Information Collection Activities Under OMB Review

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

Information Collection Activities Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces the following Information

Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) for review and comment: Certification Summary Form,

Reporting Summary Form for Acreage Limitation, 43 CFR part 426 and

Proposed Rule 43 CFR part 428, OMB Control Number: 1006-0006. The ICR

describes the nature of the information collection and its expected

cost and burden.

DATES: Your comments must be received on or before June 23, 1999.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments regarding the burden estimate, or any

other aspect of the information collection, including suggestions for

reducing the burden, to the Office of Information and Regulatory

Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for

the Department of the Interior, 725 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC

20503. A copy of your comments should also be directed to the Bureau of

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information or a copy of

the proposed forms contact Marilyn Rehfeld, D-5200, PO Box 25007,

Denver, CO 80225-0007; or by telephone: (303) 445-2899.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Certification Summary Form, Reporting Summary Form for

Acreage Limitation, 43 CFR part 426 and Proposed Rule 43 CFR part 428.

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

Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (RRA), Acreage Limitation Rules and

Regulations, 43 CFR part 426.

This collection of information allows the Bureau of Reclamation

(we, our, or us) to confirm districts' compliance with Federal

reclamation law.

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-

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, Information Requirements for

Certain Farm Operations in Excess of 960 Acres and the Eligibility of

Certain Formerly Excess Land, 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. This comment period was later

extended to February 18, 1999, and then reopened to April 12, 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 that tabulation form to accommodate this requirement. We do

not believe the estimated burden hours will increase by requiring

districts to complete Tabulation G since only a few districts should

have farm operators in this category. Nevertheless, Tabulation G will

not be used unless the proposed rule is published as a final rule in

the Federal Register.

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 Burden for Each Form:

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Estimated

Form No. number of Frequency of Total annual Burden hours Total burden

respondents response responses per response hours

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7-21SUMM-C and tabulation sheets 222 1.25 278 40 11,120

7-21SUMM-R and tabulation sheets 54 1.25 67 40 2,680

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Total....................... 276 1.25 345 .............. 13,800

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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;

[[Page 28012]]

(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.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required

to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a

currently valid OMB control. Reclamation will display a valid OMB

control number on the survey form. A Federal Register notice with a 60-

day comment period soliciting comments on this collection of

information was published in the Federal Register on January 4, 1999

(64 FR 174, Jan. 1999). A list of comments received and our responses

to those comments is being sent to: (1) All districts, (2) all

commenters, and (3) OMB with this ICR, it is also available from us

upon request.

OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove this information

collection, but may respond after 30 days; therefore, public comments

should be submitted to OMB within 30 days in order to assure maximum

consideration.

Wayne O. Deason,

Acting Director, Program Analysis Office.

[FR Doc. 99-13000 Filed 5-21-99; 8:45am

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