[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 121 (Monday, June 25, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34722-34723]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-3095]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


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

AGENCY: Department of the Interior, National Park Service.

ACTION: Notice 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, Reporting and Record keeping 
Requirements, the National Park Service (NPS) invites public comments 
on a revision of a currently approved collection of information (OMB 
number 1024-0236).

DATES: Public comments on this Information Collection Request (ICR) 
will be accepted on or before July 25, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Youb may submit comments directly to the Desk Officer for 
the Department of the Interior (OMB number 1024-0236), Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, by fax at 202/395-6566 or by 
electronic mail at [email protected]. Please also send a copy of 
your comments to Dr. John G. Dennis, Natural Resources (MIB 3130), NPS, 
1849 C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20240, or electronically at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. John G. Dennis, Natural Resources 
(MIB 3130), NPS, 1849 C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20240; or via phone 
at 202/513-7174; or via fax at 202/371-2131, or via e-mail at [email protected]. You are entitled to a copy of the entire 
ICR package free of charge.
    Comments Received on the 60-Day Federal Register Notice: The NPS 
published the 60-Day Federal Register Notice to solicit public comments 
on this ICR on March 8, 2007 (Vol. 72, pages 10553-10554). NPS also 
contacted by e-mail 3,588 non-Federal and Federal permittees and permit 
applicants who were active in calendar years 2006 and 2007, posted on 
the RPRS Web site notice of the availability of this review 
opportunity, and sent an internal memorandum to the NPS Natural 
Resource Advisory Group to solicit comments from the members of that 
group.
    The NPS received 13 responses from the public in response to the 
60-day Federal Register Notice and subsequent e-mail messages 
requesting comments. These responses provided a diversity of thoughts, 
including (1) The requested information and time needed to fill out the 
forms are reasonable; (2) the on-line application process is efficient 
and straightforward; (3) the forms and the ability to access on-line 
and report on-line make the application and compliance process very 
easy; (4) the park review and decision process is difficult and 
onerous; (5) too much documentation is required; (6) having each park 
make its own permit decision is unnecessarily piecemeal, arbitrary, and 
burdensome; and (7) it is difficult to figure out how to submit 
``things''. Five respondents specifically addressed the education 
application and permit, saying that it would have benefits or offering 
ideas about what types of education activities should receive specific 
types of consideration, such as simplifying the application process, 
how to treat specimen collections, allowing for different treatment for 
different types of activities, offering the ability to change the 
program leader without reissuing a permit, and offering a fee waiver 
for permitted education activities. Several respondents discussed 
matters outside this request for review, including urging NPS to change 
its collections ownership procedure and requesting the NPS to issue 
permits on a Servicewide, rather than park basis.
    The NPS found that these comments did not indicate any clear 
reasons for changing any of the three forms, so the NPS will request to 
OMB that the three forms be renewed without change. The NPS plans to 
use the information contained in many of the comments when it develops 
new guidance material for the Science Education Permit Application, and 
revises existing guidance material for the Scientific Research and 
Collecting Permit Application.
    Actual 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. These suggestions have been 
accumulated and some have been incorporated through ongoing software 
and technical support

[[Page 34723]]

improvements. Such receipt of, and action on, user suggestions, 
constitutes ongoing consultation with people (applicants and 
permittees) from whom information is being collected and by whom 
collected information is being applied (NPS personnel and users of the 
Investigator's Annual Report site). Should OMB approve the collection 
of information forms submitted in this extension request, additional 
software changes will be made to incorporate fully the improvements 
contained in these forms.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Research Permit and Reporting System Applications and 
Reports (36 CFR 2.1 and 2.5).
    Bureau Form Number(s): 10-741a, 10-741b, and 10-226.
    OMB Number: 1024-0236.
    Expiration Date: June 30, 2007.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    Description of Need: The NPS regulates scientific research and 
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.
    The currently approved information collection responds to the 
statutory requirement that NPS preserve park resources and regulate the 
use of units of the National Park System. The information currently 
collected includes: (1) Names and business contact information for 
people who seek a permit to conduct natural or social science research 
and collection activities in individual units of the National Park 
System, (2) what activities they wish to conduct, (3) where they wish 
to conduct the activities, (4) whether or not they wish to collect 
specimens as part of the activities they propose to conduct, and (5) 
for applicants who have received a permit, annual summaries of the 
actual results of their permitted activities. NPS uses the collected 
information for managing the use and preservation of park resources and 
for reporting the status of permitted research and collecting 
activities. NPS is requesting that OMB approve the current Application 
for a Scientific Research and Collecting Permit, Application for a 
Science Education Permit, and Investigator's Annual Report collection 
of information forms unchanged. The obligation to respond to this 
collection is required to manage the conduct of scientific research and 
collecting within national parks.
    Comments are invited on: (1) The practical utility of the 
information being gathered; (2) the accuracy of the burden hour 
estimate; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden to 
respondents, including use of automated information collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology. All comments will 
become a matter of public record. Before including your address, phone 
number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including 
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available 
at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your 
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Description of Respondents: Individual scientific investigators or 
science educators from other governmental agencies, universities and 
colleges, schools, research organizations, science education 
organizations who apply for a permit, and any members of this group who 
receive a permit; and as a result, must submit the required annual 
report of accomplishment.
    Estimated average number of respondents: 6,500 per year.
    Estimated average number of responses: 13,000 per year.
    Estimated average time burden per respondent: 6000 responses for 
Form 10-741a: 1 hour; 500 responses for Form 10-741b: 1 hour, 6500 
responses for Form 10-226: 37.5 minutes. Therefore, the total average 
time burden per respondent is 1.625 hours.
    Frequency of response: 2 per respondent.
    Estimated total annual reporting burden: 10,563 hours.

    Dated: June 20, 2007.
Leonard E. Stowe,
NPS, Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 07-3095 Filed 6-22-07; 8:45 am]
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