Starting on August 8, 2023, areas on
the islands of Hawaii, Maui, and Molokai experienced damages from
wildfires and high winds. Wildfires destroyed much of the city of
Lahaina which was the of location agricultural sales and
agritourism activities. Though some farms received physical damage
from the wildfires and high winds, many others were impacted by the
loss of markets and agritourism income. The Hawaii Department of
Agriculture (HDOA) requested National Agricultural Statistics
Service to conduct a disaster survey to account for loss of
crops/livestock, loss of commodity/product sales, damaged
equipment, farm structures, other infrastructure, seeds, etc. This
survey is to be conducted to ascertain the extent of economic
losses (reduce revenue from sales of agricultural products and
agritourism), damages on an acreage/livestock basis, (including
livestock culling), agricultural infrastructure (buildings,
equipment, irrigation, fencing, etc.), impact on agricultural
workers.
In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, NASS is requesting an emergency
approval for this Information Collection Request (ICR). The
provisions of 44 U.S.C. 3507(j) (1) permit an agency head to
request OMB issue an expedited clearance of a collection of
information if it is needed sooner than the expiration of usual
processing times, provided that it is essential to the mission of
the agency, and the use of normal clearance procedures is
reasonably likely to prevent or disrupt the collection of
information or is reasonably likely to cause a statutory or
court-ordered deadline to be missed. Emergency approval is being
sought for this ICR due to the damages incurred to Hawaiian
agriculture from natural occurrences in 2023. This supporting
statement addresses a new data collection effort for the Hawaii
Agricultural Disaster Survey for commodity year 2023. This project
will collect data from farms in Maui County and an area of the
island of Hawaii. The reference period will be commodity year 2023.
The survey is planned for only commodity year 2023. Data collected
under this supporting statement are for a cooperative agreement
between the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and
Hawaii Department of Agriculture. The purpose of this survey is to
ascertain the extent of damage to Hawaiian crop and livestock
production due to wildfires and wind damage during the 2023
agricultural production year. The collected data will be used by
the State Department of Agriculture to ascertain the extent of
damage from these events on crop and livestock production and to
guide relief efforts. Response to the survey will be
voluntary.
US Code:
18
USC 1905 Name of Law: Disclosure of Confidential
Information
US Code: 7 USC
2204 Name of Law: Duties of Secretary
US Code: 7 USC
2276 Name of Law: Confidentiality of Information
PL:
Pub.L. 107 - 347 503(a) Name of Law: CIPSEA
US Code: 7
USC 3601.1 Name of Law: General Statement of Public
Information
Richard Hopper 202 720-2206
Richard.Hopper@nass.usda.gov
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.