Attachment D - 60-day FRN

Attachment D
Federal Register Vol. 79, No. 178, Monday, September 15, 2014:
54955‐54956

54955

Notices

Federal Register
Vol. 79, No. 178
Monday, September 15, 2014

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.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Economic Research Service
Notice of Intent To Request Renewal of
a Currently Approved Information
Collection
AGENCY: Economic Research Service,

USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
notice invites the general public and
other public agencies to send comments
regarding any aspect of this information
collection. This notice announces the
intention of the Economic Research
Service to request a renewal to a
currently approved information
collection, namely a pilot generic
clearance for experimental economic
research.
DATES: Written comments on this notice
must be received on or before November
14, 2014 to be assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments
concerning this notice to Nathaniel
Higgins, Resource and Rural Economics
Division, Economic Research Service,
U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400
Independence Ave. SW., Mail Stop
1800, Room 6–135B, Washington, DC
20250–0002. Comments may also be
submitted via fax to the attention of
Nathaniel Higgins at 202–245–4847 or
via email to [email protected].
All written comments will be open for
public inspection at the office of the
Economic Research Service during
regular business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00
p.m., Monday through Friday) at 355 E
St. SW., Room 6–135B, Washington, DC
20024–3221.
All responses to this notice will be
summarized and included in the request
for Office of Management and Budget
approval. All comments and replies will
be a matter of public record. Comments
are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed

collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information shall have
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on those who are to respond, including
use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
further information contact Nathaniel
Higgins at the mailing address in the
preamble. Tel. 202–694–5602.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: A Pilot Generic Clearance for
Experimental Economic Research.
OMB Number: 0536–0070.
Expiration Date: November 30, 2014.
Type of Request: Renewal of a
currently approved information
collection.
Abstract: The Economic Research
Service (ERS) of the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA)
requests approval from the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
renewal of a pilot generic clearance that
allows ERS to conduct experimental
economic research into the costeffectiveness of alternative policy
mechanisms. ERS offers policy-relevant
research to its stakeholders, including
other agencies of the USDA, but does
not offer recommendations or make
policy decisions itself. Research
conducted under the expected clearance
will be used to assess features of
alternative policy mechanisms, but will
not be used for the purposes making
regulatory decisions; ERS does not
intend to use the information collected
under this approval for the purposes of
developing or evaluating specific
policies. ERS will not conduct any
experiments which alter a government
program. ERS has no regulatory or
program authority with which to
conduct such an experiment.
The primary mission of ERS is to
provide economic and other social
science information and analysis for
public and private decisions on
agriculture, food, natural resources, and

rural America. ERS has constructed a set
of key strategic goals in support of this
mission. Research conducted under this
generic clearance will further an
ongoing initiative that would use
insights from behavioral economics to
provide economic intelligence, research,
and analysis to inform agricultural
resource and conservation policies.
Information collected from these
experiments will allow ERS to develop
and implement state-of-the-art research
methodologies to better inform and
advance scientific understanding for its
customers in response to both specific
requests and in anticipation of future
need.
ERS envisions using a number of
research techniques, as appropriate to
the individual investigation. These
include laboratory and field techniques,
exploratory interviews, pilot
experiments, and respondent debriefing.
Laboratory and field techniques are two
methodologies based on comparison of
outcomes over groups that have been
randomized into different treatments.
This request is being sought as a
continuing pilot of the concept of using
a generic approval mechanism for those
types of experiments. As such,
experiments will be limited to two topic
areas: Conservation and nutrition.
Following standard OMB
requirements ERS will submit to OMB
individually for review of each specific
experiment it undertakes under this
generic clearance and provide OMB
with all materials associated with the
experiment.
Authority: Legislative authority for the
planned information collection are 7 U.S.C.
2204(a) and 7 U.S.C. 2026(a)(1).

ERS intends to protect respondent
information under the Privacy Act of
1974 and the E-Government Act of 2002.
ERS has decided not to invoke the
Confidential Information Protection and
Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002
(CIPSEA). The complexity and cost
necessary to invoke CIPSEA is not
justified given the nature of the
collection; the collections would
generally be designed to be hosted in
university computer labs, where
CIPSEA compliance could not be
assured.
Consistent with the Privacy Act and
the E-Government Act, a Systems of
Records Notice (SORN) and a Privacy
Impact Assessment (PIA) will be
submitted for approval, as appropriate.

54956

Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 178 / Monday, September 15, 2014 / Notices

The SORN and PIA will document the
ways in which participant personally
identifiable information will be
collected, stored, and accessed. Data
will be managed for research purposes
only.
Specific details regarding information
handling will be specified in individual
submissions under this generic
clearance, but will conform to these
broad guidelines.

