[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 227 (Friday, November 26, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72780-72781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-29768]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Utilities Service


Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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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,

[[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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