MMS Information Collection Activity: 1010-NEW Alaska Subsistence Study; Notice of a New Collection; Comment Request, 20329-20330 [E9-10088]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Minerals Management Service

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 83 (Friday, May 1, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20329-20330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-10088]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

[Docket No. MMS-2009-OMM-0003]


MMS Information Collection Activity: 1010-NEW Alaska Subsistence 
Study; Notice of a New Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of an information collection (1010-NEW).

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), MMS 
is inviting comments on a new collection of information that we will 
submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and 
approval. The information collection request (ICR) pertains to 
conducting a study, Alaska Subsistence Study.

DATES: Submit written comments by June 30, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cheryl Blundon, Regulations and 
Standards Branch at (703) 787-1607, to obtain a copy, at no cost, of 
the study that requires the subject collection of information. For more 
information on the study itself, contact Chris Campbell in the MMS 
Alaska Regional Office at (907) 334-5264.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods 
listed below.
     Electronically: Go to https://www.regulations.gov. Under 
the tab More Search Options, click Advanced Docket Search, then select 
Minerals Management Service from the agency drop-down menu, then click 
submit. In the Docket ID column, select MMS-2009-OMM-0003 to submit 
public comments and to view supporting and related materials available 
for this rulemaking. Information on using Regulations.gov, including 
instructions for accessing documents, submitting comments, and viewing 
the docket after the close of the comment period, is available through 
the site's User Tips link. The MMS will post all comments.
     Mail or hand-carry comments to the Department of the 
Interior; Minerals Management Service; Attention: Cheryl Blundon; 381 
Elden Street, MS-4024; Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817. Please reference 
``Information Collection 1010-NEW'' in your subject line and mark your 
message for return receipt. Include your name and return address in 
your message text.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Alaska Subsistence Study.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-NEW.
    Abstract: The United States Congress, through the 1953 Outer 
Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act (OCSLA) [Pub. L. 95-372, Section 20] 
and its subsequent amendments, requires the Secretary of the Department 
of the Interior to monitor and assess the impacts of resource 
development activities in Federal waters on human, marine, and coastal 
environments. The OCSLA amendments authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to conduct studies in areas or regions of sales to ascertain 
the ``environmental impacts on the human, marine, and coastal 
environments of the outer Continental Shelf and the coastal areas which 
may be affected by oil and gas or other mineral development'' (43 
U.S.C. 1346).
    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
4321-4347) requires that all Federal Agencies use a systematic, 
interdisciplinary approach to ensure the integrated use of the natural 
and social sciences in any planning and decision making that may have 
an effect on the human environment. The Council on Environmental 
Quality's Regulations for Implementing Procedural Provisions of NEPA 
(40 CFR 1500-1508) state that the ``human environment'' is to be 
``interpreted comprehensively'' to include ``the natural and physical 
environment and the relationship of people with that environment'' (40 
CFR 1508.14). An action's ``aesthetic, historic, cultural, economic, 
social or health'' effects must be assessed, ``whether direct, 
indirect, or cumulative'' (40 CFR 1508.8).
    The U.S. Department of the Interior/Minerals Management Service 
(DOI/MMS) is the Federal administrative agency created both to conduct 
OCS lease sales and to monitor and mitigate adverse impacts that might 
be associated with offshore resource development. Within the MMS, the 
Environmental Studies Program functions to implement and manage the 
responsibilities of research. This study will facilitate the meeting of 
DOI/MMS information needs on subsistence food harvest and sharing 
activities in coastal Alaska.
    Planning areas in Alaska can include up to and more than 50,000 
square miles--a large geographic area with diverse, abundant, and 
environmentally sensitive resources. Within these areas, the DOI's 
Proposed OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program considers that there will be 
an oil and gas lease sale in the future. The proposed sale area or 
adjacent areas support major productive commercial and subsistence 
fisheries, provide habitat to numerous marine mammals, and are a 
significant migration and staging area for internationally important 
waterfowl. Numerous communities in the State of Alaska rely heavily on 
subsistence or commercial fisheries.
    This information collection (IC) request involves a study that will 
assess the vulnerabilities of several coastal communities in Alaska, 
during various times, to the potential effects of offshore oil and gas 
development on subsistence food harvest and sharing activities. It will 
investigate the resilience of local sharing networks that structure 
contemporary subsistence-cash economies using research methods that 
involve residents of these communities most proximate to future sale 
area(s).
    The MMS will use the information collected to gain knowledge about 
local social systems that will help shape development leasing 
strategies and serve as an interim baseline for impact monitoring to 
compare against future research in these areas. Without this data, MMS 
will not have sufficient information to make informed leasing and 
development decisions for these areas.
    Study Instrument: The research will be collected from a study, 
administered to each head of household in the communities to collect 
information about the subsistence (harvest data) and sharing networks 
of the communities. The information under this proposed collection will 
be obtained through personal interviews that are voluntary.
    Interview methods: The interviews for each study will be done face 
to face in a setting that is most comfortable for the respondents. This 
personal method is more expensive and time consuming for the 
researchers, but these drawbacks are outweighed by improvements in the 
quality of information obtained and the rapport established between the 
person asking the questions and the person interviewed. Telephone 
interviews have not been successful in rural Alaska. Each respondent 
will be paid an honorarium for taking part in the study.
    No items of a sensitive nature are collected. Responses are 
voluntary.
    Frequency: One-time event for each study.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 128 
respondents from Alaska coastal communities.
    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: The MMS 
estimates the total annual burden hours to be 192 (128 respondents x 
1.5 hours for each study = 192 total burden hours).
    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost''

