Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments, 10653 [2016-04455]

Agencies

• Geological Survey
• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 40 (Tuesday, March 1, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Page 10653]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04455]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

 Geological Survey

[GX.16.GG00.99600.00]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments

AGENCY: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of an extension of an information collection (1028-
0051).

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SUMMARY: We (the U.S. Geological Survey) are notifying the public that 
we have submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) the 
information collection request (ICR) described below. To comply with 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and as part of our continuing 
efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, we invite the 
general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to 
comment on this ICR. This collection is scheduled to expire on April 
30, 2016.

DATE:  To ensure that your comments on this ICR are considered, OMB 
must receive them on or before March 31, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Please submit written comments on this information 
collection directly to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attention: Desk Officer 
for the Department of the Interior via email: 
(OIRA_SUBMISSION@omb.eop.gov) or fax at 202-395-5806; and identify your 
submission with `OMB Control Number 1028-0051 Earthquake Hazards 
Program Research and Monitoring'. Please also forward a copy of your 
comments and suggestions on this information collection to the 
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 
Sunrise Valley Drive MS 807, Reston, VA 20192 (mail); (703) 648-7199 
(fax); or gs-info_collections@usgs.gov (email). Please reference `OMB 
Control Number 1028-0051 Earthquake Hazards Program Research and 
Monitoring' in all correspondence.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Pratt, Earthquake Hazards 
Program, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Mail Stop 
905, Reston, VA 20192 (mail); 703-648-6709 (phone); or tpratt@usgs.gov 
(email). You may also find information about this ICR at 
www.reginfo.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    Research and monitoring findings are essential to fulfilling USGS's 
responsibility under the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act to develop 
earthquake hazard assessments and recording earthquake activity 
nationwide. Residents, emergency responders, and engineers rely on the 
USGS for this accurate and scientifically sound information. The 
Earthquake Hazards Program funds external investigators to carry out 
these important activities. In response to our Program Announcements 
investigators submit proposals for research and monitoring activities 
on earthquake hazard assessments, earthquake causes and effects, and 
earthquake monitoring. This information is used as the basis for 
selection and award of projects meeting the USGS's Earthquake Hazards 
Program objectives. Final reports of research and monitoring findings 
are required for each funded proposal; annual progress reports are 
required for awards of a two- to five-year duration. Final reports are 
made available to the public at the Web site https://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/external/.

II. Data

    OMB Control Number: 1028-0051.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Title: Earthquake Hazards Program Research and Monitoring.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required in order to obtain or retain 
benefits.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually and once every two to five years.
    Description of Respondents: Research scientists, engineers, and the 
general public.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 350 responses in total, 
consisting of 250 applications and narratives and 100 annual and final 
reports.
    Estimated Time per Response: 45 hours per proposal application 
response and 12 hours per final or annual progress report.
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 12,450 (11,250 hours per application 
and 1200 hours per final or annual progress report).
    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' Burden: 
There are no ``non-hour cost'' burdens associated with this IC.
    Public Disclosure Statement: The PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) 
provides that an agency may not conduct or sponsor and you are not 
required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid OMB control number. Until the OMB approves a collection 
of information, you are not obliged to respond.
    Comments: On November 5, 2015, we published a Federal Register 
notice (80 FR 68557) announcing that we would submit this ICR to OMB 
for approval and soliciting comments. The comment period closed on 
January 4, 2016. We received no comments.

III. Request for Comments

    We again invite comments concerning this ICR as to: (a) Whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the agency to 
perform its duties, including whether the information is useful; (b) 
the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed 
collection of information; (c) how to enhance the quality, usefulness, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) how to minimize 
the burden on the respondents, including the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Please note that comments submitted in response to this notice are 
a matter of public record. Before including your personal mailing 
address, phone number, email address, or other personally identifiable 
information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire 
comment, including your personally identifiable information, may be 
made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us and the OMB 
in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from 
public review, we cannot guarantee that it will be done.

William Leith,
Senior Science Advisor for Earthquake and Geologic Hazards.
[FR Doc. 2016-04455 Filed 2-29-16; 8:45 am]
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