Agency Information Collection Activities; Evaluating Connections: BOEM's Environmental Studies and Assessments, 22451-22453 [2021-08797]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 28, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22451-22453]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-08797]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

[OMB Control Number 1010-New; Docket ID: BOEM-2017-0016]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Evaluating Connections: 
BOEM's Environmental Studies and Assessments

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is proposing a new information 
collection request (ICR).

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
June 28, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on this ICR by mail to the BOEM 
Information Collection Clearance Officer, Anna Atkinson, Bureau of 
Ocean Energy Management, 45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, Virginia 20166; 
or by email to [email protected]. Please reference OMB Control 
Number 1010-NEW in the subject line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this ICR, contact Anna Atkinson by email at 
[email protected], or by telephone at 703-787-1025.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork

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Reduction Act of 1995, BOEM provides the general public and other 
Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on new, proposed, 
revised, and continuing collections of information. This helps BOEM 
assess the impact of its information collection requirements and 
minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public 
understand BOEM's information collection requirements and provide the 
requested data in the desired format.
    BOEM is soliciting comments on the proposed ICR described below. 
BOEM is especially interested in public comments addressing the 
following issues: (1) Is the collection necessary to the proper 
functions of BOEM; (2) what can BOEM do to ensure that this information 
is processed and used in a timely manner; (3) is the burden estimate 
accurate; (4) how might BOEM enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 
of the information to be collected; and (5) how might BOEM minimize the 
burden of this collection on the respondents, including minimizing the 
burden through the use of information technology?
    Comments submitted in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. BOEM will include or summarize each comment in its 
request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval of 
this ICR. You should be aware that your entire comment--including your 
address, phone number, email address, or other personally identifiable 
information included in your comment--may be made publicly available. 
In order to inform BOEM to withhold from disclosure your personally 
identifiable information, you must identify any information contained 
in your comment that, if released, would constitute a clearly 
unwarranted invasion of your personal privacy. You also must briefly 
describe any possible harmful consequences of disclosure of that 
information, such as embarrassment, injury, or other harm. While you 
can ask in your comment that your personally identifiable information 
be withheld from public disclosure, BOEM cannot guarantee that it will 
be able to do so.
    BOEM protects proprietary information in accordance with the 
Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and the Department of the 
Interior's implementing regulations (43 CFR part 2).
    Title of Collection: Evaluating Connections: BOEM's Environmental 
Studies and Assessments.
    Abstract: Section 20 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 
(OCSLA) (43 U.S.C. 1346) requires the Secretary of the Interior to 
study any area or region included in an oil, gas, or other lease sale 
to gather information needed for assessment and management of impacts 
on the human, marine, and coastal environments of the Outer Continental 
Shelf (OCS) and the affected coastal areas. Additionally, subsequent to 
the leasing and developing of any OCS area, the Secretary may authorize 
further environmental studies to gather information that can be used 
for identifying significant changes and trends in the quality and 
productivity of such environments and for designing experiments to 
identify the causes of such changes.
    This statutory authority is carried out through BOEM's 
Environmental Studies Program (ESP). In fulfilling its mission, BOEM 
must comply with a range of environmental laws and regulations. To 
comply with relevant statutes and policies, BOEM develops environmental 
assessments, including National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
analyses, consultation documents, and other analyses that require up-
to-date and relevant scientific information. For purposes of this 
notice, the term ``environmental assessment'' encompasses the types of 
analyses that BOEM's Environmental Assessment Program undertakes and is 
not restricted to NEPA environmental assessments. For example, the 
following types of documents are considered in the universe of BOEM 
environmental assessments:
     NEPA environmental impact statements.
     NEPA environmental assessments.
     National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) documents 
(including section 106 evaluations of effects on historic properties 
and programmatic agreements).
     Essential fish habitat assessments for Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act consultations.
     Endangered Species Act (ESA) section 7 biological 
evaluations or biological assessments.
     Analyses and assessments prepared to comply with the Clean 
Air Act (CAA), Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), and Marine Mammal 
Protection Act (MMPA).
     Analyses and assessments such as engineering analyses, 
regulatory impact analyses, resource evaluations, additional NEPA-
related analyses, site assessments, and cost-benefit analyses prepared 
for OCSLA and other regulatory requirements.
    Environmental studies sponsored by the ESP provide scientific 
information to inform BOEM's environmental assessments. BOEM describes 
the process by which environmental studies inform environmental 
assessments and environmental assessments inform environmental studies 
as a ``feedback loop.'' To determine how well this feedback loop is 
functioning and to identify potential improvements in the science-to-
policy process, BOEM is pursuing an evaluation of the linkages between 
the scientific research it is funding and the information needs within 
its assessments. The evaluation will include surveys and interviews of 
BOEM ESP and assessment program partners (e.g., Federal and State 
agencies, academic institutions and scholars, tribes, and consultants).
    The goal of the external survey will be to conduct a network 
analysis focusing on information exchange between BOEM ESP and 
assessment programs and their external program partners. The survey 
results will be used to understand how program partners use BOEM's 
study and assessment information and the network through which this 
information is disseminated. The survey results will inform an analysis 
that can be used to understand the network structure, possible network 
influence on outcomes, and people or organizations that could be 
targeted or connected to achieve better expected outcomes.
    The survey will be administered online. The survey will be sent to 
all program partners that BOEM environmental studies and assessment 
staff indicate they communicate with about environmental study and 
assessment topics. Following a brief email introduction, each survey 
respondent will receive a unique weblink to complete the online survey. 
The survey questions will ask respondents: (1) From whom they receive 
and with whom they share BOEM environmental study and assessment 
information, and (2) how they use that environmental information for 
their organization's work. The survey will include 10 to 12 mostly 
discrete-choice questions and will take up to 20 minutes to complete. 
Descriptive statistics will be calculated at the organizational level, 
and results will be presented in a tabular format and network graphs.
    All agencies, organizations, and institutions that BOEM identifies 
as important for understanding the feedback loop will be contacted for 
an interview. Interviews will be semi-structured. Respondents will be 
asked questions tailored to their type of organization. Interviewers 
will ask respondents to provide insight into how and why linkages 
between BOEM and respondents are (or are not) present, and

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how and why respondents are or are not using study and assessment 
information from BOEM. As a semi-structured interview, the interviewer 
will have the opportunity to ask follow-up questions based on initial 
responses. The interviewers will ask about the respondents' roles or 
positions within their organizations, how they use BOEM's environmental 
studies and assessment information in their organizations' work, and 
how their organizations contribute to studies and assessments. 
Additionally, the interviewers will request recommendations on ways to 
strengthen linkages moving forward. The responses will be analyzed 
using qualitative coding analysis.
    This information is not otherwise available and will help inform 
agency efforts to improve the feedback loop process and ultimately 
better inform agency decisions.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-NEW.
    Type of Review: New.
    Respondents/Affected Public: BOEM ESP and assessment programs 
partners.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 70 interviews; up to 
880 online surveys.
    Survey questions will be discrete-choice/closed-ended; interview 
guide will be semi-structured/open-ended.
    Estimated Completion Time per Response: 60 minutes per interview; 
up to 20 minutes per survey.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 70 hours for 
interviews; up to 294 hours for surveys.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: One time.
    Total Estimated Annual Non-hour Burden Cost: There is no non-hour 
cost burden associated with this collection.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid 
OMB control number.
    The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

Deanna Meyer-Pietruszka,
Chief, Office of Policy, Regulation, and Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2021-08797 Filed 4-27-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P