[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 211 (Wednesday, October 31, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65902-65903]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-26732]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary


Proposed Renewal of Information Collection: Payments in Lieu of 
Taxes

AGENCY: Office of Budget, Interior.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of Budget, Office of the Secretary, 
Department of the Interior (DOI), announces that it has submitted a 
request for proposed extension of an information collection required by 
the Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act (PILT) to the Office of Management 
and Budget and requests public comments on this submission.

DATES: OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove the information 
collection request, but may respond after 30 days; therefore, public 
comments should be submitted to OMB by November 30, 2012, in order to 
be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Send your written comments by facsimile to (202) 395-5806 or 
email ([email protected]) to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk 
Officer for the Department of the Interior (1093-0005). Also, please 
send any comments by facsimile to (202) 208-3911, Attn: Niall O'Connor. 
Comments may also be mailed to: Niall O'Connor at U.S. Department of 
the Interior, Office of the Secretary, Office of Budget, 1849 C St. 
NW., MS 4106 MIB, Washington, DC 20240. Comments may also be emailed to 
Niall_O'[email protected]. Individuals providing comments should 
reference OMB Control Number 1093-0005, ``Payments in Lieu of Taxes 
(PILT Act), Statement of Federal Land Payments, 43 CFR 44.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information on 
this renewed information collection should be directed to Niall 
O'Connor at U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary, 
Office of Budget, 1849 C St. NW., MS 4106 MIB, Washington, DC 20240. 
You may also fax requests for further information to (202) 208-3911, or 
email at Niall_O'[email protected]. To see a copy of the entire ICR 
submitted to OMB, go to: http://www.reginfo.gov and select Information 
Collection Review, Currently Under Review.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations in 5 CFR part 
1320, which implement the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub.L. 104-
13), require that interested members of the public and affected 
agencies have an opportunity to comment on information collection and 
recordkeeping activities (see 5 CFR 1320.8(d)). This notice identifies 
an information collection activity that the Office of Budget is 
planning to submit to OMB for extension or re-approval.
    Public Law 97-258 (31 U.S.C. 6901-6907), as amended, the Payments 
in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Act, was designed by Congress to help local 
governments recover some of the expenses they incur in providing 
services on public lands. These local governments receive funds under 
various Federal land payment

[[Page 65903]]

programs such as the National Forest Revenue Act, the Mineral Lands 
Leasing Act, and the Taylor Grazing Act. PILT payments supplement the 
payments that local governments receive under these other programs. The 
President signed the Transportation bill (H.R. 4348) on July 6, 2012, 
which reauthorizes PILT for 2013, so this necessitates renewing the 
collection authority for another 3 years beyond 2012.
    The PILT Act requires that the Governor of each State furnish the 
Department of the Interior with a listing of payments disbursed to 
local governments by the States on behalf of the Federal Government 
under 12 statutes described in Section 6903 of 31 U.S.C. The Department 
of the Interior uses the amounts reported by the States to reduce PILT 
payments to units of general local governments from that which they 
might otherwise receive. If such listings were not furnished by the 
Governor of each affected State, the Department would not be able to 
compute the PILT payments to units of general local government within 
the States in question.
    In fiscal year 2004, administrative authority for the PILT program 
was transferred from the Bureau of Land Management to the Office of the 
Secretary of the Department of the Interior. Applicable DOI regulations 
pertaining to the PILT program to be administered by the Office of the 
Secretary were published as a final rule in the Federal Register on 
December 7, 2004 (69 FR 70557). The Office of Budget, Office of the 
Secretary is now planning to extend the information collection approval 
authority in order to enable the Department of the Interior to continue 
to comply with the PILT Act.

II. Data

    (1) Title: Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT Act), Statement of 
Federal Land Payments, 43 CFR 44.
    OMB Control Number: 1093-0005.
    Current Expiration Date of Collection Authority: December 31, 2012.
    Type of Review: Information Collection Renewal.
    Affected Entities: State, local, or tribal government.
    Estimated annual number of respondents: 43.
    Frequency of Response: Annual.
    (2) Annual reporting and record keeping burden: Average reporting 
burden per application: 53 hours.
    Total annual reporting: 2,279 hours.
    (3) Description of the need and use of the information: The 
statutorily-required information is needed to compute payments due 
units of general local government under the PILT Act (31 U.S.C. 6901-
6907). The Act requires that the Governor of each State furnish a 
statement as to amounts paid to units of general local government under 
12 revenue-sharing statutes in the prior fiscal year. The President 
signed the Transportation bill (H.R. 4348) on July 6, 2012, which 
reauthorizes PILT for 2013, so continued authority is needed.

III. Request for Comments

    As required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), a Federal Register notice 
soliciting comments on the collection of information was published on 
June 19, 2012 (77 FR 36568). No comments were received. This notice 
provides the public with an additional 30 days in which to comment on 
the proposed renewal of this information collection activity.
    Comments are again invited on: (a) Whether the collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on those who respond, 
including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, 
mechanical, or other collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.
    Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources 
expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide 
information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed 
to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install and utilize 
technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating and 
verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and 
disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able 
to respond to a collection of information, to search data sources, to 
complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or 
otherwise disclose the information.
    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 Office of Management and Budget control number.
    All written comments will be available for public inspection in the 
Main Interior Building, 1849 C Street NW., Washington, DC during normal 
business hours, excluding legal holidays. For an appointment to inspect 
comments, please contact Niall O'Connor by telephone on (202) 513-7785, 
or by email at Niall_O'[email protected] to make an appointment. 
Valid picture identification is required for entry into the Department 
of the Interior.
    Public Comment Policy: 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 us, in your comment, to withhold your personal 
identifying information from public view, we cannot guarantee that we 
will be able to do so.

Pam Haze,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Budget, Finance, Performance, and 
Acquisition.
[FR Doc. 2012-26732 Filed 10-30-12; 8:45 am]
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