60-day FRN

Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 232 / Friday, December 2, 2011 / Notices
a license. The prospective exclusive
license will be royalty-bearing and will
comply with the terms and conditions
of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7. The
prospective exclusive license may be
granted unless, within thirty (30) days
from the date of this published Notice,
the Agricultural Research Service
receives written evidence and argument
which establishes that the grant of the
license would not be consistent with the
requirements of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37
CFR 404.7.
Richard J. Brenner,
Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2011–30967 Filed 12–1–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–03–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Economic Research Service
Notice of Intent To Request New
Information Collection
Economic Research Service,
USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:

In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
notice invites the general public and
other public agencies to send comments
regarding any aspect of this proposed
information collection. This is a new
collection for a generic clearance that
will allow the Economic Research
Service to conduct a variety of
quantitative data collections.
DATES: Written comments on this notice
must be received on or before January
31, 2012 to be assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments
concerning this notice to Nathaniel
Higgins, Resource and Rural Economics
Division, Economic Research Service,
U.S. Department of Agriculture, 355 E
St. SW., Room 6S-18, Washington, DC
20472. Comments may also be
submitted via fax to the attention of
Nathaniel Higgins at (202) 694–5602 or
via email to nhiggins@ers.usda.gov.
Comments will also be accepted through
the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to
http://www.regulations.gov, and follow
the online instructions for submitting
comments electronically.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
further information contact Nathaniel
Higgins at the address in the preamble.
Tel. (202) 694–5602.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: All
written comments will be open for
public inspection at the office of the
Economic Research Service during

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SUMMARY:

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regular business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5
p.m., Monday through Friday) at 355 E
St. SW., Room 6S–18, Washington, DC
20472.
All responses to this notice will be
summarized and included in the request
for Office of Management and Budget
approval. All comments and replies will
be a matter of public record. Comments
are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information shall have
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on those who are to respond, including
use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
Title: Formative Data Collections for
Informing Policy Research.
OMB Number: 0536–XXXX.
Expiration Date: Three years from the
date of approval.
Type of Request: New collection.
Abstract: The anticipated generic
clearance will authorize research in
furtherance of an ongoing initiative to
use insights from behavioral economics
to provide economic intelligence,
research, and analysis to inform
agricultural resource and conservation
policies, including those related to
development of markets and incentives
for environmental services, reduced
greenhouse gas emissions and
renewable energy production, and to
improve food choices and weight
outcomes, particularly among children
and low income adults.
The specific purpose of this generic
clearance is to allow ERS to develop and
implement state-of-the-art research
methodologies to evaluate policies for
its customers in response to both
specific requests and in anticipation of
future need. This generic clearance will
be particularly useful when ERS is
tasked with evaluating prospective
policies.
ERS envisions using a number of
research techniques, as appropriate to
the individual investigation. These
include laboratory and field techniques,
exploratory interviews, pilot
experiments, and respondent debriefing.
In all cases, participation will be
voluntary and time commitments will

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be minimal (10–90 minutes). Laboratory
and field techniques are two
methodologies based on comparison of
outcomes over groups that have been
randomized into different treatments.
Information obtained from
randomized comparison studies (lab
and field techniques) will be used to
develop and calibrate models of
behavior. ERS uses behavioral models to
estimate a variety of policy outcomes,
for instance the level of farmer
participation in voluntary conservation
programs under alternative contract
terms or changes in the nutritional
quality of meals chosen when healthy
items are displayed more prominently.
Variation in behavioral response can
have important implications for
performance measures such as
economic efficiency and effectiveness,
and can help predict unintended
consequences of policy-design options.
Improved models of behavior will help
policymakers and program managers as
they face decisions that affect
agriculture, nutrition and the
environment.
Authority: These data will be collected
under the authority of 7 U.S.C. 2204(a) and
sec. 501 of the Rural Development Act of
1972 (7 U.S.C. 2661). Individually
identifiable data collected under this
authority are governed by 7 U.S.C. 2276,
which requires USDA to afford strict
confidentiality to non-aggregated data
provided by respondents. This Notice is
submitted in accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104–13
(44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) and Office of
Management and Budget regulations at 5 CFR
part 1320. ERS also complies with OMB
Implementation Guidance, ‘‘Implementation
Guidance for Title V of the E–Government
Act, Confidential Information Protection and
Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA)’’,
72 FR 33362, June 15, 2007.

Affected Public: Respondents will
include Individuals and households.
Estimated Number of Respondents and
Respondent Burden
The proposed generic clearance will
enable a number of separate data
collections. No data collection is
estimated to take longer than 90 minutes
per respondent, including the time
required for respondents and nonrespondents to review instructions and
participate in the data collection.
The estimated number of respondents
participating in data collections under
this generic clearance over a three year
period is 1,800. The maximum total
estimated response burden for all of
those participating in the study is 2,300
hours.

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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 232 / Friday, December 2, 2011 / Notices

Dated: November 9, 2011.
Mary Bohman,
Acting Administrator, Economic Research
Service.

are asked to contact the Rocky Mountain
Regional Office 10 days before the
meeting date either by email at
ebohor@usccr.gov, or by phone at (303)
866–1040.
The meeting will be conducted
pursuant to the rules and regulations of
the Commission and FACA.

[FR Doc. 2011–30969 Filed 12–1–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–18–P

COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS

Dated in Washington, DC, November 28,
2011.
Peter Minarik,
Acting Chief, Regional Programs
Coordination Unit.

