Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To Reinstate an Information Collection, 22092-22094 [2014-09007]
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22092
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 76 / Monday, April 21, 2014 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Grain Inspection, Packers and
Stockyards Administration
Amended Opportunity for Designation
in the Bloomington and Decatur, IL
Areas; Request for Comments on the
Official Agency Servicing This Area
Grain Inspection, Packers and
Stockyards Administration (GIPSA),
USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
Central Illinois Grain
Inspection, Inc. (Central Illinois)
purchased Decatur Grain Inspection,
Inc. (Decatur) and met the requirements
specified in 7 CFR 800.196 (f)(2). A
Federal Register Notice (79 FR 3172)
was published to amend Central Illinois’
designation to include the former
Decatur geographic area and was
effective October 17, 2013 to March 31,
2014. In view of this, GIPSA is
providing an additional opportunity to
apply for designation for Central
Illinois’ amended geographic area.
GIPSA is designating Central Illinois to
provide official services in the amended
geographic area until a designee is
selected and announced in the Federal
Register. This period is not to exceed
one year. We are asking persons or
government agencies interested in
providing official services in the areas
presently served by this agency to
submit an application for designation.
In addition, we are providing an
additional opportunity for comments on
the quality of services provided by
Central Illinois.
DATES: Applications and comments
must be received by May 21, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Submit applications and
comments concerning this notice using
any of the following methods:
• Applying for Designation on the
Internet: Use FGISOnline (https://
fgis.gipsa.usda.gov/default_home_
FGIS.aspx) and then click on the
Delegations/Designations and Export
Registrations (DDR) link. You will need
to obtain an FGISOnline customer
number and USDA eAuthentication
username and password prior to
applying.
• Submit Comments Using the
Internet: Go to Regulations.gov (https://
www.regulations.gov). Instructions for
submitting and reading comments are
detailed on the site.
• Mail, Courier or Hand Delivery: Eric
J. Jabs, Acting Director, USDA, GIPSA,
FGIS, QACD, 10383 North Ambassador
Drive, Kansas City, MO 64153.
• Fax: Eric J. Jabs, 816–872–1257.
• Email: Eric.J.Jabs@usda.gov.
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SUMMARY:
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Jkt 232001
Read Applications and Comments:
All applications and comments will be
available for public inspection at the
office above during regular business
hours (7 CFR 1.27(c)).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric
J. Jabs, 816–659–8408 or Eric.J.Jabs@
usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section
79(f) of the United States Grain
Standards Act (USGSA) authorizes the
Secretary to designate a qualified
applicant to provide official services in
a specified area after determining that
the applicant is better able than any
other applicant to provide such official
services (7 U.S.C. 79 (f)). Under section
79(g) of the USGSA, designations of
official agencies are effective for three
years unless terminated by the
Secretary, but may be renewed
according to the criteria and procedures
prescribed in section 79(f) of the
USGSA.
Areas Open for Designation
Central Illinois
Pursuant to Section 79(f)(2) of the
United States Grain Standards Act, the
following geographic area, in the State
of Illinois, is assigned to this official
agency. In Illinois
Bounded on the North by State Route
18 east to U.S. Route 51; U.S. Route 51
south to State Route 17; State Route 17
east to Livingston County; and the
Livingston County line east to State
Route 47;
Bounded on the East by State Route
47 south to State Route 116; State Route
116 west to Pontiac, which intersects
with a straight line running north and
south through Arrowsmith to the
southern McLean County line; the
southern McLean County line east to the
eastern DeWitt County line; the eastern
DeWitt County Line; the eastern Macon
County line south to Interstate 72;
Interstate 72 northeast to the eastern
Piatt County line; the eastern Piatt,
Moultrie, and Shelby County lines;
Bounded on the South by the
southern Shelby County line; and a
straight line running along the southern
Montgomery County line west to State
Route 16 to a point approximately one
mile northeast of Irving;
Bounded on the West by a straight
line from this point northeast to
Stonington on State Route 48; a straight
line from Stonington northwest to
Elkhart on Interstate 55; a straight line
from Elkhart northeast to the west side
of Beason on State Route 10; State Route
10 west to the Logan County line; the
western Logan County line; the southern
Tazewell County line; the western
Tazewell County line; the western
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Peoria County line north to Interstate
74; Interstate 74 southeast to State Route
116; State Route 116 north to State
Route 26; and State Route 26 north to
State Route 18.
