[Federal Register: December 4, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 233)]
[Notices]
[Page 67828-67831]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04de03-22]
========================================================================
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 67828]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
December 1, 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,
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.
Farm Service Agency
Title: 7 CFR 1941, Operating Loan Policies, Procedures and
Authorizations.
OMB Control Number: 0560-0162.
Summary of Collection: The Consolidated Farm and Rural Development
Act (7 U.S.C. 1922) (CONACT) authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture
and the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to make and insure loans to farmers
and ranchers and to administer the provisions of the CONACT applicable
to the Farm Loan Program. The information is required to ensure that
the agency provides assistance to applicants who have reasonable
prospects of repaying the government and meet statutory eligibility
requirements. This assistance enables family farm operators to use
their land, labor, and other resources to improve their living and
financial conditions so that they can eventually obtain credit
elsewhere.
Need and Use of the Information: The information is needed for FSA
loan approval officials to evaluate an applicant's eligibility, and to
determine if the operation is economically feasible and the security
offered in support of the loan is adequate. FSA relies on current
information to carry out the business of the program as intended and to
protect the government's interest. A variety of forms will be used to
collect the information. If the information were not collected, or
collected less frequently, the Agency would be: (1) Unable to make an
accurate eligibility and financial feasibility determination on
respondents' request for new loans as required by the CONACT; and (2)
unable to meet the congressionally mandated mission of loan programs.
Description of Respondents: Farms; Business or other for-profit;
Federal government; Individuals or households.
Number of Respondents: 26,146.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Other.
Total Burden Hours: 7,019.
Food and Nutrition Service
Title: National School Lunch Program Sample Frame Development.
OMB Control Number: 0584-NEW.
Summary of Collection: The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) conducts periodic evaluation of the
school meal programs to provide updated information on program
operations, meal characteristic, and students' diets as well as costs
and revenues of school meals. The Economic Research Service has
contracted with the team of Abt Associates Inc. and Mathematica Policy
Research Inc., to design an integrated study of USDA school meal
program and to assess the cost and feasibility of such a study. The
integrated study will collect data on five domains: (1) Policies and
practices of schools and School Food Authorities (SFAs) that affect
school meal programs; (2) characteristics of meals as offered and
served; (3) costs and revenues of providing schools meals; (4) student
participation, satisfaction, and related attitudes toward the school
lunch and breakfast programs; and (5) students' dietary intakes and
other student/family characteristics that may influenced program
participation. The integrated study would have a multi-level design
featuring cross-sectional data and nationally representative samples of
SFAs, schools, and students.
Need and Use of the Information: The National School Lunch Program
Sample Frame Development is designed to provide a nationally
representative sample frame of Public SFAs that are participating in
the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program. The
information collected from the sample frame will include: current
enrollment by school level, number of students approved for free and
reduced-price meals, poverty rates, the type of school meal programs
offered, type of menu-planning system in use, type of food production
system used, whether the school district uses a food service management
company to manage the food service operation, and the start and ending
date of the school year. The information will be used to provide
federal, state, and local policy makers as well as program
administrators with much needed information on how the school meal
programs have changed, since the implementation of the School Meal
Initiative.
Description of Respondents: Not-for-profit institutions; Individual
or households; State, Local or Tribal Government.
Number of Respondents: 2,079.
[[Page 67829]]
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Other (One-time only).
Total Burden Hours: 3,119.
Forest Service
Title: Visitor Permit and Visitor Registration Card.
OMB Control Number: 0596-0019.
Summary of Collection: The Organic Administration Act (30 stat.
11), the Wilderness Act (78 stat. 890), the Wild and Scenic River Act
(82 stat. 906) and Executive Order 11644, all authorize the Forest
Service (FS) to manage the forests to benefit both land and people.
Every year millions of people visit the National Forest System. As FS
heads into the next millennium, their challenge is to meet the
increasing demand for higher quality recreation experiences while
safeguarding the health of the land. One way FS will care for the land
and serve people is to determine where people are going when they visit
the national forest, and give them information, which provides for a
safe and enjoyable visit, and at the same time protects the resource.
