Agency Information Collection Activities; Forms to Determine Compliance by Certain Landholders, 43629-43631 [2023-14437]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Reclamation

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 130 (Monday, July 10, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43629-43631]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14437]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[RR83550000, 234R5065C6, RX.59389832.1009676; OMB Control Number 1006-
0023]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Forms to Determine 
Compliance by Certain Landholders

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, 
the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), are proposing to renew an 
information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
September 8, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on this information collection request 
(ICR) by email to Janice Perez, Bureau of Reclamation, Office of Policy 
and Programs, at [email protected]. Please reference Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number 1006-0023 in the subject 
line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this ICR, contact Janice Perez by email at [email protected], 
or by telephone at (303) 817-4477. Individuals in the United States who 
are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may 
dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay 
services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay 
services offered within their country to make international calls to 
the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), all 
information collections require approval under the PRA. We 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.
    As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent 
burdens, we invite the public and other Federal agencies to comment on 
new, proposed, revised, and continuing collections of information. This 
helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements 
and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public 
understand our information collection requirements and provide the 
requested data in the desired format.
    We are especially interested in public comment addressing the 
following:
    (1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including 
whether or not the information will have practical utility;
    (2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection 
of information, 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) How might the agency 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, e.g., 
permitting electronic submission of response.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request 
to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, phone 
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including 
your personal identifying information--may

[[Page 43630]]

be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your 
comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public 
review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
    Abstract.
    Identification of limited recipients--Some entities that receive 
Reclamation irrigation water may believe that they are under the 
Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (RRA) forms submittal threshold and, 
consequently, may not submit the appropriate RRA form(s). However, some 
of these entities may in fact have a different RRA forms submittal 
threshold than what they believe it to be due to the number of natural 
persons benefiting from each entity and the location of the land held 
by each entity. In addition, some entities that are exempt from the 
requirement to submit RRA forms due to the size of their landholdings 
(directly and indirectly owned and leased land) may in fact be 
receiving Reclamation irrigation water for which the full-cost rate 
must be paid because the start of Reclamation irrigation water 
deliveries occurred after October 1, 1981 [43 CFR 426.6(b)(2)]. The 
information obtained through completion of the Limited Recipient 
Identification Sheet (Form 7-2536) allows us to establish entities' 
compliance with Federal reclamation law. The Limited Recipient 
Identification Sheet is disbursed at our discretion.
    Trust review--In order to administer section 214 of the RRA and 43 
CFR 426.7, we are required to review and approve all trusts. Land held 
in trust generally will be attributed to the beneficiaries of the trust 
rather than the trustee if the criteria specified in the RRA and 43 CFR 
426.7 are met. We may extend the option to complete and submit for our 
review the Trust Information Sheet (Form 7-2537) instead of actual 
trust documents when we become aware of trusts with a relatively small 
landholding (40 acres or less in districts subject to the prior law 
provisions of Federal reclamation law, 240 acres or less in districts 
subject to the discretionary provisions of Federal reclamation law). If 
we find nothing on the completed Trust Information Sheet that would 
warrant the further review of a particular trust, that trustee will not 
be burdened with submitting trust documents to us for in-depth review. 
The Trust Information Sheet is disbursed at our discretion.
    Acreage limitation provisions applicable to public entities--Land 
farmed by a public entity can be considered exempt from the application 
of the acreage limitation provisions provided the public entity meets 
certain criteria pertaining to the revenue generated through the 
entity's farming activities (43 CFR 426.10 and the Act of July 7, 1970, 
Public Law 91-310). We are required to ascertain whether public 
entities that receive Reclamation irrigation water meet such revenue 
criteria regardless of how much land the public entities hold (directly 
or indirectly own or lease) [43 CFR 426.10(a)]. In order to minimize 
the burden on public entities, standard RRA forms are submitted by a 
public entity only when the public entity holds more than 40 acres 
subject to the acreage limitation provisions westwide, which makes it 
difficult to apply the revenue criteria as required to those public 
entities that hold less than 40 acres. When we become aware of such 
public entities, we request those public entities complete and submit 
for our review the Public Entity Information Sheet (Form 7-2565), which 
allows us to establish compliance with Federal reclamation law for 
those public entities that hold 40 acres or less and, thus, do not 
submit a standard RRA form because they are below the RRA forms 
submittal threshold. In addition, for those public entities that do not 
meet the exemption criteria, we must determine the proper rate to 
charge for Reclamation irrigation water deliveries. The Public Entity 
Information Sheet is disbursed at our discretion.
    Acreage limitation provisions applicable to religious or charitable 
organizations--Some religious or charitable organizations that receive 
Reclamation irrigation water may believe that they are under the RRA 
forms submittal threshold and, consequently, may not submit the 
appropriate RRA form(s). However, some of these organizations may in 
fact have a different RRA forms submittal threshold than what they 
believe it to be depending on whether these organizations meet all of 
the required criteria for full special application of the acreage 
limitations provisions to religious or charitable organizations [43 CFR 
426.9(b)]. In addition, some organizations that (1) do not meet the 
criteria to be treated as a religious or charitable organization under 
the acreage limitation provisions, and (2) are exempt from the 
requirement to submit RRA forms due to the size of their landholdings 
(directly and indirectly owned and leased land), may in fact be 
receiving Reclamation irrigation water for which the full-cost rate 
must be paid because the start of Reclamation irrigation water 
deliveries occurred after October 1, 1981 [43 CFR 426.6(b)(2)]. The 
Religious or Charitable Organization Identification Sheet (Form 7-2578) 
allows us to establish certain religious or charitable organizations' 
compliance with Federal reclamation law. The Religious or Charitable 
Organization Identification Sheet is disbursed at our discretion.
    Title of Collection: Forms to Determine Compliance by Certain 
Landholders, 43 CFR part 426.
    OMB Control Number: 1006-0023.
    Form Numbers: Form 7-2536, Form 7-2537, Form 7-2565, and Form 7-
2578.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Entity landholders, trusts, public 
entities, and religious or charitable organizations identified by 
Reclamation that are subject to the acreage limitation provisions of 
Federal reclamation law.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 125.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 125.
    Estimated Completion Time per Response: See table below.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 15 hours.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Frequency of Collection: Generally, these forms will be submitted 
only once per identified entity, trust, public entity, or religious or 
charitable organization. Each year, we expect new responses in 
accordance with the following numbers.
    Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.

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                                                    Burden
                                                 estimate  per     Number of    Annual  number  Annual burden on
                   Form No.                        form (in       respondents    of  responses  respondents  (in
                                                   minutes)                                          hours)
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Limited Recipient Identification Sheet........               5              50              50                 4
Trust Information Sheet.......................               5              50              50                 4
Public Entity Information Sheet...............              15              15              15                 4

[[Page 43631]]

 
Religious or Charitable Identification Sheet..              15              10              10                 3
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    Totals....................................  ..............             125             125                15
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    An 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.).

Christopher Beardsley,
Director, Policy and Programs.
[FR Doc. 2023-14437 Filed 7-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4332-90-P