The following grain elevators are not
part of this geographic area assignment
and are assigned to: ChampaignDanville Grain Inspection Departments,
Inc.: East Lincoln Farmers Grain Co.,
Lincoln, Logan County, Illinois; Okaw
Cooperative, Cadwell, Moultrie County;
ADM (3 elevators), Farmer City, Dewitt
County; and Topflight Grain Company,
Monticello, Piatt County, Illinois.
Opportunity for Designation
Interested persons or government
agencies may apply for designation to
provide official services in the
geographic areas specified above under
the provisions of section 79(f) of the
USGSA and 7 CFR 800.196. Designation
in the specified geographic area is for a
period ending March 31, 2017. To apply
for designation or for more information,
contact Eric J. Jabs at the address listed
above or visit GIPSA’s Web site at
https://www.gipsa.usda.gov.
Request for Comments
We are publishing this notice to
provide interested persons the
opportunity to comment on the quality
of services provided by the Central
Illinois official agency. In the
designation process, we are particularly
interested in receiving comments citing
reasons and pertinent data supporting or
objecting to the designation of the
applicants. Submit all comments to Eric
J. Jabs at the above address or at
https://www.regulations.gov.
We consider applications, comments,
and other available information when
determining which applicants will be
designated.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 71–87k.
Susan Keith,
Acting Administrator, Grain Inspection,
Packers and Stockyards Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014–08999 Filed 4–18–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–KD–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To
Reinstate an Information Collection
National Agricultural Statistics
Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\21APN1.SGM
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ehiers on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 76 / Monday, April 21, 2014 / Notices
notice announces the intention of the
National Agricultural Statistics Service
(NASS) to seek reinstatement of an
information collection, the 2014 Tenure,
Ownership and Transition of
Agricultural Land (TOTAL) survey,
formerly known as the Agricultural
Economics and Land Ownership Survey
(AELOS).
DATES: Comments on this notice must be
received by June 20, 2014 to be assured
of consideration.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by docket number 0535–0240,
2014 TOTAL, by any of the following
methods:
• Email: ombofficer@nass.usda.gov.
Include docket number above in the
subject line of the message.
• Fax: (202) 720–6396.
• Mail: Mail any paper, disk, or CD–
ROM submissions to: David Hancock,
NASS Clearance Officer, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Room 5336
South Building, 1400 Independence
Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250–
2024.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: Hand
deliver to: David Hancock, NASS
Clearance Officer, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Room 5336 South Building,
1400 Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20250–2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Joseph T. Reilly, Associate
Administrator, National Agricultural
Statistics Service, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, (202) 720–4333. Copies of
this information collection and related
instructions can be obtained without
charge from David Hancock, NASS
Clearance Officer, at (202) 690–2388.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: 2014
TOTAL.
OMB Control Number: 0535–0240.
Type of Request: Intent to Seek
Reinstatement of an Information
Collection.
Abstract: The National Agricultural
Statistics Service (NASS) of the United
States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) will request approval from the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for the 2014 Tenure, Ownership
and Transition of Agricultural Land
(TOTAL) surveys to be conducted as
follow-on surveys to the 2012 Census of
Agriculture and are authorized by the
Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of
2008 as amended.
The 2014 TOTAL surveys will be
conducted in 2015, referencing the
calendar year of 2014. In 2015 the
Agricultural Resource Management
Survey (ARMS) Phase III (OMB # 0535–
0218) will be suspended for a period of
1 year. The scope of the TOTAL survey
is greater than that of the ARMS III
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Jkt 232001
survey. To maintain the ARMS III data
series, data will be gleaned from the
TOTAL surveys to replace the 2014
ARMS collection.
The TOTAL survey will be conducted
in two phases. The first phase will be
the creation of a list of land owners who
rent out land for agricultural purposes.
