Supplemental Supporting Statement Part A

Supplemental 1Supporting Statement Part A

AQUACULTURE SURVEYS

Substantive Change

OMB No. 0535-0150

JUSTIFICATION

This submission is for a substantive change request to our approved clearance. This change request provides details for the addition of the Pennsylvania Aquaculture Census that is funded by a cooperative agreement between the National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA-NASS) and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA). This will be an annual data collection except in the years the United States Census of Aquaculture are conducted. This survey was previously conducted under the 2014 – 2016 OMB approval.

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.

Act 98 of the 1998 Pennsylvania General Assembly Amended Title 3 (Agriculture) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, added provisions relating to aquacultural development; imposed powers and duties on the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Section 4217 of Pennsylvania P.L. 768, No. 94 mentions “The department shall cooperate with the Pennsylvania Agricultural Statistics Service to compile biennially a survey of this Commonwealth's aquacultural industry. Persons licensed under sections 4220 (relating to registration for artificial propagation) and 4222 (relating to registration for dealers of live aquatic animals) whose businesses involve the sale of fish shall submit annually at the conclusion of each calendar year a summary report of sales specifying the amount or weight of each species sold and gross receipts. The contents shall be used by the department solely for statistics. The individual summary reports are not public records and shall not be made public without written consent of the party submitting that report.”

The Pennsylvania Agricultural Statistics Service is part of the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

The last aquaculture census NASS conducted was for the 2016 calendar year. Funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) was not available for the four-year period of 2017 – 2020. PDA funding will resume for the survey for the 2021 calendar year.

NASS benefits from these cooperative agreements by: (1) obtaining additional data to update its list of farm operators; (2) encouraging both parties to coordinate Federal survey activities and activities funded under a cooperative agreement to reduce the need for overlapping data collection and/or spread out respondent burden; and (3) facilitating additional promotion of NASS surveys and statistical reports funded by annual Congressional appropriations.

Respondents benefit from these cooperative agreements by: (1) having their reported data protected by Federal Law (Confidential Information

Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2018, Title III of Pub. L. No. 115-435, codified in 44 U.S.C. Ch. 35 and other applicable Federal laws); (2) having data collection activities for Federal and Cooperative surveys coordinated to minimize respondent burden; and (3) having high-quality agricultural data that are important to a state or region be collected and published.

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.

Under the cooperative agreement, NASS will conduct a census of the Pennsylvania aquaculture community and provide Pennsylvania Department of Agricultural with a summary report of all sales specifying the amount or weight of each species sold and gross receipts. It is the policy of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that all levels of government work together under the leadership of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to create an atmosphere conducive to the further development and expansion of the aquaculture industry. The summary report will be used to track the expansion of the aquaculture industry in Pennsylvania.

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.

During this data collection, NASS will conduct two mailings where NASS will mail out a paper questionnaire along with a cover letter and return envelope. Operators who do not respond to this mailing will be contacted for a Telephone Interview by a trained National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) enumerator.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purposes described in Item 2 above.

Trout production data are not collected in the aquaculture census since data are collected from Pennsylvania aquaculture producers for the federally funded Trout Production report. NASS estimates for Pennsylvania published in the Trout Production report are included in the summarized report for the aquaculture census.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities (Item 5 of OMB Form 83-I), describe any methods to minimize burden.

The same questionnaire will be used for both small and large operations. No additional burden will be placed on small operations.

6. Describe the consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted, or is conducted less frequently, as well as technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

It is the policy of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that all levels of government work together under the leadership of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to create an atmosphere conducive to the further development and expansion of the aquaculture industry. Expansion cannot be tracked without this report.

7. Explain any special circumstances that would cause an information collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the general information guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5

No special circumstances are associated with this information collection.

8. Provide a copy and identify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency’s notice, required by 5CFR 1320.8 (d), soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB. Summarize public comments received in response to that notice and describe actions taken in response to these comments.

The original notice soliciting comment on this information collection was published in the Federal Register on November 29, 2019 on pages 65779-65780.

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 record keeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data requirements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.

The NASS Northeast Regional Field Office spoke with the following individuals regarding this data collection request.

Cheryl L. Cook, Deputy Secretary for the Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture

[email protected]

Jennifer Reed-Harry, Assistant Vice President at PennAg Industries Associaton

[email protected]

Charlie Conklin, Owner of Big Brown Fish Hatchery, Inc.

[email protected]

9. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gifts to respondents.

No payments or gifts will be given to respondents.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

There will be no changes in confidentiality from what was approved in the original submission.

11. Provide additional justification for questions of a sensitive nature.

There are no questions of a 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.

This substantive change will create a slight increase in number of respondents (175) and total burden hours (64) from the originally approved totals. The new totals for this information collection request, has a sample size of 2,450, a total number of 4,217 responses, and a total of 796 burden hours.

Burden associated with the Pennsylvania Aquaculture Census can be found below, at the top of the table on page 6.

Cost to the public of completing a questionnaire is assumed to be comparable to the hourly rate of those requesting the data. Reporting time of 796 hours is multiplied by $36.97 per hour for a total cost to the public of $29,428.12.

NASS uses the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment Statistics (most recently published on March 31, 2021 for the previous May) to estimate an hourly wage for the burden cost. The May 2020 mean wage for bookkeepers was $21.20. The mean wage for farm managers was $36.93. The mean wage for farm supervisors was $25.25. The mean wage of the three is $27.79. To calculate the fully loaded wage rate (includes allowances for Social Security, insurance, etc.) NASS will add 33% for a total of $36.97 per hour.

13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to respondents or records keepers resulting from the collection of information.

No capital/start-up or ongoing operation/maintenance costs are associated with this information collection.

14. Provide estimates of annualized costs to Federal Government; provide a description of the method used to estimate said costs which should include quantifying hours, operational expenses (such as equipment, staff, printing, and overhead), and any other expense that would not have incurred without this collection of information.

There are no changes to the overall costs from what was reported in the original docket. The Pennsylvania Aquaculture Survey is conducted by a cooperative agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture under full cost recovery.

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

This is a substantive change to the Aquaculture Surveys clearance. In the original approval, the total burden was 732. This change adding the Pennsylvania Aquaculture Census involves an adjustment to respondent burden; an increase of 64 hours, to a new total of 796. The total sample size increased by 175 and number of responses increases by 367 due to the multiple mailings and follow-up after the mailings.

16. For collections of information whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication. Address any complex analytical techniques that will be used. Provide the time schedule for the entire project, include beginning and ending dates for the information collection, completion of report, publication dates and other actions.

The Pennsylvania Aquaculture Census will be mailed out in February 2022 with publication scheduled in April 2022. The most recent publication by NASS of the Pennsylvania Aquaculture Census is located at: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Pennsylvania/Publications/Survey_Results/2015Aquaculture.pdf

17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

Approval of non-display of the expiration date is not being requested.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in Item 19, “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions” of OMB Form 83-I.

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

January 2022

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