[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 222 (Friday, November 17, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66969-66970]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-19508]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary


Notice of Proposed Information Collection

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Office of Budget, Interior.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The proposal for the collection of information listed below 
has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
approval under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35). Copies of the proposed information collection request may 
be obtained by contacting the Office of Budget at the phone number 
listed below in the ``For Further Information Contact'' section. 
Comments and suggestions on this proposal should be made directly to 
the Office of Management and Budget. A copy of the comments and 
suggestions should also be sent to the Office of Budget, at the address 
listed below.

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 to OMB by December 18, 2006 in order to be assured 
of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Send your written comments to Office of Management and 
Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attention, 
Department of the Interior Desk Officer, by fax to 202-395-6566, or by 
e-mail to [email protected]. Send a copy of your written 
comments to the Office of Budget, Attn: William Howell, Department of 
the Interior, MS 4116 MIB, 1849 C St., NW., Washington, DC 20240. 
Individuals providing comments should reference OMB control 
1093-0005, ``Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT Act), Statement 
of Federal Land Payments, (43 CFR 44).''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on this 
proposed information collection or to obtain a copy of the proposal and 
associated collection instrument, please write to the above address, or 
call William Howell, (202) 208-3157.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations at 5 CFR 1320, 
which implement the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13), 
require that interested members of the public and affected agencies 
have an opportunity to comment on information collection and 
recordkeeping activities (see 5 CFR 1320.8(d)). This notice identifies 
an information collection activity that the Office of Budget has 
submitted to OMB for extension or re-approval.
    Public Law 97-258 (31 U.S.C. 6901-6907), as amended, the Payment in 
Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Act, was designed by Congress to help local 
governments

[[Page 66970]]

recover some of the expenses they incur in providing services on public 
lands. These local governments receive funds under various Federal land 
payment programs such as the National Forest Revenue Act, the Mineral 
Lands Leasing Act, and the Taylor Grazing Act. PILT payments supplement 
the payments that local governments receive under these other programs.
    The PILT Act requires that the Governor of each state furnish the 
Department of the Interior with a listing of payments disbursed to 
local governments by the states on behalf of the Federal Government 
under 12 statutes described in Section 4 of the Act (31 U.S.C. 6903). 
The Department of the Interior uses the amounts reported by the states 
to reduce PILT payments to units of general local governments from that 
which they might otherwise receive. If such listings were not furnished 
by the Governor of each affected state, the Department would not be 
able to compute the PILT payments to units of general local government 
within the states in question.
    The information collection supporting the PILT Act was initially 
administered by the Bureau of Land Management, within the Department of 
the Interior, as ``Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT Act), Statement of 
Federal Land Payments, (43 CFR 1881),'' OMB control 1004-0109. 
However, in fiscal year 2004, administrative authority for the PILT 
program was transferred from the Bureau of Land Management to the 
Office of Budget within the Office of the Secretary of the Department 
of the Interior. Applicable DOI regulations pertaining to the PILT 
program to be administered by the Office of the Secretary were 
published as a final rule in the Federal Register on December 7, 2004. 
Recently, the Office of Budget, within the Office of the Secretary, 
requested emergency approval of the information collection as 
``Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT Act), Statement of Federal Land 
Payments, (43 CFR 44).'' OMB approved the information collection under 
control 1093-0005. The Office of Budget, Office of the 
Secretary is now planning to extend the information collection approval 
for the standard 3 years in order to enable the Department of the 
Interior to continue to comply with the PILT Act.

II. Data

    (1) Title: Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT Act), Statement of 
Federal Land Payments, (43 CFR 44).
    OMB Control Number: 1093-0005.
    Current Expiration Date: 11/30/2006.
    Type of Review: Information Collection: Renewal.
    Affected Entities: State, Local, or Tribal Government.
    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 43.
    Frequency of response: Annual.
    (2) Annual reporting and recordkeeping burden.
    Total annual reporting per respondent: 50 hours.
    Total annual reporting: 2150 hours.
    (3) Description of the need and use of the information: The 
statutorily-required information is needed to compute payments due 
units of general local government under the PILT Act (31 U.S.C. 6901-
6907). The Act requires that the Governor of each state furnish a 
statement as to amounts paid to units of general local government under 
12 revenue-sharing statutes in the prior fiscal year.

III. Request for Comments

    The Department of the Interior invites comments on:
    (a) Whether the 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 
collection and the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
    (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 collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
    Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources 
expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide 
information to or for a federal agency. This includes the time needed 
to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install and utilize 
technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating and 
verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and 
disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able 
to respond to a collection of information, to search data sources, to 
complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or 
otherwise disclose the information.
    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 Office of Management and Budget control number.

     Dated: November 13, 2006.
Pam Haze,
Co-Director, Office of Budget, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. E6-19508 Filed 11-16-06; 8:45 am]
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