1006-0029 30-day notice

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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 102 / Friday, May 29, 2009 / Notices
and not more than a reasonable rate of
return on investment is provided to the
owner. This waiver permits Tribal
applicants to submit an application
without these components and adopt
such after the award. If awarded a grant
under the Recovery Act program,
submission of this documentation will
become a grant condition. This waiver
will ensure that an application for
Recovery Act funds can be submitted
promptly in response to a NOFA. All
other analysis components remain
required and must be submitted with
the application and may not be waived.
The components that must be submitted
include the following: any grant amount
provided will not substantially reduce
the amount of non-Federal financial
support for the activity; grant funds
used for the project will be disbursed on
a pro rate basis with amounts from other
sources; and establishing the project is
financially feasible and that it has a
reasonable chance of success.
5. 24 CFR 1003.303; Project Rating.
The ICDBG regulation at 24 CFR
1003.303 requires each project in an
ICDBG application to meet project
threshold requirements and then be
scored based on five specific rating
factors. The rating factors are capacity,
need/extent of the problem, soundness
of the approach, leveraging of resources,
and comprehensiveness and
coordination. Recovery Act funds under
the ICDBG program can only be
awarded to recipients who received
ICDBG funding in FY 2008. These
recipients have already demonstrated
the capacity to administer the grants. In
recognition of strict funding obligations
deadlines in the Recovery Act and the
specific Recovery Act provisions for
awarding funds, this section is waived
so that the NOFA can be drafted to
delete the applicant capacity factor in
the ICDBG NOFA and include a new
factor to address the requirements of the
Recovery Act.
6. 24 CFR 1003.604; Citizen
Participation Requirements. The ICDBG
regulations at 24 1003.604(a)(2) require
applicants to consult with residents
prior to submitting their funding
applications. The consultation
requirements have the potential to delay
the ability of ICDBG recipients to
expeditiously facilitate Recovery Act
funds for housing and community
development needs. Accordingly, this
section is waived so that the Tribe will
not have to hold one or more meetings
to obtain the views of residents on
community development and housing
needs. Tribes will be required to meet
the citizen participation requirements
by publishing or posting information on
their plans to use Recovery Act funds

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and accepting comments. However,
comments will not have to be submitted
prior to the application deadline date.
The Tribe will be required to certify in
its application that information has been
published or posted for residents of the
community in order to meet the citizen
participation requirement.
Dated: May 4, 2009.
Paula O. Blunt,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public
and Indian Housing.
[FR Doc. E9–12483 Filed 5–28–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210–67–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
Agency Information Collection;
Activities Under OMB Review;
Comment Request
AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of renewal of a currently
approved collection (OMB No. 1006–
0029).
SUMMARY: In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the
Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation,
we) has forwarded the following
Information Collection Request (ICR) to
the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review and approval: Rural
Water Supply Act, OMB Control
Number: 1006–0029. Title 43 CFR part
404 requires entities interested in
participating in the Rural Water Supply
Program (Rural Water Program) to
submit information to allow
Reclamation to evaluate and prioritize
requests for financial or technical
assistance.
DATES: OMB has up to 60 days to
approve or disapprove this information
collection, but may respond after 30
days; therefore, public comments must
be received on or before June 29, 2009
to assure maximum consideration.
ADDRESSES: You may send written
comments to the Desk Officer for the
Department of the Interior at the Office
of Management and Budget, Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, via
facsimile to (202) 395–5806 or e-mail to
[email protected]. A copy
of your comments should also be
directed to the Bureau of Reclamation,
Attention: 84–52000, PO Box 25007,
Denver, CO 80225.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Avra Morgan at: (303) 445–2906.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Reclamation Rural Water
Supply Program, 43 CFR part 404.

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OMB Control Number: 1006–0029.
Abstract: The purpose of the Rural
Water Program is to provide assistance
to small communities of 50,000
inhabitants or less, including tribes and
tribal organizations, to plan the design
and construction of projects to serve
rural areas with industrial, municipal,
and residential water. Specifically,
Reclamation is authorized to provide
financial and technical assistance to
conduct appraisal investigations and
feasibility studies for rural water supply
projects. Reclamation’s regulations (43
CFR part 404) establish criteria
governing how the program will be
implemented, including eligibility and
prioritization criteria, and criteria to
evaluate appraisal and feasibility
studies.
Entities interested in participating in
the Rural Water Program will be
requested to submit information
regarding proposed appraisal
investigations and feasibility studies, to
allow Reclamation to evaluate and
prioritize requests for financial or
technical assistance under the program.
Reclamation will apply the program
criteria to the information provided to
determine whether the entity seeking
assistance is eligible, whether the
project is eligible for assistance, and to
what extent the project meets
Reclamation’s prioritization criteria.
Requests for assistance under the Rural
Water Program will be made on a
voluntary basis. There is no form
associated with this information
collection.
There are three different types of
assistance that a project sponsor can
request under the Rural Water Program,
each of which requires different
information to be submitted, as follows:
(1) Review of a Completed Study. To
request Reclamation to review a
completed appraisal investigation or
feasibility study—which was not
completed with assistance under the
Rural Water Program, the entity making
the request (the project sponsor) must
submit a cover letter requesting
Reclamation to commence the review.
The cover letter must address the
eligibility criteria set forth in §§ 404.6
and 404.7 of the regulations, and the
prioritization criteria under § 404.13.
(2) Assistance to Conduct an
Appraisal Investigation. To request
technical or financial assistance to
conduct an appraisal investigation, the
project sponsor must submit a statement
of interest in response to the program
announcement, as explained in
§ 404.14. Reclamation will post a
program announcement on
www.grants.gov one time annually to
provide notice to the public of the

