[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 226 (Monday, November 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67680-67681]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25900]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

National Institute of Food and Agriculture


Notice of Intent To Extend and Revise a Currently Approved 
Information Collection

AGENCY: National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

ACTION: Approval of notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, this notice 
announces the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's (NIFA) 
intention to extend and revise, a currently approved information 
collection entitled, ``Reporting Requirements for State Plans of Work 
for Agricultural Research and Extension Formula Funds.'' NIFA is also 
proposing to modify the collection in response to audit findings of the 
USDA Office of Inspector General.

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by January 28, 
2022 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date 
will be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by any of the following 
methods: Email: [email protected]. Mail: Office of Information 
Technology (OIT), NIFA, USDA, STOP 2216, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, 
Washington, DC 20250-2216. You may also submit comments, through the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Martin, Records Officer; email: 
[email protected]; phone: 202-445-5388.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Reporting Requirements for State Plans of Work for 
Agricultural Research and Extension Capacity Grants.
    OMB Number: 0524-0036.
    Expiration Date of Current Approval: September 30, 2022.
    Type of Request: Notice of intent to extend, for one year, a 
currently approved information collection. The burden for this 
collection remains unchanged.
    The agency is building a new reporting system, the ``NIFA Reporting 
System,'' (NRS) that will consume the ``Reporting Requirements for 
Research, Education, and Extension project reporting tool (REEport)'' 
and this collection upon completion. At the appropriate time, NIFA will 
request approval for a new information collection to include all 
competitive and capacity programs. In addition, NIFA will work with 
university partners in extension and research to review and identify 
measures to further streamline the submission, reporting under, and 
implementation of plan of work requirements under USDA extension and 
research capacity programs, as required by section 7505 of the Food, 
Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, Public Law 110-246 (7 U.S.C. 
7614b). The adoption of new technology and elimination of data fields 
that are not required by law or are not used by NIFA for informational 
purposes, will reduce the burden of collecting and reporting 
information to our grantees. At that time, we will be better able to 
estimate the actual burden.
    In addition to the Plan of Work requirements described below, NIFA 
seeks to collect two digital identifiers to assist with collecting 
information on publications that result from NIFA-funded projects. The 
first digital identifier is the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) 
assigned to journal articles by publishers. The DOI will allow NIFA to 
eliminate the manual entry of publication data by grantees. NIFA also 
seeks to collect the Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID). The 
ORCID is a persistent digital identifier, available to individuals at 
no cost. Increasingly, researchers are placing their ORCIDs in 
publication metadata. Together, the DOI and ORCID will help NIFA 
improve the robustness of its publication data and be better positioned 
to demonstrate the value of its investments.
    NIFA also seeks to collect information from its grantees in support 
of its key performance indicator (KPI), Workforce Development. NIFA, in 
collaboration with the Office of Chief Scientist, defines the KPI as 
the number of students trained as part of a NIFA-funded project or 
program. This data is currently collected from a segment of NIFA's 
programs. The Agency seeks to expand this to all relevant programs as 
they are brought over to the NIFA Reporting System.
    Abstract: The purpose of this collection of information is to 
continue implementing the requirement that a plan of work must be 
submitted by each institution and approved by the National Institute of 
Food and Agriculture (NIFA) before formula funds may be provided to the 
1862 and 1890 land-grant institutions.
    The formula funds are authorized under the Hatch Act of 1887, as 
amended (7 U.S.C. 361a-i) for agricultural research activities at the 
1862 land-grant institutions, under the Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C. 341-
349) for the extension activities at the 1862 land-grant institutions, 
and under sections 1444 and 1445 of AREERA (7 U.S.C. 3221-3222) for 
research and extension activities at the 1890 land-grant institutions. 
The requirement for the submission of a plan of work may be found in 7 
U.S.C. 344(c) for the Smith-Lever Act, in 7 U.S.C. 361g(d) for the 
Hatch Act, and in 7 U.S.C. 3221(d)(3) and 3222(c)(2) respectively for 
Research and Extension at the 1890 Institutions. The plan of work must 
address critical agricultural issues in the State and describe the 
programs and projects targeted to address these issues using the NIFA 
formula funds. The plan of work also must describe the institution's 
multistate activities and include their integrated research and 
extension activities.
    This collection of information also includes the reporting 
requirements of section 102(c) of AREERA (7 U.S.C. 7612(c)) for the 
1862 and 1890 land-grant institutions. This section requires the 1862, 
1890, and 1994 land-grant institutions, and Hispanic-serving 
agricultural colleges and universities receiving agricultural research, 
education, and extension formula funds from NIFA of the Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) to establish and implement processes for obtaining 
input from persons who conduct or use agricultural research, extension, 
or education concerning the use of such funds.
    Section 102(c) further requires that the Secretary of Agriculture 
promulgate regulations that prescribe what the institutions must do to 
meet this requirement and the consequences of not complying with this 
requirement. The Stakeholder Input Requirements for Recipients of 
Agricultural Research, Education, and Extension Formula Funds (7 CFR 
3418) final rule (65 FR 5998, Feb. 8, 2000) applies not only to the 
land-grant institutions and Hispanic-serving agricultural college and 
universities receiving formula funds but also to the veterinary and 
forestry schools that are not land-grant institutions but receive 
forestry research funds under the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry 
Research Act of 1962 (16 U.S.C. 582a1-7) and animal health and disease 
research funds under section 1433 of NARETPA (7 U.S.C. 3195(a)).
    Failure to comply with the requirements of this rule may result in 
the withholding of a recipient institution's formula funds and 
redistribution of its share of formula

