81466 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 28, 2011 / Notices 

Statistics Service (NASS) is to prepare 

and issue current official State and 

national estimates of crop and livestock 

production. General authority for these 

data collection activities is granted 

under U.S. Code Title 7, Section 2204. 

This statue specifies the ‘‘The Secretary 

of Agriculture shall procure and 

preserve all information concerning 

agriculture which he can obtain * * * 

by the collection of statistics * * * and 

shall distribute them among 

agriculturists’’. Data is collected 

provides yield estimates for corn, 

cotton, potatoes, soybeans and wheat. 

The yield estimates are extremely 

important because they’re used in 

conjunction with price data to estimate 

production and in making policy 

decisions in agricultural sectors. 

Need and Use of the Information: 

NASS will collect information on 

sample fields of, corn, cotton, potatoes, 

soybeans, and winter wheat. The 

information will be used by USDA to 

anticipate loan receipts and pricing of 

loan stocks for grains. Farmers and 

businesses use the production estimates 

in marketing decisions to evaluate 

expected prices and to determine when 

to sell. 

Description of Respondents: Farms. 

Number of Respondents: 8,000. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

Monthly during growing season. 

Total Burden Hours: 2,820. 

Charlene Parker, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2011–33285 Filed 12–27–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–20–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2011–0118] 

Notice of Request for Extension of 

Approval of an Information Collection; 

Importation of Small Lots of Seed 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Extension of approval of an 

information collection; comment 

request. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 

notice announces the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service’s intention to 

request an extension of approval of an 

information collection associated with 

regulations for the importation of small 

lots of seed into the United States. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before February 

27, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/ 

#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2011-0118– 

0001. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2011–0118, Regulatory Analysis 

and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 

3A–03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1238. 

Supporting documents and any 

comments we receive on this docket 

may be viewed at http://www.

regulations.gov/

#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2011-0118 or 

in our reading room, which is located in 

room 1141 of the USDA South Building, 

14th Street and Independence Avenue 

SW., Washington, DC. Normal reading 

room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except 

holidays. To be sure someone is there to 

help you, please call (202) 6902817 

before coming. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on regulations for the 

importation of small lots of seed into the 

United States, contact Dr. Arnold 

Tschanz, Senior Plant Pathologist/Risk 

Manager, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road 

Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737; (301) 

734–5306. For copies of more detailed 

information on the information 

collection, contact Mrs. Celeste Sickles, 

APHIS’ Information Collection 

Coordinator, at (301) 851–2908. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Importation of Small Lots of 

Seed. 

OMB Number: 0579–0285. 

Type of Request: Extension of 

approval of an information collection. 

Abstract: The Plant Protection Act 

(PPA, 7 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.) authorizes 

the Secretary of Agriculture to restrict 

the importation, entry, or interstate 

movement of plants, plant products, and 

other articles to prevent the 

introduction of plant pests into the 

United States or their dissemination 

within the United States. The 

regulations contained in ‘‘Subpart– 

Plants for Planting’’ (7 CFR 319.37–1 

through 319.37–14) prohibit or restrict, 

among other things, the importation of 

living plants, plant parts, and seed for 

propagation. 

These regulations allow small lots of 

seed to be imported into the United 

States under an import permit with 

specific conditions, including seed 

packet labeling, as an alternative to a 

phytosanitary certificate requirement. 

We are asking the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) to 

approve our use of these information 

collection activities for an additional 3 

years. 

The purpose of this notice is to solicit 

comments from the public (as well as 

affected agencies) concerning our 

information collection. These comments 

will help us: 

(1) Evaluate whether 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) Evaluate the accuracy of our 

estimate of the burden of the collection 

of information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used; 

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and 

(4) Minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, through use, as 

appropriate, of automated, electronic, 

mechanical, and other collection 

technologies; e.g., permitting electronic 

submission of responses. 

Estimate of burden: The public 

reporting burden for this collection of 

information is estimated to average 

0.035576923 hours per response. 

Respondents: Importers, horticultural 

societies, arboreta, and small business. 

Estimated annual number of 

respondents: 1,600. 

Estimated annual number of 

responses per respondent: 13. 

Estimated annual number of 

responses: 20,800. 

Estimated total annual burden on 

respondents: 740 hours. (Due to 

averaging, the total annual burden hours 

may not equal the product of the annual 

number of responses multiplied by the 

reporting burden per response.) 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for OMB approval. All comments will 

also become a matter of public record. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 19th day of 

December 2011. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–33208 Filed 12–27–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 


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