U.S. Mail:
USGS, Information Collections Clearance Officer, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 159, Reston, VA 20192.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
To request additional information about this information collection request (ICR), contact Margaret Lamont by email at
mlamont@usgs.gov,
or by telephone at 352-209-4306. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or Tele Braille) 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. You may also view the ICR at
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
In accordance with the PRA of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501et seq.) and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), we provide the public and other Federal agencies with an opportunity 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.
A
Federal Register
notice with a 60-day public comment period soliciting comments on this collection of information was published on May 14, 2026 (91 FR 27361). No comments were received.
As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burdens, we are again soliciting comments from the public and other Federal agencies on the proposed ICR that is described below. We are especially interested in public comments 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 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 the agency might minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including using 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. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personally identifiable information (PII) in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your PII—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your PII from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Abstract:
The order Testudines, which encompasses tortoises and freshwater and marine turtles, is among the most threatened group of vertebrates in the world. However, turtles are frequently observed during everyday activities, such as walking through a park, driving along a roadway, or kayaking in a river or pond. Local citizen-science projects focused on single species (such as box turtles) have provided valuable demographic information for turtle populations, but these projects are isolated both spatially
( printed page 48403)
and specifically (
i.e.,
focused on one species). This project would use sighting information supplied by citizens to fill gaps in our knowledge of turtle distributions throughout Northern Florida. When a citizen observes a turtle, they document the species (if possible), location (latitude/longitude collected via cell phone), date, and time,as well as photograph the animal. We would also ask each contributor to provide their initials and a way to contact them if questions about the entry arise (
e.g.,
phone number or email address). The sighting information will be mapped and used to develop species-distribution maps.
Title of Collection:
Turtle Distribution Database.
OMB Control Number:
1028-0138.
Form Number:
None.
Type of Review:
Extension of a currently approved collection.
Respondents/Affected Public:
Individuals.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents:
50.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses:
250.
Estimated Completion Time per Response:
5 minutes on average.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours:
21.
Respondent's Obligation:
Voluntary.
Frequency of Collection:
On occasion.
Total Estimated Annual Non-hour Burden Cost:
None.
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. 3501et seq.).
Brian D. Kimbrell,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, Federal Register Liaison | USGS.