These landlords will be excluded from
the sample if they are also active farm
or ranch operators as these entities are
part of the phase II version 1 sampling
population discussed below. The area
segments that are used during our June
Area Survey (OMB # 0535–0213) will be
used as the target areas. We will
compare the land inside these segments
with land ownership data from the Farm
Services Agency (FSA) along with
property tax information purchased
from CoreLogic (a privately owned
company). After the removal of any
duplication within this list we will have
our target sample for the Landlord only
version of the survey which will be
conducted in Phase 2. The current
NASS List Frame of known farmers and
ranchers will be used to create the
sample for the Operator version of the
survey. No list building will be
conducted in Phase 1 for the operator
questionnaire.
The second phase of the survey will
include data collection and reporting
using two versions of the TOTAL
questionnaires. Version 1 of the TOTAL
survey will target farm and ranch
operators in the 48 contiguous States.
The sample will be drawn from a list of
all known farming operations that sold
at least $1,000 in agricultural products
in 2014. The stratified sample will be
representative of the farm operator
population. The sample will be large
enough to publish State level data for
the 25 largest agricultural producing
States based on value of sales. These 25
core States account for an average rate
of 85.5% of the total value of
agricultural products produced in the
three year period of 2010–2012. Version
2 of the TOTAL survey will target
individuals who own and rent out farm
land. Individuals who are both farm
operators and landlords will be
excluded from the Version 2 sample
since they are included in the Version
1 sample population. The Version 2
population should be large enough to
publish State level data for the 25 core
States. The remaining 23 States that will
be included in the survey will have
their data combined in the all other
States category, so that US level
estimates can be published.
Data collection for both Versions
should begin around January 1, 2015,
using 2014 as the reference period. A
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22093
final report is targeted to be published
in August 2015.
Authority: The Tenure, Ownership and
Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL)
surveys are required by law under the
‘‘Census of Agriculture Act of 1997,’’ Pub. L.
105–113, 7 U.S.C. 2204(g) as amended. These
data will be collected under the authority of
7 U.S.C. 2204(a). Individually identifiable
data collected under this authority are
governed by Section 1770 of the Food
Security Act of 1985 as amended, 7 U.S.C.
2276, which requires USDA to afford strict
confidentiality to non-aggregated data
provided by respondents. This Notice is
submitted in accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104–13 (44
U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) and Office of
Management and Budget regulations at 5 CFR
part 1320.
NASS also complies with OMB
Implementation Guidance,
‘‘Implementation Guidance for Title V
of the E-Government Act, Confidential
Information Protection and Statistical
Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA),’’
Federal Register, Vol. 72, No. 115, June
15, 2007, p. 33362. The law guarantees
farm operators that their individual
information will be kept confidential.
NASS uses the information only for
statistical purposes and publishes only
tabulated total data. These data are used
by Congress when developing, updating,
or changing farm programs. These data
will also be used to produce estimates
of sector-wide production expenditures
and other components of income that
are used in constructing the estimates of
income and value-added which are
transmitted to the U.S. Department of
Commerce, Bureau of Economic
Analysis, by the USDA Economic
Research Service (ERS) for use in
constructing economy-wide estimates of
Gross Domestic Product. The data will
also be used to construct demographic
data on the owners and operators of
farm land in the United States and their
potential transition strategies.
Many national and state programs are
designed or allocated based on these
data. Farm operators, landlords, and
financial institutions rely on these data
to make informed business decisions
when selling or renting land, applying
for business loans, or making decisions
on expanding or diversifying their
operations.
Estimate of Burden: Public reporting
burden for Version 1 (farm operators) is
estimated to average 90 minutes per
response. Public reporting burden for
Version 2 (landlords only) is estimated
to average 60 minutes per response.
Multiple data collection modes will be
incorporated to help minimize data
collection costs. The questionnaires will
be available on the internet to the
targeted sample. NASS will mail the
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22094
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 76 / Monday, April 21, 2014 / Notices
ehiers on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
questionnaires to the respondents at
least twice and may use autodial or a
postcard reminder, before attempting
phone or personal interviews to collect
the data.
