Notice2022-01722
Agency Information Collection Activities; Evaluating Connections: BOEM's Environmental Studies and Assessments
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
January 28, 2022
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentOcean Energy Management Bureau
Abstract
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is proposing a new information collection request (ICR).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 19 (Friday, January 28, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 19 (Friday, January 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4656-4657]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01722]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
[OMB Control Number 1010-NEW; Docket ID: BOEM-2017-0016]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Evaluating Connections:
BOEM's Environmental Studies and Assessments
AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is proposing a new information
collection request (ICR).
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
February 28, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Submit your written comments on this ICR to the Office of
Management and Budget's desk officer for the Department of the Interior
at <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a> within 30 days of publication of
this notice. From the <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a> landing page,
find this information collection by selecting ``Currently under
Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
Please provide a copy of your comments to the BOEM Information
Collection Clearance Officer, Anna Atkinson, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, 45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, Virginia 20166; or by email
to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e3828d8d82cd8297888a8d908c8da3818c868ecd848c95"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="adccc3c3cc83ccd9c6c4c3dec2c3edcfc2c8c083cac2db">[email protected]</span></a>. Please reference Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) Control Number 1010-NEW in the subject line of your
comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anna Atkinson by email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#60010e0e014e01140b090e130f0e20020f050d4e070f16"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="20414e4e410e41544b494e534f4e60424f454d0e474f56">[email protected]</span></a> or by telephone at 703-787-1025.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995, BOEM provides the public and Federal agencies with an
opportunity to comment on new, proposed, revised, and continuing
collections of information. This helps BOEM assess the impact of the
information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting
burden. It also helps the public understand BOEM's information
collection requirements.
Title of Collection: Evaluating Connections: BOEM's Environmental
Studies and Assessments.
Abstract: Section 20 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act
(OCSLA) (43 U.S.C. 1346) requires the Secretary of the Interior to
study any area or region included in an oil, gas, or other lease sale
to gather information needed for assessment and management of impacts
on the human, marine, and coastal environments of the Outer Continental
Shelf (OCS) and the affected coastal areas. Additionally, subsequent to
the leasing and developing of any OCS area, the Secretary may authorize
further environmental studies to gather information that can be used
for identifying significant changes and trends in the quality and
productivity of such environments and for designing experiments to
identify the causes of such changes.
This statutory authority is carried out through BOEM's
Environmental Studies Program (ESP). In fulfilling its mission, BOEM
must comply with a range of environmental laws and regulations. To
comply with relevant statutes and policies, BOEM requires current and
relevant scientific information to develop informed environmental
analyses required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and
to conduct appropriate and meaningful consultations with other Federal
agencies. For example, the following types of documents are considered
in the universe of BOEM environmental analyses:
<bullet> NEPA environmental impact statements.
<bullet> NEPA environmental assessments.
<bullet> National Historic Preservation Act documents (including
section 106 evaluations of effects on historic properties and
programmatic agreements).
<bullet> Essential fish habitat assessments for Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act consultations.
<bullet> Endangered Species Act section 7 biological evaluations or
biological assessments.
<bullet> Analyses and assessments prepared to comply with the Clean
Air Act, Coastal Zone Management Act, and Marine Mammal Protection Act.
<bullet> Analyses and assessments such as engineering analyses,
regulatory impact analyses, resource evaluations, additional NEPA-
related analyses, site assessments, and cost-benefit analyses prepared
for OCSLA and other regulatory requirements.
Environmental studies sponsored by ESP provide scientific
information to inform BOEM's environmental analyses, which are overseen
through BOEM's Environmental Assessment Program (EAP). BOEM describes
the process by which environmental studies inform environmental
analyses and environmental analyses inform environmental studies as a
``feedback loop.'' To determine how well this feedback loop is
functioning and to identify potential improvements in the science-to-
policy process, BOEM is pursuing an evaluation of the linkages between
the scientific research it is funding and the information needs within
its environmental analyses. The evaluation will include surveys and
interviews of BOEM's ESP and EAP partners (e.g., Federal and State
agencies, academic institutions and scholars, consultants, tribal
members, industry representatives, and environmental non-governmental
organizations).
