[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 107 (Thursday, June 3, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31402-31403]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-12594]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


30-Day Federal Register Notice of Submission to the Office of 
Management and Budget; Opportunity for Public Comment

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of submission to the Office of Management and Budget and 
request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Under provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D) and 5 CFR part 1320), the National Park Service 
(NPS) invites comments on a request submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) to approve a revision of a currently 
approved information collection clearance (OMB No. 1024-0236) 
containing three revised forms in the NP's revised automated Research 
Permit and Reporting System. Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the park protection functions of the NPS, including whether the 
information has practical utitlity; (2) the accuracy of the NPS 
estimate of the burden of the collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to 
minimize the burden of the information collection on respondents, 
including use of automated, electronic, mechanical or other forms of 
information technology.
    OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove the requested 
information collection budget but may respond after 30 days. Thus, 
public comments should be submitted to OMB within 30 days in order to 
assure their maximum consideration.
    Primary Purpose of the Proposed Information Collection Request: The 
NPS requires information from applicants wishing to conduct natural or 
social science research or studies or science education activities in 
parks for two reasons. The first is to ensure that scientific research 
and collecting studies or science education activities permitted in 
parks in response to an application do not unacceptably impact park 
resources and other uses of parks. The second is to ensure that 
applicants who receive permits submit annual research progress and 
other reports to the NPS. These reports inform NPS about the 
permittees' scientific findings in the parks and provide NPS with 
information NPS uses for monitoring the use of parks for scientific 
research and collecting studies and science education activities.
    The automated NPS Research Permit and Reporting System Web site 
(http://science.nature.nps.gov/research) provides access to the current 
information collection and status reporting system that underlies this 
extension request.
    Response to 60-Day Notice: On December 5, 2003, NPS published a 
notice in the Federal Register to request comments on the proposal to 
extend and modify two existing NPS information collection instruments 
that are processed by the existing, Internet-based Research Permit and 
Reporting System (see 68 FR: 68110-68111). NPS received no responses 
from the public. NPS subsequently contacted two potential reviewers by 
e-mail, one of whom had commented in response to a similar Federal 
Register notice in 1999. The previous commenter did not respond to the 
e-mail request. The other e-mail recipient responded to a different 
part of the e-mail of contact and did not directly respond to the 
opportunity to comment on the Federal Register notice. NPS and 
researcher use of the Internet-based system over the past three years 
has yielded few complaints and has earned a number of kudos. This use 
also has yielded suggestions from both respondents and government 
employees for making the information collection forms or software more 
efficient or more usable. Many of these suggestions were considered by 
two NPS working groups (November 2002; September 2003). The working 
group deliberations led to appropriate modifications being incorporated 
through ongoing software improvements, through release of a second 
version of the software in December 2003, and through the changes to 
the collection of information forms proposed as part of this renewal 
request. Such receipt of, and action on, user suggestions constitutes 
ongoing consultation with people from whom information is being 
collected and by whom collected information is being applied. Should 
OMB approve the revised collection of information forms submitted in 
this extension request, additional software changes will be made to 
incorporate the improvements contained in these revised forms.

DATES: Public comments on this notice must be received by July 6, 2004.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments directly to the Desk Officer for the 
Department of Interior (OMB No. 1024-0236), Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, OMB, by fax at 202-395-6566 or by electronic mail 
at [email protected]. Please also mail or hand carry a copy of 
your comments to Dr. John G. Dennis, Natural Resources (MIB 3127), 
National Park Service, 1849 C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20240; via 
fax at (202)-371-2131; or via electronic mail at [email protected].
    If you comment via electronic mail, please submit your comments as 
an attached ASCII or MSWord file and avoid the use of special 
characters and any form of encryption. Please also include ``Attn: NPS 
Research Permit and Reporting System'' and your name and return address 
in your email message. If you would like, but do not receive, a 
confirmation from the system that we have received your email message, 
contact us directly at the phone number given here.
    All comments will become a matter of public record. Our practice is 
to make comments, including respondent names and addresses (business or 
home, whatever we receive), available for public review during regular 
business hours. Individual respondents may request that we withhold 
their home address from the record, which we will honor to the extent 
allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in which we would 
withhold from the record a respondent's identity, 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 inspection in their entirety. We 
will not consider anonymous comments.
    Copies of the information collection request may be obtained by 
contacting John Dennis at the above noted electronic mail address or by 
telephone at (202) 513-7174.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: NPS Research and Reporting System Collection of Information.
    Form: The collection of information contains three automated NPS 
forms: Application for a Scientific Research and Collecting Permit 
(Form 10-741a); Application for a Science Education Permit (Form 10-
741b), Investigator's Annual Report (Form 10-226).
    OMB Number: 1024-0236.
    Expiration Date: April 30, 2004.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    Description of Need: The NPS regulates scientific research and