Respondents: Version 1—farm
operators: Version 2 landlords who rent
out farm land but do not operate farms.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
45,000 farm or ranch operators and
45,000 landlords who do not operate
farms or ranches.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 132,000 hours. In order to
minimize data collection costs, NASS
will attempt to collect data by utilizing
an internet version of the questionnaire
as well as the U.S. Postal Service. NASS
will then attempt to collect the data
from non-respondents by either phone
or personal enumeration. With the
initial mailing, respondents will be
provided with instructions on how to
access the internet and complete the
questionnaire on line.
The primary objectives of the National
Agricultural Statistics Service are to
prepare and issue State and national
estimates of crop production, livestock
production, economic statistics, and
environmental statistics related to
agriculture and to conduct the Census of
Agriculture and it’s follow on surveys,
which includes the TOTAL surveys.
Comments: Comments are invited on:
(a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate
of the burden of the proposed collection
of information including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used;
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility,
and clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on those who are to respond, through
the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, technological or
other forms of information technology
collection methods.
All responses to this notice will
become a matter of public record and be
summarized in the request for OMB
approval.
Signed at Washington, DC, April 10, 2014.
Joseph T. Reilly,
Associate Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2014–09007 Filed 4–18–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–20–P
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
National Institute of Food and
Agriculture
Notice of Request for Applications for
the Veterinary Medicine Loan
Repayment Program
National Institute of Food and
Agriculture, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The National Institute of Food
and Agriculture (NIFA) is announcing
the release of the Veterinary Medicine
Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP)
Request for Applications (RFA) at
www.nifa.usda.gov/vmlrp.
DATES: The fiscal year (FY) 2014
Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment
Program (VMLRP) application package
will be available at www.nifa.usda.gov/
vmlrp on Monday, April 21, 2014 and
applications are due by Friday, June 6,
2014.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary
Sherman; National Program Leader,
Veterinary Science; National Institute of
Food and Agriculture; U.S. Department
of Agriculture; STOP 2240, 1400
Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20250–2240; Voice:
202–401–4952; Fax: 202–401–6156;
Email: gsherman@nifa.usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
Background and Purpose
In January 2003, the National
Veterinary Medical Service Act
(NVMSA) was passed into law adding
section 1415A to the National
Agricultural Research, Extension, and
Teaching Policy Act of 1997
(NARETPA). This law established a new
Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment
Program (7 U.S.C. 3151a) authorizing
the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out
a program of entering into agreements
with veterinarians under which they
agree to provide veterinary services in
veterinarian shortage situations.
On January 17, 2014, the President
signed into law the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2014 (Pub. L. 113–
76), which appropriated $4,790,000 for
the VMLRP.
Section 7105 of FCEA amended
section 1415A to revise the
determination of veterinarian shortage
situations to consider (1) geographical
areas that the Secretary determines have
a shortage of veterinarians; and (2) areas
of veterinary practice that the Secretary
determines have a shortage of
veterinarians, such as food animal
medicine, public health, epidemiology,
and food safety. This section also added
that priority should be given to
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agreements with veterinarians for the
practice of food animal medicine in
veterinarian shortage situations.
NARETPA section 1415A requires the
Secretary, when determining the
amount of repayment for a year of
service by a veterinarian to consider the
ability of USDA to maximize the
number of agreements from the amounts
appropriated and to provide an
incentive to serve in veterinary service
shortage areas with the greatest need.
This section also provides that loan
repayments may consist of payments of
the principal and interest on
government and commercial loans
received by the individual for the
attendance of the individual at an
accredited college of veterinary
medicine resulting in a degree of Doctor
of Veterinary Medicine or the
equivalent. This program is not
authorized to provide repayments for
any government or commercial loans
incurred during the pursuit of another
degree, such as an associate or bachelor
degree. Loans eligible for repayment
include educational loans made for one
or more of the following: Loans for
tuition expenses; other reasonable
educational expenses, including fees,
books, and laboratory expenses,
incurred by the individual; and
reasonable living expenses as
determined by the Secretary. In
addition, the Secretary is directed to
make such additional payments to
participants as the Secretary determines
appropriate for the purpose of providing
reimbursements to participants for
individual tax liability resulting from
participation in this program. Finally,
this section requires USDA to
promulgate regulations within 270 days
of the enactment of FCEA (i.e., June 18,
2008). The Secretary delegated the
authority to carry out this program to
NIFA.