The survey will focus on information exchange between BOEM's ESP
and EAP and their external program partners. The survey results will be
used to understand how program partners use information derived from
BOEM's studies and analyses and to trace the networks through which
this information is disseminated. The survey results will inform a
network analysis to understand the network structure, possible network
influence on outcomes, and people or organizations that could be
targeted or connected to achieve better expected outcomes.
The survey will be administered online. The survey will be sent to
ESP
[[Page 4657]]
and EAP partners identified by BOEM staff. Following a brief email
introduction, each survey respondent will receive a unique weblink to
complete the online survey. The survey questions will ask respondents:
(1) From whom they receive and with whom they share BOEM environmental
studies and analyses information, and (2) how they use that
environmental information for their organization's work. The survey
will include fewer than 20 mostly discrete-choice questions and will
take up to 20 minutes to complete. Descriptive statistics will be
calculated at the organizational level, and results will be presented
in a tabular format and network graphs.
All agencies, organizations, and institutions that BOEM identifies
as important for understanding the feedback loop will be contacted for
an interview. Interviews will be semi-structured. Respondents will be
asked questions tailored to their type of organization. Interviewers
will ask respondents to provide insight into how and why linkages
between BOEM and respondents are (or are not) present, and how and why
respondents are (or are not) using environmental studies and analyses
information from BOEM. As a semi-structured interview, the interviewer
will have the opportunity to ask follow-up questions based on initial
responses. The interviewers will ask about the respondents' roles or
positions within their organizations, how they use BOEM's environmental
studies and analyses information in their organizations' work, and how
their organizations contribute to BOEM's environmental studies and
analyses. Additionally, the interviewers will request recommendations
on ways to strengthen linkages moving forward. The responses will be
analyzed using qualitative coding analysis.
This information is not otherwise available and will help inform
BOEM's efforts to improve the feedback loop and to ultimately better
inform its decisions.
OMB Control Number: 1010-NEW.
Type of Review: New.
Respondents/Affected Public: BOEM ESP and EAP partners.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 70 interviews; up to
300 online surveys.
Survey questions will be discrete-choice/closed-ended; interview
guide will be semi-structured/open-ended.
Estimated Completion Time per Response: 60 minutes per interview;
up to 20 minutes per survey.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 70 hours for
interviews; up to 100 hours for surveys.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Frequency of Collection: One time.
Total Estimated Annual Non-Hour Burden Cost: There is no non-hour
cost burden associated with this collection.
A Federal Register notice with a 60-day public comment period on
this proposed ICR was published on April 28, 2021 (86 FR 22451). BOEM
did not receive any comments during the 60-day comment period.
BOEM is again soliciting comments on this proposed ICR. BOEM is
especially interested in public comment addressing the following
issues: (1) Is the collection necessary to the proper functions of
BOEM; (2) what can BOEM do to ensure this information will be processed
and used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden accurate;
(4) how might BOEM enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (5) how might BOEM minimize the burden
of this collection on the respondents, including minimizing the burden
through the use of information technology?
Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. BOEM will include or summarize each comment in its
request to OMB for approval of this ICR. You should be aware that your
entire comment--including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personally identifying information--may be publicly disclosed. In
order to inform BOEM's decision whether it can withhold from disclosure
your personally identifiable information, you must identify any
information contained in your comments that, if released, would clearly
constitute an unwarranted invasion of your privacy. Also, you must
briefly describe possible harmful consequences of disclosing that
information, such as embarrassment, injury, or other harm. While you
can ask BOEM in your comment to withhold your personally identifiable
information from public disclosure, BOEM cannot guarantee that it will
be able to do so.
BOEM protects proprietary information in accordance with the
Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), and the Department of the
Interior's implementing regulations (43 CFR part 2).
A Federal 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.
The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Peter Meffert,
Acting Chief, Office of Regulations.
[FR Doc. 2022-01722 Filed 1-27-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P
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