[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 218 (Thursday, November 10, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79045-79046]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-27194]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

 Geological Survey

[GX13SB00C2G9100]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments

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

ACTION: Notice of revision of a currently approved information 
collection, (1028-0107).

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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. This collection is scheduled to expire on November 
30, 2016.

DATE: To ensure that your comments on this ICR are considered, OMB must 
receive them on or before December 12, 2016.

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 1028-0107, Economic Contribution of Federal Investments in 
Restoration of Degraded, Damaged, or Destroyed Ecosystems'. Please also 
forward a copy of your comments and suggestions on this

[[Page 79046]]

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 1028-0107, 
Economic Contribution of Federal Investments in Restoration of 
Degraded, Damaged, or Destroyed Ecosystems' in all correspondence.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Fort 
Collins Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, 2150 Centre Ave., Fort 
Collins, CO 80526 (mail); 970-226-9164 (phone); or 
[email protected] (email). You may also find information about 
this ICR at www.reginfo.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    Federal investments in ecosystem restoration projects protect 
Federal trusts, ensure public health and safety, and preserve and 
enhance essential ecosystem services. These investments also generate 
business activity and create jobs. The Economic Impacts of Ecosystem 
Restoration project aims to increase the availability of information on 
the costs and activities associated with ecosystem restoration, and to 
gauge the economic effects of these investments to local economies. The 
project is comprised of a series of case studies that quantify the 
economic impacts of restoration projects. The case studies include 
examples of collaboratively funded and managed projects to restore a 
wide range of degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems. In addition 
to providing improved information on the economic impacts of 
restoration, these case studies highlight DOI restoration efforts and 
tell personalized stories about each project and the communities that 
are positively affected by restoration activities. Project methods 
include the collection of primary expenditure data and economic input/
output modeling. Results from the first phase of case studies are 
available online at https://www.fort.usgs.gov/economic-impacts-restoration and in a USGS report titled `Estimating the economic 
impacts of ecosystem restoration--methods and case studies'. The report 
provides a detailed description of the methods used to estimate 
economic impacts of case study projects and also provides suggestions, 
lessons learned, and trade-offs between potential analysis methods. 
This second phase of case studies aims to refine the survey methods and 
fill in some data gaps on specific types of restoration activities.

II. Data

    OMB Control Number: 1028-0107.
    Form Number: 2 forms, not numbered.
    Title: Economic Contribution of Federal Investments in Restoration 
of Degraded, Damaged, or Destroyed Ecosystems.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Respondent Obligation: None, participation is voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: One time only.
    Description of Respondents: Restoration project managers working on 
selected case study restoration projects; this includes project 
managers from state and local government, and from non-profit industry.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: We expect to do up to 
10 case studies per year, and many of these case studies will have 
Federal project managers.
    Estimated Time per Response: We estimate that it will take 
approximately 3.5 hours per person to complete the surveys, including 
correspondence time.
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 21 hours.
    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 July 1, 2016, we published a Federal Register notice 
(81 FR 43224) announcing that we would submit this ICR to OMB for 
approval and soliciting comments. The comment period closed on August 
30, 2016. 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 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 the OMB 
in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from 
public review, we cannot guarantee that it will be done.

William Lellis,
Acting Associate Director, Ecosystems.
[FR Doc. 2016-27194 Filed 11-9-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4338-11-P