[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 94 (Tuesday, May 16, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28311-28312]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-7413]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Proposed Agency Information Collection Submitted for OMB Review 
and Comment

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice and request for OMB review and comment.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) has submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance, a proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995. The Office of Science reports annually in the President's Budget 
Request the numbers of researchers, post docs, graduate students and 
technicians supported through Research Grants and Field Work Proposals 
(FWPs). However, these data are based on forecasts by the principal 
investigator (i.e., PIs) at the time the grants and FWPs were initially 
funded. These estimates are unreliable because they are based on the 
best guess of the PIs at the time of funding. While the PI's initial 
estimate could be accurate at the time of the request, the reliability 
of the initial estimate decreases as the project matures. Further, the 
forecasts by the PIs are subjective. Therefore, it is not possible to 
quantify the inaccuracies with any confidence. To better plan for 
future investments, the Office of Science must better understand the 
actual impact of its budget on the technical manpower supported. A 
short (approximately 17 minutes) web-based survey has been developed to 
collect actual workforce data from a small sample of researchers 
currently supported by the Office of Science. The result will be 
compared to proposal data to estimate the average and range of 
variation and to derive a statistically valid methodology for 
approximating budgetary impacts on the technical manpower supported.

DATES: Comments regarding this collection must be received on or before 
June 15, 2006. If you anticipate that you will be submitting comments, 
but find it difficult to do so within the period of time allowed by 
this notice, please advise the OMB Desk Officer of your intention to 
make a submission as soon as possible. The Desk Officer may be 
telephoned at 202-395-3087.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to the DOE Desk Officer, 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and 
Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10102, 735 17th Street, 
NW., Washington, DC 20503. (Comments should also be addressed to 
Jeffrey Martus, Records Management Division IM-11/Germantown Bldg., 
Office of Business and Information Management, Office of the Chief 
Information Officer, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence 
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-1290, and to

[[Page 28312]]

Christine A. Chalk, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence 
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument and instructions should 
be directed to Christine A. Chalk.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This package contains: (1) OMB No. ``New''; 
(2) Package Title: DOE 2005 Technical Manpower Online Survey (3) Type 
of Review: New; (4) Purpose: {enter a brief description of the need for 
the information and its proposed use{time} ; (5) Respondents: 366; (6) 
Estimated Number of Burden Hours: Approximately 17 minutes per 
respondent times 366 respondents is 103.7 hours.
    Statutory Authority: Department of Energy Organization Act (Pub. L. 
95-91, as amended) Sec. 209 defines the duty and the responsibilities 
of the Director of Office of Science to include: Advising the Secretary 
with respect to education and training activities required for 
effective short and long-term basic and applied research activities of 
the Department; and Advising the Secretary with respect to grants and 
other forms of financial assistance required for effective short and 
long-term basic and applied research activities of the Department.

Jeffrey Martus,
Records Management Division, Office of Business and Information 
Management, Office of the Chief Information Officer (IM-11).
 [FR Doc. E6-7413 Filed 5-15-06; 8:45 am]
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