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funds to other eligible institutions. The institutions are required to 
annually report to NIFA: (1) The actions taken to seek stakeholder 
input to encourage their participation; (2) a brief statement of the 
process used by the recipient institution to identify individuals and 
groups who are stakeholders and to collect input from them; and (3) a 
statement of how collected input was considered. There is no 
legislatively prescribed form or format for this reporting requirement. 
However, the 1862 and 1890 land- grant institutions and Hispanic-
serving agricultural colleges and universities are required to report 
on their Stakeholder Input Process annually as part of their Annual 
Report of Accomplishments and Results.
    Section 103(e) of AREERA (7 U.S.C. 7613(e)) requires that the 1862, 
1890, and 1994 land-grant institutions, as well as Hispanic-serving 
agricultural colleges and universities, establish a merit review 
process to obtain agricultural research and extension funds. Section 
104 of AREERA (7 U.S.C. 361c(h)) further stipulated that for research 
conducted pursuant to the Hatch Act, a scientific peer review process 
be established for research programs funded under section 3(c)(3) of 
the Hatch Act (commonly referred to as Hatch Multistate Research 
Funds), which should be used in lieu of the merit review requirement in 
section 7613(e).

I. Initial 5-Year Plan of Work

    Estimate of Burden: The Initial 5-Year Plan of Work was submitted 
for the FY 2020-2024 Plan of Work in 2019. Thus, this reporting burden 
has been satisfied and will no longer be collected. Consequently, the 
total reporting and record keeping requirements for the submission of 
the ``Initial 5- Year Plan of Work'' is estimated to average 0 hours 
per response.
    The revised Plan of Work includes six components: ``Critical 
Issues,'' Extension Program and Research project Initiations in the NRS 
platform,'' ``Stakeholder Input Process,'' ``Merit Review Process,'' 
``Multistate Activities,'' and ``Integrated Activities.'' The total 
reporting and record keeping requirements for the initial submission 
was estimated to average 64 hours per response.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 75.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 150.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 9,600 hours.
    Frequency of Responses: Annually.

II. Annual Update to 5-Year Plan of Work

    Estimate of the Burden: The total reporting and record keeping 
requirements for the submission of the ``Annual Update to the 5-Year 
Plan of Work'' is estimated to average 64 hours per response. There are 
five components of this ``5-Year Plan of Work'': ``Planned Programs,'' 
``Stakeholder Input Process,'' ``Program Review Process,'' ``Multi 
state Activities,'' and ``Integrated Activities.''
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 75.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 150.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 9,600 hours.
    Frequency of Responses: Annually.

III. Annual Report of Accomplishments and Results

    The Annual Report of Accomplishments and Results will contain 
summaries of projects and programs for which key activities have 
produced outcomes. Projects and programs are organized by Critical 
Issue. Project summaries include four components: The issue and its 
significance; key activities undertaken to achieve the goals and 
objectives; changes in knowledge, behavior, or condition resulting from 
the project's activities; and who benefited and how.
    Estimate of the Burden: The total annual reporting and record 
keeping requirements of the ``Annual Report of Accomplishments and 
Results'' is estimated to average 260 hours per response.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 75.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 150.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 39,000 hours.
    Frequency of Responses: Annually.
    Comments: 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 will 
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 through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology. Comments should be 
sent to the address stated in the preamble.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for OMB approval. All comments will become a matter of public 
record.

    Done at Washington, DC, this day of November 18, 2021.
Carrie L. Castille,
Director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department 
of Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 2021-25900 Filed 11-26-21; 8:45 am]
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