[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 8, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 16003]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-7924]



[[Page 16003]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U.S. Geological Survey


Agency Information Collection Activity; Mineral Resources 
External Research Program (MRERP)

AGENCY: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of a new information collection.

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), we 
are notifying the public that we have submitted to OMB a new 
information collection request (ICR) for approval of the paperwork 
requirements for the Mineral Resources Program's (MRP) Mineral 
Resources External Research Program (MRERP). To submit a proposal for 
the MRERP, a project narrative must be completed and submitted via 
http://Grants.gov. For multi-year projects, an annual progress report 
must be completed for all projects; a final technical report is 
required at the end of the project period. This notice provides the 
public an opportunity to comment on the paperwork burden of these 
project narrative and report requirements. The narrative and report 
guidance is available at http://www.usgs.gov/contracts/Minerals/index.html.

DATES: You must submit comments on or before May 8, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Please submit comments on this information collection 
directly to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attention: Desk Officer for the 
Department of the Interior via e-mail [email protected]; or fax 
(202) 395-5806; and identify your submission as 1028-NEW. Please also 
submit a copy of your comments to Phadrea Ponds, USGS Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, 2150-C Center Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 
80525 (mail); (970) 226-9230 (fax); or [email protected] (e-mail). Please 
reference Information Collection 1028-NEW, MRERP in the subject line.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this ICR, contact Jeff L. Doebrich by mail at U.S. Geological 
Survey, 913 National Center, Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20192 or 
by telephone at 703-648-6103.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    Through the MRERP, the MRP of the USGS offers an annual competitive 
grant and/or cooperative agreement opportunity to individuals, 
universities, State agencies, Tribal governments or organizations, and 
industry or other private sector organizations. Applicants must have 
the ability to conduct research in topics related to non-fuel mineral 
resources that meet the goals of the MRP. We will consider all 
research-based proposals that address one of the MRP's long-term goals. 
The long-term goals of the MRP, as described in its Five-Year Plan for 
FY 2006-2010 (http://minerals.usgs.gov/plan/2006-2010/2006-2010_plan.html), are to ensure availability of: (1) Up-to-date quantitative 
assessments of potential for undiscovered mineral deposits, (2) up-to-
date geoenvironmental assessments of priority Federal lands, (3) 
reliable geologic, geochemical, geophysical, and mineral locality data 
for the United States, and (4) long-term data sets describing mineral 
production and consumption. Annual research priorities are provided as 
guidance for applicants to consider when submitting proposals. Annual 
research priorities are determined by USGS MRP management. Since the 
initiation of MRERP 2004, we have awarded more than $1.8 million to 30 
different research projects across the country.

II. Data

    OMB Control Number: None: This is an existing collection without an 
OMB control number.
    Title: Mineral Resources External Research Program (MRERP).
    Respondent Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: 35. Individuals, 
universities, State agencies, Tribal governments or organizations, and 
industry or other private sector organizations.
    Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 40 (35 applications and 5 
reports per year).
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: 
3,060. We expect to receive approximately 35 applications, each taking 
81 hours to complete. This includes the time for project conception and 
development, proposal writing and reviewing, and submitting project 
narrative through http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov, (2,835 burden hours). We anticipate 
awarding an average of 5 grants per year. Each grant recipient must 
complete and submit a final report. We estimate 45 hours to complete a 
report (totaling 225 hours).
    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' Burden: 
There are no ``non-hour cost'' burdens associated with this collection 
of information.

III. Request for Comments

    We invite comments concerning this ICR on: (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the agency to perform its 
duties, including whether the information is useful; (b) the accuracy 
of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity 
of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden 
on the respondents, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request 
to OMB to approve this ICR. 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.

    Dated: April 2, 2009.
Kathleen Johnson,
Program Coordinator, Mineral Resources External Research Program.
[FR Doc. E9-7924 Filed 4-7-09; 8:45 am]
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