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Notice of a Public Meeting of the
Wyoming Advisory Committee to the
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Notice is hereby given, pursuant to
the provisions of the rules and
regulations of the U.S. Commission on
Civil Rights (Commission) and the
Federal Advisory Committee Act
(FACA) that a planning meeting of the
Wyoming Advisory Committee to the
Commission (Committee) will convene
by conference call at 10 a.m. (MDT) on
Monday, December 19, 2011. The
purpose of the meeting is to discuss
next steps after project selection.
This meeting is available to the public
through the following toll-free call-in
number: (800) 516–9896, conference ID:
8334. Any interested member of the
public may call this number and listen
to the meeting. Callers can expect to
incur charges for calls they initiate over
wireless lines, and the Commission will
not refund any incurred charges. Callers
will incur no charge for calls they
initiate over land-line connections to
the toll-free telephone number. Persons
with hearing impairments may also
follow the proceedings by dialing 711
for relay services and 1-(800) 516–9896,
followed by Conference ID: 8334.
Members of the public are entitled to
submit written comments; the
comments must be received in the
regional office by January 19, 2012.
Comments may be mailed to the Rocky
Mountain Regional Office, U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights, 999 - 18th
Street, Suite 1380 South, Denver, CO
80202, faxed to (303) 866–1050, or
emailed to ebohor@usccr.gov. Persons
who desire additional information may
contact the Rocky Mountain Regional
Office by email at ebohor@usccr.gov or
by phone at (303) 866–1040.
Records generated from this meeting
may be inspected and reproduced at the
Rocky Mountain Regional Office, as
they become available, both before and
after the meeting. Persons interested in
the work of the Committee are directed
to the Commission’s Web site, http://
www.usccr.gov, or may contact the
Rocky Mountain Regional Office at the
above email or street address.
To ensure that the Commission
secures an appropriate number of
telephone lines for the public, persons

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[FR Doc. 2011–30979 Filed 12–1–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6335–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
The Department of Commerce will
submit to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for clearance the
following proposal for collection of
information under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
chapter 35).
Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
Title: 2012 Survey of Income and
Program Participation Computer Audio
Recorded Interviewing Field Test.
OMB Control Number: None.
Form Number(s): SIPP–CARI 2012 DR
105(L)—Director’s Letter English; SIPP–
CARI 2012 DR 105(L)(SP) 2012—
Director’s Letter Spanish; SIPP–EHC
4006A Brochure ‘‘SIPP You Represent
Your Nation;’’ SIPP/CARI Automated
Instrument.
Type of Request: New collection.
Burden Hours: 1,890.
Number of Respondents: 1,890.
Average Hours per Response: 1 hour.
Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census
Bureau requests authorization from the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) to conduct a Computer Audio
Recorded Interviewing (CARI)
technology field test using the 2012
Survey of Income and Program
Participation Event History Calendar
(SIPP–EHC) Field Test questionnaire.
Computer Audio Recorded
Interviewing is a data collection method
that captures audio along with response
data during computer-assisted personal
and telephone interviews (CAPI &
CATI). A portion of each interview is
recorded unobtrusively, with the
respondent’s consent, and the sound file
is returned with the response data to a
central location. By reviewing the
recorded portions of the interview,
quality assurance (QA) analysts can
evaluate the likelihood that the
exchange between the field
representative (FR) and respondent is

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authentic and follows critical survey
protocol as defined by the sponsor and
based on best practices.
The Census Bureau will conduct the
SIPP CARI test using the 2012 SIPP–
EHC automated instrument and
computer-assisted personal interviewing
(CAPI) in 6 of the 12 Regional Offices.
The SIPP CARI questionnaire will have
the recording capability in use during
the interview. The only content change
to the instrument is the addition of a
consent question which will record the
respondent’s permission to audio record
responses. Additionally, approximately
25 specific questions are programmed
for recording for each person’s
interview.
This is the second CARI field test
conducted by the Census Bureau. The
first CARI field test was used to conduct
behavior coding for the 2010 American
Community Survey Content Test in late
2010. The Census Bureau is conducting
this test to determine if the deployment
of CARI will have any significant impact
on response rates and item level
responses. Previous tests for CARI have
proven the capability of the technology.
Other tests have also been conducted on
non-voluntary surveys and proved
promising. However, it is important for
the Census Bureau to obtain information
on the impact of this technology on data
quality indicators for voluntary
demographic surveys. If the test proves
successful, this technology would be a
major asset for all programs using
computer assisted personal and
telephone modes of data collection to
assist in meeting quality objectives.
The 2012 SIPP CARI test will be
conducted between May and June 2012.
We will implement the CARI technology
on a portion of the 2012 SIPP–EHC data
collection instrument. This test will be
conducted on a separate sample than
that of the 2012 SIPP–EHC field test.
In addition to the actual recording
capability, the CARI Interactive Data
Access System has been developed as a
monitoring system that allows for the
analysis of audio and image files to be
conducted immediately after
completion and transmission of the
interview. The system is an innovative,
integrated, multifaceted monitoring
system that features a configurable webbased interface for behavior-coding,
quality assurance and coaching. The
system assists in coding interviews for
measuring question and interviewer
performance and the interaction
between interviewers and respondents.
The 2012 SIPP CARI field test
instrument will be evaluated in several
domains including field implementation
issues and data quality vis-a`-vis the
SIPP 2011 and 2012 field test results.

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