30 day FRN

5404

Notices

Federal Register
Vol. 84, No. 35
Thursday, February 21, 2019

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains documents other than rules or
proposed rules that are applicable to the
public. Notices of hearings and investigations,
committee meetings, agency decisions and
rulings, delegations of authority, filing of
petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are
examples of documents appearing in this
section.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request

amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1

February 15, 2019.

The Department of Agriculture will
submit the following information
collection requirement(s) to OMB for
review and clearance under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
Public Law 104–13 on or after the date
of publication of this notice. Comments
are requested regarding: (1) Whether the
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of burden including
the validity of the methodology and
assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance
the quality, utility and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (4)
ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the
use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology
should be addressed to: Desk Officer for
Agriculture, Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), New
Executive Office Building, Washington,
DC; New Executive Office Building, 725
17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503.
Commenters are encouraged to submit
their comments to OMB via email to:
OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov or fax
(202) 395–5806 and to Departmental
Clearance Office, USDA, OCIO, Mail
Stop 7602, Washington, DC 20250–
7602.
Comments regarding these
information collections are best assured
of having their full effect if received by
March 25, 2019. Copies of the
submission(s) may be obtained by
calling (202) 720–8681.

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An agency may not conduct or
sponsor a collection of information
unless the collection of information
displays a currently valid OMB control
number and the agency informs
potential persons who are to respond to
the collection of information that such
persons are not required to respond to
the collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control
number.
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Title: Generic Clearance of Survey
Improvement Projects.
OMB Control Number: 0535–0248.
Summary of Collection: The primary
objectives of the National Agricultural
Statistics Service (NASS) are to prepare
and issue State and national estimates of
crop and livestock production,
economic and environmental statistics
related to agriculture and to conduct the
Census of Agriculture under the general
authority of Title 7 U.S.C. 2204. The
purpose of this generic clearance is to
allow NASS to respond quickly to
emerging issues and data collection
needs. NASS will continue to develop,
test, evaluate, adopt, and use state-ofthe-art techniques to cover a broad range
of topics designed to improve NASS’
data collection on agriculture.
Need and Use of the Information:
NASS will use a number of survey
improvement techniques, as appropriate
to the individual project under
investigation. These include focus
groups, cognitive and usability
laboratory and field techniques,
exploratory interviews, behavior coding,
respondent debriefing, pilot surveys and
split-panel tests. The information
gathered will be used mainly for
questionnaire development and other
research and evaluation. Additionally,
NASS anticipates the benefit of
increased response rates through
improved survey design, a goal tied
directly to addressing OMB
requirements for higher response rates
and measurement of non-response bias.
Description of Respondents: Farms.
Number of Respondents: 50,000.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting:
On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 30,000.
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Title: Quick Response for
Cooperative-Funded Surveys Generic
Clearance.
OMB Control Number: 0535–NEW.

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Summary of Collection: The primary
objectives of the National Agricultural
Statistics Service (NASS) are to prepare
and issue State and national estimates of
crop and livestock production,
economic and environmental statistics
related to agriculture and to conduct the
Census of Agriculture under the general
authority of Title 7 U.S.C. 2204. This
generic clearance covers a variety of
surveys that will provide valuable
statistics to sponsoring cooperators.
These data are needed by the
cooperators in time frames that make
individual clearances impractical.
Need and Use of the Information:
NASS would like to conduct up to 15
surveys each year in response to
requests from cooperators who have
data needs that cannot be met through
NASS’s annual Congressional
appropriations. NASS would like to
include surveys that would cover topics
such as: Farm management practices,
food safety, workplace safety,
conservation and land use practices,
chemical use management practices,
crop quality, agri-tourism, local foods,
or other specific agricultural promotion
programs.
Description of Respondents: Farms.
Number of Respondents: 75,000.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting:
On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 37,157.
Kimble Brown,
Departmental Information Collection
Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2019–02987 Filed 2–20–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–20–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
February 15, 2019.

The Department of Agriculture has
submitted the following information
collection requirement(s) to Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and clearance under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
Public Law 104–13. Comments are
requested regarding (1) whether the
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of burden including

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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 35 / Thursday, February 21, 2019 / Notices
the validity of the methodology and
assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance
the quality, utility and clarity of the
information to be collected; (4) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to
respond, including through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
Comments regarding this information
collection received by March 25, 2019
will be considered. Written comments
should be addressed to: Desk Officer for
Agriculture, Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), New
Executive Office Building, 725 17th
Street NW, Washington, DC 20502.
Commenters are encouraged to submit
their comments to OMB via email to:
OIRA_Submission@OMB.EOP.GOV or
fax (202) 395–5806 and to Departmental
Clearance Office, USDA, OCIO, Mail
Stop 7602, Washington, DC 20250–
7602. Copies of the submission(s) may
be obtained by calling (202) 720–8958.
An agency may not conduct or
sponsor a collection of information
unless the collection of information
displays a currently valid OMB control
number and the agency informs
potential persons who are to respond to
the collection of information that such
persons are not required to respond to
the collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control
number.

amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1

Rural Utilities Service
Title: Certification of Authority.
OMB Control Number: 0572–0074.
Summary of Collection: The Rural
Utilities Service (RUS) is a credit agency
of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA). It makes mortgage loans and
loan guarantees to finance electric,
telecommunications, and water and
waste facilities in rural areas. Rural
Electrification Act of 1936, 7 U.S.C. 901
et seq, as amended, (RE ACT) and as
prescribed by Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) Circular A–129, Policies
for Federal Credit Programs and NonTax Receivables, which states that
agencies must, based on a review of a
loan application, determine that an
applicant complies with statutory,
regulatory, and administrative eligibility
requirements for loan assistance. A
major factor in managing loan programs
is controlling the advancement of funds.
RUS Form 675 allows this control to be
achieved by providing a list of
authorized signatures against which
signatures requesting funds are
compared.

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Need and Use of the Information:
RUS will collect information to ensure
that only authorized representatives of
the borrower signs the lending
requisition form. Without the
information RUS would not know if the
request for a loan advance was
legitimate or not and the potential for
waste, loss, unauthorized use, and
misappropriation would be increased.
Description of Respondents: Not-forprofit institutions; Business or other forprofit.
Number of Respondents: 163.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting:
On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 16.
Rural Utilities Service
Title: 7 CFR part 1721, Extensions of
Payments of Principal and Interest.
OMB Control Number: 0572–0123.
Summary of Collection: The Rural
Utilities Service (RUS) electric program
provides loans and loan guarantees to
borrowers at interest rates and on terms
that are more favorable than those
generally available from the private
sector. Procedures and conditions
which borrowers may request
extensions of the payment of principal
and interest are authorized, as amended,
in Section 12 of the Rural Electrification
Act of 1936, and Section 236 of the
‘‘Disaster Relief Act of 1970 (Pub. L. 91–
606), as amended by the Department of
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994
(Pub. L. 103–354). As a result of
obtaining federal financing, RUS
borrowers receive economic benefits
that exceed any direct economic costs
associated with complying with (RUS)
regulations and requirements.
Need and Use of the Information: The
collection of information occurs only
when the borrower requests an
extension of principal and interest.
Eligible purposes include financial
hardship, energy resource conservation
loans, renewable energy project, and
contributions-in-aid of construction.
These procedures are codified at 7 CFR
part 1721, subpart B. The collections are
made to provide needed benefits to
borrowers while also maintaining the
integrity of RUS loans and their
repayment of taxpayer’s monies.
Description of Respondents: Business
or other for-profits; Not for-profit
institutions.
Number of Respondents: 7.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting:
On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 61.

Summary of Collection: The Rural
Utilities Service (RUS) is a credit agency
of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA). It makes mortgage loans and
loan guarantees to finance electric,
telecommunications, and water and
waste facilities in rural areas. In
addition to providing loans and loan
guarantees, one of RUS’ main objectives
is to safeguard loan security until the
loan is repaid. Accordingly, RUS
manages loan programs in accordance
with the Rural Electrification Act of
1936, 7 U.S.C. 901 et.seq., as amended,
(RE ACT) and as prescribed by Office of
Management and Budget (OMB)
Circular A–129, Policies for Federal
Credit Programs and Non-Tax
Receivables, which states that agencies
must, based on a review of a loan
application, determine that an applicant
complies with statutory, regulatory, and
administrative eligibility requirements
for loan assistance.
Need and Use of the Information:
RUS borrower will use form 369,
Request for Approval to Sell Capital
Assets, to seek agency permission to sell
some of its assets. The form is used to
collect detailed information regarding
the proposed sale of a portion of the
borrowers systems. RUS will collect
information to determine whether or not
the agency should approve a sale and
also to keep track of what property
exists to secure the loan. If the
information in Form 369 is not collected
when capital assets are sold, the capital
assets securing the Government’s loans
could be liquidated and the
Government’s security either eliminated
entirely or diluted to an undesirable
level.
Description of Respondents: Not-forprofit institutions; Business or other forprofit.
Number of Respondents: 33.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting:
On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 99.
Kimble Brown,
Departmental Information Collection
Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2019–02974 Filed 2–20–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–15–P

Rural Utilities Service
Title: Request for Approval to Sell
Capital Assets.
OMB Control Number: 0572–0020.

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