Information Collection; Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery, 12146-12148 [2014-04655]

Download as PDF 12146 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 42 / Tuesday, March 4, 2014 / Notices Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, intends to grant to Highland Specialty Grains, Inc. of Almira, Washington, an exclusive license to the variety of feed barley described in Plant Variety Protection Certificate Number 200700405, ‘‘RWA 1758,’’ issued on September 20, 2007. DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 3, 2014. ADDRESSES: Send comments to: USDA, ARS, Office of Technology Transfer, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Rm. 4–1174, Beltsville, Maryland 20705–5131. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: June Blalock of the Office of Technology Transfer at the Beltsville address given above; telephone: 301–504–5989. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Federal Government’s rights in this plant variety are assigned to the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture. It is in the public interest to so license this plant variety as Highland Specialty Grains, Inc. of Almira, Washington has submitted a complete and sufficient application for a license. The prospective exclusive license will be royalty-bearing and will comply with the terms and conditions of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7. The prospective exclusive license may be granted unless, within thirty (30) days from the date of this published Notice, the Agricultural Research Service receives written evidence and argument which establishes that the grant of the license would not be consistent with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7. SUMMARY: DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Agricultural Research Service Notice of Intent To Grant Exclusive License Agricultural Research Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of intent. AGENCY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, intends to grant to Tomahawk Live Trap, LLC of Hazelhurst, Wisconsin, an exclusive license to U.S. Patent No. 8,407,931, ‘‘TRAPPING METHOD AND APPARATUS’’, issued on April 2, 2013. DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 3, 2014. ADDRESSES: Send comments to: USDA, ARS, Office of Technology Transfer, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Rm. 4–1174, Beltsville, Maryland 20705–5131. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: June Blalock of the Office of Technology Transfer at the Beltsville address given above; telephone: 301–504–5989. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Federal Government’s patent rights in this invention are assigned to the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture. It is in the public interest to so license this invention as Tomahawk Live Trap, LLC of Hazelhurst, Wisconsin has submitted a complete and sufficient application for a license. The prospective exclusive license will be royalty-bearing and will comply with the terms and conditions of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7. The prospective exclusive license may be granted unless, within thirty (30) days from the date of this published Notice, the Agricultural Research Service receives written evidence and argument which establishes that the grant of the license would not be consistent with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7. SUMMARY: Mojdeh Bahar, Assistant Administrator. [FR Doc. 2014–04717 Filed 3–3–14; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410–03–P DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Agricultural Research Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of intent. AGENCY: DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Agricultural Research Service Agricultural Research Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of intent. AGENCY: VerDate Mar<15>2010 19:07 Mar 03, 2014 Jkt 232001 Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, intends to grant to LH Organics LLC of Moraga, California, an exclusive license to U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 13/ 485,877, ‘‘Bioactive Gypsum Starch Composition’’, filed on May 31, 2012. SUMMARY: Notice of Intent To Grant Exclusive License [FR Doc. 2014–04716 Filed 3–3–14; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410–03–P DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Information Collection; Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery ACTION: Notice of Intent To Grant Exclusive License [FR Doc. 2014–04715 Filed 3–3–14; 8:45 am] Mojdeh Bahar, Assistant Administrator. PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 4703 Forest Service, USDA. Notice; request for comment. AGENCY: BILLING CODE 3410–03–P Agricultural Research Service Mojdeh Bahar, Assistant Administrator. Comments must be received on or before April 3, 2014. ADDRESSES: Send comments to: USDA, ARS, Office of Technology Transfer, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Rm. 4–1174, Beltsville, Maryland 20705–5131. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: June Blalock of the Office of Technology Transfer at the Beltsville address given above; telephone: 301–504–5989. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Federal Government’s patent rights in this invention are assigned to the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture. It is in the public interest to so license this invention as LH Organics LLC of Moraga, California has submitted a complete and sufficient application for a license. The prospective exclusive license will be royalty-bearing and will comply with the terms and conditions of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7. The prospective exclusive license may be granted unless, within thirty (30) days from the date of this published Notice, the Agricultural Research Service receives written evidence and argument which establishes that the grant of the license would not be consistent with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7. DATES: Sfmt 4703 In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Forest Service is seeking comments from all interested individuals and organizations on the extension of a currently approved information collection, Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery. DATES: Comments must be received in writing on or before May 5, 2014 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date will be considered to the extent practicable. ADDRESSES: Comments concerning this notice should be addressed to the National Information Collections Officer, Office of Regulatory and SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\04MRN1.SGM 04MRN1 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 42 / Tuesday, March 4, 2014 / Notices Management Services, Mail Stop 1150, USDA Forest Service, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250. Comments also may be submitted by email to wdcota@fs.fed.us. Comments submitted in response to this notice may be made available to the public through relevant Web sites and upon request. For this reason, please do not include in your comments information of a confidential nature, such as sensitive personal information or proprietary information. If you send an email comment, your email address will be automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. Please note that responses to this public comment request containing any routine notice about the confidentiality of the communication will be treated as public comments that may be made available to the public notwithstanding the inclusion of the routine notice. The public may inspect the draft supporting statement and/or comments received at 201 14th Street SW., Washington, DC 20250, 1st floor CE, during normal business hours. Visitors are encouraged to call ahead to (202) 205–1319 to facilitate entry to the building. The public may request an electronic copy of the draft supporting statement and/or any comments received be sent via return email. Requests should be emailed to wdcota@fs.fed.us. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wolf Cota, National Information Collections Officer, by phone (202) 205– 1319 or by email wdcota@fs.fed.us. Individuals who use telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1–800– 877–8339 twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year, including holidays. tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery. OMB Number: 0596–0226. Expiration Date of Approval: 07/31/2014. Type of Request: Extension without change of a currently approved information collection. Abstract: This information collection activity provides a means to garner qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely manner, in accordance with the Agency’s commitment to improve service delivery. By qualitative feedback we mean information that provides useful VerDate Mar<15>2010 19:07 Mar 03, 2014 Jkt 232001 insights on perceptions and opinions, but are not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of study. This feedback will provide insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences and expectations, provide an early warning of issues with service, or focus attention on areas where communication, training or changes in operations might improve delivery of products or services. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative and actionable communications between the Agency and its customers and stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of program management. The solicitation of feedback will target areas such as: Timeliness, appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. Responses will be assessed to plan and inform efforts to improve or maintain the quality of service offered to the public. If this information is not collected, vital feedback from customers and stakeholders on the Agency’s services will be unavailable. The Agency will only submit a collection for approval under this generic clearance if it meets the following conditions: • The collections are voluntary; • The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government; • The collections are noncontroversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies; • Any collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the near future; • Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to the extent necessary and is not retained; • Information gathered is intended to be used only internally for general service improvement and program management purposes and is not intended for release outside of the agency (if released, the agency must indicate the qualitative nature of the information); • Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions; and • Information gathered will yield qualitative information; the collections will not be designed or expected to PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 12147 yield statistically reliable results or used as though the results are generalizable to the population of study. Feedback collected under this generic clearance provides useful information, but it does not yield data that can be generalized to the overall population. This type of generic clearance for qualitative information will not be used for quantitative information collections that are designed to yield reliably actionable results, such as monitoring trends over time or documenting program performance. Such data uses require more rigorous designs that address: The target population to which generalizations will be made, the sampling frame, the sample design (including stratification and clustering), the precision requirements or power calculations that justify the proposed sample size, the expected response rate, methods for assessing potential nonresponse bias, the protocols for data collection, and any testing procedures that were or will be undertaken prior to fielding the study. Depending on the degree of influence the results are likely to have, such collections may still be eligible for submission for other generic mechanisms that are designed to yield quantitative results. As a general matter, information collections will not result in any new system of records containing privacy information and will not ask questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private. Affected Public: Individuals and Households, Businesses and Organizations, State, Local or Tribal Government. Estimate of Burden per response: 1 to 60 minutes. Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 3,500,000. Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 1. Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 875,000 hours. Comment Is Invited Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval. All written comments received will be available for public inspection. Comment is invited on: (1) Whether this collection of information is necessary for the stated purposes and the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical or scientific utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate of the burden of the collection of information, including the E:\FR\FM\04MRN1.SGM 04MRN1 12148 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 42 / Tuesday, March 4, 2014 / Notices 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 respondents, including the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. All comments received in response to this notice, including names and addresses when provided, will be a matter of public record. Comments will be summarized and included in the submission request toward Office of Management and Budget approval. Send written comments to Sandy Henning, District Ranger, Paulina Ranger District, Ochoco National Forest, 3160 NE Third Street, Prineville, Oregon 97754. Alternately, electronic comments may be sent to comments-pacific northwest-ochoco@fs.fed.us. Electronic comments must be submitted as part of the actual email message, or as an attachment in plain text (.txt), Microsoft Word (.doc), rich text format (.rtf), or portable document format (.pdf). FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marcy Anderson, Project Leader, at 3160 NE Third Street, Prineville, Oregon 97754, or at (541) 416–6463, or by email at marcelleanderson@fs.fed.us. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: ADDRESSES: tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Dated: February 25, 2014. J Lenise Lago, Deputy Chief, Business Operations. Purpose and Need for Action The general purpose of entering this project area is to contribute to the [FR Doc. 2014–04655 Filed 3–3–14; 8:45 am] resiliency of the landscape and to BILLING CODE 3411–15–P promote vegetative conditions that are similar to what occurred historically. The project’s planning team is DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE considering management activities that would promote and sustain late and old Forest Service structured stands, increase resistance of forested vegetation to insects, disease Ochoco National Forest, Paulina and stand-replacing wildfire, and Ranger District; Oregon; Gap Fuels improve the condition of riparian and Vegetation Management Project vegetation. EIS Preliminary field work in the Gap project area indicated that vegetation AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. conditions in the project area have ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an departed from the historic condition in environmental impact statement. several ways: • Changes in tree species SUMMARY: The Ochoco National Forest is compositions. preparing an environmental impact • A reduction in late and old statement (EIS) to analyze the effects of structured forest. managing fuels and vegetation within • A reduction in open-canopy stands. the 38,145-acre Gap project area, which • An increased risk of large-scale loss is east of Prineville, Oregon. The project of forest to wildfire. • An increased risk of insect area includes National Forest System infestation and/or disease that can lands in the Upper North Fork Crooked impact forested stands. River and Horse Heaven Creek-Crooked • A decline in the condition of River Watersheds. The alternatives that riparian vegetation. will be analyzed include the proposed The Purpose and Need was developed action, no action, and additional based upon direction from the Ochoco alternatives that respond to issues Forest Plan and opportunities identified generated through the scoping process. during preliminary field visits. The Ochoco National Forest will give 1. There is a need to strategically notice of the full environmental analysis reduce forest vegetation density and fuel and decision making process so loadings towards a historic range of interested and affected people may variability to provide a range of forest participate and contribute to the final conditions and habitats that would decision. support historic disturbance processes, DATES: Comments concerning the scope native wildlife and plant species. of the analysis must be received by 2. There is a need to increase or April 3, 2014. The draft environmental maintain large tree structure and to impact statement is expected to be maintain the abundance of early-seral completed and available for public and fire tolerant species compositions, comment in November, 2014. The final i.e. ponderosa pine, western larch and environmental impact statement is Douglas-fir. 3. There is a need to improve riparian expected to be completed in March, conditions and associated upland 2015. VerDate Mar<15>2010 19:07 Mar 03, 2014 Jkt 232001 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 vegetation within Riparian Habitat Conservation Areas (RHCAs) and maintain and enhance hardwood communities. 4. There is a need to contribute to the local and regional economies by providing timber and other wood fiber products now and in the future. Proposed Action The proposed action includes a variety of management strategies and activities, including commercial thinning with follow-up precommercial thinning and/or prescribed burning (16,665 acres), precommercial thinning with prescribed burning (3,340 acres), meadow restoration (300 acres), riparian restoration (9 sites), and aspen stand restoration (30 sites). Implementation of the proposed action would require some connected actions; these include use of temporary roads on existing disturbance (23 miles), use of new temporary roads (8 miles), and road reconstruction (3 miles). The proposal also includes closure or decommissioning of 21 miles of roads in the project area. Responsible Official The responsible official will be Kate Klein, Forest Supervisor, Ochoco National Forest, 3160 NE Third Street, Prineville, Oregon 97754. Nature of Decision To Be Made Given the purpose and need, the deciding official will review the proposed action, the other alternatives, and the environmental consequences in order to decide whether and under what circumstances fuels and vegetation management will be implemented in the Gap Fuels and Vegetation project area. Preliminary Issues The project’s interdisciplinary team has developed a list of preliminary issues that will be used during the analysis of effects. Other issues may arise as a result of public comment and further analysis. Preliminary issues include: • Invasive Plant Species (Noxious Weeds). Several populations of noxious weeds are known to exist within the project area. There is a risk that management activities may exacerbate the weed situation by spreading existing populations or introducing new ones. • Peck’s Mariposa Lily. Management activities can improve habitat for this sensitive species, but also risk impacting individual plants and/or habitat where it occurs in the project area. • Soil Productivity. Maintenance of soil productivity is an important objective for management of National E:\FR\FM\04MRN1.SGM 04MRN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 4, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12146-12148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-04655]


