OCCSP provides cost share assistance to producers and handlers of agricultural products for the costs of obtaining or maintaining organic certification under the National Organic Program (NOP). Section 10606 of H.R. 1 (Pub. L. 119-21, also referred to as the âOne Big Beautiful Bill Actâ) authorized $10,000,000 in National OCCSP funding for fiscal years 2025 through 2031 (7 U.S.C. 6523(d)). An additional $1,000,000 in Agricultural Management Assistance funding is available for each fiscal year (7 U.S.C. 1524(b)).
The current burden inventory is 15,659 estimated annual respondents; 78,533 estimated annual responses and 78,650 estimated annual burden hours. With this revision the agency is seeking 12,030 estimated annual respondents, 44,790 estimated annual responses and 29,031 estimated annual burden hours. This reflects a decrease of 3,629 in the number of estimated respondents, a decrease of 33,743 in the estimated number of responses, and a decrease of 49,529 in the number of estimated annual burden hours since the last OMB submission.
These changes are the result of several updates:
Program changes:
⢠FSA has removed unused forms and updated the number of responses for several other forms to accurately reflect annual submissions per respondent.
⢠FSA has corrected reporting of exempt burden hours for Standard Forms.
⢠FSA has reduced the time per response for the producerâs organic certification.
Adjustments
⢠The estimated number of respondents has been updated based on the number of program participants in recent years, which is less than the estimated number of respondents in the last OMB submission.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP) - State Govt