The final rule was published in the
Federal Register on April 19, 2010 (75
FR 20239–20248). Based on comments
received during the 60-day comment
period upon publication of the interim
rule on July 9, 2009 (74 FR 32788–
32798), NIFA reconsidered the policy
regarding individuals who consolidated
their veterinary school loans with other
educational loans (e.g. undergraduate)
and their eligibility to apply for the
VMLRP. NIFA will allow these
individuals to apply for and receive a
VMLRP award; however, only the
eligible portion of the consolidation will
be repaid by the VMLRP. Furthermore,
applicants with consolidated loans will
be asked to provide a complete history
of their student loans from the National
Student Loan Database System (NSLDS),
a central database for student aid
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 76 (Monday, April 21, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22092-22094]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-09007]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To Reinstate an Information
Collection
AGENCY: National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
[[Page 22093]]
notice announces the intention of the National Agricultural Statistics
Service (NASS) to seek reinstatement of an information collection, the
2014 Tenure, Ownership and Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL)
survey, formerly known as the Agricultural Economics and Land Ownership
Survey (AELOS).
DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by June 20, 2014 to be
assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number 0535-
0240, 2014 TOTAL, by any of the following methods:
Email: ombofficer@nass.usda.gov. Include docket number
above in the subject line of the message.
Fax: (202) 720-6396.
Mail: Mail any paper, disk, or CD-ROM submissions to:
David Hancock, NASS Clearance Officer, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Room 5336 South Building, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC
20250-2024.
Hand Delivery/Courier: Hand deliver to: David Hancock,
NASS Clearance Officer, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Room 5336 South
Building, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph T. Reilly, Associate
Administrator, National Agricultural Statistics Service, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, (202) 720-4333. Copies of this information
collection and related instructions can be obtained without charge from
David Hancock, NASS Clearance Officer, at (202) 690-2388.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: 2014 TOTAL.
OMB Control Number: 0535-0240.
Type of Request: Intent to Seek Reinstatement of an Information
Collection.
Abstract: The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of
the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will request
approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the 2014
Tenure, Ownership and Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) surveys
to be conducted as follow-on surveys to the 2012 Census of Agriculture
and are authorized by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 as
amended.
The 2014 TOTAL surveys will be conducted in 2015, referencing the
calendar year of 2014. In 2015 the Agricultural Resource Management
Survey (ARMS) Phase III (OMB 0535-0218) will be suspended for
a period of 1 year. The scope of the TOTAL survey is greater than that
of the ARMS III survey. To maintain the ARMS III data series, data will
be gleaned from the TOTAL surveys to replace the 2014 ARMS collection.
The TOTAL survey will be conducted in two phases. The first phase
will be the creation of a list of land owners who rent out land for
agricultural purposes. These landlords will be excluded from the sample
if they are also active farm or ranch operators as these entities are
part of the phase II version 1 sampling population discussed below. The
area segments that are used during our June Area Survey (OMB
0535-0213) will be used as the target areas. We will compare the land
inside these segments with land ownership data from the Farm Services
Agency (FSA) along with property tax information purchased from
CoreLogic (a privately owned company). After the removal of any
duplication within this list we will have our target sample for the
Landlord only version of the survey which will be conducted in Phase 2.
The current NASS List Frame of known farmers and ranchers will be used
to create the sample for the Operator version of the survey. No list
building will be conducted in Phase 1 for the operator questionnaire.