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opportunity to request assistance under
the Rural Water Program. No form is
required to be filled out in order to
submit a statement of interest. The
statement of interest will include
information regarding the eligibility of
the project sponsor to participate in the
program, whether the proposed project
meets the program eligibility
requirements, and the extent to which
the proposed project meets the
prioritization criteria.
(3) Assistance to Conduct a Feasibility
Study. To request technical or financial
assistance to conduct a feasibility study,
the project sponsor must have already
completed an appraisal investigation.
Since a statement of interest will have
already been submitted, project
sponsors seeking to conduct a feasibility
study may simply complete a full
proposal without having to complete
another statement of interest. No form is
required to be filled out in order to
submit a full proposal. The full proposal
will be used by Reclamation to
determine whether the project sponsor
is eligible to participate in the program,
whether the proposed project meets the
program eligibility requirements, the
extent to which the proposed project
meets the prioritization criteria, and to
evaluate the proposal in general to
determine whether it is reasonable and
can be successful. The content of a full
proposal will be described in detail in
the program announcement and will
typically include a detailed scope of
work for the proposed study.
Frequency: Once annually, in
response to the program announcement.
Respondents: States, tribes,
municipalities, water districts, and
other entities created under State law
with water management authority.
Estimated Annual Total Number of
Potential Respondents: 185.
Estimated Number of Responses per
Respondent: 1.0.
Estimated Total Number of Annual
Responses: 56.0.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 2,100 hours.
Comments
We invite your comments on:
(a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of our functions, including
whether the information will have
practical use;
(b) The accuracy of our burden
estimate for the proposed collection of
information;
(c) Ways to enhance the quality,
usefulness, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
(d) Ways to minimize the burden of
the information collection on

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respondents, including the use of
automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
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 OMB
control number. A 60-day comment
period soliciting comments on this
collection of information was published
in the Federal Register (73 FR 67778,
Nov. 17, 2008) in an interim final rule.
No public comments were received.
Before including your address,
telephone number, e-mail address, or
other personal identifying information
in your comment, you should be aware
that your entire comment (including
your personal identifying information)
may be made publicly available at any
time. While you can ask us in your
comment to withhold your personal
identifying information from public
review, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to do so.
Roseann Gonzales,
Director, Policy and Program Services, Bureau
of Reclamation.
[FR Doc. E9–12525 Filed 5–28–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–MN–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[NM–114438; AZA–35058; L51010000
ER0000 LVRWG09G0690]

Notice of Intent To Prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement and
Possible Resource Management Plan
Amendments for the SunZia Southwest
Transmission Project in Arizona and
New Mexico
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent.
SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land
Management (BLM), New Mexico State
Office, announces its intent to prepare
an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS), and by this notice is announcing
the beginning of the scoping process
and soliciting input on identification of
issues and proposed planning criteria in
response to a right-of-way application
filed by SunZia Transmission, LLC
(SunZia).
DATES: Comments should be submitted
no later than 45 days after publication
of this Notice in the Federal Register.
The BLM will announce public scoping
meetings to identify relevant issues
through local news media, newsletters,
and the BLM Web site (see below) at
least 15 days prior to each meeting. We

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will provide additional opportunities
for public participation upon
publication of the Draft EIS, including a
90-day public comment period.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
or resource information by any of the
following methods:
Web site: http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/
prog/more/lands_realty.html.
E-Mail: [email protected].
Mail: Bureau of Land Management, New
Mexico State Office, SunZia
Southwest Transmission Project, P.O.
Box 27115, Santa Fe, NM 87502–
0115.
Courier/Hand Delivery: Bureau of Land
Management, SunZia Southwest
Transmission Project, 1474 Rodeo
Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505.
Documents pertinent to the right-ofway application may be examined at:
Bureau of Land Management New
Mexico State Office, Public Room, 1474
Rodeo Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505,
Telephone (505) 438–7471.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: For further
information and/or to have your name
added to the mailing list, contact Adrian
Garcia, SunZia Southwest Transmission
BLM Project Manager, at the New
Mexico State Office, P.O. Box 27115,
Santa Fe, NM 87502–0115, or by e-mail
at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: SunZia
has submitted a right-of-way application
to construct, operate, and maintain two
new single-circuit overhead 500 kilovolt
(kV) transmission lines originating at a
new substation in either Socorro County
or Lincoln County in the vicinity of
Bingham or Ancho, New Mexico, and
terminating at the Pinal Central
Substation in Pinal County near
Coolidge, Arizona. The overall
transmission line route would be
approximately 460 miles in length, a
substantial part of this length on BLM
lands, and two separate transmission
lines would be located on BLM, State,
and private lands.
SunZia’s proposal is to transport
electricity generated by power
generation resources, including
primarily renewable resources, to
western power markets and load
centers. The SunZia project would
enable the development of renewable
energy resources, including wind, solar,
and geothermal generation, by creating
access to the interState power grid in
the Southwest and providing increased
transfer capacity. The proposed project
would also increase power reliability
across the southwestern United States,
allow communities in southern Arizona
and southern New Mexico to
economically access energy generated
from renewable sources, provide power

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