SUPPORTING STATEMENT
APHIS Pest reporting Form
OMB NO. 0579-0311
NOTE: The form that this collection is based on has now been redesigned and made into a general pest reporting form instead of only a beetle form; therefore, there is a title change for this information collection from “Asian Longhorn Beetle – Beetlebuster Survey” to “APHIS Pest Reporting Form.”
A. Justification
1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection. Attach a copy of the appropriate section of each statute and regulation mandating or authorizing the collection of information.
The United States Department of Agriculture is responsible for preventing plant pests and noxious weeds from entering the United States, preventing the spread of plant diseases not widely distributed in the United States, and eradicating those imported pests and noxious weeds when eradication is feasible.
Under the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7701 – et seq), the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to carry out operations or measures to detect, eradicate, suppress, control, prevent, or retard the spread of plant pests new to the United States or not known to be widely distributed throughout the United States.
Plant health regulations promulgated by the United States Department of Agriculture under this authority specifically address control programs for a number of pests and diseases of concern, including Asian Longhorn Beetle (ALB), emerald ash borer (EAB) beetle, and citrus greening, to name a few.
APHIS relies on the public to report sightings of the pests of concern or suspicious signs of pest or disease damage they may see in their local area. This reporting is done through a simple online form. Reports can come from areas that are under regulatory oversight and those areas where no regulatory oversight currently exists. Surveys performed by members of the general public, nature organizations, school groups, garden clubs, and others help APHIS uncover unknown infestations. Surveys conducted by the public supplement the work done by APHIS’ surveyors.
If a member of the public reports seeing signs of pests or diseases of concern, APHIS will take the appropriate steps to determine if a pest or disease is indeed present, and if so, to what extent.
Any information collected as part of this program will be used by APHIS to pinpoint an outbreak or infestation of a pest or disease of concern. If any respondents provide information that indicates signs of an infestation, and that information holds through phone conversations with respondents, then APHIS surveyors will conduct an inspection of the area in question to determine if the pest is indeed present and will ultimately implement measures to stop the pest’s spread upon positive identification. Surveyors may need to contact that respondent for more information or more details on the location of the suspected infestation as the infestation continues.
Implementing this program will entail the voluntary completion of an online form to determine if there is any presence of a pest or disease in a particular location. APHIS is asking OMB to approve, for 3 years, its use of these information collection activities in connection with APHIS’ efforts to ensure the detection and eradication of pests and diseases of concern in both regulated and non-regulated areas.
2. Indicate how, by whom, how frequently, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.
Previous versions of the voluntary, online form collected the following information from each respondent: the name of the person reporting the finding, a way to contact them (phone number or email address), the street address where the sighting was made, and additional details about the location (such as cross streets, landmarks, or other physical features) to help pinpoint the location. The information was compiled by APHIS’ Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) program and was used to identify new or expanded outbreaks of ALB, in particular. When respondents provided information that indicated signs of an ALB infestation, surveyors from the ALB cooperative eradication program conducted an inspection of the area to determine if the pest was indeed present in the area.
Moving forward to this information collection package, the voluntary PPQ 10 form will now be expanded to enable the public to submit reports about a variety of pests and diseases. This information will be used to identify new or expanded outbreaks of pests and diseases of concern. The reports, as they are collected, will be transmitted to the appropriate officials in APHIS/PPQ, for follow-up, including onsite inspections by APHIS officials or plant pest experts from State Departments of Agriculture. Any follow-up questions or details on location will be obtained by contacting the respondent for more information and directions.
3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision for adopting this means of collection. Also describe any consideration of using information technology to reduce burden.
The reporting form will be located on the APHIS Website (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/library/forms) and may be linked to a number of Web pages or mini-sites that encourage the public to look for and report pests and diseases of concern, including ALB, EAB, and citrus greening, to name a few. The reporting form, which is completely voluntary, asks for only basic information and can be filled out online.
4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purpose described in item 2 above.
The information that APHIS collects is not available from any other source. APHIS is the only Federal agency responsible for detecting and controlling the outbreak of certain plant pests and diseases.
5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden.
The information APHIS is collecting is the minimum needed to determine if pests or diseases of concern are present in areas outside of currently regulated areas or other known areas of infestation. Burden is minimized by the fact that this is a completely volunteer form; the public doesn’t have to fill the form out if they do not wish to do so. Burden is further reduced by the fact that the form is an online form and asks for only the most basic information, including name, phone number, email address, date, street address, ZIP Code, and location of the potential sighting. APHIS has no small entities involved with this information collection.
