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###### Department of Agriculture

###### Rural Utilities Service

# AGENCY:

Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

# ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

# SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35, as amended), the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) invites comments on the following information collections for which RUS intends to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

# DATES:

Comments on this notice must be received by January 25, 2011.

# FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michele Brooks, Director, Program Development and Regulatory Analysis, Rural Utilities Service, 1400 Independence Ave., SW., STOP 1522, Room 5162, South Building, Washington, DC 20250-1522. Telephone: (202) 690-1078. Fax: (202) 720-8435.

# SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

                    The Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) regulation (5 CFR part 1320) implementing provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13) requires that interested members of the public and affected agencies have an opportunity to comment on information collection and recordkeeping activities [                    *see*5 CFR 1320.8(d)]. This notice identifies information collections that RUS is submitting to OMB for extension.                

                    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether this collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 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 respondents, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Comments may be sent to Michele Brooks, Director,                           ( print page 72781)                        Program Development and Regulatory Analysis, Rural Utilities Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, STOP 1522, 1400 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20250-1522. Fax: (202) 720-0784.                

*Title:*                     Electric System Emergency Restoration Plan.                

*OMB Control Number:*                     0572-0140.                

*Type of Request:*                     Extension of a currently approved collection.                

*Abstract:*                     The term “critical infrastructure” is defined in section 1016(e) of the USA Patriot Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)) as “systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters.” Electric power systems have been identified in Presidential Decision Directive 63 (PDD-63) as one of the critical infrastructures of the United States.                

A substantial portion of the electric infrastructure of the United States resides in, and is maintained by, rural America. RUS is uniquely coupled with the electric infrastructure of rural America and its electric borrowers serving rural America. To ensure that the electric infrastructure in rural America is adequately protected, RUS requires that all electric borrowers conduct a Vulnerability and Risk Assessment (VRA) of their respective systems and utilize the results of this assessment to enhance an existing Emergency Restoration Plan (ERP) or create an ERP.

*Estimate of Burden:*                     Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average .5 hours per response.                

*Respondents:*                     Not-for-profit institutions.                

*Estimated Number of Respondents:*                     676.                

*Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent:*                     1.                

*Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents:*                     338 hours.                

Copies of this information collection can be obtained from MaryPat Daskal, Program Development and Regulatory Analysis, at (202) 720-7853, FAX: (202) 720-8435.

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.

Dated: November 19, 2010.

Jonathan Adelstein,

Administrator, Rural Utilities Service.

[FR Doc. 2010-29768 Filed 11-24-10; 8:45 am]

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