The Visitors Permit and Visitor Registration Card are tools that will
help meet this objective. At the majority of locations visited, a
permit for use is required. The FS uses the Visitor's Permit (Form
2300-30) and the Visitor Registration Card (Form 2300-32) to permit and
monitor use in these areas.
Need and Use of the Information: The visitor permit provides FS
with information about the visitor's name, address, area to be visited,
date of visit, length of stay, method of travel, number of people, and
number of pack and saddle stock. The permit and registration card
allows managers to identify areas, which are being heavily used and is
also used to locate forest visitors if they do not return from their
trip as planned. If the information were not collected from visitors it
could cause overuse and site deterioration in some environmentally
sensitive areas.
Description of Respondents: Individuals or households; Business or
other for-profit; Not-for profit institutions.
Number of Respondents: 368,000.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Other (per visit).
Total Burden Hours: 18,400.
Forest Service
Title: Economic, Social, and Cultural Aspects of Livestock Ranching
on the Santa Fe and Carson National Forests.
OMB Control Number: 0596-NEW.
Summary of Collection: Management of federal lands is hampered in
many cases because land managing agencies lack sufficient information
to understand and monitor socio-cultural values and changing attitude
toward land and resource use. The lack of up-to-date information
impedes efforts of the Forest Service (FS) to work with livestock
ranchers who graze their cattle under permit on FS managed land
(permittees). Cultural differences and historic problems over land use
contribute to disagreements and misunderstanding between the permittees
and federal land managers. Information on the economic, social, and
cultural contributions of livestock ownership to federal permittees is
of interest to land managers, policy makers, social scientists, the
general public, and the permittees themselves. FS will use a
questionnaire to collect information from livestock permittees from the
Santa Fe and Carson National Forest.
Need and use of the Information: FS will collect data on economic,
social, and cultural contributions of livestock ownership will help FS
personnel manage the land more effectively and work more cooperatively
with the permittees by increasing understanding of the local culture
and the role of livestock ownership in that culture. If the data is not
collected, grazing allotment plans and forest plan revisions will not
be based on the most current and appropriate socio-cultural and
economic information.
Description of Respondents: Individuals or households; Farms;
Business or other for-profit.
Number of Respondents: 600.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 900.
Rural Business Cooperative Service
Title: 7 CFR 4284-F, Rural Cooperative Development Grant.
OMB Control Number: 0570-0006.
Summary of Collection: The Rural Cooperative Development Grants
(RCDG) program is administered through the State Rural Development
Offices on behalf of the Rural Business Cooperative Service (RBS). The
primary objective of the program is to improve the economic condition
of rural areas through cooperative development. Grant funds are awarded
on a competitive basis using a scoring system that gives preference to
applications that demonstrate a proven track record. The applicants,
who are non-profit corporations or institutions of higher education,
will provide information using various forms and supporting
documentation.
Need and Use of the Information: RBS will use the information
collected to evaluate the applicant's ability to carry out the purposes
of the program. If this information were not collected, RBS would have
no basis on which to evaluate the relative merit of each application.
Description of Respondents: Individuals or households; Not for
profit institutions; State, Local or Tribal Government.
Number of Respondents: 75.
Frequency of Responses: Recordkeeping; Reporting: On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 2,675.
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Title: Agricultural Resource Management, Chemical Use, and Post-
Harvest Chemical Use Surveys.
OMB Control Number: 0535-0218.
Summary of Collection: The primary objectives of the National
Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) are to provide the public with
timely and reliable agricultural production and economic statistics, as
well as environmental and specialty agricultural related statistics.
Three surveys--the Agricultural Resource Management Study, the Fruit
and Vegetable Chemical Use Surveys, and the Post-harvest Chemical Use
Survey--are critical to NASS' ability to fulfill thee objectives and to
build the Congressionally mandated database on agricultural chemical
use and related farm practices. NASS uses a variety of survey
instruments to collect the information in conjunction with these
studies.
Need and Use of the Information: The Agricultural Resource
Management Study provides a robust database of information to address
varied needs of policy makers. There are many uses for the information
from this study including an evaluation of the safety of the Nation's
food supply; input to the farm sector portion of the gross domestic
product; and to provide a barometer on the financial condition of farm
businesses. Data from the Fruit and Vegetable Chemical Use Surveys is
used to assess the environmental and economic implications of various
program and policies and the impact on agricultural producers and
consumers.
