[Federal Register: May 21, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 98)]
[Notices]
[Page 27778-27780]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21my03-13]
========================================================================
Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
========================================================================
[[Page 27778]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
May 16, 2003.
The Department of Agriculture has submitted the following
information collection requirement(s) to OMB for review and clearance
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. Comments
regarding (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 burden including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality,
utility and clarity of the information to be collected; (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 should be addressed to: Desk
Officer for Agriculture, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Washington, DC 20503 and to
Departmental Clearance Office, USDA, OCIO, Mail Stop 7602, Washington,
DC 20250-7602. Comments regarding these information collections are
best assured of having their full effect if received within 30 days of
this notification. Copies of the submission(s) may be obtained by
calling (202) 720-8681.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information
unless the collection of information displays a currently valid OMB
control number and the agency informs potential persons who are to
respond to the collection of information that such persons are not
required to respond to the collection of information unless it displays
a currently valid OMB control number.
Rural Business-Cooperative Service
Title: Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program.
OMB Control Number: 0570-0012.
Summary of Collection: Section 313 of the Rural Electrification Act
of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 940(c)) established a loan and grant program. The
program provides zero interest loans and grants to Rural Utilities
Service (RUS) borrowers for the purpose of promoting rural economic
development and job creation projects. The loans and grants under this
program may be provided to approximately 1,700 electric and telephone
utilities across the country that borrowed funds from RUS. Under this
program, the RUS borrowers may receive the loan funds and pass them on
to businesses or other organizations.
Need and Use of the Information: The information collected is used
to evaluate applications for funding consideration, conduct an
environmental review, prepare legal documents, receive loan payments,
oversee the operation of a revolving loan fund, monitor the use of
funds, enforce other government requirements such as compliance with
civil rights regulations. If the information were not collected, the
agency would be unable to select the projects that will receive loan or
grant funds.
Description of Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
Number of Respondents: 120.
Frequency of Responses: Recordkeeping; reporting: on occasion;
annually.
Total Burden Hours: 4,273.
Rural Utilities Service
Title: 7 CFR Part 1778, Emergency and Imminent Community Water
Assistance Grants.
OMB Control Number: 0572-0110.
Summary of Collection: The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is
authorized under section 306A of the Consolidated Farm and Rural
Development Act, (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)) to provide grants to rural areas
and small communities to secure adequate quantities of safe water.
Grants made under this program shall be made for 100 percent of the
project cost and may be made to public bodies and private nonprofit
corporations serving rural areas. Grants can serve rural areas with
population not in excess of 5000, and household income should not
exceed 100 percent of a State's non-metropolitan median household
income.
Need and Use of the Information: RUS will collect the information
from applicants applying for grants under 7 CFR part 1778. Applicants
must demonstrate that there is an imminent emergency or that a decline
occurred within 2 years of the date the application was filed with
Rural Development. The information is unique to each borrower and
emergency situation.
Description of Respondents: Not-for-profit institutions; State,
local or tribal government.
Number of Respondents: 100.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: on occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 400.
Rural Utility Service
Title: 7 CFR Part 1755, Telecommunications Field Trials.
OMB Control Number: 0572-NEW.
Summary of Collection: Title 7 CFR 1755.3 prescribes the conditions
and provision of a field trial. Field trials are contractual
obligations that a manufacturer and Rural Utility Service (RUS)
telecommunications borrower enter into. They consist of limited field
installation of a qualifying product in closely monitored situations
designed to determine to RUS' satisfaction the products effectiveness
under actual field conditions. RUS will use field trials as a means for
determining the operational effectiveness of a new or revised product
where such experience does not already exist. Field trial process
allows manufacturers a means of immediate access to the RUS borrower
market; provides borrowers an opportunity to immediately utilize
advance products and a means to safely obtain the necessary information
on technically advanced products which will address the products
suitability for use in the harsh environment of rural America.
Need and Use of the Information: RUS will use various forms to
enter into contractual obligations, to establish agreements by the
manufacturer and a borrower, or identify the product(s) that are under
field trial. Telecommunication borrowers participate in field trials do
so on a voluntary basis. The information is closely reviewed to
determine that the products comply with the established
[[Page 27779]]
RUS standards and specifications and that the products are otherwise
acceptable for use on rural telecommunications systems. Without this
information, RUS has no means of determining the acceptability of
advanced technology in a manner that is timely enough for RUS borrowers
to take advantage of the improved benefits and promise that such
products may provide for rural America.
Description of Respondents: Business or other for-profit; not-for-
profit institutions.
Number of Respondents: 4.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: on occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 72.
Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service
Title: Johne's Disease in Domestic Animals; Interstate Movement, 9
CFR Part 80.
OMB Control Number: 0579-0148.
Summary of Collection: Title 21 U.S.C. authorizes sections 111,
114, 114a, 114-1, 115, 120, 121, 125, 126 134a, 134c, 134f, and 134g.
