Notice of Proposed Revisions to a Currently Approved Information Collection

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

Notice of Proposed Revisions to a Currently Approved Information

Collection

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation (we, our, or us) intends to submit

the following proposed revised information collection to the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.): Certification Summary Form,

Reporting Summary Form for Acreage Limitation, 43 CFR Part 426, OMB

Control Number: 1006-0006. This information collection is required

under the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (RRA), Acreage Limitation

Rules and Regulations, 43 CFR Part 426, and a proposed rulemaking

entitled: Information Requirements for Certain Farm Operations In

Excess of 960 Acres and the Eligibility of Certain Formerly Excess

Land, 43 CFR Part 428. We request your comments on the revised RRA

forms and specific aspects of the information collection.

DATES: Your written comments must be received on or before March 5,

1999.

ADDRESSES: You may send written comments to the Bureau of Reclamation,

Attention: D-5200, PO Box 25007, Denver, CO 80225-0007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: You may request copies of the proposed

revised forms by writing to the above address or by contacting Marilyn

Rehfeld at: (303) 445-2899.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Changes to the RRA Forms and the Instructions to Those Forms

We made a few changes to the current Form 7-21SUMM-C and Form 7-

[[Page 175]]

21SUMM-R and rewrote the instructions to those forms in ``plain

language'' to meet the requirements of the President's June 1, 1998,

memorandum. Other changes to the forms and the instructions to the

forms are editorial in nature and are designed to increase the

respondents' understanding of the forms, instructions to the forms, and

what information is required to be submitted with the forms to the

districts. The proposed revisions to the RRA forms will be effective in

the 2000 water year.

Draft of a New RRA Form

We published a proposed rulemaking, 43 CFR Part 428, in the Federal

Register on November 18, 1998 (63 FR 64154, Nov. 18, 1998), and

requested comments on the proposed rule and the information collection

to be submitted to us by January 19, 1999. The proposed rulemaking

requires farm operators who provide services to more than 960 nonexempt

acres westwide, held by a single trust or legal entity or any

combination of trusts and legal entities to submit RRA forms to the

district(s) where such land is located. We requested comments from the

public on whether to revise an existing RRA form or create a new form

for farm operators to prepare.

We anticipate that if the rule is finalized, the districts will be

required to provide specific information about declaring farm operators

to us annually. We have developed a new Tabulation G to be used with

Form 7-21SUMM-C and Form 7-21SUMM-R, and instructions on how to

complete the tabulation sheets to accommodate this requirement. We do

not believe the estimated burden hours will increase by requiring

districts to complete these tabulation sheets since only a few

districts should have farm operators in this category. Nevertheless,

the tabulation sheets will not be used until after the proposed rule is

published as a final rule in the Federal Register.

Title: Certification Summary Form, Reporting Summary Form for

Acreage Limitation, 43 CFR Part 426.

Abstract: These forms are to be used by district offices to

summarize individual landholder (direct or indirect landowner or

lessee) certification and reporting forms as required by the RRA, 43

CFR Part 426, and proposed regulation 43 CFR Part 428. This information

allows us to establish water user compliance with Federal reclamation

law.

Frequency: Annually.

Respondents: Contracting entities that are subject to the acreage

limitation provisions of Federal reclamation law.

Estimated Total Number of Respondents: 276.

Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.25.

Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 345.

Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 13,800 hours.

Estimate of Burden for Each Form:

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Burden

estimate per Number of Annual number Annual burden

Form No. form (in respondents of responses on respondents

hours) (in hours)

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7-21SUMM-C and associated tabulation sheets..... 40 222 278 11,120

7-21SUMM-R and associated tabulation sheets..... 40 54 67 2,680

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Comments

Comments are invited on:

(a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for

the proper performance of our functions, including whether the

information will have practical use;

(b) The accuracy of our burden estimate for the proposed collection

of information;

(c) Ways to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the

information to be collected; and

(d) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on

respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or

other forms of information technology.

We will summarize all comments received to this notice and any

comments regarding this information collection received during the

comment period for the notice of proposed rulemaking. We will publish

that summary in the Federal Register when the information collection

request is submitted to OMB for review and approval.

Dated: December 18, 1998.

Alonzo D. Knapp,

Acting Director, Program Analysis Office.

[FR Doc. 98-34379 Filed 12-31-98; 8:45 am]

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