The results of the Post-harvest Chemical Use Survey are used by the
Environmental Protection Agency to develop Food Quality Protection Act
risk assessments. Other organizations use this data to make sound
regulatory decisions.
Description of Respondents: Farms
Number of Respondents: 80,650.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Annually.
Total Burden Hours: 57,209.
[[Page 67830]]
Rural Utility Service
Title: 7 CFR 1792, Subpart C--Seismic Safety of New Building
Construction.
OMB Control Number: 0572-0099.
Summary of Collection: Seismic hazards present a serious threat to
people and their surroundings. These hazards exist in most of the
United States, not just on the West Coast. Unlike hurricanes, times and
location of earthquakes cannot be predicted; most earthquakes strike
without warning and, if of substantial strength, strike with great
destructive forces. To reduce risks to life and property from
earthquakes, Congress enacted the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of
1977 (Pub. L. 95-124, 42 U.S.C. 7702 et seq.) and directed the
establishment and maintenance of an effective earthquake reduction
program. As a result, the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program
(NEHRP) was established. The objectives of the NEHRP include the
development of technologically and economically feasible design and
construction methods to make both new and existing structures
earthquake resistant, and the development and promotion of model
building codes. 7 CFR part 1792, subpart C, identifies acceptable
seismic standards which must be employed in new building construction
funded by loans, grants, or guarantees made by the Rural Utility
Service (RUS) or the Rural Telephone Bank (RTB) or through lien
accommodations or subordinations approved by RUS or RTB.
Need and Use of the Information: Borrowers and grant recipients
must provide to RUS a written acknowledgment from a registered
architect or engineer responsible for the design of each applicable
building stating that the seismic provisions to 7 CFR part 1792,
subpart C will be used in the design of the building. RUS will sue this
information to: (1) Clarify and inform the applicable borrowers and
grant recipients about seismic safety requirements; (2) improve the
effectiveness of all RUS programs; and (3) reduce the risk to life and
property through the use of approved building codes aimed at providing
seismic safety.
Description of Respondents: Not-for-profit institutions; Business
or other for-profit.
Number of Respondents: 1,000
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 750.
Agricultural Marketing Service
Title: Federal Seed Act Program.
OMB Control Number: 0581-0026.
Summary of Collection: The Federal Seed Act (FSA) (7 U.S.C. 1551-
1611) regulates agricultural and vegetable seeds in interstate
commerce. Agricultural and vegetable seeds shipped in interstate
commerce are required to be labeled with certain quality information
such as the name of the seed, the purity, the germination, and the
noxious-weed seeds of the state into which the seed is shipped. State
seed regulatory agencies refer to the Agricultural Marketing Service
(AMS) complaints that involve seed found to be mislabeled and to have
moved in interstate commerce. AMS investigates the alleged violations
and if the violation is substantiated, takes regulatory action ranging
from letters of warning to monetary penalties.
Need and Use of the Information: AMS will collect information from
records of each lot of seed and make them available for inspection by
agents of the Secretary. The information collected consists of records
pertaining to interstate shipments of seed that have been alleged to be
in violation of the FSA. The shipper's records pertaining to a
complaint are examined by FSA program specialists and are used to
determine if a violation of the FSA occurred. The records are used to
determine the precautions taken by the shipper to assure that the seed
was accurately labeled. If this information were not collected, it
would be impossible to examine pertinent records to resolve complaints
of violations.
Description of Respondents: Business or other for-profit; State,
Local or Tribal Government; Farms.
Number of Respondents: 2,679.
Frequency of Responses: Recordkeeping; Reporting: On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 36,602.
Food and Nutrition Service
Title: Form FNS-388, State Issuance and Participation Estimates.
OMB Control Number: 0584-0081.
Summary of Collection: Section 18(b) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977,
as amended, requires that ``In any fiscal year, the Secretary shall
limit the value of those allotments issued (under the Food Stamp
Program) to an amount not in excess of the appropriation for such
fiscal year.;'' Timely State monthly issuance estimates are necessary
for the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to ensure that it remains
within the appropriation and will have a direct effect upon the manner
in which allotments would be reduced when necessary. FNS uses the FNS-
388 report to obtain monthly Statewide estimated or actual issuance and
participation data for the current and previous months, and the actual
participation data for the second preceding month.
