[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 40 (Friday, February 28, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9707-9708]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-4749]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR


Data Collection Available for Public Comments and Recommendations

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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[[Page 9708]]

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
U.S. Department of the Interior announces that is has forwarded a 
Paperwork Reduction Act submission to OMB to request public comments on 
this submission. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to 
minimize the burden of the information collection on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology.
    DOI is below parity with the Relevant Civilian Labor Force 
representation for many mission critical occupations. The Department's 
Strategic Human Capital Management Plan identifies the job skills that 
will be needed in our current and future workforce. The job skills we 
will need are dispersed throughout our eight bureaus and include, among 
others, making visitors welcome to various facilities, such as parks 
and refuges, processing permits for a wide variety of uses of the 
public lands, collecting royalties for minerals extracted from the 
public lands, rounding-up and adopting-out wild horses and burros found 
in the west, protecting archaeological and cultural resources of the 
public lands, and enforcing criminal laws of the United states. As a 
result of this broad spectrum of duties and services, the Department 
touches the lives of most Americans.

DATES: OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove the information 
collection, but may respond after 30 days: therefore, public comments 
should be submitted within 30 days of publication of this notice in 
order to assure their maximum consideration.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Samuel Bowser, (202) 208-5549, 
Assistant Director for Workforce Diversity and Evaluation. The 
collection instrument is also available on the internet at: http://www.doi.gov/diversity/doc/di_1935.pdf. Respondents may also obtain 
hard copies of the DI 1935 form and the Department of the Interior's 
submission to OMB.
    Brief Description: In order to determine if there are barriers in 
our recruitment and selection processes, we must track the demographic 
groups that apply for our jobs. There is no other statistically valid 
method to make these determinations, and no source of this information 
other than directly from applicants. The data collected is not provided 
to selecting officials and plays no part in the merit staffing or the 
selection processes. The data collected will be used in summary form to 
determine trends covering the demographic make-up of applicant pools 
and job selections within a given occupation or organizational group. 
The records of those applicants not selected are destroyed in 
accordance with the Department's records management process.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: U.S. Department of the Interior Applicant Background Survey.
    Type of Request: Extension of collection approved under OMB Control 
No.: 1091-0001.
    Description of Respondents: Individuals seeking employment.
    Annual Responses: 560,000.
    Burden: 46,480 hours total (5 minutes per response).

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations on the proposed 
information collection should be addressed to: Attention: Desk Officer 
for the Department of the Interior, Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, 
NW., Washington, DC 20503. In addition, please provide a copy of your 
comments to Samuel Bowser, at the contact address.

J. Michael Trujillo,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Workforce Diversity.
[FR Doc. 03-4749 Filed 2-27-03; 8:45 am]
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