Justification for Change--merge 0288

Justification for Change Worksheet

National Organic Program

OMB No. 0581-0191

February 2016

NATIONAL ORGANIC PROGRAM (7 CFR Part 205)

This Justification for Change request is to merge National Organic Program: Organic Certification Cost-Share Programs 0581-0288 into currently approved National Organic Program: Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements 0581-0191. Upon approval a Discontinuation Notice will be submitted to OMB to retire 0581-0288. On September 25, 2014, OMB approved National Organic Program: Organic Certification Cost-Share Programs 0581-0288. The supporting statement and the 60-day Federal Register notice for this package indicated that 0581-0288 would be merged into 0581-0191.

The burden associated with forms and documentation approved under 0581-0288 (AMS-33, W-9, Narrative Report, and Spreadsheet of Operations Reimbursed), has increased the total number of respondents, total annual responses, and total hours as follows:

SECTION OF REGS. (A)	DESCRIPTION (B)	FORMS NO (C)	NO. OF RESPOND-ENTS (D)	NO. OF RESPONSES PER RESPONDENT (E)	TOTAL ANNUAL RESPONSES (F)	HOURS PER RESPONSE (G)	TOTAL HOURS (H)
1606(d)(1) of the Farm Security & Rural Investment Act of 2002; as amended under Sec. 1004 of the 2014 Farm Bill; Federal Crop Insurance Act (FCIA)	Face Page (Agreement Face Sheet)	AMS-33	56	1.0	56.00	0.25	14.00
	Narrative Rept.	No Form Number	56	1.0	56.00	2.0	112.00
	Spreadsheet of Operations Reimbursed	No Form Number	56	2.0	112.00	37.0	4,144.00
	Producer/Handler Application (including proof of USDA organic certification, itemized invoice of certification fees paid, and W-9 tax form)	W-9	12,000	1.0	12,000.00	1.0	12,000.00
Merged burden totals from 0581-0288			12,056		12,224		16,270
SECTION OF REGS. (A)	DESCRIPTION (B)	FORMS NO (C)	NO. OF RESPOND-ENTS (D)	NO. OF RESPONSES PER RESPONDENT (E)	TOTAL ANNUAL RESPONSES (F)	HOURS PER RESPONSE (G)	TOTAL HOURS (H)
1606(d)(1) of the Farm Security & Rural Investment Act of 2002; as amended under Sec. 1004 of the 2014 Farm Bill; Federal Crop Insurance Act (FCIA)	Application for Federal Assistance (apprvd. Under OMB 4040-0004)	SF-424 (Common Form)	56	1.0	56.00	.75	42.00*
	Request for Advance or Reimbursement (apprvd. Under OMB 4040-0012)	SF-270 (Common Form)	56	2.0	112.00	1.0	112.00*
	Federal Financial Rept. (apprvd. Under OMB 4040-0014)	SF-425 (Common Form)	56	2.0	112.00	1.5	168.00*

The information collection burden in 0581-0288 continues to be needed to implement a portion of the Agriculture Act of 2014 and the Federal Crop Insurance Act which authorize funds for two organic certification cost-share programs for Fiscal Years 2014 to 2018: the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program (NOCCSP) or the Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) Organic Certification Cost-Share Program. This burden is applied only to those state agencies and organic producers and handlers who voluntarily participate in one of these programs. Accordingly, AMS requests to increase the burden for collection 0581-0191 by means of a merge request at this time by 16,270 hours.

Standard Forms SF-270 (4040-0012 Request for Advance or Reimbursement), SF-424 (4040-0004 Discretionary), and SF-425 (4040-0014 Federal Financial Report) used in this collection are now Common Forms under the Grants.gov., and therefore the associated burden is not included in this merge request. Burden for each common form in this collection will be accounted for through a Request for Common Forms.

(Note: * burden hours reported under RCF may not calculate the same due to change in per response time on SF form.)