[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 246 (Monday, December 23, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70564-70565]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-27617]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary

[20XD4523WC DWCFO0000.000000 DS68664000 DQ.QSO00.20WC0000]


Proposed Renewal of Information Collection: OMB Control Number 
1084-0033, Private Rental Survey

AGENCY: Office of Acquisition and Property Management. Office of the 
Secretary, Interior.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Office of Acquisition and Property Management, Office of the Secretary, 
Department of the Interior, has submitted an information collection 
request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to continue the 
collection of information for the ``Private Rental Survey'' OMB Control 
No. 1084-0033. The information collection request (ICR) describes the 
nature of the information collection and the expected burden and cost.

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 January 22, 2020, in order to be 
assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for 
the Department of the Interior (1084-0033), by telefax at (202) 395-
5806 or via email to [email protected]. Also, please send a 
copy of your comments to Laura Walters, Quarters Rental Program 
Manager, Interior Business Center, 7301 W Mansfield Ave, MS D-2910, 
Denver, CO 80235, or fax 303-969-6336, or by email to 
[email protected]. Individuals providing comments should 
reference ``Private Rental Survey'' OMB Control No. 1084-0033.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on this 
information collection or to obtain a copy of the collection 
instrument, please write or call Laura Walters, Quarters Rental Program 
Manager, Interior Business Center, 7301 W Mansfield Ave, MS D-2910, 
Denver, CO 80235, or fax 303-969-6336, or by email to 
[email protected]. Individuals providing comments should 
reference ``Private Rental Survey'' OMB Control No. 1084-0033. 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 at 5 CFR 1320, 
which implement the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-131), 
require that interested members of the public and affected parties have 
an opportunity to comment on information collection and recordkeeping 
activities. This notice identifies an information collection activity 
that the Office of Acquisition and Property Management has submitted to 
OMB for renewal.
    Title 5 of the U.S. Code section 5911 authorizes Federal agencies 
to provide housing for Government employees under specified 
circumstances. In compliance with OMB Circular A-45 (Revised), Rental 
and Construction of Government Quarters, a review of private rental 
market housing rates is required at least once every 5 years to ensure 
that the rental, utility charges, and charges for related services to 
occupants of Government Furnished Housing (GFH) are comparable to 
corresponding charges in the private sector. To avoid unnecessary 
duplication and inconsistent rental rates, the Department of the 
Interior, Office of the Secretary, Interior Business Center (on behalf 
of the Office of Acquisition and Property Management), conducts housing 
surveys in support of employee housing management programs for the 
Departments of the Interior (DOI), Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland 
Security, Justice, Transportation, Health and Human Services, Veterans 
Affairs, and other

[[Page 70565]]

agencies. In this survey, two collection forms are used for rental unit 
data: OS-2000 covering ``Houses-Apartments-Mobile Homes,'' and OS-2001 
covering ``Trailer Spaces.''
    Respondents are typically property management companies or 
significant property owners in specific communities, and are contacted 
by email or telephone. They may provide the rental unit information 
requested in OS-2000 and OS-2001 verbally, update rental data collected 
during a previous survey, enhance/complete rental data gathered from 
published sources, or provide printouts/lists of rental units they 
manage.
    This collection of information provides data that is essential for 
DOI and the other Federal agencies to manage GFH in accordance with the 
requirements of OMB Circular A-45 (Revised). If this information were 
not collected from the public, DOI and the other Federal agencies 
providing GFH would be required to use professional real estate 
appraisals of private market rental costs, again, in accordance with 
OMB Circular A-45, but at an increased cost to the taxpayer.

II. Data

    (1) Title: Private Rental Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 1084-0033.
    Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved 
collection
    Affected Entities: Businesses and other for-profit institutions.
    Estimated annual number of unique respondents: 1,883
    Obligation to Respond: Voluntary.
    Estimated annual average number of responses (rental units): OS-
2000: 3,180; OS-2001: 359; Total: 3,539.
    Frequency of response: Once per respondent every fourth year. Three 
or four of 16 total survey regions are surveyed every year. Therefore a 
respondent or business may potentially be surveyed every fourth year, 
if exact same unit is surveyed again four years later. In addition, if 
an individual respondent or business is a significant rental property 
manager or rental property owner in the community, they may provide 
multiple responses in the same survey. Approximately 63% of respondents 
furnish more than one rental unit (OS-2000 and OS-2001). About 60% of 
respondents validate published data (tax records, advertisement, etc.), 
30% update their previous survey data, and 10% furnish a new OS-2000 or 
OS-2001. Participation is optional.
    (2) Annual reporting and recordkeeping burden:
    Total annualized reporting per response: 6 minutes for OS-2000 and 
4 minutes for OS-2001.
    Total annualized reporting: 342 hours.
    (3) Description of the need and use of the information: This 
information collection provides the data that enables DOI to determine 
open market rental costs for GFH. These rates in turn enable DOI to set 
GFH rental rates for other Federal agencies, as a shared federal 
service, in accordance with the requirements of OMB Circular A-45 
(Revised). The information collection enables government employee 
rental rates to be established that comply with A-45 for several 
agencies cost-effectively.
    (4) As required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), a Federal Register notice 
soliciting comments on the information collection was published on May 
5, 2016 (81 FR 27171). No comments were received. This notice provides 
the public with an additional 30 days in which to comment on the 
proposed information collection activity.

III. Request for Comments

    The Department of the Interior invites comments 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 
collection and 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 
respondents, 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.
    While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so. 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.

Jeffrey Parrillo,
Departmental Information Collection Clearance Officer, Office of the 
Secretary, Department of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 2019-27617 Filed 12-20-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4334-63-P