The second phase of the survey will include data collection and
reporting using two versions of the TOTAL questionnaires. Version 1 of
the TOTAL survey will target farm and ranch operators in the 48
contiguous States. The sample will be drawn from a list of all known
farming operations that sold at least $1,000 in agricultural products
in 2014. The stratified sample will be representative of the farm
operator population. The sample will be large enough to publish State
level data for the 25 largest agricultural producing States based on
value of sales. These 25 core States account for an average rate of
85.5% of the total value of agricultural products produced in the three
year period of 2010-2012. Version 2 of the TOTAL survey will target
individuals who own and rent out farm land. Individuals who are both
farm operators and landlords will be excluded from the Version 2 sample
since they are included in the Version 1 sample population. The Version
2 population should be large enough to publish State level data for the
25 core States. The remaining 23 States that will be included in the
survey will have their data combined in the all other States category,
so that US level estimates can be published.
Data collection for both Versions should begin around January 1,
2015, using 2014 as the reference period. A final report is targeted to
be published in August 2015.
Authority: The Tenure, Ownership and Transition of Agricultural
Land (TOTAL) surveys are required by law under the ``Census of
Agriculture Act of 1997,'' Pub. L. 105-113, 7 U.S.C. 2204(g) as
amended. These data will be collected under the authority of 7
U.S.C. 2204(a). Individually identifiable data collected under this
authority are governed by Section 1770 of the Food Security Act of
1985 as amended, 7 U.S.C. 2276, which requires USDA to afford strict
confidentiality to non-aggregated data provided by respondents. This
Notice is submitted in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995, Pub. L. 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) and Office of
Management and Budget regulations at 5 CFR part 1320.
NASS also complies with OMB Implementation Guidance,
``Implementation Guidance for Title V of the E-Government Act,
Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of
2002 (CIPSEA),'' Federal Register, Vol. 72, No. 115, June 15, 2007, p.
33362. The law guarantees farm operators that their individual
information will be kept confidential. NASS uses the information only
for statistical purposes and publishes only tabulated total data. These
data are used by Congress when developing, updating, or changing farm
programs. These data will also be used to produce estimates of sector-
wide production expenditures and other components of income that are
used in constructing the estimates of income and value-added which are
transmitted to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic
Analysis, by the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) for use in
constructing economy-wide estimates of Gross Domestic Product. The data
will also be used to construct demographic data on the owners and
operators of farm land in the United States and their potential
transition strategies.
Many national and state programs are designed or allocated based on
these data. Farm operators, landlords, and financial institutions rely
on these data to make informed business decisions when selling or
renting land, applying for business loans, or making decisions on
expanding or diversifying their operations.
Estimate of Burden: Public reporting burden for Version 1 (farm
operators) is estimated to average 90 minutes per response. Public
reporting burden for Version 2 (landlords only) is estimated to average
60 minutes per response. Multiple data collection modes will be
incorporated to help minimize data collection costs. The questionnaires
will be available on the internet to the targeted sample. NASS will
mail the
[[Page 22094]]
questionnaires to the respondents at least twice and may use autodial
or a postcard reminder, before attempting phone or personal interviews
to collect the data.
Respondents: Version 1--farm operators: Version 2 landlords who
rent out farm land but do not operate farms.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 45,000 farm or ranch operators and
45,000 landlords who do not operate farms or ranches.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 132,000 hours. In
order to minimize data collection costs, NASS will attempt to collect
data by utilizing an internet version of the questionnaire as well as
the U.S. Postal Service. NASS will then attempt to collect the data
from non-respondents by either phone or personal enumeration. With the
initial mailing, respondents will be provided with instructions on how
to access the internet and complete the questionnaire on line.
The primary objectives of the National Agricultural Statistics
Service are to prepare and issue State and national estimates of crop
production, livestock production, economic statistics, and
environmental statistics related to agriculture and to conduct the
Census of Agriculture and it's follow on surveys, which includes the
TOTAL surveys.
Comments: Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the agency, including whether the information will
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of
the burden of the proposed collection of information including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected;
and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, technological or other forms of information
technology collection methods.
All responses to this notice will become a matter of public record
and be summarized in the request for OMB approval.
Signed at Washington, DC, April 10, 2014.
Joseph T. Reilly,
Associate Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2014-09007 Filed 4-18-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-20-P
