Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 243 / Wednesday, December 19, 2018 / Notices 65139 

and Rangeland Renewable Resources 

Research Act of 1978, which authorizes 

USDA Forest Service ‘‘investigations, 

experiments, tests, and other activities 

. . . to obtain, analyze, develop, 

demonstrate, and disseminate scientific 

information about protecting, managing, 

and utilizing forest and rangeland 

renewable resources in rural, suburban, 

and urban areas’’ (Pub. L. 95–307 Sec. 

3). Focus groups and interviews will be 

conducted with a non-probabilistic, 

purposive sample of individuals, 

families, and organizations involved in 

or associated with agriculture, forestry, 

and rural communities affected by 

Hurricanes Irma and Maria in the U.S. 

Caribbean. 

Need and Use of the Information: To 

better understand the effects of 

Hurricanes Irma and Maria on 

agriculture, forestry, and rural 

communities in the U.S. Caribbean and 

the internal and external factors that 

affected their vulnerabilities or 

resilience, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA)—Forest Service and 

Caribbean Climate Hub (CCH), seek 

Office of Management and Budget 

approval to conduct focus groups and 

in-depth interviews to collect 

information from farmers, forest owners, 

and other agriculture and forestry 

community members about their 

experiences with, preparations for, 

responses to, and recovery from these 

storms. This collection provides vital 

real-time information for ongoing 

recovery and restoration efforts by 

USDA and other entities working in 

Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, 

as well as valuable lessons learned for 

other disasters and regions. 

Description of Respondents: 

Individuals or households. 

Number of Respondents: 425. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

Other (one time only). 

Total Burden Hours: 226. 

Kimble Brown, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27410 Filed 12–18–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3411–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utility Service 

Notice of Request for Extension of 

Currently Approved Information 

Collection 

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, the Rural 

Utilities Service (RUS) invites 

comments on this information 

collection for which approval from the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) will be requested. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by February 19, 2019. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Thomas P. Dickson, Rural Development 

Innovation Center—Regulatory Team 2, 

USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, 

STOP 1522, Room 5164, South 

Building, Washington, DC 20250–1522. 

Telephone: (202) 690–4492. Email 

Thomas.dickson@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Advance and Disbursement of 

Funds—Telecommunications. 

OMB Control Number: 0572–0023. 

Type of Request: Extension of a 

currently approved information 

collection package. 

Abstract: The RUS manages the 

Telecommunications loan program and 

Rural Broadband Access, to provide 

loans and loan guarantees to fund the 

cost of construction, improvement, or 

acquisition of facilities and equipment 

for the provision of broadband service 

in eligible rural communities. RUS 

therefore requires Telecommunications 

and Broadband borrowers to submit 

Form 481, Financial Requirement 

Statement. This form implements 

certain provisions of the standard Rural 

Utilities Service loan documents by 

setting forth requirements and 

procedures to be followed by borrowers 

in obtaining advances and making 

disbursements of loan funds. 

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting 

for this collection of information is 

estimated to average 1 hour per 

response. 

Respondents: Business or other for 

profit, not-for-profit institutions. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

84. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 5.2. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 480. 

Comments 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the Rural BusinessCooperative Service, including whether 

the information will have practical 

utility; (b) the accuracy of Rural Utility 

Service’s estimate of the burden to 

collect the required information, 

including the validity of the strategy 

used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and (d) ways to 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. Comments on 

the paperwork burden may be sent to: 

Thomas P. Dickson, Rural Development 

Innovation Center—Regulatory Team 2, 

USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, 

STOP 1522, Room 5164, South 

Building, Washington, DC 20250–1522. 

Telephone: (202) 690–4492. Email 

Thomas.dickson@usda.gov. All 

responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for OMB approval. All comments will 

become a matter of public record. 

Copies of this information collection 

can be obtained from Diane M. Berger, 

Rural Development Innovation Center— 

Regulatory Team, (715) 619–3124. 

Dated: December 6, 2018. 

Christopher A. McLean, 

Acting Administrator, Rural Utilities Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27070 Filed 12–18–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utilities Service 

Information Collection Activity; Notice 

of Request for Extension of Currently 

Approved Information Collection 

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, the United 

States Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) Rural Development administers 

rural utilities programs through the 

Rural Utilities Service (RUS). RUS 

invites comments on the following 

information collection for which the 

Agency intends to request approval 

from the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB). 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by February 19, 2019. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Thomas P. Dickson, Rural Development 

Innovation Center—Regulatory Team 2, 

USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, 

STOP 1522, Room 5164, South 

Building, Washington, DC 20250–1522. 

Telephone: (202) 690–4492. Email 

Thomas.dickson@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office 

of Management and Budget’s (OMB) 

regulation (5 CFR 1320) implementing 

provisions of the Paperwork Reduction 


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