These authorities permit the Secretary to prevent, control and
eliminate domestic diseases such as Johne's disease, as well as to take
actions to prevent and to manage exotic diseases such as foot-and-
mouth, classical swine fever, and other foreign diseases. Johne's
disease affects cattle, sheep, goats, other ruminants and is incurable
and contagious eventually resulting in death. The disease is nearly
always introduced into a healthy herd by an infected animal that is not
showing symptoms of the disease. Moving livestock affected with Johne's
disease requires the use of an owner-shipper statement, official
eartags, and State participation in the program. Disease prevention is
the most effective method for maintaining a healthy animal population
and for enhancing the Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) ability to compete in the world market of animal and animal
product trade.
Need and Use of the Information: APHIS will collect information
that includes: (1) The number of animals to be moved, (2) the species
of the animals, (3) the point of origin and destination, and (4) the
consignor and consignee. Without the information APHIS would be unable
to ensure that Johne's disease is not spread to healthy animal
populations throughout the United States.
Description of Respondents: Business or other for profit.
Number of Respondents: 250.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting on occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 50.
Rural Housing Service
Title: 7 CFR Part 1944-E, Rural Rental and Cooperative Housing Loan
Policies, Procedures, and Authorizations.
OMB Control Number: 0575-0047.
Summary of Collection: The Rural Housing Agency (RHS), an agency of
the U.S. Department of Agriculture is authorized to make loans to
finance rural rental and cooperative housing projects and related
facilities under section 515 and 521 of title V of the Housing Act of
1949, as amended. The intent of the program is to provide affordable
rental housing for elderly or handicapped persons or families, or other
persons and families of low or moderate income in rural areas.
Need and Use of the Information: RHS will collect information using
various forms to evaluate the cost, benefits, feasibility and financial
performance of the proposed project, as well as the eligibility of the
applicant. Failure to collect this information would result in
unauthorized Federal assistance being granted.
Description of Respondents: Business or other for-profit;
individuals or households; not-for-profit institutions; State, local,
or tribal government.
Number of Respondents: 623.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On Occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 35,088.
Rural Housing Service
Title: 7 CFR Part 1951-A, Account Servicing Policies.
OMB Control Number: 0575-0075.
Summary of Collection: The Rural Housing Service (RHS) provides
supervised credit in the form of Single Family Housing, Multi-Family
Housing, and Community Facility loans and grants. Regulation 7 CFR part
1951-A sets forth the policies and procedures, including the collection
and use of information, regarding the application of payments on loans
made under the programs administered by the agencies and the return of
paid-in-full and satisfied promissory notes.
Need and Use of the Information: Borrowers submit information to
the local agency office servicing the county in which their operation
is located. The agency-servicing official reviews and verifies the
information. The information is collected when needed and on an
individual case basis.
Description of Respondents: Individuals or households; business or
other for-profit.
Number of Respondents: 110.
Frequency of Responses : Reporting: on occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 28.
Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service
Title: Mexican Fruit Fly; Treatments.
OMB Control Number: 0579-0215.
Summary of Collection: The Department of Agriculture is responsible
for preventing plant disease or insect pests from entering the United
States, preventing the spread of pests and noxious weeds not widely
distributed in the United States, and eradicating those imported pests
when eradication is feasible. The Mexican fruit fly regulations,
contained in 7 CFR 301.64 through 301.64-10 were established to prevent
the spread of the Mexican fruit fly to noninfested areas of the United
States. The Mexican fruit fly is a destructive pest of citrus and many
other types of fruit. The short life cycle of the Mexican fruit fly
allows rapid development of serious outbreaks that can cause severe
economic losses in commercial citrus-producing areas. The Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will collect information using
form PPQ 519, Compliance Agreement.
Need and Use of the Information: APHIS will collect information to
ensure that permit conditions are met, and that proper labeling,
marking, and other handling procedures are done before movement of the
regulated article. Failure to collect this information would cripple
APHIS ability to ensure that citrus and many other types of fruit do
not carry Mexican fruit flies.
Description of Respondents: Business or other for-profit; State;
local or tribal government.
Number of Respondents: 722.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 462.
Food and Nutrition Service
Title: Report of The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
Administrative.
OMB Control Number: 0584-0385.
Summary of Collection: The Common Rule entitled Uniform
Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to
State and Local Governments (published by the Department as 7 CFR part
3106) sets financial reporting requirements for State agencies
administering non-entitlement programs, such as The Emergency Food
Assistance Program (TEFAP). The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)
requires state agencies to use the FNS-667, Report of the
[[Page 27780]]
Emergency Food Assistance Program. This form is completed quarterly
with a close-out report by State agencies administering TEFAP.
Need and Use of the Information: FNS will collect information to
ensure that States meet the requirements, that States match all Federal
administrative funds that are not passed down to local agencies. Form
FNS-667 is used to report how Federal administrative funds are utilized
in three separate categories. States may use funds to pay costs
incurred by the State agency itself, or to pay costs incurred by local
recipient agencies-emergency feeding organizations (EFOs) that
distribute USDA commodities to households.
Description of Respondents: State, local, or tribal government;
Federal government; farms; not-for-profit institutions; business or
other for-profit; individuals or households.
Number of Respondents: 55.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Quarterly.
Total Burden Hours: 963.
Sondra A. Blakey,
Departmental Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-12728 Filed 5-20-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-01-M