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

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Information Collection; Generic Clearance for the Collection of 
Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; request for comment.

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

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Forest Service is seeking comments from all interested individuals and 
organizations on the extension of a currently approved information 
collection, Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative 
Feedback on Agency Service Delivery.

DATES: Comments must be received in writing on or before May 5, 2014 to 
be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date will be 
considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: Comments concerning this notice should be addressed to the 
National Information Collections Officer, Office of Regulatory and

[[Page 12147]]

Management Services, Mail Stop 1150, USDA Forest Service, 1400 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250.
    Comments also may be submitted by email to wdcota@fs.fed.us.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice may be made available 
to the public through relevant Web sites and upon request. For this 
reason, please do not include in your comments information of a 
confidential nature, such as sensitive personal information or 
proprietary information. If you send an email comment, your email 
address will be automatically captured and included as part of the 
comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the 
Internet. Please note that responses to this public comment request 
containing any routine notice about the confidentiality of the 
communication will be treated as public comments that may be made 
available to the public notwithstanding the inclusion of the routine 
notice.
    The public may inspect the draft supporting statement and/or 
comments received at 201 14th Street SW., Washington, DC 20250, 1st 
floor CE, during normal business hours. Visitors are encouraged to call 
ahead to (202) 205-1319 to facilitate entry to the building. The public 
may request an electronic copy of the draft supporting statement and/or 
any comments received be sent via return email. Requests should be 
emailed to wdcota@fs.fed.us.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wolf Cota, National Information 
Collections Officer, by phone (202) 205-1319 or by email 
wdcota@fs.fed.us. Individuals who use telecommunication devices for the 
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339 
twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year, including holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service Delivery.
    OMB Number: 0596-0226.
    Expiration Date of Approval: 07/31/2014.
    Type of Request: Extension without change of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Abstract: This information collection activity provides a means to 
garner qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, 
timely manner, in accordance with the Agency's commitment to improve 
service delivery.
    By qualitative feedback we mean information that provides useful 
insights on perceptions and opinions, but are not statistical surveys 
that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the 
population of study. This feedback will provide insights into customer 
or stakeholder perceptions, experiences and expectations, provide an 
early warning of issues with service, or focus attention on areas where 
communication, training or changes in operations might improve delivery 
of products or services. These collections will allow for ongoing, 
collaborative and actionable communications between the Agency and its 
customers and stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to contribute 
directly to the improvement of program management.
    The solicitation of feedback will target areas such as: Timeliness, 
appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of 
service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. 
Responses will be assessed to plan and inform efforts to improve or 
maintain the quality of service offered to the public. If this 
information is not collected, vital feedback from customers and 
stakeholders on the Agency's services will be unavailable.
    The Agency will only submit a collection for approval under this 
generic clearance if it meets the following conditions:
     The collections are voluntary;
     The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on 
considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or 
burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents 
and the Federal Government;
     The collections are noncontroversial and do not raise 
issues of concern to other Federal agencies;
     Any collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions 
from respondents who have experience with the program or may have 
experience with the program in the near future;
     Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected 
only to the extent necessary and is not retained;
     Information gathered is intended to be used only 
internally for general service improvement and program management 
purposes and is not intended for release outside of the agency (if 
released, the agency must indicate the qualitative nature of the 
information);
     Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of 
substantially informing influential policy decisions; and
     Information gathered will yield qualitative information; 
the collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically 
reliable results or used as though the results are generalizable to the 
population of study.
    Feedback collected under this generic clearance provides useful 
information, but it does not yield data that can be generalized to the 
overall population. This type of generic clearance for qualitative 
information will not be used for quantitative information collections 
that are designed to yield reliably actionable results, such as 
monitoring trends over time or documenting program performance. Such 
data uses require more rigorous designs that address: The target 
population to which generalizations will be made, the sampling frame, 
the sample design (including stratification and clustering), the 
precision requirements or power calculations that justify the proposed 
sample size, the expected response rate, methods for assessing 
potential nonresponse bias, the protocols for data collection, and any 
testing procedures that were or will be undertaken prior to fielding 
the study. Depending on the degree of influence the results are likely 
to have, such collections may still be eligible for submission for 
other generic mechanisms that are designed to yield quantitative 
results.
    As a general matter, information collections will not result in any 
new system of records containing privacy information and will not ask 
questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, 
religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered 
private.
    Affected Public: Individuals and Households, Businesses and 
Organizations, State, Local or Tribal Government.
    Estimate of Burden per response: 1 to 60 minutes.
    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 3,500,000.
    Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 875,000 hours.

Comment Is Invited

    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval. All written comments 
received will be available for public inspection.
    Comment is invited on: (1) Whether this collection of information 
is necessary for the stated purposes and the proper performance of the 
functions of the agency, including whether the information will have 
practical or scientific utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's 
estimate of the burden of the collection of information, including the

[[Page 12148]]

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 
respondents, including the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or 
other technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    All comments received in response to this notice, including names 
and addresses when provided, will be a matter of public record. 
Comments will be summarized and included in the submission request 
toward Office of Management and Budget approval.

     Dated: February 25, 2014.
J Lenise Lago,
Deputy Chief, Business Operations.
[FR Doc. 2014-04655 Filed 3-3-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411-15-P
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