Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Revisions to a Currently Approved Information Collection; Comment Request, 5221-5222 [05-1790]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Reclamation
• Reclamation Bureau

[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 1, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5221-5222]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-1790]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Revisions to a 
Currently Approved Information Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of renewal of a currently approved collection (OMB No. 
1006-0023).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Bureau of Reclamation (we, our, or us) 
intends to submit a request for renewal (with revisions) of an existing 
approved information collection to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB): Limited Recipient Identification Sheet, Trust Information Sheet 
for Acreage Limitation, 43 CFR part 426, OMB Control Number: 1006-0023. 
As a result of Reclamation's activities to fully implement the acreage 
limitation provisions applicable to public entities (43 CFR 426.10 and 
the Act of July 7, 1970, Public Law 91-310), a new ``Public Entity 
Information Sheet'' (Form 7-2565) has been developed for approval as 
part of this information collection. We request your comments on the 
proposed RRA forms and specific aspects of the information collection.

DATES: Your written comments must be received on or before April 4, 
2005.

ADDRESSES: You may send written comments to the Bureau of Reclamation, 
Attention: D-5300, PO Box 25007, Denver, CO 80225-0007. You may request 
copies of the proposed forms by writing to the above address or by 
contacting Stephanie McPhee at: (303) 445-2897.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie McPhee at: (303) 445-2897.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Limited Recipient Identification Sheet, Trust Information 
Sheet, Public Entity Information Sheet for Acreage Limitation, 43 CFR 
part 426 and the Act of July 7, 1970, Public Law 91-310.
    Abstract: Identification of limited recipients--Some entities that 
receive Reclamation irrigation water may believe that they are under 
the RRA forms submittal threshold and consequently, may not submit the 
appropriate RRA form(s). However, some of these entities may in fact 
have a different RRA forms submittal threshold than what they believe 
it to be due to the number of natural persons benefiting from each 
entity and the location of the land held by each entity. In addition, 
some entities that are exempt from the requirement to submit RRA forms 
due to the size of their landholdings (directly and indirectly owned 
and leased land) may in fact be receiving Reclamation irrigation water 
for which the full-cost rate must be paid because the start of 
Reclamation irrigation water deliveries occurred after October 1, 1981 
(43 CFR 426.6(b)(2)). The information obtained through completion of 
the Limited Recipient Identification Sheet allows us to establish 
entities' compliance with Federal reclamation law. The Limited 
Recipient Identification Sheet is disbursed at our discretion. The 
proposed revisions to the Limited Recipient Identification Sheet will 
be included starting in the 2006 water year, and are designed to 
facilitate ease of completion.
    Trust review--We are required to review and approve all trusts (43 
CFR 426.7(b)(2)) in order to ensure trusts meet the regulatory criteria 
specified in 43 CFR 426.7. Land held in trust generally will be 
attributed to the beneficiaries of the trust rather than the trustee if 
the criteria are met. When we become aware of trusts with a relatively 
small landholding (40 acres or less), we may extend to those trusts the 
option to complete and submit for our review the Trust Information 
Sheet instead of actual trust documents. If we find nothing on the 
completed Trust Information Sheet that would warrant the further 
investigation of a particular trust, that trustee will not be burdened 
with submitting trust documents to us for in-depth review. The Trust 
Information Sheet is disbursed at our discretion. The proposed 
revisions to the Trust Information Sheet will be included starting in 
the 2006 water year, and are designed to facilitate ease of completion.
    Acreage limitation provisions applicable to public entities--Land 
farmed by a public entity can be considered exempt from the application 
of the acreage limitation provisions provided the public entity meets 
certain criteria pertaining to the revenue generated through the 
entity's farming activities (43 CFR 426.10 and the Act of July 7, 1970, 
Public Law 91-310). We are required to ascertain whether or not public 
entities that receive Reclamation irrigation water meet such revenue 
criteria regardless of how much land the public entities hold (directly 
or indirectly own or lease) (43 CFR 426.10(a)). In order to minimize 
the burden on public entities, standard RRA forms are submitted by a 
public entity only when the public entity holds more than 40 acres, 
which makes it difficult to apply the revenue criteria as required to 
those public entities that hold less than 40 acres. A new ``Public 
Entity Information Sheet'' (Form 7-2565) has been developed for 
approval as part of this information collection. The information 
obtained through completion of Form 7-2565 allows us to establish 
compliance with Federal reclamation law for those public entities that 
hold less than 40 acres and thus do not submit a standard RRA form 
because they are below the RRA forms submittal threshold. In addition, 
for those public entities that do not meet the exemption criteria, we 
must determine the proper rate to charge for Reclamation irrigation 
water deliveries. There is anticipated to be a very minimal increase in 
burden hours resulting from the addition of this form because of the 
very limited type of landholders that can use this form (i.e., only 
those public entities that hold less

[[Page 5222]]

than 40 acres). The Public Entity Information Sheet is disbursed at our 
discretion and will be effective starting in the 2006 water year. 
Because of the addition of this proposed new form to this information 
collection, we also propose that the title of this information 
collection be changed to ``Forms for Certain Landholders That Hold Less 
Than 40 Acres for Acreage Limitation.'' This change in title will allow 
us to capture the purpose of the forms in this information collection 
without listing lengthy form names.
    Frequency: Generally, these forms will be submitted once per 
identified entity, trust, or public entity. Each year, we expect new 
responses in accordance with the following numbers.
    Respondents: Entity landholders, trusts, and public entities 
identified by Reclamation that are subject to the acreage limitation 
provisions of Federal reclamation law.
    Estimated Total Number of Respondents: 425.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.0.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 425.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Responses: 52 hours.
    Estimate of Burden for Each Form:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                      Burden                                       Annual burden
                                                   estimate per      Number of     Annual number        on
                   Form number                       form  (in      respondents    of responses     respondents
                                                     minutes)                                       (in hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Limited Recipient Identification Sheet..........               5             175             175              15
Trust Information Sheet.........................               5             150             150              12
Public Entity Information Sheet.................              15             100             100              25
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Comments

    Comments are invited on:
    (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of our functions, including whether the 
information will have practical use;
    (b) The accuracy of our burden estimate for the proposed new 
collection of information;
    (c) Ways to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    (d) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
    We will summarize all comments received regarding this notice. We 
will publish that summary in the Federal Register when the information 
collection request is submitted to OMB for review and approval.
    Department of the Interior practice is to make comments, including 
names and home addresses of respondents, available for public review. 
Individual respondents may request that we withhold their home address 
from public disclosure, which we will honor to the extent allowable by 
law. There also may be circumstances in which we would withhold a 
respondent's identity from public disclosure, as allowable by law. If 
you wish us to withhold your name and/or address, you must state this 
prominently at the beginning of your comment. We will make all 
submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals 
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations 
or businesses, available for public disclosure in their entirety.

    Dated: January 14, 2005.
Roseann Gonzales,
Director, Office of Program and Policy Services, Denver Office.
[FR Doc. 05-1790 Filed 1-31-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P