Notice2025-03333
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 3, 2025
Issuing agencies
Agriculture Department
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 40 (Monday, March 3, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 40 (Monday, March 3, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11037-11038]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-03333]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
The Department of Agriculture has submitted the following
information collection requirement(s) to OMB for review and clearance
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. Comments
are requested regarding: 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; the
accuracy of the agency's estimate of burden including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used; ways to enhance the quality,
utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and 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
and other forms of information technology.
Comments regarding this information collection received by April 2,
2025 will be considered. 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.
Forest Service
Title: National Visitor Use Monitoring, and Customer and Use Survey
Techniques for Operations, Management, Evaluation, and Research.
OMB Control Number: 0596-0110.
Summary of Collection: The Forest Service regularly collaborates
with the other land management agencies in the areas of visitor
monitoring and visitation estimation. Forest Service requests the
revision and extension of the National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM)
survey. The NVUM sampling protocol and survey instrument are designed
to estimate the number of individuals who visit lands in the National
Forest System (NFS).
Recreation is a key output identified in the Forest Service's
strategic plan and in the National Forest Management Act. Credible
science-based estimates of recreation visitation on national forests
provided by this collection are critical elements of agency performance
reporting, budgeting, and resource planning. The NVUM data is used to
track the agency's progress for the Forest Service's Performance
Accountability Rating Tool (PART) documentation. The Government
Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) requires that Federal
agencies establish measurable goals and monitor their success at
meeting those goals. Also, the information collected is used when the
Forest Service reports to Congress regarding the agency's effectiveness
in utilizing appropriated funds.
Need and Use of the Information: The information collection
addresses two specific performance elements for the Forest Service: (1)
the quantity of recreation visitation to the National Forest System,
including wilderness areas managed by the agency and (2) the level of
customer satisfaction with recreation opportunities. Also, NVUM results
and data are a source of data and information in addressing forest land
management planning, facility master planning, regional- and local-
level agency-mandated business planning, national strategic planning,
civil rights issues regarding service to minorities, and identification
of a national forest's recreation niche. Conducting the collection less
frequently puts information updates out of cycle with forest planning
and other data preparations and reporting activities.
Description of Respondents: Individuals or households.
Number of Respondents: 45,000.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting; Quarterly; Annually.
Total Burden Hours: 5,870.
Forest Service
Title: Small Business Timber Set-Aside Program: Appeal Procedures
on Recomputation of Shares.
OMB Control Number: 0596-0141.
Summary of Collection: The Forest Service (FS) administers the
Small Business Timber Sale Set-Aside Program in cooperation with the
Small Business Administration (SBA) under the authorities of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631), which establishes Federal policy
regarding assistance provided to small businesses; the National Forest
Management Act of 1976; the Administrative Procedures Act (5 U.S.C.
522); and SBA's regulations found at 13 CFR part 121. The Set-Aside
Program is designed to ensure that qualifying small business
manufacturers can purchase a fair portion of National Forest System
sawtimber offered for sale.
[[Page 11038]]
Need and Use of the Information: Under the program, the FS must re-
compute the shares of timber sales to be set aside for qualifying small
businesses every five years based on the actual volume of sawtimber
purchased by small businesses. Re-computation of shares must occur if
there is a change in manufacturing capability, if the purchaser size
class changes, or if certain purchaser(s) discontinue operations. The
appeal information is collected in writing and is possible, in most
locations to be sent via email and attached documents to a Forest
Service Officer. The collected information is reviewed by FS officials
who use the information to render decisions related to re-computations
of timber sale share to be set-aside for small business timber
purchasers.
Description of Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
Number of Respondents: 20.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 200.
Forest Service
Title: Non-Timber Forest Products Generic for Surveys, Interviews,
and Focus Groups.
OMB Control Number: 0596-243.
Summary of Collection: Many laws and policies specifically direct
the USDA Forest Service (FS) to consider and manage for non-timber
forest products for the benefit of the American public and to meet
trust responsibilities to American Indians and Alaskan Natives on
Federal and Tribal lands. Primary authorities to collect information
include the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960 that requires the
FS to manage national forests ``under principles of multiple use and to
produce a sustained yield of products and services.'' The Forest and
Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 requires the
Secretary of Agriculture to ``maintain a comprehensive inventory of
renewable resources and evaluate opportunities to improve their yield
of goods and services. The 2012 Planning Rule specifically requires
``consideration of habitat conditions for wildlife, fish, and plants
commonly enjoyed and used by the public for hunting, fishing, trapping,
gathering, observing, and subsistence'' on national forests.
Need and Use of the Information: Surveys, interviews, and focus
groups administered under this generic collection will be designed to
collect information from individuals and groups who forage for non-
timber forest products and from natural resource professionals who
manage land where non-timber forest products foraging takes place. Non-
timber forest products harvested for use as food, medicine, and other
purposes are plants, mushrooms, and plant- or tree-derived goods like
nuts, boughs, sap, and leaves. The FS and other land management
agencies will not have a scientific basis for managing non-timber
forest product resources and the lands that support them without this
information. Also, FS will not have the necessary information to
provide technical advice on this issue to other land management
agencies and individuals.
Description of Respondents: Individuals or households; Non-profit
organizations and State, Local and Tribal government.
Number of Respondents: 1,560.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: One time.
Total Burden Hours: 828.
Levi S. Harrell,
Departmental Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2025-03333 Filed 2-28-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411-15-P
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