80 FR 52786 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Geological Survey

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 169 (September 1, 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 8/31/2016.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 1, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52786-52787]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-21620]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Geological Survey

[GX15EN05ESB0500]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments

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

ACTION: Notice of a revision of a currently approved information 
collection (1028-096).

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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 8/31/2016.

DATES: To ensure that your comments are considered, we must receive 
them on or before November 2, 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 1028-0096, NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE AND WILDLIFE 
SCIENCE CENTER AND DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR CLIMATE SCIENCE CENTERS 
(NCCWSC/CSC)' in all correspondence.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robin O'Malley, National Climate 
Change and Wildlife Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 
Sunrise Valley Drive, Mail Stop 516, Reston, VA 20192 (mail); 703-648-
4086 (phone); or [email protected] (email). You may also find 
information about this ICR at www.reginfo.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    The U.S. Geological Survey National Climate Change and Wildlife 
Science Center (NCCWSC, https://nccwsc.usgs.gov) was established to 
provide scientific information on climate impacts and adaptation for 
use in decision making by managers of fish, wildlife and their 
ecosystems. Under Secretarial Order 3289, https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/migrated/whatwedo/climate/cop15/upload/SecOrder3289.pdf, 
NCCWSC established and manages a network of eight Department of the 
Interior Climate Science Centers (CSC; https://www.doi.gov/csc/). These 
centers provide regional expertise and decision support for managers of 
natural and cultural resources from federal, state, tribal and other 
sectors. CSCs are collaborative efforts between USGS and institutions 
or consortia of institutions that provide scientific expertise, 
academic training, scientific liaison, and other functions associated 
with the CSC mission.
    NCCWSC collects two types of information from the public as part of 
this enterprise. The first consists of proposals from institutions or 
consortia that wish to serve as hosts and partners in the operation of 
CSCs. USGS uses the information from these proposals in the selection 
of institutions or consortia to

[[Page 52787]]

serve as hosts and partners. Agreements are for set periods of time 
(generally five years); thus, when the agreement for a specific CSC is 
nearing its termination date, USGS will solicit proposals and determine 
whether to enter another agreement with the same institution/consortium 
or with another institution/consortium.
    USGS also currently collects information from institutions that 
serve as hosts for CSCs. This information includes quarterly financial 
statements (Standard Form 425) and annual progress reports. These 
reports address both the overarching agreement to host the CSC and 
individual research projects funded under that overarching agreement. 
In the future, USGS may enter into agreements with partner institutions 
in a consortium, in addition to the ``host,'' as is current practice. 
If such agreements are executed, USGS will request information from 
both the host and partner institutions. This information is used to 
evaluate the performance of the institutions/consortia with respect to 
the agreements.

II. Data

    OMB Control Number: 1028-0096.
    Form Number: Standard form 425. Other information not collected in 
a form.
    Title: NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE AND WILDLIFE SCIENCE CENTER AND 
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR CLIMATE SCIENCE CENTERS (NCCWSC/CSC).
    Type of Request: Revisions to a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Institutions that are eligible to propose to serve 
as CSC host or partner institutions include Federal, state, not-for-
profit, local government, and tribal entities, including academic 
institutions. Existing host institutions are academic institutions.
    Respondent's Obligation: None, participation is voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: Proposals for new CSC host/partner 
agreements are collected approximately every five years for any 
individual CSC. However, because CSCs were not all established in one 
year, and agreement terms may be extended to address specific 
circumstances, such proposals may be requested during any year. 
Information is collected from institutions with whom USGS has an 
agreement to serve as a CSC host or partner and for individual research 
projects funded under these agreements on a quarterly and annual basis.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: USGS expects to request 
proposals for a maximum of three CSCs in any year, and to receive an 
average of five proposals per CSC-request, for a total of fifteen 
proposals in any single year. USGS expects to enter into agreements 
with a minimum of eight CSC host institutions, and as many as fifteen 
additional CSC partner institutions. Thus USGS would request quarterly 
and annual information addressing host and partner agreements from an 
estimated twenty-three institutions. In addition, USGS expects 
approximately forty requests per year addressing specific research 
projects funded under these hosting agreements.
    Estimated Time per Response: Each proposal for CSC hosting is 
expected to take 200 hours to complete. The time required to complete 
quarterly and annual reports for any specific host/partner or research 
project agreement is expected to total twenty hours per agreement (not 
per report).
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: A maximum of 4260 hours.
    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' Burden: 
There are no ``non-hour cost'' burdens associated with this IC.
    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.

Shawn Carter,
Acting Chief, National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center.
[FR Doc. 2015-21620 Filed 8-31-15; 8:45 am]
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