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collecting studies and science education activities inside park 
boundaries under regulations codified at 36 CFR part 2, section 2.5. 
The NPS issued these regulations pursuant to authority under the NPS 
Organic Act of 1916 as amended (16 U.S.C. 1 et seq.). The NPS 
administers these regulations to provide for scientific research and 
collecting and scientific education uses of parks while also protecting 
park resources and other park uses from adverse impacts that could 
occur if inappropriate scientific research and collecting studies or 
science education activities were to be conducted within park 
boundaries.
    Respondents: Individual scientific investigators or science 
educators from other governmental agencies, universities and colleges, 
schools, research organizations, and science education organizations 
who apply for a permit and any members of this group who receive a 
permit and then must submit the required annual report of 
accomplishment.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 3,000 per year.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: Two responses per 
year per respondent for an annual total of 6,000 responses. For each 
permit cycle, each respondent will respond usually once to prepare and 
submit the application for a permit and respondents who are successful 
in being issued a permit will respond a second time to submit the 
required Investigator's Annual Report. Given that most applicants are 
successful in being issued a permit and that permit renewal usually 
occurs annually, the number of responses will approach a total that is 
two times the number of respondents.
    Estimate of Burden Per Respondent: NPS estimates the reporting 
burden for this collection of information, including both the relevant 
application and the annual report, will average slightly more than 1.6 
hours per respondent per year.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 4,875 hours. This number assumes 
3,000 respondents each take about 0.75 hours to complete the automated 
application form (including reading the guidance material), up to 3,000 
successful applicants each take 0.25 hours to sign the issued permit 
and return it to the park, and up to 3,000 permittees each take 0.25 
hours to complete the automated Investigator's Annual Report form, 
including reading the instructions. In addition, this number includes 
0.25 hours each for approximately 1,500 respondents to copy and process 
documents that can not be submitted electronically, and 0.5 hours each 
for up to 1,500 respondents to prepare the portion of the Application 
for a Scientific Research and Collecting Permit that requires 
coordination with one or more non-NPS museums or other specimen 
repositories. Those few applicants who will be unable to process their 
applications and report forms electronically likely will spend a longer 
amount of time completing each form manually.
    Methodology and Assumptions Underlying the Hour Estimate: Depending 
on complexity of the investigator's project, a complete Application for 
a Scientific Research and Collecting Permit consists of two or more 
electronic pages plus electronic or paper attachments of copies of 
existing materials. These copies of existing materials may include: (1) 
The research proposal the applicant prepared to secure funding for the 
applicant's project, (2) peer reviews that the applicant may have 
obtained on the research proposal during preparation of the proposal, 
(3) other permits the applicant may have had to obtain from other 
permitting organizations, and (4) other documents that may help the 
park receiving the application understand and evaluate the applicant's 
proposed activities in the park. A complete Application for a Science 
Education Permit consists of two electronic pages plus, if available, 
an electronic attachment or paper copy of an existing proposal the 
applicant may have prepared to secure funding or administrative 
approval for the applicant's science education activity. This analysis 
and burden hour estimate assume that, prior to preparing an application 
for a permit, respondents already have in hand study plans or education 
proposals, peer reviews as appropriate, other permits as necessary, and 
other supporting documents prepared for other purposes beyond what is 
required for either the Application for a Scientific Research and 
Collecting Permit or the Application for a Science Education Permit.
    A complete Investigator's Annual Report consists of up to one and a 
half pages should the respondent completely fill the expandable 
portions of the electronic form. There are no attachments possible with 
the electronic Investigator's Annual Report form.
    Estimated Non-Hour Cost Per Respondent to Comply with the Paperwork 
Requirements: There is no non-hour cost. There is no filing fee.

    Dated: April 14, 2004.
Leonard E. Sterne,
Acting, National Park Service Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-12594 Filed 6-2-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-M