[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 178 (Monday, September 15, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54955-54956]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-21904]


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 Notices
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  Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 178 / Monday, September 15, 2014 / 
Notices  

[[Page 54955]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Economic Research Service


Notice of Intent To Request Renewal of a Currently Approved 
Information Collection

AGENCY: Economic Research Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice invites the general public and other public agencies to send 
comments regarding any aspect of this information collection. This 
notice announces the intention of the Economic Research Service to 
request a renewal to a currently approved information collection, 
namely a pilot generic clearance for experimental economic research.

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received on or before 
November 14, 2014 to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this notice to Nathaniel 
Higgins, Resource and Rural Economics Division, Economic Research 
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave. SW., 
Mail Stop 1800, Room 6-135B, Washington, DC 20250-0002. Comments may 
also be submitted via fax to the attention of Nathaniel Higgins at 202-
245-4847 or via email to [email protected].
    All written comments will be open for public inspection at the 
office of the Economic Research Service during regular business hours 
(8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday) at 355 E St. SW., Room 
6-135B, Washington, DC 20024-3221.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for Office of Management and Budget approval. All comments and 
replies will be a matter of public record. Comments are invited on: (a) 
Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether 
the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (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 are to respond, including use of 
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact 
Nathaniel Higgins at the mailing address in the preamble. Tel. 202-694-
5602.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: A Pilot Generic Clearance for Experimental Economic 
Research.
    OMB Number: 0536-0070.
    Expiration Date: November 30, 2014.
    Type of Request: Renewal of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Abstract: The Economic Research Service (ERS) of the United States 
Department of Agriculture (USDA) requests approval from the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for renewal of a pilot generic clearance 
that allows ERS to conduct experimental economic research into the 
cost-effectiveness of alternative policy mechanisms. ERS offers policy-
relevant research to its stakeholders, including other agencies of the 
USDA, but does not offer recommendations or make policy decisions 
itself. Research conducted under the expected clearance will be used to 
assess features of alternative policy mechanisms, but will not be used 
for the purposes making regulatory decisions; ERS does not intend to 
use the information collected under this approval for the purposes of 
developing or evaluating specific policies. ERS will not conduct any 
experiments which alter a government program. ERS has no regulatory or 
program authority with which to conduct such an experiment.
    The primary mission of ERS is to provide economic and other social 
science information and analysis for public and private decisions on 
agriculture, food, natural resources, and rural America. ERS has 
constructed a set of key strategic goals in support of this mission. 
Research conducted under this generic clearance will further an ongoing 
initiative that would use insights from behavioral economics to provide 
economic intelligence, research, and analysis to inform agricultural 
resource and conservation policies. Information collected from these 
experiments will allow ERS to develop and implement state-of-the-art 
research methodologies to better inform and advance scientific 
understanding for its customers in response to both specific requests 
and in anticipation of future need.
    ERS envisions using a number of research techniques, as appropriate 
to the individual investigation. These include laboratory and field 
techniques, exploratory interviews, pilot experiments, and respondent 
debriefing. Laboratory and field techniques are two methodologies based 
on comparison of outcomes over groups that have been randomized into 
different treatments. This request is being sought as a continuing 
pilot of the concept of using a generic approval mechanism for those 
types of experiments. As such, experiments will be limited to two topic 
areas: Conservation and nutrition.
    Following standard OMB requirements ERS will submit to OMB 
individually for review of each specific experiment it undertakes under 
this generic clearance and provide OMB with all materials associated 
with the experiment.

    Authority: Legislative authority for the planned information 
collection are 7 U.S.C. 2204(a) and 7 U.S.C. 2026(a)(1).

    ERS intends to protect respondent information under the Privacy Act 
of 1974 and the E-Government Act of 2002. ERS has decided not to invoke 
the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act 
of 2002 (CIPSEA). The complexity and cost necessary to invoke CIPSEA is 
not justified given the nature of the collection; the collections would 
generally be designed to be hosted in university computer labs, where 
CIPSEA compliance could not be assured.
    Consistent with the Privacy Act and the E-Government Act, a Systems 
of Records Notice (SORN) and a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) will be 
submitted for approval, as appropriate.

[[Page 54956]]

The SORN and PIA will document the ways in which participant personally 
identifiable information will be collected, stored, and accessed. Data 
will be managed for research purposes only.
    Specific details regarding information handling will be specified 
in individual submissions under this generic clearance, but will 
conform to these broad guidelines.
    Affected Public: Respondents will include individuals and 
households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents and Respondent Burden: In all 
cases, participation will be voluntary and time commitments will be 
minimal (15-90 minutes). No experiments will put participants at risk 
of physical, monetary, or psychological harm. No data collection is 
estimated to take longer than 90 minutes per respondent, including the 
time required for respondents and non-respondents to review 
instructions and participate in the data collection.
    The estimated number of respondents participating in data 
collections under this generic clearance over an eighteen months period 
is 6,900. The maximum total estimated response burden for all of those 
participating in the study is 7,025 hours.

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                                                        Estimated                                    Estimated
                                        Estimated       number of      Average burden-hours per    total burden
    Type of research instrument         number of     responses per            response                hours
                                       respondents     respondent                                    requested
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Laboratory study...................           4,240               1  1.5 (90 mins)..............           6,360
Field study........................           2,660               1  <=1 (15 mins)..............             665
                                    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total..........................           6,900  ..............  ...........................           7,025
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    Dated: September 4, 2014.
Mary Bohman,
Administrator, Economic Research Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-21904 Filed 9-12-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-18-P