[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 99 (Monday, May 23, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29788-29790]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-12578]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Agency Information Collection; Activities Under OMB Review; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

[[Page 29789]]


ACTION: Notice of renewal of a currently approved collection (OMB No. 
1006-0023).

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation (we, our, or us) has forwarded the 
following Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: Forms to Determine 
Compliance by Certain Landholders. The ICR describes the nature of the 
information collection and its expected cost and burden.

DATES: OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove this information 
collection, but may respond after 30 days; therefore, public comments 
must be received on or before June 22, 2011 to assure maximum 
consideration.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments regarding the burden estimate, or any 
other aspect of the information collection, including suggestions for 
reducing the burden, to the Desk Officer for the Department of the 
Interior at the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs, via facsimile to (202) 395-5806, or e-mail to 
[email protected]. A copy of your comments should also be 
directed to the Bureau of Reclamation, Attention: 84-53000, P.O. Box 
25007, Denver, CO 80225-0007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie McPhee at (303) 445-2897. 
The entire Information Collection Request may be found at http://www.reginfo.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Forms to Determine Compliance by Certain Landholders, 43 CFR 
part 426.
    Abstract: Identification of limited recipients--Some entities that 
receive Reclamation irrigation water may believe that they are under 
the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (RRA) forms submittal threshold and, 
consequently, may not submit the appropriate RRA form(s). However, some 
of these entities may in fact have a different RRA forms submittal 
threshold due to the number of natural persons benefiting from each 
entity and the location of the land held by each entity. In addition, 
some entities that are exempt from the requirement to submit RRA forms 
due to the size of their landholdings (directly and indirectly owned 
and leased land) may in fact be receiving Reclamation irrigation water 
for which the full-cost rate must be paid because the start of 
Reclamation irrigation water deliveries occurred after October 1, 1981 
[43 CFR 426.6(b)(2)]. The information obtained through completion of 
the Limited Recipient Identification Sheet (Form 7-2536) allows us to 
establish entities' compliance with Federal reclamation law. The 
Limited Recipient Identification Sheet is disbursed at our discretion.
    Trust review--In order to administer section 214 of the RRA and 43 
CFR 426.7, we are required to review all trusts. Land held in trust 
generally will be attributed to the beneficiaries of the trust rather 
than the trustee if the criteria specified in the RRA and 43 CFR 426.7 
are met. When we become aware of trusts with a relatively small 
landholding (40 acres or less), we may extend to those trusts the 
option to complete and submit for our review the Trust Information 
Sheet (Form 7-2537) instead of actual trust documents. If we find 
nothing on the completed Trust Information Sheet that would warrant the 
further investigation of a particular trust, that trustee will not be 
burdened with submitting trust documents to us for in-depth review. The 
Trust Information Sheet is disbursed at our discretion.
    Acreage limitation provisions applicable to public entities--Land 
farmed by a public entity can be considered exempt from the application 
of the acreage limitation provisions provided the public entity meets 
certain criteria pertaining to the revenue generated through the 
entity's farming activities (43 CFR 426.10 and the Act of July 7, 1970, 
Pub. L. 91-310). We are required to ascertain whether or not public 
entities that receive Reclamation irrigation water meet such revenue 
criteria regardless of how much land the public entities hold (directly 
or indirectly own or lease) [43 CFR 426.10(a)]. To minimize the burden 
on public entities, standard RRA forms are submitted only when the 
public entity holds more than 40 acres subject to the acreage 
limitation provisions westwide, which makes it difficult to apply the 
revenue criteria as required to those public entities that hold less 
than 40 acres. When we become aware of such public entities, we request 
them to complete and submit the Public Entity Information Sheet (Form 
7-2565). This form allows us to establish compliance with Federal 
reclamation law for those public entities that hold 40 acres or less 
and, thus, do not submit a standard RRA form because they are below the 
RRA forms submittal threshold. In addition, for those public entities 
that do not meet the exemption criteria, we must determine the proper 
rate to charge for Reclamation irrigation water deliveries. The Public 
Entity Information Sheet is disbursed at our discretion.
    Acreage limitation provisions applicable to religious or charitable 
organizations--Some religious or charitable organizations that receive 
Reclamation irrigation water may believe that they are under the RRA 
forms submittal threshold and, consequently, may not submit the 
appropriate RRA form(s). However, some of these organizations may in 
fact have a different RRA forms submittal threshold depending on 
whether these organizations meet all of the required criteria for full 
special application of the acreage limitation provisions to religious 
or charitable organizations [43 CFR 426.9(b)]. In addition, some 
organizations that (1) Do not meet the criteria to be treated as a 
religious or charitable organization under the acreage limitation 
provisions, and (2) are exempt from the requirement to submit RRA forms 
due to the size of their landholdings (directly and indirectly owned 
and leased land), may in fact be receiving Reclamation irrigation water 
for which the full-cost rate must be paid because the start of 
Reclamation irrigation water deliveries occurred after October 1, 1981 
[43 CFR 426.6(b)(2)]. The Religious or Charitable Organization 
Identification Sheet (Form 7-2578) allows us to establish certain 
religious or charitable organizations' compliance with Federal 
reclamation law. The Religious or Charitable Organization 
Identification Sheet is disbursed at our discretion.
    There are no proposed revisions to the Limited Recipient 
Identification Sheet, the Trust Information Sheet, or the Religious or 
Charitable Organization Sheet. A single change was made to the Public 
Entity Identification Sheet prior to the 60-day comment period 
initiated by the notice published in the Federal Register (75 FR 59738, 
Sept. 28, 2010). This change is designed to further delineate the 
identification of certain excess land as required by 43 CFR 426.12(g). 
The proposed revision to the Public Entity Identification Sheet will be 
included starting in the 2012 water year. No public comments were 
received in response to that notice.
    Frequency: Generally, these forms will be submitted only once per 
identified entity, trust, public entity, or religious or charitable 
organization. Each year, we expect new responses in accordance with the 
following numbers.
    Respondents: Entity landholders, trusts, public entities, and 
religious or charitable organizations identified by Reclamation that 
are subject to the acreage limitation provisions of Federal reclamation 
law.
    Estimated Total Number of Respondents: 500.

[[Page 29790]]

    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.0.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 500.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 72 hours.

                                        Estimate of Burden for Each Form
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                                                                                      Burden
                                     Estimated     Frequency of    Total  annual   Estimate per    Total  burden
            Form name                number of       response        responses       form (in          hours
                                    respondents                                      minutes)
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Limited Recipient Identification             175            1.00             175               5              15
 Sheet..........................
Trust Information Sheet.........             150            1.00             150               5              13
Public Entity Information Sheet.             100            1.00             100              15              25
Religious or Charitable                       75            1.00              75              15              19
 Identification Sheet...........
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    Total.......................             500            1.00             500  ..............              72
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Comments

    Comments are invited on:
    (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of our functions, including whether the 
information will have practical use;
    (b) accuracy of our burden estimate for 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 of the collection of information on 
respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
    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 OMB control number. Reclamation will display a valid 
OMB control number on the RRA forms.
    Before including your address, telephone 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.

Roseann Gonzales,
Director, Policy and Administration, Denver Office.
[FR Doc. 2011-12578 Filed 5-20-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P