Need and Use of the Information: The FNS-388 report provides the
necessary data for an early warning system to enable the Department to
fulfill the requirements of section 18(b) of the Food Stamp Act. In
addition, the data is used to (1) validate the Annual Food Stamp
Household characteristic Survey; (2) to compile a Statistical Summary
Report which is used for special studies and in response to
Congressional and other inquiries; and (3) to compare against the
coupon issuance points' FNS-250 (which reports issuances from
inventory) and reconciliation points' FNS-46 issuance data (which
reports issuances for coupons, electronic benefit transfers, and cash-
out) for indications of accountability problems.
Description of Respondents: State, Local or Tribal Government.
Number of Respondents: 53.
Frequency of Responses: Recordkeeping; Reporting: Monthly.
Total Burden Hours: 4,542.
Food and Nutrition Service
Title: Food Stamp Program Identification Cards.
OMB Control Number: 0584-0124.
Summary of Collection: Section 11(e)(15) of the Food Stamp Act of
1977 requires that State agencies issue photographic identification
cards to recipients in certain project areas, if the Secretary and the
Department's Inspector General find it useful and cost effective to
protect the integrity of the Food Stamp Program (FSP). The ID cards are
required by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to reduce the number
of unauthorized food stamp issuances.
Need and Use of the Information: Photo IDs are used by issuance
agents to identify households for monthly issuance; by retailers to
identify households when benefits are redeemed; and by households to
provide as proof when picking up monthly allotments. The use of the
photo ID cards and the requirement to show it to obtain benefits is
crucial to the agency's ability to protect the integrity of the Food
Stamp Program.
Description of Respondents: State, Local or Tribal Government;
Individuals or households.
Number of Respondents: 44,134.
Frequency of Responses: Recordkeeping; Reporting: On occasion.
Total burden Hours: 1,471.
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Title: Equine Survey.
OMB Control Number: 0535-0227.
Summary of Collection: The primary objective of the National
Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is to prepare
[[Page 67831]]
and issue current official State and national estimates of crop and
livestock production, disposition, and prices. Services such as
statistical consultation, data collection, summary tabulation, and
analysis are performed for other Federal and State agencies on a
reimbursable basis as the need arises. In the past, equine surveys have
been conducted in twelve States where equine is a significant portion
of their agriculture. The results are used to provide an assessment of
the equine industry's contribution to the State's economy in terms of
infrastructure and value.
Need and Use of the Information: NASS will collect information on
equine inventories by: category, revenue, activity, purpose and equine
related expenditures. In addition, these surveys will provide NASS with
names and addresses of equine operations that can be used for the
Census of Agriculture enumeration and for the NASS program that seeks
to cover 99 percent of U.S. agricultural cash receipts.
Description of Respondents: Farms.
Number of Respondents: 73,475.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: one-time.
Total Burden Hours: 26,363.
Rural Utilities Service
Title: Public Television Digital Transition Grant Program.
OMB Control Number: 0572-0134.
Summary of Collection: As part of the nation's evolution to digital
television, the Federal communications commission has ordered all
television broadcasters to initiate the broadcast of a digital
television signal by May 1, 2003, and to cease analog television
broadcasts on December 31, 2006. About half of the nation's public
television stations did not meet the deadline to initiate digital
broadcasting and received extensions. The Rural Utilities Service (RUS)
will develop and issue requirements for the grant program to finance
the conversion of television services from analog to digital
broadcasting for public television stations serving rural areas.
Need and Use of the Information: Applicants will submit grant
applications to RUS for review. The information will consist of the
following: Standard Form (SF) 424, ``Application for Federal
Assistance'', executive summary, evidence of eligibility and compliance
with other Federal statutes and any other supporting documentation. RUS
will use the information to score and rank applications for funding.
Scoring will consist of three categories: rurality, per capita income,
and special disadvantaging factors facing the station's transition
plans. If this information were not collected, there would be no basis
for awarding grant funding.
Description of Respondents: Not-for-profit institutions; State,
Local or Tribal Government.
Number of Respondents: 50.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 1,168.
Ruth Brown,
Departmental Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-30155 Filed 12-3-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-01-M