[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 188 (Wednesday, September 29, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58123-58124]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-21753]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service


Notice of Intent to Establish an 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 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
regulations (5 CFR 1320) that implement the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice announces the Cooperative 
State Research, Education, and Extension Service's (CSREES) intention 
to request approval to establish an information collection for 
Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR).

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by December 3, 
2004 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date 
will be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: Written comments concerning this notice may be mailed to 
Jason Hitchcock, E-Government Program Leader, Information Systems and 
Technology Management, CSREES, USDA, STOP 2216, 1400 Independence 
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-2216 or sent electronically to: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the information 
collection, contact Jason Hitchcock at (202) 720-4343; facsimile at 
(202) 720-0857; or electronically at: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) Year End 
Report.
    OMB Number: 0524-NEW.
    Expiration Date of Current Approval: Not applicable.
    Type of Request: Intent to seek approval to establish an 
information collection for three years.
    Abstract: Funding for the Children, Youth, and Families at Risk 
(CYFAR) New Communities Project (NCP) is authorized under section 3(d) 
of the Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C. 341 et seq.), as amended, and other 
relevant authorizing legislation, which provides jurisdictional basis 
for the establishment and operation of Extension educational work for 
the benefit of youth and families in communities. The CYFAR funding 
program supports community-based programs serving children, youth, and 
families in at-risk environments. CYFAR funds are intended to support 
the development of high quality, effective programs based on research 
and to document the impact of these programs on intended audiences. The 
CYFAR Year End Report collects demographic and impact data from each 
community site which is used by CSREES to conduct impact evaluations of 
the programs on its intended audience.
    The evaluation processes of CYFAR are consistent with the 
requirements of Congressional legislation and OMB. The Government 
Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) (Pub. L. 103-62), the 
Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act of 1998(FAIR Act) (Pub. L. 105-
270), and the Agricultural, Research, Extension and Education Reform 
Act of 1998 (AREERA) (Pub. L. 105-185), together with OMB requirements, 
support the reporting requirements requested in this information 
collection. One of the five Presidential

[[Page 58124]]

Management Agenda initiatives, Budget and Performance Integration, 
builds on GPRA and earlier efforts to identify program goals and 
performance measures, and link them to the budget process. The FAIR Act 
requires the development and implementation of a system to monitor and 
evaluate agricultural research and extension activities in order to 
measure the impact and effectiveness of research, extension, and 
education programs. AREERA requires a performance evaluation to be 
conducted to determine whether Federally funded agricultural research, 
extension, and education programs result in public goods that have 
national or multi-state significance.
    The immediate need of this information collection is to provide a 
means for satisfying accountability requirements. The long term 
objective is to provide a means to enable the evaluation and assessment 
of the effectiveness of programs receiving Federal funds and to fully 
satisfy requirements of performance and accountability legislation in 
GPRA, the FAIR Act, and AREERA.
    Estimate of Burden: There are currently CYFAR projects in 48 States 
of the United States and 2 territories. Each state and territory is 
required to electronically submit an annual year end report to CSREES. 
The year end report includes demographic and impact data on each of the 
community projects. CSREES estimates the burden of this collection to 
be 322 hours per response. There are currently 50 respondents, thus 
making the total annual burden of this collection an estimated 16,100 
hours.
    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; (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.

    Done in Washington, DC, this 1st day of September 2004.
Joseph J. Jen,
Under Secretary, Research, Education, and Economics.
[FR Doc. 04-21753 Filed 9-28-04; 8:45 am]
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