[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 224 (Monday, November 21, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71998-72000]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29967]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

 Geological Survey

[USGS GX12EE000101000]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submitted for Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) Review; Comment Request

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

ACTION: Notice of an extension of an existing information collection 
(1028-0084).

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the 
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is inviting comments on an information 
collection request (ICR) that we have sent to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The ICR concerns

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the paperwork requirements for the National Spatial Data 
Infrastructure, Cooperative Agreements Program (NSDI CAP) and describes 
the nature of the collection and the estimated burden and cost. As 
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 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 ICR. This Information Collection is 
scheduled to expire on January 31, 2012. To submit a proposal for the 
NSDI CAP, three standard OMB forms and project narrative must be 
completed and submitted via Grants.gov.

DATES: Submit written comments by December 21, 2011.

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 Interior via email [[email protected]]; or fax 
(202) 395-5806; and identify your submission as 1028-0084. Please also 
submit a copy of your comments to Information Collection Clearance 
Officer, U.S. Geological Survey, 807 National Center, Reston, VA 20192 
(mail); or [email protected] (email). Please reference Information 
Collection 1028-0084, NSDI CAP in the subject line.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
concerning this ICR, contact Brigitta Urban-Mathieux, by mail NSDI CAP 
Coordinator, Federal Geographic Data Committee, U.S. Geological Survey, 
MS 590 National Center, Reston, VA 20192; by telephone at (703) 648-
5175 or by email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: National Spatial Data Infrastructure Cooperative Agreements 
Program (NSDI CAP).
    OMB Control Number: 1028-0084.
    Abstract: To date, the NSDI CAP awards have created collaborations 
at all levels of government, developed an understanding of geospatial 
information in organizations and disciplines new to the NSDI, provided 
seed money to enable geospatial organizations to participate in the 
national effort to implement the NSDI, promoted the development of 
standardized metadata in hundreds of organizations, and funded numerous 
implementations of OGC Web Mapping Services and Web Feature Services. 
The program is open to State, local and Tribal governments, academia, 
commercial, and non-profit organizations and provides small seed grants 
to initiate sustainable on-going NSDI implementations. The program 
emphasizes partnerships, collaboration and the leveraging of geospatial 
resources in achieving its goals. Since the funding level is limited, 
organizations must compete to be awarded funds. Respondents are 
submitting proposals to acquire funding for projects to help build the 
infrastructure necessary for the geospatial data community to 
effectively discover, access, share, manage, and use digital geographic 
data. The NSDI consists of the technologies, policies, organizations, 
and people necessary to promote cost-effective production, and the 
ready availability and greater utilization of geospatial data among a 
variety of sectors, disciplines, and communities. Specific NSDI areas 
of emphasis include: Metadata documentation, clearinghouse 
establishment, framework development, standards implementation, and 
building organizational collaboration and cooperation among 
organizations to leverage of geospatial resources.
    This notice concerns the collection of information that is 
sufficient and relevant to evaluate and select proposals for funding. 
We will protect information from respondents considered proprietary 
under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and its 
implementing regulations (43 CFR Part 2), and under regulations at 30 
CFR 250.197, ``Data and information to be made available to the public 
or for limited inspection.'' Responses are voluntary. No questions of a 
``sensitive'' nature are asked. We intend to release the project 
abstracts and primary investigators for awarded/funded projects only.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually.
    Affected Public: Private Sector; State, Local, and Tribal 
governments; academia, non-profit organizations.
    Respondent Obligation: Voluntary (necessary to receive benefits).
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: We expect to 
receive approximately 60 proposals during the grant application 
process. We anticipate issuing 25 grants per year. The program is open 
to State, local and Tribal governments, academia, commercial, and non-
profit organizations.
    Estimated Number of Responses: Approximately 60 applications and 50 
reports per year.
    Estimated Completion Time per Response: Based on comments received 
from our consultation, we have adjusted our original burden request by 
10 hours from 25 to 35 hours per respondent. We expect to receive 
approximately 60 applications, taking each applicant approximately 35 
hours to complete, totaling 2,100 burden hours. We anticipate awarding 
an average of 25 grants per year. The 25 award recipients are required 
to submit 2 reports: an interim 6 months after the start of the project 
and a final report on or before 90 working days after the expiration of 
the agreement. We estimate that it will take approximately 5 hours to 
complete and submit the reports totaling 10 hours. Therefore, the 
annual burden for report preparation is 250 hours. We estimate that the 
total burden for this collection will be 2,350 hours.
    Annual Burden Hours: 2,350.
    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' Burden: We 
have not identified any ``non-hour cost'' burdens associated with this 
collection of information.
    Public Disclosure Statement: The PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) 
provides that an agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of 
information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. 
Until OMB approves a collection of information, you are not obligated 
to respond.
    Comments: To comply with the public consultation process, on July 
25, 2011, we published a Federal Register notice (76 FR 44354) 
announcing our intent to submit this information collection to OMB for 
approval. In that notice we solicited public comments for 60 days, 
ending on September 23, 2011. We did not receive any public comments in 
response to the notice.
    We again invite comments concerning this information collection on:
    (1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary, 
including whether or not the information will have practical utility;
    (2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden 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 of the collection of information on 
respondents.
    Please note that the comments submitted in response to this notice 
are a matter of public record. 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.


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    Dated: November 3, 2011.
Kevin T. Gallagher,
Associate Director, Core Science Systems.
[FR Doc. 2011-29967 Filed 11-18-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4311-AM-P