
United States in providing high quality educational programs in the 
food and agricultural sciences. The 1890 Institution Capacity Building 
Grants Program is intended to strengthen the teaching and research 
capabilities of the sixteen 1890 historically black Land-Grant 
Institutions and Tuskegee University. The Secondary Agriculture 
Education Challenge Grants Program is intended to promote and 
strengthen secondary education in agriscience and agribusiness and 
increasing the number of young Americans pursuing baccalaureate or 
higher degrees in the food and agricultural sciences. The Hispanic-
Serving Institutions Education Grants Program is intended to promote 
and strengthen the ability of Hispanic-Serving Institutions to carry 
out educational programs. The Tribal Colleges Education Equity Grants 
Program is intended to support projects that strengthen academic 
programs at the 1994 Land-Grant Institutions. The Tribal Colleges 
Research Grants Program is intended to assist the Tribal Colleges to 
conduct agricultural research that addresses high priority concerns of 
tribal, national, or multistate significance. All of these programs 
will, in turn, attract outstanding students and produce graduates 
capable of strengthening the Nation's food and agricultural scientific 
and professional work force. Before awards can be made, certain 
information is required from applicants as part of an overall proposal 
package. In addition to project summaries, descriptions of the research 
or teaching efforts, literature reviews, curricula vitae of principal 
investigators, and other, relevant technical aspects of the proposed 
project, supporting documentation of an administrative and budgetary 
nature also must be provided. Because of the nature of the competitive, 
peer-reviewed process, it is important that information from applicants 
be available in a standardized format to ensure equitable treatment. 
Each year, HEP solicitations are issued requesting proposals for 
various research and teaching areas targeted for support. Applicants 
submit proposals for these targeted research and teaching areas 
following the format outlined in the proposal application guidelines 
accompanying each solicitation. These proposals are evaluated by peer 
review panels and awarded on a competitive basis. These programs have 
been using forms that have been approved in an OMB-approved collection 
of information package (OMB No. 0524-0030). Forms CSREES-662, 
``Assurance Statement(s);'' CSREES-663, ``Current and Pending 
Support;'' CSREES-708, ``Summary Vita-- Teaching Proposal;'' CSREES-
710, ``Summary Vita--Research Proposal;'' CSREES-711, ``Intent to 
Submit a Proposal;'' CSREES-712, ``Higher Education Proposal Cover 
Page;'' and CSREES-713, ``Higher Education Budget'' are mainly used for 
proposal evaluation and administration purposes. While some of the 
information may be used to respond to inquiries from Congress and other 
government agencies, the forms are not designed to be statistical 
surveys or data collection instruments. Their completion by potential 
recipients is a normal part of the application to Federal agencies 
which support basic and applied scientific research.
    Since several programs use these forms the number of copies 
requested by CSREES varies. The number required is either five or 
seven. The number required depends on the size of the peer review panel 
of the program. Multiple copies are requested as a result of a desire 
to minimize delays in beginning the review process that would be caused 
if CSREES were required to make the copies in-house, and minimization 
of the risk of proposals becoming separated, incorrectly organized, or 
misplaced during a high volume, minimally-staffed, time-driven 
photocopying process.
    The following information has been collected and will continue to 
be collected:
    Form CSREES-662--Assurances: Provides required assurances of 
compliance with regulations involving the protection of human subjects, 
animal welfare, and recombinant DNA research. By signing this form the 
grant recipient assures CSREES that it is in compliance with the 
pertinent regulations regarding these issues.
    Form CSREES-663--Current and Pending Support: Provides information 
for key personnel's active and pending projects an applicant may have. 
This form is used by CSREES to ensure that a project is not being 
funded more than once by any Federal governmental agency, and to ensure 
that a principal investigator is not overextending their workload by 
committing more than 100% of their time to all of their funded 
projects.
    Form CSREES-708--Teaching Credentials: Identifies key personnel 
contributing substantially to the conduct of a teaching project and 
provides pertinent information concerning their backgrounds. This form 
is used by CSREES to ensure that the key personnel involved in the 
project have the necessary knowledge and skills to carry out the work 
for the project.
    Form CSREES-710--Research Credentials: Identifies key personnel 
contributing substantially to the conduct of a research project and 
provides pertinent information concerning their backgrounds. Currently, 
the only programs using this form are the 1890 Institution Capacity 
Building Grants Program and the Tribal Colleges Research Grants 
Program. This

[[Page 57163]]

form is used by CSREES to ensure that the key personnel involved in the 
project have the necessary knowledge and skills to carry out the work 
for the project.
    Form CSREES-711--Intent to Submit: Provides names, addresses, and 
phone numbers of project directors and authorized agents of applicant 
institutions and general information regarding potential proposals. The 
submission of this form gives the program manager an idea of how many 
and the substance of proposals that will possibly be submitted. This 
allows the program manager to make preparations for setting up panels 
and other administrative details.
    Form CSREES-712--Proposal Cover Page: Provides names, addresses, 
and phone numbers of project directors and authorized agents of 
applicant institutions and general information regarding the proposals. 
This form provides CSREES with the necessary information for making an 
award.
    Form CSREES-713--Budget: Provides a breakdown of the purposes for 
which funds will be spent in the event of a grant award. This form is 
used by CSREES to determine how grant funds will be expended and if the 
proposed costs are allowable.
    Estimate of Burden: Public reporting burden for this collection of 
information is estimated to average .75 hour for Form CSREES-662, 2.5 
hours for Form CSREES-663, 2.5 hours for Form CSREES-708, 2.0 hours for 
Form CSREES-710, 1.25 hours for Form CSREES-711, 1.2 hours for Form 
CSREES-712, and 5 hours for Form CSREES-713. This average was based on 
a survey of grantees who had recently been approved for awards. They 
were asked to give an estimate of time it took them to complete each 
form. This estimate was to include such things as: (1) Reviewing the 
instructions; (2) Searching existing data sources; (3) Gathering and 
maintaining the data needed; and (4) Actual completion of the forms. 
The average time it took each respondent was calculated from their 
responses.
    Respondents: Non-profit institutions, or organizations and State 
and local governments.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 320 for Form CSREES-708; 130 for 
Form CSREES-710; 50 for Form CSREES-711; and 450 each for Forms CSREES-
662, CSREES-663, CSREES-712 and CSREES-713.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 5,376 hours, broken 
down by: 338 hours for Form CSREES-662 (.75 hour per response times 450 
respondents); 1,125 hours for Form CSREES-663 (2.5 hours per response 
times 450 respondents); 800 hours for Form CSREES-708 (2.5 hours per 
response times 320 respondents); 260 hours for Form CSREES-710 (2.0 
hours per response times 130 respondents); 63 hours for Form CSREES-711 
(1.25 hour per response times 50 respondents); 540 hours for Form 
CSREES-712 (1.2 hours per response times 450 respondents); 2,250 hours 
for Form CSREES-713 (5 hours per response times 450 respondents).
    Copies of this information collection can be obtained from Dr. 
Sally Rockey, Deputy Administrator, at (202) 401-1761. E-mail: 
[email protected].
    Comments: Comments are invited 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) 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 other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology. Comments should be 
sent to the address stated in the preamble.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for OMB approval. All comments also will become a matter of 
public record.

    Done at Washington, DC, this 14 day of September, 2000.
Charles W. Laughlin,
Administrator, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension 
Service.
[FR Doc. 00-24218 Filed 9-20-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-22-P