[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 144 (Monday, July 28, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44364-44366]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-19057]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Information Collection Activities Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of data collection submission.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request 
(ICR) abstracted below (OMB No. 1006-0015) has been forwarded to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR 
describes the nature of the information collection and its expected 
cost and burden.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before August 27, 2003.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments regarding the burden estimate, or any 
other aspect of the information collection, including suggestions for 
reducing the burden, to the Desk Officer for the Department of the 
Interior at the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs, via facsimile at (202) 395-5806 or via e-mail 
at [email protected]. A copy of your comments should also be 
directed to the Bureau of Reclamation, Attention Ms. Nancy DiDonato, 
Contract and Repayment Specialist, Lower Colorado Regional Office, PO 
Box 61470, Boulder City, NV 89006-1470.

[[Page 44365]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information or a copy of 
the proposed collection of information, contact Ms. Nancy DiDonato at 
702-293-8532.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of Reclamation, including whether the 
information shall have practical use; (b) The accuracy of Reclamation's 
estimated burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to 
enhance the quality, use, 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 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Our practice is to make comments, including names and home address 
of respondents, available for public review. Individual respondents may 
request that we withheld 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 or organizations or businesses, available 
for public disclosure in their entirety.
    Title: Diversions, Return Flow, and Consumptive Use of Colorado 
River Water in the Lower Colorado River Basin.
    OMN No.: 1006-0015.
    Abstract: Reclamation delivers Colorado River water to water users 
for diversion and beneficial consumptive use in the States of Arizona, 
California, and Nevada. Under Supreme Court order, the United States is 
required, at least annually, to prepare and maintain complete, 
detailed, and accurate records of diversions of water, return flow, and 
consumptive use. This information is needed to ensure that a State or a 
water user within a State does not exceed its authorized use of 
Colorado River water. Water users are obligated by provisions in their 
water delivery contracts to provide Reclamation information on 
diversions and return flows. Reclamation determines the consumptive use 
by subtracting return flow from diversions or by other engineering 
means. Without the information collected, Reclamation could not comply 
with the order of the United States Supreme Court to prepare and 
maintain detailed and accurate records of diversions, return flow, and 
consumptive use.
    Description of respondents: The Lower Basin States (Arizona, 
California, and Nevada), local and tribal entities, water districts, 
and individuals that use Colorado River water.
    Frequency: Monthly, annually, or otherwise as determined by the 
Secretary of the Interior.
    Estimated total number of respondents: 54.
    Estimated total number of annual responses: 330.
    Estimated total annual burden hours: 290.

                                         Estimated Burden for Each Form
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Estimated         Total         Estimated
                            Form No.                                 number of     responses per   annual burden
                                                                    respondents        year       hours per form
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LC-72...........................................................               6              78              54
LC-72A..........................................................               8              20              30
LC-72B..........................................................              15              51              78
Custom Forms....................................................              25             181             128
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid OMB control number. Reclamation will display a valid 
OMB control number on the forms. The Federal Register notice with a 60-
day comment period soliciting comments on this collection of 
information was published on March 18, 2003 (68 FR 12932). Reclamation 
received comments from one entity on this collection of information 
during the comment period which offered ways to improve our current 
information collection practices. The comments were (i) publish the 
information collected in a more timely fashion by updating the monthly 
consumptive use records shown in the provisional report accessible on 
Reclamation's Web site at http://www.lc.usbr.gov/g4000/use2002.pdf; 
(ii) subject the information collected to a more stringent quality 
control process prior to publication of the provisional report; and 
(iii) for forms LC-72 and LC-72A delete the option on the forms of 
reporting less frequently than monthly as more precise forecasts of the 
amount of unused water potentially available to other users is 
necessary. For the first comment, the provisional monthly report has 
typically been updated on or about the 18th day of each month with the 
water user records available to Reclamation. However, we are in the 
process of implementing a real-time water use monitoring system that 
will provide daily estimates of water use-to-date, as well as forecasts 
fo end-of-year use. Although full implementation of the system is 
expected to take approximately 3 years, we expect to begin posting 
daily updates on our Web site (http://www.usbr.gov/lc.region/) on or 
about June 15 of this year, using all available daily data and 
estimates for those users for which daily data is not available. 
Automatic data collection devices will be installed over the 3-year 
period in priority order and will include some of the entities listed 
in the respondent's letter dated May 15, 2003. As automation continues, 
the forecast will become more precise. Since these provisional records 
will continue to form the basis for the final annual reporting of uses, 
we will be able to publish that report in a more timely fashion after 
year's end. In addition, we are working with the U.S. Geological Survey 
to provide a mid-year finalization of the priority records to further 
increase the accuracy of the forecasts. For the second comment, we 
agree that quality control is extremely important and will continue to 
improve our quality control processes. For the third comment, annual 
reporting of water use by smaller water users, when such discretion is 
allowed by the water delivery contracts, is consistent with the intent 
of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) Therefore, we 
do not intend to change forms LC-72 and LC-72A.

[[Page 44366]]

    OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove this information 
collection, but may respond after 30 days; therefore, public comment 
should be submitted to OMB within 30 days in order to assure maximum 
consideration.

Gary Palmeter,
Manager, Information Management Division.
[FR Doc. 03-19057 Filed 7-25-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-M