[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 220 (Tuesday, November 15, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70751-70752]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29425]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Geological Survey

[GX12RB00CMF2400]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Information 
Collection; Economic Contribution of Federal Investments in Restoration 
of Degraded, Damaged, or Destroyed Ecosystems

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

ACTION: Notice; request for comments for a new information collection.

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SUMMARY: We (the U.S. Geological Survey) will ask the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) 
described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 
as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent 
burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take 
this opportunity to comment on this IC. We 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.

DATES: To ensure that we are able to consider your comments on this IC 
we must receive them on or before January 17, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments on this IC to Shari Baloch, 
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 
Sunrise Valley Drive mail stop 807 (mail) or [email protected] (email). 
Please reference IC 1028-NEW (ECFIRA) in the subject line.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Lynne Koontz, U.S. Geological 
Survey, 2150-C Centre Ave, Fort Collins, CO 80526 (mail); 
[email protected] (email); or: (970) 226-9384 (phone).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    Under the American Restoration and Recovery Act (ARRA) (Pub. L. 
111-5) and via U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (USDA) management agencies, restoration 
projects to mitigate environmental damages and to improve the health 
and resiliency of terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems are 
currently in progress. Federal investments in ecosystem restoration and 
monitoring protect Federal trusts, ensure public health and safety, and 
preserve and enhance essential ecosystem services; furthermore, these 
investments create jobs. An emphasis on quantifying the relationship 
between job creation and investments in ecological restoration is 
evident in the goals of the ARRA, Agriculture Secretary Vilsack's 
emphasis on tying management actions to rural jobs (Farm Service Agency 
Office of Communications, 2010), and Interior Secretary Salazar's 
annual report on the Department's economic contribution to the Nation's 
economy (Department of the Interior, 2009). The need to better 
understand the connection between restoring the health and productivity 
of ecosystems and the resulting economic benefits to local communities 
is also illustrated in a recent report by the President's Council of 
Advisors on Science and Technology, which calls on the federal 
government to better prioritize the approximately $10 billion it spends 
each year on ecological restoration and biodiversity preservation. 
Though a few small, localized studies have been carried out to measure 
jobs created or supported by investments in certain types of ecosystem 
restoration, they are not useful at a national scale due to regional 
variations and variations in study methods and objectives. Without data 
on the proportion of restoration costs typically spent on labor, 
equipment, supplies and other expenditures, the economic contribution 
generated by federal investments in restoration cannot be estimated.
    The USGS plans to conduct a nationwide telephone survey to elicit 
expenditure pattern information from contractors that conduct 
restoration

[[Page 70752]]

work for the DOI and the USDA. The objective of this survey is to 
estimate the economic job and income contribution current and proposed 
restoration activities generate in surrounding communities. Collection 
of these data is necessary to improve agency decision making on 
individual restoration projects, to prioritize spending across 
restoration projects, and to meet internal guidelines for credible 
economic analysis. This notice will cover the development and 
pretesting of the final survey instrument.

II. Data

    OMB Number: 1028-New.
    Title: Economic Contribution of Federal Investments in Restoration 
of Degraded, Damaged, or Destroyed Ecosystems.
    Type of Request: This is a new collection.
    Affected Public: DOI and USDA restoration contractors registered on 
the Federal Procurement Data System.
    Respondent Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: One time only.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Respondents: 7,500.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 6,000.
    Estimated Time per Response: 15 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,500 hours.

    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' Burden: We 
have not identified any ``non-hour cost'' burdens associated with this 
collection of information.

III. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (1) Whether or not the collection of 
information is necessary, including the practical utility of the 
information being gathered; (2) the accuracy of the burden hour 
estimate for this collection of information; (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 techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Please note that the comments submitted 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 IC. Before including your 
address, phone number, email 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 OMB in your comment 
to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, 
we cannot guarantee that it will be done.

    Dated: October 20, 2011.
 Ione Taylor,
Associate Director, Energy and Minerals, and Environmental Health 
Programs.
[FR Doc. 2011-29425 Filed 11-14-11; 8:45 am]
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