81 FR 43224 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
U.S. Geological Survey

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 127 (July 1, 2016)

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 November 30, 2016.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 127 (Friday, July 1, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43224-43225]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-15657]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U.S. Geological Survey

[GX13SB00C2G9100]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments

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

ACTION: Notice of a renewal of a currently approved information 
collection (1028-0107).

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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 November 30, 2016.

DATES: To ensure that your comments are considered, we must receive 
them on or before August 30, 2016.

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 1028-0107, Economic Contribution of Federal 
Investments in Restoration of Degraded, Damaged, or Destroyed 
Ecosystems' in all correspondence.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Fort 
Collins Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, 2150 Centre Ave., Fort 
Collins, CO 80526 (mail); 970-226-9164 (phone); or 
[email protected] (email). You may also find information about 
this ICR at www.reginfo.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    Federal investments in ecosystem restoration projects protect 
Federal trusts, ensure public health and safety, and preserve and 
enhance essential ecosystem services. These investments also generate 
business activity and create jobs. The Economic Impacts of Ecosystem 
Restoration project aims to increase the availability of information on 
the costs and activities associated with ecosystem restoration, and to 
gauge the economic effects of these investments to local economies. The 
project is comprised of a series of case studies that quantify the 
economic impacts of restoration projects. The case studies include 
examples of collaboratively funded and managed projects to restore a 
wide range of degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems. In addition 
to providing improved information on the economic impacts of 
restoration, these case studies highlight DOI restoration efforts and 
tell personalized stories about each project and the communities that 
are positively affected by restoration activities. Project methods 
include the collection of primary expenditure data and economic input/
output modeling. Results from the first phase of case studies are 
available online at https://www.fort.usgs.gov/economic-impacts-restoration and in a USGS report titled `Estimating the economic 
impacts of ecosystem restoration--methods and case studies'. The report 
provides a detailed description of the methods used to estimate 
economic impacts of case study projects and also provides suggestions, 
lessons learned, and trade-offs between potential analysis methods. 
This second phase of case studies aims to refine the survey methods and 
fill in some data gaps on specific types of restoration activities.

[[Page 43225]]

II. Data

    OMB Control Number: 1028-0107.
    Form Number: NA.
    Title: Economic Contribution of Federal Investments in Restoration 
of Degraded, Damaged, or Destroyed Ecosystems.
    Type of Request: Renewal of existing information collection.
    Affected Public: DOI restoration project managers and contractors 
working on selected case study restoration projects.
    Respondent's Obligation: None. Participation is voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: One time only.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: We expect to do up to 
10 case studies per year. This will result in approximately 10 
responses by project managers and approximately 30 responses by 
contractors, for a total of 40 responses per year. Most of the project 
managers are expected to be Federal employees.
    Estimated Time per Response: Restoration project managers will 
complete a project summary survey and an expenditure survey, and will 
work with the USGS to coordinate contact with project contractors. It 
is expected that it will take project managers up to 4 hours to 
complete this activity. Project contractors will complete an 
expenditure survey. It is expected that it will take contractors no 
more than 1 hour to complete this activity.
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: Total estimated annual burden for 
this collection is no more than 70 hours per year.
    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.

William Lellis,
Acting Associate Director, Ecosystems.
[FR Doc. 2016-15657 Filed 6-30-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4338-11-P