Agency Information Collection Activities; Evaluating Connections: BOEM's Environmental Studies and Assessments, 4656-4657 [2022-01722]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 19 (Friday, January 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4656-4657]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01722]


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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 
February 28, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your written comments on this ICR to the Office of 
Management and Budget's desk officer for the Department of the Interior 
at www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain within 30 days of publication of 
this notice. From the www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain landing page, 
find this information collection by selecting ``Currently under 
Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. 
Please provide a copy of your comments 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 Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) Control Number 1010-NEW in the subject line of your 
comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anna Atkinson by email at 
[email protected] or by telephone at 703-787-1025.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, BOEM provides the public and Federal agencies with an 
opportunity to comment on new, proposed, revised, and continuing 
collections of information. This helps BOEM assess the impact of the 
information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting 
burden. It also helps the public understand BOEM's information 
collection requirements.
    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 requires current and 
relevant scientific information to develop informed environmental 
analyses required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and 
to conduct appropriate and meaningful consultations with other Federal 
agencies. For example, the following types of documents are considered 
in the universe of BOEM environmental analyses:
     NEPA environmental impact statements.
     NEPA environmental assessments.
     National Historic Preservation Act 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 section 7 biological evaluations or 
biological assessments.
     Analyses and assessments prepared to comply with the Clean 
Air Act, Coastal Zone Management Act, and Marine Mammal Protection Act.
     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 ESP provide scientific 
information to inform BOEM's environmental analyses, which are overseen 
through BOEM's Environmental Assessment Program (EAP). BOEM describes 
the process by which environmental studies inform environmental 
analyses and environmental analyses 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 environmental analyses. The evaluation will include surveys and 
interviews of BOEM's ESP and EAP partners (e.g., Federal and State 
agencies, academic institutions and scholars, consultants, tribal 
members, industry representatives, and environmental non-governmental 
organizations).
    The survey will focus on information exchange between BOEM's ESP 
and EAP and their external program partners. The survey results will be 
used to understand how program partners use information derived from 
BOEM's studies and analyses and to trace the networks through which 
this information is disseminated. The survey results will inform a 
network analysis 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 
ESP

[[Page 4657]]

and EAP partners identified by BOEM staff. 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 
studies and analyses information, and (2) how they use that 
environmental information for their organization's work. The survey 
will include fewer than 20 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 how and why 
respondents are (or are not) using environmental studies and analyses 
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 analyses information in their organizations' work, and how 
their organizations contribute to BOEM's environmental studies and 
analyses. 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 
BOEM's efforts to improve the feedback loop and to ultimately better 
inform its decisions.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-NEW.
    Type of Review: New.
    Respondents/Affected Public: BOEM ESP and EAP partners.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 70 interviews; up to 
300 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 100 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.
    A Federal Register notice with a 60-day public comment period on 
this proposed ICR was published on April 28, 2021 (86 FR 22451). BOEM 
did not receive any comments during the 60-day comment period.
    BOEM is again soliciting comments on this proposed ICR. BOEM is 
especially interested in public comment addressing the following 
issues: (1) Is the collection necessary to the proper functions of 
BOEM; (2) what can BOEM do to ensure this information will be processed 
and used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden 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 that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. BOEM will include or summarize each comment in its 
request to OMB for approval of this ICR. You should be aware that your 
entire comment--including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personally identifying information--may be publicly disclosed. In 
order to inform BOEM's decision whether it can withhold from disclosure 
your personally identifiable information, you must identify any 
information contained in your comments that, if released, would clearly 
constitute an unwarranted invasion of your privacy. Also, you must 
briefly describe possible harmful consequences of disclosing that 
information, such as embarrassment, injury, or other harm. While you 
can ask BOEM in your comment to withhold your personally identifiable 
information 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).
    A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays 
a currently valid OMB control number.
    The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

Peter Meffert,
Acting Chief, Office of Regulations.
[FR Doc. 2022-01722 Filed 1-27-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P