Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, 5404 [2019-02987]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 35 (Thursday, February 21, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 5404]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-02987]


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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 35 / Thursday, February 21, 2019 / 
Notices

[[Page 5404]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

February 15, 2019.
    The Department of Agriculture will submit the following information 
collection requirement(s) to OMB for review and clearance under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 on or after the date 
of publication of this notice. Comments are requested regarding: (1) 
Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of burden including the 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 those who are to 
respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology should be addressed to: Desk 
Officer for Agriculture, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), New Executive Office Building, 
Washington, DC; New Executive Office Building, 725 17th Street NW, 
Washington, DC 20503. Commenters are encouraged to submit their 
comments to OMB via email to: OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov or fax (202) 
395-5806 and to Departmental Clearance Office, USDA, OCIO, Mail Stop 
7602, Washington, DC 20250-7602.
    Comments regarding these information collections are best assured 
of having their full effect if received by March 25, 2019. Copies of 
the submission(s) may be obtained by calling (202) 720-8681.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information 
unless the collection of information displays a currently valid OMB 
control number and the agency informs potential persons who are to 
respond to the collection of information that such persons are not 
required to respond to the collection of information unless it displays 
a currently valid OMB control number.

National Agricultural Statistics Service

    Title: Generic Clearance of Survey Improvement Projects.
    OMB Control Number: 0535-0248.
    Summary of Collection: The primary objectives of the National 
Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) are to prepare and issue State 
and national estimates of crop and livestock production, economic and 
environmental statistics related to agriculture and to conduct the 
Census of Agriculture under the general authority of Title 7 U.S.C. 
2204. The purpose of this generic clearance is to allow NASS to respond 
quickly to emerging issues and data collection needs. NASS will 
continue to develop, test, evaluate, adopt, and use state-of-the-art 
techniques to cover a broad range of topics designed to improve NASS' 
data collection on agriculture.
    Need and Use of the Information: NASS will use a number of survey 
improvement techniques, as appropriate to the individual project under 
investigation. These include focus groups, cognitive and usability 
laboratory and field techniques, exploratory interviews, behavior 
coding, respondent debriefing, pilot surveys and split-panel tests. The 
information gathered will be used mainly for questionnaire development 
and other research and evaluation. Additionally, NASS anticipates the 
benefit of increased response rates through improved survey design, a 
goal tied directly to addressing OMB requirements for higher response 
rates and measurement of non-response bias.
    Description of Respondents: Farms.
    Number of Respondents: 50,000.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On occasion.
    Total Burden Hours: 30,000.

National Agricultural Statistics Service

    Title: Quick Response for Cooperative-Funded Surveys Generic 
Clearance.
    OMB Control Number: 0535-NEW.
    Summary of Collection: The primary objectives of the National 
Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) are to prepare and issue State 
and national estimates of crop and livestock production, economic and 
environmental statistics related to agriculture and to conduct the 
Census of Agriculture under the general authority of Title 7 U.S.C. 
2204. This generic clearance covers a variety of surveys that will 
provide valuable statistics to sponsoring cooperators. These data are 
needed by the cooperators in time frames that make individual 
clearances impractical.
    Need and Use of the Information: NASS would like to conduct up to 
15 surveys each year in response to requests from cooperators who have 
data needs that cannot be met through NASS's annual Congressional 
appropriations. NASS would like to include surveys that would cover 
topics such as: Farm management practices, food safety, workplace 
safety, conservation and land use practices, chemical use management 
practices, crop quality, agri-tourism, local foods, or other specific 
agricultural promotion programs.
    Description of Respondents: Farms.
    Number of Respondents: 75,000.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On occasion.
    Total Burden Hours: 37,157.

Kimble Brown,
Departmental Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2019-02987 Filed 2-20-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-20-P