Affected Public: Respondents will
include individuals and households.
Estimated Number of Respondents
and Respondent Burden: In all cases,
participation will be voluntary and time
commitments will be minimal (15–90
minutes). No experiments will put
participants at risk of physical,
monetary, or psychological harm. No
data collection is estimated to take
longer than 90 minutes per respondent,

Type of research instrument

Estimated
number of
respondents

Laboratory study ...........................................................................................
Field study ....................................................................................................

4,240
2,660

Total .......................................................................................................

6,900

Dated: September 4, 2014.
Mary Bohman,
Administrator, Economic Research Service.

including the time required for
respondents and non-respondents to
review instructions and participate in
the data collection.
The estimated number of respondents
participating in data collections under
this generic clearance over an eighteen
months period is 6,900. The maximum
total estimated response burden for all
of those participating in the study is
7,025 hours.

Estimated
number of
responses per
respondent

Average
burden-hours
per response

1 1.5 (90 mins) ....
1 ≤1 (15 mins) .....
........................

and subsequently to publish regulations
on the use, award, and administration of
such agreements. The intended effect is
to issue agency regulations to reflect
[FR Doc. 2014–21904 Filed 9–12–14; 8:45 am]
current statutory authority and longBILLING CODE 3410–18–P
held agency business practices.
Title: General Administrative Policy
for Cost-Reimbursable Agreements.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
OMB Number: 0551–New.
Expiration Date of Approval: Three
Foreign Agricultural Service
years from approval date.
Type of Request: New information
Notice of Request for Approval of a
collection.
New Information Collection
Estimate of Burden: Public reporting
AGENCY: Foreign Agricultural Service,
burden for this collection of information
USDA.
is estimated to average 4.0 hours per
ACTION: Notice and request for
response.
comments.
Type of Respondents: U.S. institutions
of higher education.
SUMMARY: In accordance with the
Estimated Number of Respondents:
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
250.
U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice
Estimated Number of Responses: 750.
announces the intention of the Foreign
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Agricultural Service to request approval Respondents: 3,000.
for a new information collection for
Copies of this information collection
General Administrative Policy for Costcan be obtained from Connie Ehrhart,
Reimbursable Agreements.
the Agency Information Collection
DATES: Comments on this notice must be Coordinator, at (202) 690–1578 or email
received by November 14, 2014 to be
at [email protected].
Abstract: This information collection
assured of consideration.
Additional Information or Comments: is required to support the planned FAS
Contact: Chris Coppenbarger, Grants
guidelines and regulations regarding
Management Officer, Office of the Chief
‘‘General Administrative Policy for CostOperating Officer, MS–3118, U.S.
reimbursable Agreements’’ for
Department of Agriculture, 1400
agreements entered into under 7 U.S.C.
Independence Ave. SW., Washington,
3319a. These guidelines establish the
DC 20250; Tel: (202) 720–2568, Fax:
requirements for participation in the
(202) 690–4029, Email:
following FAS programs listed in the
[email protected]. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance:
10.613, Faculty Exchange Program;
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
10.614, Scientific Cooperation Exchange
The Foreign Agricultural Service
(FAS) of the United States Department of Program with China; 10.777, Norman E.
Agriculture (USDA) intends to establish Borlaug International Agricultural
Science and Technology Fellowship;
uniform guidelines for the use, award
and administration of cost- reimbursable 10.960, Technical Agricultural
Assistance; 10.961, Scientific
agreements entered into under the
Cooperation and Research Program;
authority of 7 U.S.C. 3319a

...........................

Estimated total
burden hours
requested
6,360
665
7,025

10.962, Cochran Fellowship ProgramInternational Training-Foreign
Participant. This information collection
is necessary for FAS to manage, plan,
and evaluate these programs and to
ensure the proper and judicious use of
government resources. Without the
information collection, FAS would not
be able to conduct any of the activities
falling under the authorities and
instruments listed above (i.e., the
agency would not be able to develop
projects, make or receive payments,
monitor projects, identify financial and
accounting errors, report to
www.usaspending.gov, etc.).
FAS will determine the specific
means of collection that will be used
based on the availability of technology
and, as applicable, (1) an informal
agreement of FAS and the respondent,
(2) the terms of a signed agreement
between FAS and the respondent, or (3)
the provision of written, procedural
rules made publicly available by FAS to
the respondent. The information will be
collected via phone calls, emails, fax,
postal mail, person-to-person meetings,
as data entry into grant management
system(s), and/or any other commonly
used means of communication available
to both parties. FAS will encourage the
respondent to use modern information
technology to reduce the administrative
burden whenever possible. Respondents
that meet user criteria and choose to
utilize the FAS’s electronic grants
management system will not be required
to provide duplicate information for
subsequent or current transactions. Any
party may initiate a conversation at any
time to discuss the possibility of
entering into a non-assistance
cooperative agreement.
FAS uses the following forms to
obtain information from respondents