Agency Information Collection Activities Under OMB Review

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

Agency 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 (44 U.S.C. 3501

et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request

(ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) for review, comment, and approval. The ICR describes

the nature of the information collection and its expected cost and

burden.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before January 20, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Send comments regarding the information collection to the

following addresses: Mr. Larry Schluntz, Bureau of Reclamation,

Reclamation Law and Revenues Office, D-5200, P.O. Box 25007, Denver, CO

80225, and 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.

Our practice is to make comments, including names and home

addresses of respondents, available for public review. Individual

respondents may request that we withhold their home address from pubic

disclosure, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There

also may be circumstances in which we would withhold a respondent's

identity from public disclosure, as allowable by law. If you wish us to

withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently at

the beginning of your comment. We will make all submissions from

organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying

themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or

businesses, available for public disclosure in their entirety.

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

the forms contact Larry Schluntz, Bureau of Reclamation, P.O. Box

25007, Denver, CO 80225; telephone: (303) 445-2901.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Crop Acreage and Yields and Water Distribution (OMB Control

No. 1006-0001). This is a request for a reinstatement of a previous

data collection with changes. The titles of the forms and the form

numbers associated with this information collection are: Form 7-332,

Water User Crop Census Report, and Form 7-2045, Crop and Water Data.

Since this is a request for reinstatement of a previously approved

collection of information, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation)

decided it would be less confusing for the public to use the earlier

titles for these forms.

Abstract: The annual crop census is taken on all Bureau of

Reclamation (Reclamation) projects, along with collection of related

statistics, primarily for use as a tool in administering, managing, and

evaluating the Federal reclamation program. The census is used to

assist in the administration of repayment and water service contracts

which are used to repay the irrigators obligation to the Federal

Government. Data from the census also are utilized to determine Class 1

equivalency computations, i.e., determining the number of acres of

Class 2 and 3 land that are required to be equivalent in productivity

to Class 1 land. Crop production data are also used to analyze the

double subsidy occurring on Reclamation project lands. Double subsidies

occur when an irrigator receives interest-free irrigation water and is

also eligible for farm program payments from the U.S. Department of

Agriculture. In recent years, the census has provided data which are

used to administer international trade agreements, such as the North

American Free Trade Agreement. Data from the census are also used by

the Office of the Inspector General, General Accounting Office, and the

Congressional Research Service to independently evaluate the

Reclamation program and to estimate the impacts of proposed

legislation. These data are also supplied to other Federal and State

agencies to evaluate the program and provide data for research. The

census will provide data to provide the required 5-year review of

ability-to-pay analysis which is being incorporated into new repayment

and water service contracts. The basis for these reviews is an audit by

the Office of the Inspector General, Department of the Interior.

Burden: The respondent burden is estimated at 6,250 hours for

farmers and 1,800 for irrigation districts. These estimates are derived

as follows. There are an estimated 50,000 farm operators in the

sampling universe and if a 50 percent sampling rate is assumed there

will be 25,000 respondents in any given year. It is estimated that each

respondent will require 15 minutes to complete the form. In most cases,

the individual irrigators will have the requested data of crop

production and yields in their own records and it only takes a few

minutes to transfer these data to the respondent form. This yields an

estimated 6,250 hours. In addition, the irrigation districts compile

the individual responses into a district-wide response which is

submitted to Reclamation. It is estimated that each of the 225

districts will require 8 hours to complete this compilation, which is a

total of 1,800 burden hours for the districts. The overall total is

estimated at 8,050 burden hours.

Respondents/Affected entities: Irrigators who receive irrigation

water from Bureau of Reclamation projects and irrigation districts.

[[Page 71493]]

Estimated number of respondents: Estimated 50,000 irrigators in the

universe; reporting burden estimate based on a 50 percent sample or

25,000 respondents annually. Approximately 225 districts will

consolidate the respondent data and provide a summarized report

annually to Reclamation.

Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 6,250 hours for

irrigators and 1,800 hours for irrigation districts.

Frequency of Collection: Annually.

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 number. Reclamation will display a valid

OMB control number on the survey forms. A Federal Register notice with

a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on this collection of

information was published in the Federal Register (63 FR 10243, Mar. 2,

1998). Reclamation did not receive any comments on this collection of

information during the comment period.

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.

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

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

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

consideration.

Murlin Coffey,

Manager, Property and Office Services.

[FR Doc. 99-32981 Filed 12-20-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-94-M