Notice2022-04634
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
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
March 4, 2022
Issuing agencies
Agriculture Department
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 43 (Friday, March 4, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 43 (Friday, March 4, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12423-12424]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04634]
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Notices
Federal Register
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 43 / Friday, March 4, 2022 /
Notices
[[Page 12423]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
March 1, 2022.
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.
Comments regarding these information collections are best assured
of having their full effect if received by April 4, 2022. Written
comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection
should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of this notice on
the following website <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. Find this
particular information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day
Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
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 (NASS)
Title: Stocks Reports.
OMB Control Number: 0535-0007.
Summary of Collection: The National Agricultural Statistics
Service's primary function is to prepare and issue current, official
State and national estimates of crop and livestock production, stocks,
disposition, and prices. As part of this function, estimates are made
for stocks of off-farm grains and oilseeds, hops, peanuts, potatoes,
and rice. Statistics for the set of crops included in this docket are
collected because of the large volume produced, high value of
production, and significant public interest. General authority for data
collection is granted under U.S. Code Title 7, Section 2204. This
statute specifies that ``The Secretary of Agriculture shall procure and
preserve all information concerning agriculture which he can obtain . .
. by the collection of statistics . . . and shall distribute them among
agriculturists.''
Need and Use of the Information: NASS collects information to
administer farm program legislation and make decisions relative to the
export-import programs. Estimates of stocks provide essential
statistics on supplies and contribute to orderly marketing. Farmers and
agribusiness firms use these estimates in their production and
marketing decisions. Collecting this information less frequently would
eliminate data needed by the government, and industry and farmers to
keep abreast of changes at the State and national level.
Description of Respondents: Business or other for profit; Farms.
Number of Respondents: 6,330.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Monthly; Quarterly; Annually.
Total Burden Hours: 5,062.
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Title: Generic Clearance of Survey Improvement Projects.
OMB Control Number: 0535-0248.
Summary of Collection: The primary function of the National
Agricultural Statistics Service is to prepare and issue State and
National estimates which include crop and livestock production,
economic and environmental inputs, whole farm characteristics and
operator demographics (covered by the Census of Agriculture) under the
general authority of Title 7 U.S.C. Sec. 2204.
NASS is requesting the renewal of a generic clearance in order to
respond quickly to emerging issues and data collection needs. The
agricultural industry and economy continue to change, and NASS needs to
continuously evaluate its surveys in light of these changes.
Respondents continue to change (e.g., response rates decrease over
time), technology continues to change (e.g., the Web quickly became a
data collection option), and data needs continue to change. In
addition, our understanding of how to improve surveys continues to
evolve (e.g., the application of cognitive psychology to survey
methodology has increased our understanding of surveys). The generic
clearance structure allows NASS to meet these information needs using a
means that minimizes respondent and administrative burden. Thus, NASS
requests an ongoing OMB clearance structure in place to continue to
improve the overall quality of its statistical surveys, to lessen the
burden it places on respondents, and to shorten the time period between
changes that affect surveys and NASS' ability to formulate and update
its surveys to address those changes. Prior to each test, NASS will
submit to OMB a mini-supporting statement that will describe the
details of each specific test, along with a sample of the questions or
questionnaire that will be tested.
Need and Use of the Information: The information obtained from
these efforts will be used to develop new NASS surveys and improve
current ones. Specifically, the information will be used to reduce
respondent burden while simultaneously improving the quality of the
data collected in these surveys. These objectives are met when
respondents are presented with plain, coherent and unambiguous
questionnaires that ask for data compatible with respondents' memory
and/or current reporting and record keeping practices. The purpose of
the survey improvement projects will be to ensure that NASS surveys
continuously attempt to meet these standards of excellence.
Improved NASS surveys will inform policy decisions on agriculture,
as well
[[Page 12424]]
as contributing to increased agency efficiency and reduced survey
costs. In addition, methodological findings have broader implications
for survey research and may be presented in technical papers at
conferences or published in the proceedings of conferences or in
journals.
The results of these tests won't be disseminated or used to inform
policy, program, or budget decisions.
Description of Respondents: Private Sector; Businesses or other
for-profits; Farms.
Number of Respondents: 25,000.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 15,000.
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Title: Quick Response for Cooperator-funded Surveys Generic
Clearance.
OMB Control Number: 0535-0264.
Summary of Collection: The primary objectives of the National
Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) are to prepare and issue
official State and national estimates of crop and livestock production,
disposition and prices, economic statistics, and environmental
statistics related to agriculture and to conduct the Census of
Agriculture and its follow-on surveys. In addition to the many
statistical activities directly related to its mission, the National
Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will lend technical expertise to
other Federal agencies, State governments, land grant universities, and
other organizations which have a Memorandum of Understanding with NASS.
These entities will be referred to as cooperators. NASS provides
support and assistance in the areas of questionnaire & sample design as
well as analysis of survey results. NASS would like to include data
collection to its list of services, utilizing the existing Cooperative
Agreement with the National State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA).
The data collection activities in this generic clearance request would
be conducted through cooperative agreements with Federal agencies,
State departments of agriculture, land-grant universities, or other
organizations with which NASS has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
The surveys will be conducted under a full-cost recovery basis. These
cooperators have sought out NASS's assistance to provide statistics
beneficial to agriculture, but are not covered by NASS's annual
Congressional appropriation. General authority for conducting
cooperative projects is granted under U.S. Code Title 7, Section 450a
which states that USDA officials may, ``enter into agreements with and
receive funds . . . for the purpose of conducting cooperative research
projects. . .'' This authority has been delegated to NASS. Response to
all surveys collected under this generic clearance is voluntary.
NASS benefits from these cooperative agreements by: (1) Obtaining
additional data to update its list of farm operators; (2) encouraging
both parties to coordinate Federal survey activities and activities
funded under a cooperative agreement to reduce the need for overlapping
data collection and/or spread out respondent burden; and (3)
facilitating additional promotion of NASS surveys and statistical
reports funded by annual Congressional appropriations. Respondents
benefit from these cooperative agreements by: (1) Having their reported
data protected by Federal Law (U.S. Code Title 18, Section 1905; U.S.
Code Title 7, Section 2276; and Title III of Pub. L. 115-435 codified
in 44 U.S.C. Ch. 35 and other applicable Federal laws, (CIPSEA)); (2)
having data collection activities for Federal and Cooperative surveys
coordinated to minimize respondent burden; and (3) having high-quality
agricultural data that are important to a state or region be collected
and published.
Need and Use of the Information: NASS would like to conduct up to
10 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.
The summarized and published information will be analyzed by the
sponsoring cooperators and stakeholders in agriculture. Results will be
used to study
--production agriculture as well as
--various programs and policies to determine their impact on
agricultural producers and consumers.
Description of Respondents: Private Sector; Businesses or other
for-profits; Farms.
Number of Respondents: 225,000.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Annually.
Total Burden Hours: 111,512.
Levi S. Harrell,
Departmental Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2022-04634 Filed 3-3-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-20-P
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