[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 162 (Wednesday, August 21, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51740-51741]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-20361]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Geological Survey

[GX13N05ESB0500]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

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

ACTION: Notice of a new information collection, Registry of Climate 
Change Vulnerability Assessments.

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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. To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA) 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.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before October 21, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this IC to the Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise 
Valley Drive, MS 807, Reston, VA 20192 (mail); (703) 648-7197 (fax); or 
[email protected] (email). Please reference ``Information Collection 
1028--NEW, Registry of Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments'' in 
the subject line.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Thompson, National Climate 
Change and Wildlife Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 
Sunrise Valley Drive, Mail Stop 400, Reston, VA 20192 (mail); 703-648-
4083 (phone); or [email protected] (email).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    The USGS proposes to collect information on existing assessments of 
the vulnerability of various resources and societal assets to climate 
change (hereafter VA or ``vulnerability assessments''). This 
information will include organization conducting the study, its 
location, the topical focus of the assessment, methodology and 
supporting data used, and point of contact information. Because many 
governmental and nongovernmental parties are conducting such 
assessments, and because their conclusions, methodologies, and related 
data assets may be of interest or utility to others contemplating such 
assessments, the USGS will make the information collected available on 
the Web in the form of a simple registry-type database. Users, 
including the

[[Page 51741]]

general public, scientists, resource management agencies, and others 
will be able to search the database by various keywords of interest.

II. Data

    OMB Control Number: 1028--NEW.
    Title: Registry of Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments.
    Type of Request: New information collection.
    Affected Public: Federal agencies, state, tribal and 
nongovernmental partners, individual scientists, and others involved in 
the conduct of climate change vulnerability assessments.
    Respondent's Obligation: None (participation is voluntary).
    Frequency of Collection: This information will be collected 
initially and reviewed at least annually. All listed Registry projects 
will be contacted and requested to update their information; Federal 
agencies participating in the Registry will conduct ``data calls'' 
according to agency practice to identify new agency projects, and 
external partners will be reminded via Web posting and community-of-
practice networking that new projects may be added to the Registry. 
Additional entries may be added at any time, as information becomes 
available.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: Approximately 1360 
responses (i.e., additions to the registry) are expected in the initial 
data collection phase (first year), including approximately 1200 from 
Federal organizations and approximately 160 state/local, tribal, and 
nongovernmental organizations. In subsequent years, annual additions to 
the registry are expected to be 100 or fewer.
    Estimated Time per Response: We estimate that it will take one hour 
per person to document a single assessment project for inclusion in the 
registry. In future years, reviewing project information to ensure 
currency or identifying new projects is expected to require de minimis 
effort.
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 1360 in year one and less than 100 
in each subsequent year.
    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' Burden: 
There are no ``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 and you are not 
required to respond to 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: We are soliciting comments as to: (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) how to enhance the quality, usefulness, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) how to minimize 
the burden on the respondents, including the use of automated 
collection 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 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: August 15, 2013.
Thomas D. Beard, Jr.,
Chief, National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center, U.S. 
Geological Survey.
[FR Doc. 2013-20361 Filed 8-20-13; 8:45 am]
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