Submission of Study Package to Office of Management and Budget; Review Opportunity for Public Comment

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Submission of Study Package to Office of Management and Budget;

Review Opportunity for Public Comment

AGENCY: Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Padre Island

National Seashore.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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ABSTRACT: The National Park Service (NPS) is proposing in 1998-99 to

conduct on-site surveys of visitors to Padre Island National Seashore

and Mustang Island regarding their perception and understanding of

beach garbage (that has washed ashore from the Gulf of Mexico) and

their preference regarding shoreline garbage cleaning methods.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Estimated

numbers of Burden hours

responses

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Visitor Survey to Determine the Public

Perception of and the Response to

Marine Debris by the Visiting Public to

Padre Island National Seashore......... 1500 300

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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

and 5 CFR part 1320, Reporting and Record Keeping Requirement, the NPS

invites public comment on these three proposed information collection

requests (ICR). Comments are invited on: (1) The need for the

information including whether the information has practical utility;

(2) the accuracy of the reporting burden estimate; (3) ways to enhance

the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected,

and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on

respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or

other forms of information technology.

The NPS goal in conducting these surveys is to understand visitor

perception of beach debris and preference regarding shoreline debris

cleaning methods.

There was no public comments received as a result of publishing in

the Federal Register a 60-day notice of intention to request clearance

of information collection for this survey.

DATES: Public comments will be accepted on or before January 15, 1999.

SEND COMMENTS TO: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB,

Attention desk Officer for the Interior Department, Office of

Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20530. The OMB has up to 60 days

to approve or disapprove the information collection but may respond

after 30 days. Therefore, to ensure maximum consideration, OMB should

receive public comments on or before (insert date 30 days from date of

publication in the Federal Register.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR A COPY OF THE STUDY PACKAGES SUBMITTED FOR

OMB REVIEW, CONTACT: John Miller, Voice: 512-949-8173 x 227, Email:

[email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Visitor Survey to Determine the Public Perception of and the

Response to Marine Debris by the Visiting Public to Padre Island

National Seashore.

Bureau Form Number: None.

OMB Number: To be requested.

Expiration Date: To be requested.

Type of request: Request for new clearance.

Description of need: The National Park Service needs information to

incorporate into a research report on beach garbage for Padre Island

National Seashore which will guide further management and planning for

the Seashore.

Automated data collection: At the present time, there is no

automated way to gather this information, since it includes asking

visitors about their perceptions, expectations, and preferences in the

Padre Island National Seashore area.

Description of respondents: A sample of individuals who use the

beaches of Padre Island National Seashore and Mustang Island.

Estimated average number of respondents: 1500.

Estimated average number of responses: Each respondent will respond

only one time, so the number of responses will be the same as the

number of respondents.

Estimated average burden hour per response: 10-15 minutes.

Frequency of response: 1 time per respondent.

Estimated annual reporting burden: 300 hours.

Diane M. Cook,

Information Collection Clearance Officer, WASO Administrative Program

Center, National Park Service.

[FR Doc. 98-33250 Filed 12-15-98; 8:45 am]

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