6. Describe the consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as Well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.
Collecting this information less frequently or failing to collect it could result in APHIS not receiving information about where infestations may exist, causing them to linger unreported and grow. Infestations of high-consequence pests and diseases, such as ALB, EAB, citrus greening, and others, could lead to significant economic damage to crops, forests, and landscapes.
7. Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the general information collection guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5.
requiring respondents to report information to the agency more often than quarterly;
requiring respondents to prepare a written response to a collection of information in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it;
requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any document;
requiring respondents to retain records, other than health, medical, government contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records for more than three years;
in connection with a statistical survey, that is not designed to produce valid and reliable results that can be generalized to the universe of study;
requiring the use of a statistical data classification that has not been reviewed and approved by OMB;
that includes a pledge of confidentiality that is not supported by authority established in statute or regulation, that is not supported by disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unnecessarily impedes sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use; or
requiring respondents to submit proprietary trade secret, or other confidential information unless the agency can demonstrate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information's confidentiality to the extent permitted by law.
No special circumstances exist that would require this collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the general information collection guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5.
8. Describe efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting form, and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported. If applicable, provide a copy and identify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency's notice, soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB.
In 2012, APHIS consulted with the following individuals and organizations concerning this collection of information:
Denise Feiber
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
1911 SW 34th Street
Gainesville, FL 32608
352-395-4779
Steve Lyle
California Department of Food and Agriculture
1220 N Street
Sacramento, Callifornia 95814
916-654-0462
Keith Douce
University of Georgia
2360 Rainwater Road
Tifton, GA 31793
229-386-3298
On Tuesday, December 11, 2012, page 73613-73614, APHIS published in the Federal Register a 60-day notice seeking public comments on its plans to request a 3 year extension of this collection of information. Three comments from the public were received and will be loaded in ROCIS. Two of the comments supported the information collection, and the third comment was from a concerned citizen and had no relevance to the purpose of the collection.
9. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.
There are no plans to provide payment or gifts to respondents.
10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.
No additional assurance of confidentiality is provided with this information collection. Any and all information obtained in this collection shall not be disclosed except in accordance with
5 U.S.C. 552a.
11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior or attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private. This justification should include the reasons why the agency considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.
This information collection activity will ask no questions of a personal or sensitive nature.
12. Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information. Indicate the number of respondents, frequency of response, annual hour burden, and an explanation of how the burden was estimated.
•Indicate the number of respondents, frequency of response, annual hour burden, and an explanation of how the burden was estimated. If this request for approval covers more than one form, provide separate hour burden estimates for each form and aggregate the hour burdens in Item 13 of OMB Form 83-I.
See APHIS Form 71 for burden hour estimates.
•Provide estimates of annualized cost to respondents for the hour burdens for collections of information, identifying and using appropriate wage rate categories.
The estimate of the total annual cost of burden to the respondents is $15,770.
(415 burden hours x $38.00 estimated hourly wage = $15,770)
The estimated hourly wage was developed from discussions with program personnel and with outside firms that have conducted similar work.
The hour burden is dependent on the number of respondents and that is unpredictable. Based on the number of reports submitted by members of the public for the last 12 month period, APHIS estimates that the online form will potentially receive as many as 5,000 reports. For the purpose of estimating burden hours, APHIS estimates that it will take an individual submitting a report no more than 5 minutes to complete the online form.
13. Provide estimates of the total annual cost burden to respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection of information (do not include the cost of any hour burden shown in items 12 and 14). The cost estimates should be split into two components: (a) a total capital and start-up cost component annualized over its expected useful life; and (b) a total operation and maintenance and purchase of services component.
There is zero annual cost burden associated with capital and start-up costs, operation and maintenance expenditures, and purchase of services.
14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government. Provide a description of the method used to estimate cost and any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information.
The annualized cost to the Federal government is estimated at $18,652. (See APHIS Form 79.)
15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 13 or 14 of the OMB Form 83-I.
There is no change in burden for this information collection.
16. For collections of information whose results are planned to be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication.
APHIS has no plans to publish information it collects in connection with this program.
17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.
APHIS has no plans to seek approval for not displaying the OMB expiration date on its forms.
18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in "Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act."
APHIS can certify compliance with all provisions of the Act.
B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods
There are no statistical methods associated with the information collection activities used in this program.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Keith A Zotti |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-30 |