Attachment B - 60-day FRN

Attachment B
60-day Federal Register Notice

55322

Notices

Federal Register
Vol. 80, No. 178
Tuesday, September 15, 2015

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 New
Information Collection
AGENCY: Economic Research Service,

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

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the
Economic Research Service (ERS)
invites the general public and other
Federal agencies to take this
opportunity to comment on a proposed
new information collection, the Generic
Clearance for Survey Research Studies.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be
received by November 16, 2015 to be
assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments
concerning this notice to Pheny
Weidman, ERS Clearance Officer,
Economic Research Service, Room 4–
163B, 1400 Independence Ave. SW.,
Mail Stop 1800, Washington, DC 20050–
1800. Submit electronic comments to
[email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Pheny Weidman at the address in the
preamble. Tel. 202–694–5013.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Generic Clearance for Survey
Research Studies.
OMB Number: 0536–NEW.
Expiration Date of Approval: Three
years from the date of approval.
Type of Request: New collection.
Abstract: In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub.
L. 104–13) and OMB regulations at 5
CFR part 1320 (60 FR 44978, August 29,
1995), this notice announces the ERS’
intention to request approval from the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for a generic clearance that will
allow ERS to rigorously develop, test,
and evaluate its survey methodologies,
instruments, and administration. The

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. This
request is part of an on-going initiative
to improve ERS data product quality, as
recommended by both its own
guidelines and those of OMB.

submissions under this generic
clearance.
Estimate of Burden: Public reporting
burden for these collections of
information is estimated to average from
1 to 2 hours per respondent, depending
upon the information collection and the
technique used to test for that particular

The purpose of this generic clearance
is to allow ERS to evaluate, adopt, and

collection.
Respondents: Individuals or

use state-of-the-art and multidisciplinary research to improve and
enhance the quality of its current data
collections. This clearance will also be
used to aid in the development of new
surveys. It will help to ensure that
requested data can be provided in the
desired format, reporting burden (time
and financial resources) is minimized,
collection instruments are clearly

households, farms, and businesses or
other for-profits.
Estimated Total Number of
Respondents: 3,500.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 5,600 hours. Public
reporting burden for these collections of
information is estimated to average from
1 to 2 hours per respondent, dependent

understood, and the impact of collection

upon the survey and the technique used

requirements on respondents can be
properly assessed.
ERS envisions using a variety of
survey improvement techniques, as
appropriate to the individual project
under investigation. These include
focus groups, cognitive and usability
laboratory and field techniques,
exploratory interviews, behavior coding,
and respondent debriefing.
Following standard OMB
requirements, ERS will inform OMB
individually in writing of the purpose,
scope, time frame, and number of
burden hours used for each survey
improvement or development project it
undertakes under this generic clearance.
ERS will also provide OMB with a copy
of the data collection instrument (if
applicable), and all other materials
describing the project.

to test for that particular survey.
Copies of this information collection
can be obtained from Pheny Weidman at
the address in the preamble.
Comments: 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 will 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; (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. Comments
should be sent to the address in the
preamble. All responses to this notice
will be summarized and included in the
request for OMB approval. All
comments will also become a matter of
public record.

Authority: These data will be collected
under the authority of 7 U.S.C. 2204(a).

ERS intends to protect respondent
information under the Privacy Act of
1974, Section 1770 of the Food Security
Act of 1985, and 7 U.S.C. 2276. 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 conducted by ERS’
contractors and designed to be hosted in
non-government owned computer
systems, where CIPSEA compliance
could not be assured.
Specific details regarding information
handling will be specified in individual

Dated: September 3, 2015.
Mary Bohman,
Administrator, Economic Research Service.
[FR Doc. 2015–23123 Filed 9–14–15; 8:45 am]
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