2015 ss PCN

Supporting Statement

Pale Cyst Nematode

OMB NO: 0579-0322

2015

A. Justification

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), is responsible for preventing plant diseases 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.

Under the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7701 – et seq.), the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to prohibit or restrict the importation, entry, or movement of plants and plant pests to prevent the introduction of plant pests into the United States or their dissemination within the United States.

APHIS’ “Domestic Quarantine Notices” in 7 CFR part 301 subpart, “Potato Cyst Nematode” (§§ 301.86 through 301.86.9, referred to as the regulations) requires quarantining parts of Bingham and Bonneville counties, ID; due to the discovery of the potato/pale cyst nematode (PCN) and establishes restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles from the quarantined area. This action is necessary to prevent the spread of the PCN via potatoes, soil, and other host material to noninfested areas of the United States.

Allowing the restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles necessitates the completion of certain forms such as Federal Certificates, Federal Permits, and Compliance Agreements.

APHIS is asking OMB to approve for an additional 3 years, the use of these information collection activities, associated with its efforts to prevent the spread of PCN within the United States.

2. Indicate how, by whom, 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.

APHIS uses the following information collection activities to help prevent the spread of PCN within the United States.

Compliance Agreement (PPQ 519) – Any person engaged in growing, handling, or moving regulated articles may enter into a compliance agreement when an inspector determines that the person is aware of this subpart, agrees to comply with its provisions, and agrees to comply with all the provisions contained in the compliance agreement.

Certificates (PPQ Form 540) - Certificates are issued for regulated articles when an inspector finds that, because of certain conditions (e.g., the article is from a field that has been surveyed for PCN by an inspector in the last 3 years and in which PCN has not been found, and no more than one PCN host crop has been grown in the field in the last 3 years, or treatment of the regulated article (pressure washing or steam treatment) has effectively removed or devitalized PCN), the regulated articles can be moved safely from the quarantined area without spreading PCN. An inspector or person operating under a compliance agreement may issue a certificate for the interstate movement of a regulated article if the inspector determines that the regulated article satisfies the general requirements for a certificate.

Limited Permit (PPQ Form 530) – Limited permits are issued for regulated articles when an inspector finds that because of a possible pest risk, the articles may be safely moved interstate only subject to further restrictions, such as movement to specified destinations and movement for limited purposes. A limited permit will only be issued if the regulated article will be moved in compliance with any additional emergency conditions imposed by the Administrator under 414 of the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7714) to prevent the spread of PCN, and if the regulated article is eligible for interstate movement under all other Federal domestic plant quarantines and regulations applicable to the regulated article.

Self-Certification – APHIS offers farmers the opportunity to be get training from APHIS to able to certify their own regulated articles such as potatoes for disease and pests. These respondents notify APHIS of their interest in self-certifying.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, 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.

Because of security issues tied to the design and use of these serially numbered forms (PPQ Form 530 and PPQ Form 540); APHIS has not automated them; however, these forms are being considered to be included in the new APHIS eFile system.

PPQ Form 519 is fillable and available online at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/library/forms/pdf/ppq519.pdf

Farmers may contact APHIS electronically to become self-certifiers.

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 APHIS collects is exclusive to its mission to prevent the introduction of plant pests and plant diseases into the United States. The information is not available from any other source.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden.

The information APHIS collects is the minimum needed to protect the United States from the introduction of PCN and other plant diseases. APHIS has determined that 100 percent of the respondents are small entities.

6. Describe the consequences 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.

If APHIS did not collect this information or if APHIS collected this information less frequently, the spread of PCN in the United States could result in a loss of United States potatoes and other commodities from domestic or foreign markets.

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 information 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.

The following individuals were consulted:

Travis Blacker

Industry Relations Director

Idaho Select Inc.

75 East Freemont Ave.

Aberdeen, ID 83210

Russ Hendricks

Director – Governmental Affairs

Idaho Farm Bureau Federation

P.O. Box 167

Boise, ID 83701

208-342-2688

Joanna Hiller

Legal Director

Idaho Potato Commission

661 S. Rivershore Lane, Suite 230

Eagle, ID 83616

208-334-2350

On Tuesday, January 6, 2015, page 484, APHIS published in the Federal Register, a 60-day notice seeking public comments on its plans to request a 3-year renewal of this collection of information. No comments from the public were received.

9. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than reenumeration of contractors or grantees.

This information collection activity involves no payments or gifts to respondents.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in stature, 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 and attitudes, religious beliefs, and others that are 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 asks no questions of 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 hour burden estimates.

. Provide estimates of annualized cost to respondents for the hour burden for collections of information, identifying and using appropriate wage rate categories.

$20.00 X 389 hours = $7,780.00

The hourly wage of $20.00 is an average since there are various occupations within the private sector: Potato Producers, Packers, Processors, and Handlers of Potatoes.

This average hourly rate for the above respondents is derived from the U.S. Department of Labor; Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2014 Report – National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates United States. See http://www.bls.gov/oes/#tables.]

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, operation and maintenance, and purchase of services in connection with this program.

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 estimated cost to the Federal Government is $17,901.00. (See APHIS 79).

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 13 or 14 of the OMB Form 83-I.

ICR Summary of Burden:

	Requested	Program Change Due to New Statute	Program Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Agency Estimate	Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA	Previously Approved
Annual Number of Responses	1,861	0	2	197	0	1,662
Annual Time Burden (Hr)	389	0	7	40	0	342
Annual Cost Burden ($)	0	0	0	0	0	0

There is a program change of +7 hours and +2 responses due to adding self-certification to this information collection. This self-certification was not previously approved because it was overlooked and it not a common option.

There is an adjustment resulting in a total increase of +40 hours and + 197 responses for PPQ 540 and 530 due to the current business environment and the status of PCN in the United States.

The burden figures for Compliance Agreements (PPQ 519) stayed the same.

16. For collections of information whose results are planned to be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication.

APHIS has no plans to tabulate or publish the information collected.

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.

PPQ 540, PPQ 530, and PPQ 519 are used in multiple information collections; therefore, it is not practical to include an OMB expiration date because of the various expiration dates for each collection. APHIS is seeking approval to not display the OMB expiration date on these forms.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in the “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act.”

APHIS is able to certify compliance with all the provisions in the Act.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods.

Statistical methods are not used in this information collection.