80 FR 47511 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments; USA National Phenology Network-The Nature's Notebook Plant and Animal Observing Program

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Geological Survey

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 152 (August 7, 2015)

We (the U.S. Geological Survey) will ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 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 IC. This collection is scheduled to expire on January 31, 2016.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 152 (Friday, August 7, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47511-47512]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-19400]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Geological Survey

[GX15BA02EEW0200]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments; 
USA National Phenology Network--The Nature's Notebook Plant and Animal 
Observing Program

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

ACTION: Notice of a revision of a currently approved information 
collection.

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SUMMARY: We (the U.S. Geological Survey) will ask the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) 
described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 
1995, 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 IC. This 
collection is scheduled to expire on January 31, 2016.

DATES: To ensure that your comments are considered, we must receive 
them on or before October 6, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 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-
7197 (fax); or [email protected] (email). Please reference 
`Information Collection 1028-0103, USA National Phenology Network--The 
Nature's Notebook Plant and Animal Observing Program' in all 
correspondence.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jake Weltzin, U.S. Geological Survey, 
1955 East 6th Street, Tucson, AZ 85721 (mail); (520) 626-3821 (phone); 
or [email protected] (email). You may also find information about this 
ICR at www.reginfo.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The USA-NPN is a program sponsored by the USGS that uses

[[Page 47512]]

standardized forms for tracking plant and animal activity as part of a 
project called Nature's Notebook. The Nature's Notebook forms are used 
to record phenology (e.g., timing of leafing or flowering of plants and 
reproduction or migration of animals) as part of a nationwide effort to 
understand and predict how plants and animals respond to environmental 
variation and changes in weather and climate. Contemporary data 
collected through Nature's Notebook are quality-checked, described and 
made publicly available; data are used to inform decision-making in a 
variety of contexts, including agriculture, drought monitoring, and 
wildfire risk assessment. Phenological information is also critical for 
the management of wildlife, invasive species, and agricultural pests, 
and for understanding and managing risks to human health and welfare, 
including allergies, asthma, and vector-borne diseases. Participants 
may contribute phenology information to Nature's Notebook through a 
browser-based web application or via mobile applications for iPhone and 
Android operating systems, meeting GPEA requirements. The web 
application interface consists several components: User registration, a 
searchable list of 1,016 plant and animal species which can be 
observed; a ``profile'' for each species that contains information 
about the species including its description and the appropriate 
monitoring protocols; a series of interfaces for registering as an 
observer, registering a site, registering plants and animals at a site, 
generating datasheets to take to the field, and a data entry page that 
mimics the datasheets.

II. Data

    OMB Control Number: 1028-0103.
    Form Number: Various (4 forms).
    Title: USA National Phenology Network--The Nature's Notebook Plant 
and Animal Observing Program.
    Type of Request: Notice of an extension of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Affected Public: Members of the public, registered with Nature's 
Notebook.
    Respondent's Obligation: None. Participation is voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion. During the Spring and Fall 
seasons when phenology is changing quickly, we recommend respondents 
make observations twice per week.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: We project that 6,478 
responders will register with Nature's Notebook, and of those 648 will 
watch the training videos. The same 6,478 responders will contribute 
2,627,155 observation records. In total, this will result in 2,634,269 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: When joining the program, responders 
spend 13 minutes each to register and read guidelines and 83 minutes to 
watch all training videos. After that responders may spend about 2 
minutes per record to observe and submit phenophase status record.
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 89,871.
    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' Burden: We 
estimate the total annual non-hour cost burden to be $11,447. This cost 
applies to new observers and includes material used to mark sites or 
plants during the first observation. Marking helps to ensure reporting 
consistency for future observations.
    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 and current expiration date.

III. Request for Comments

    We are soliciting comments 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) ways 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 the 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 in your 
comment to withhold your personally identifiable information from 
public view, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Jake Weltzin,
Program Manager, Status & Trends Program and Executive Director, USA 
National Phenology Network.
[FR Doc. 2015-19400 Filed 8-6-15; 8:45 am]
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