[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 249 (Friday, December 27, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79145-79146]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-32667]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Revisions to a 
Currently Approved Information Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of renewal of a currently approved collection (OMB No. 
1006-0023).

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Bureau of Reclamation (we, our, or us) 
intends to submit a request for renewal (with revisions) of an existing 
approved information collection to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB): Limited Recipient Identification Sheet, Trust Information Sheet 
for Acreage Limitation, 43 CFR part 426, OMB Control Number: 1006-0023. 
This information collection is required by provisions under the 
Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (RRA) and Acreage Limitation Rules and 
Regulations, 43 CFR part 426. We request your comments on the proposed 
RRA forms and specific aspects of the information collection.

DATES: Your written comments must be received on or before February 25, 
2003.

ADDRESSES: You may send written comments to the Bureau of Reclamation, 
Attention: D-5200, PO Box 25007, Denver, CO 80225-0007. You may request 
copies of the proposed forms by writing to the above address or by 
contacting Stephanie McPhee at: (303) 445-2897.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie McPhee at: (303) 445-2897.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Limited Recipient Identification Sheet, Trust Information 
Sheet for Acreage Limitation, 43 CFR part 426.
    Abstract: Identification of limited recipients--Some entities that 
receive Reclamation irrigation water may believe themselves to be under 
the RRA forms submittal threshold and consequently, may not submit the 
appropriate RRA form(s). However, some of these entities may in fact 
have a different RRA forms submittal threshold than what they believe 
it to be due to the number of natural persons benefiting from each 
entity and the location of the land held by each entity. In addition, 
some entities that are exempt from the requirement to submit RRA forms 
due to the size of their landholdings (directly and indirectly owned 
and leased land) may in fact be receiving Reclamation irrigation water 
for which the full-cost rate must be paid because the start of 
Reclamation irrigation water deliveries occurred after October 1, 1981 
[43 CFR 426.6(b)(2)]. The information obtained through completion of 
the Limited Recipient Identification Sheet allows us to establish 
entities' compliance with Federal reclamation law. The Limited 
Recipient Identification Sheet is disbursed at our discretion. The 
proposed revisions to the Limited Recipient Identification Sheet will 
be included starting in the 2004 water year, and are designed to 
facilitate ease of completion.
    Trust review--We are required to review and approve all trusts [43 
CFR part 426.7(b)(2)] in order to ensure trusts meet the regulatory 
criteria specified in 43 CFR part 426.7. Land held in trust generally 
will be attributed to the

[[Page 79146]]

beneficiaries of the trust rather than the trustee if the criteria are 
met. When we become aware of trusts with a relatively small landholding 
(40 acres or less), we may extend to those trusts the option to 
complete and submit for our review the Trust Information Sheet instead 
of actual trust documents. If we find nothing on the completed Trust 
Information Sheet that would warrant the further investigation of a 
particular trust, that trustee will not be burdened with submitting 
trust documents to us for in-depth review. The Trust Information Sheet 
is disbursed at our discretion. The proposed revisions to the Trust 
Information Sheet will be included starting in the 2004 water year, and 
are designed to facilitate ease of completion.
    Frequency: Generally, these forms will be submitted once per 
identified entity or trust. Each year, we expect new responses in 
accordance with the following numbers.
    Respondents: Entity landholders and trusts identified by 
Reclamation that are subject to the acreage limitation provisions of 
Federal reclamation law.
    Estimated Total Number of Respondents: 1,105.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.0.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 1,105.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 92 hours.
    Estimate of Burden for Each Form:

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                                                      Burden                                      Annual  burden
                                                   estimate per      Number of    Annual  number        on
                    Form No.                         form  (in      respondents    of  responses    respondents
                                                     minutes)                                       (in hours)
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Limited Recipient Identification Sheet..........               5             635             635              53
Trust Information...............................               5             470             470              39
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    Comments.
    Comments are invited on:
    (a) Whether the proposed new 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 new 
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.
    We will summarize all comments received regarding this notice. We 
will publish that summary in the Federal Register when the information 
collection request is submitted to OMB for review and approval.
    Department of the Interior 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 public 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.

    Dated: December 10, 2002.
Elizabeth Cordova-Harrison,
Deputy Director, Office of Policy.
[FR Doc. 02-32667 Filed 12-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P