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Burden: We have identified no non-hour cost burdens for this 
collection.
    Protections of Respondent Confidentiality: The study is voluntary. 
The questionnaires will be administered under the guidelines of 45 CFR 
part 46. The introduction that will be covered with each participant 
stresses that participation is voluntary and confidentiality will be 
maintained. No names will appear on the study form, no photographs will 
be taken of any informant, and no videotaping will be conducted. Minor 
children will not be interviewed. Procedures designed to protect the 
confidentiality of the information provided will include the use of 
coded selection and identification number to protect the identities of 
respondents.
    This study will ask five potentially sensitive but routine 
questions on annual household income, unemployment, subsistence 
expenses, and household finances. One of these questions asks the views 
of the respondent about future potential oil and gas development. 
Questions such as these have been used in past studies in rural Alaska 
with few, if any, complaints. During the interviews, the respondents 
will be warned that sensitive questions are coming up and that they may 
refuse to answer any query they object to. Respondents will also be 
reminded that they are assured anonymity through the study design and 
process.
    Public Disclosure Statement: The PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) 
provides that an agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of 
information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. 
Until OMB approves a collection of information, you are not obligated 
to respond.
    Comments: Before submitting an ICR to OMB, PRA section 
3506(c)(2)(A) requires each agency ``* * * to provide notice * * * and 
otherwise consult with members of the public and affected agencies 
concerning each proposed collection of information * * *''. Agencies 
must specifically solicit comments to: (a) Evaluate whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the agency to 
perform its duties, including whether the information is useful; (b) 
evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (c) enhance the quality, 
usefulness, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) 
minimize the burden on the respondents, including the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Agencies must also estimate the ``non-hour cost'' burdens to 
respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection of 
information. Therefore, if you have costs to generate, maintain, and 
disclose this information, you should comment and provide your total 
capital and startup cost components or annual operation, maintenance, 
and purchase of service components. You should describe the methods you 
use to estimate major cost factors, including system and technology 
acquisition, expected useful life of capital equipment, discount 
rate(s), and the period over which you incur costs. Capital and startup 
costs include, among other items, computers and software you purchase 
to prepare for collecting information, monitoring, and record storage 
facilities. You should not include estimates for equipment or services 
purchased: (i) Before October 1, 1995; (ii) to comply with requirements 
not associated with the information collection; (iii) for reasons other 
than to provide information or keep records for the Government; or (iv) 
as part of customary and usual business or private practices.
    We will summarize written responses to this notice and address them 
in our submission for OMB approval. As a result of your comments, we 
will make any necessary adjustments to the burden in our submission to 
OMB.
    Public Comment Procedures: Before including your address, phone 
number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment-including 
your personal identifying information-may be made publicly available at 
any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your 
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
    MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Arlene Bajusz (202) 
208-7744.

    Dated:April 27, 2009.
E.P. Danenberger,
Chief, Office of Offshore Regulatory Programs.
[FR Doc. E9-10088 Filed 4-30-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P