[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 139 (Tuesday, July 21, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43109-43110]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-17835]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U.S. Geological Survey

[GX15DA009DU2000]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments on 
the National Ground-Water Monitoring Network Cooperative Funding 
Program

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

ACTION: Notice of a new information collection, National Ground-Water 
Monitoring Network Cooperative Funding Program.

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SUMMARY: We (the U.S. Geological Survey) are notifying the public that 
we have submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) the 
information collection request (ICR) 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 ICR.

DATES: To ensure that your comments on this ICR are considered, OMB 
must receive them on or before August 20, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Please submit written 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 the Interior, via email: 
([email protected]); or by fax (202) 395-5806; and identify 
your submission with `OMB Control Number 1028-NEW National Ground-Water 
Monitoring Network Cooperative Funding Program'. Please also forward a 
copy of your comments and suggestions on this information collection to 
the Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Geological Survey, 
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive MS 807, Reston, VA 20192 (mail); (703) 648-
7195 (fax); or [email protected] (email). Please reference 
`OMB Information Collection 1028-NEW: National Ground-Water Monitoring 
Network Cooperative Funding Program' in all correspondence.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daryll Pope,, U.S. Geological Survey, 
3450 Princeton Pike, Suite 110, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 (mail); 609-
771-3933 (phone); or [email protected] (email). You may also find 
information about this ICR at www.reginfo.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The USGS is working with the Federal Advisory Committee on Water 
Information (ACWI) and its Subcommittee on Ground Water (SOGW) to 
develop and administer a National Ground-Water Monitoring Network 
(NGWMN). This network is required as part of Public Law 111-11, 
Subtitle F--Secure Water: Section 9507 ``Water Data Enhancement by the 
United States Geological Survey''. The Network will consist of an 
aggregation of wells from existing Federal, State, Tribal, and local 
groundwater monitoring networks. To support data providers for the 
National Ground-Water Monitoring Network, the USGS will be providing 
funding through cooperative agreements to water-resource agencies that 
collect groundwater data. The USGS will be soliciting applications for 
funding that will request information from the Agency collecting the 
data. Proposals will be submitted through the www.grants.gov Web site. 
Elements of the proposal will include contact information (phone number 
and email address), and a proposal describing their existing data 
collection and a plan to evaluate their data for incorporation into the 
NGWMN. The proposal will be evaluated by the USGS and the NGWMN Program 
Board to appropriate funding. The proposal will describe the 
groundwater networks to be included in the NGWMN, the purpose of the 
networks, an estimate of the number of wells they would submit for the 
network, an overview of the methods they would use to select and 
classify wells for the network a description of data collection 
techniques, and information on their databases. The proposal would also 
require estimates of one-time costs to complete the above tasks and 
annual costs to participate in the network.

II. Data

    OMB Control Number: 1028-NEW.
    Title: National Ground-Water Monitoring Network Cooperative Funding 
Program.
    Type of Request: Approval of new information collection.
    Respondent Obligation: Required to obtain benefit.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually.
    Description of Respondents: Multistate, State, Tribal, or Local 
water-resource agencies who operate groundwater monitoring networks.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 100 applications, 25 
reports.
    Estimated Time per Response: We estimate that it will take 30 
hour(s) per person to prepare the proposal. This includes time to 
review the NGWMN Framework Document to understand the Network design 
and requirements for data providers. In prior years respondents to 
similar projects have spent up to 125 hours to prepare the final 
report.
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 3000 for applications, 3125 for 
reports.
    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 the OMB approves a collection 
of information, you are not obliged to respond.
    Comments: On 02/06/2015, we published a Federal Register notice (80 
FR 6746) announcing that we would submit this ICR to OMB for approval 
and soliciting comments. The comment period closed on 04/07/2015. We 
received no comments.

III. Request for Comments

    We again invite comments concerning this ICR 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

[[Page 43110]]

techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Please note that comments submitted in response to this notice are 
a matter of public record. Before including your personal mailing 
address, phone number, email address, or other personally identifiable 
information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire 
comment, including your personally identifiable information, may be 
made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us and OMB in 
your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from 
public review, we cannot guarantee that it will be done.

William L. Cunningham,
Chief, Office of Groundwater.
[FR Doc. 2015-17835 Filed 7-20-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4311-AM-P