[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 12, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1648-1650]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-354]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

[Docket no. MMS-2010-OMM-0001]


MMS Information Collection Activity: 1010-NEW Study of Sharing To 
Assess Community Resilience; Notice of a New Collection; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of an information collection (1010-NEW).

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SUMMARY: To comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), MMS 
is inviting comments on a new collection of information that we will 
submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and 
approval. The information collection request (ICR) pertains to 
conducting a survey, Study of Sharing to Assess Community Resilience.

DATES: Submit written comments by March 15, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cheryl Blundon, Regulations and 
Standards Branch at (703) 787-1607, to obtain a copy, at no cost, of 
the survey that requires the subject collection of information. For 
more information on the survey itself, contact Chris Campbell in the 
MMS Alaska Regional Office at (907) 334-5264.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods 
listed below.
    <bullet> Electronically: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. In the 
entry titled ``Enter Keyword or ID,'' enter docket ID MMS-2010-OMM-0001 
then click search. Under the tab ``View By Relevance'' you can submit 
public comments and view supporting and related materials available for 
this collection of information. The MMS will post all comments.
    <bullet> Mail or hand-carry comments to the Department of the 
Interior; Minerals Management Service; Attention: Cheryl Blundon; 381 
Elden Street, MS-4024; Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817. Please reference 
``Information Collection 1010-NEW'' in your subject line and include 
your name and return address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Study of Sharing to Assess Community Resiliency.
    OMB Control Number: 1010-NEW.
    Abstract: The United States Congress, through the 1953 Outer 
Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act (OCSLA) [Pub. L. 95-372, Section 20] 
and its subsequent amendments, requires the Secretary of the Department 
of the Interior to monitor and assess the impacts of

[[Page 1649]]

resource development activities in Federal waters on human, marine, and 
coastal environments. The OCSLA amendments authorize the Secretary of 
the Interior to conduct studies in areas or regions of sales to 
ascertain the ``environmental impacts on the human, marine, and coastal 
environments of the outer Continental Shelf and the coastal areas which 
may be affected by oil and gas or other mineral development'' (43 
U.S.C. 1346).
    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
4321-4347) requires that all Federal Agencies use a systematic, 
interdisciplinary approach to ensure the integrated use of the natural 
and social sciences in any planning and decision making that may have 
an effect on the human environment. The Council on Environmental 
Quality's Regulations for Implementing Procedural Provisions of NEPA 
(40 CFR 1500-1508) state that the ``human environment'' is to be 
``interpreted comprehensively'' to include ``the natural and physical 
environment and the relationship of people with that environment'' (40 
CFR 1508.14). An action's ``aesthetic, historic, cultural, economic, 
social or health'' effects must be assessed, ``whether direct, 
indirect, or cumulative'' (40 CFR 1508.8).
    The U.S. Department of the Interior/Minerals Management Service 
(DOI/MMS) is the Federal administrative agency created both to conduct 
OCS lease sales and to monitor and mitigate adverse impacts that might 
be associated with offshore resource development. Within the MMS, the 
Environmental Studies Program functions to implement and manage the 
responsibilities of research. This study will facilitate the meeting of 
DOI/MMS information needs on subsistence food harvest and sharing 
activities in coastal Alaska, with specific focus on the Beaufort-
Chukchi Planning Area.
    The North Slope Planning Area includes more than 94,763 square 
miles--a large geographic area with diverse, abundant, and 
environmentally sensitive resources. Within that area, the DOI/MMS's 
Proposed OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program 2007-2012 considers two oil 
and gas lease exploration plans for 2010, one in the Chukchi Sea and 
one in the Beaufort Sea. The areas slated for exploration and adjacent 
areas support major productive subsistence fisheries, provide habitat 
to numerous marine mammals, including bowhead whales, and are a 
significant migration and staging area for internationally important 
waterfowl. More than eight communities in the North Slope area rely 
heavily on subsistence.
    This information collection (IC) request involves a 36-month study 
that will assess the vulnerabilities of two North Slope coastal 
communities and one control community to the potential effects of 
offshore oil and gas development on subsistence food harvest and 
sharing activities. It will investigate the resilience of local sharing 
networks that structure contemporary subsistence-cash economies using 
survey research methods that involves residents of two communities most 
proximate to the proposed exploration areas, Wainwright and Kaktovik, 
and one control community, Venetie. Future collections will involve 
other area communities.
    The MMS will use the information collected to gain knowledge about 
local social systems in a way that may shape development strategies and 
serve as an interim baseline for impact monitoring to compare against 
future research in these areas. Without this data, MMS will not have 
sufficient information to make informed leasing and development 
decisions for these areas.
    Survey Instrument: The research will be collected from a survey, 
given to each head of household, in the three communities, that will 
collect information about the subsistence (harvest data) and sharing 
networks of the communities. The information under this proposed 
collection will be obtained through personal interviews that are 
voluntary.
    Interview methods: The interviews for each survey will be done face 
to face in a setting that is most comfortable for the respondents. This 
personal method is more expensive and time consuming for the 
researchers, but these drawbacks are outweighed by improvements in the 
quality of information obtained and the rapport established between the 
surveyor and the person interviewed. Telephone interviews have not been 
successful on the North Slope. Each respondent will be paid an 
honorarium for taking part in the survey.
    Responses are voluntary.
    Frequency: One-time event for each survey.
    Estimated Number and Description of Respondents: Approximately 349 
respondents from the communities involved.
    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Hour'' Burden: The MMS 
estimates the total annual burden hours to be 524 (rounded) (349 x 1.5 
for each study = 523.5 total burden hours).
    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' Burden: We 
have identified no non-hour cost burdens for this collection.
    Protections of Respondent Confidentiality: The survey is voluntary. 
The questionnaires will be administered under the guidelines of 45 CFR 
46. The introduction that will be covered with each participant 
stresses that participation is voluntary and confidentiality will be 
maintained. No names will appear on the survey form, no photographs 
will be taken of any informant, and no videotaping will be conducted. 
Minor children will not be interviewed. Procedures designed to protect 
the confidentiality of the information provided will include the use of 
coded selection and identification number to protect the identities of 
respondents.
    This survey will ask five potentially sensitive but routine 
questions on annual household income, unemployment, subsistence 
expenses, and household finances. One question asks the views of the 
respondent about future potential oil and gas development. Questions 
such as these have been used in past studies in rural Alaska with few, 
if any, complaints. During the interviews, the respondents will be 
warned that sensitive questions are coming up and that they may refuse 
to answer any query they object to. Respondents will also be reminded 
that they are assured anonymity through the survey design and process.
    Public Disclosure Statement: The PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) 
provides that an agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of 
information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. 
Until OMB approves a collection of information, you are not obligated 
to respond.
    Comments: Before submitting an ICR to OMB, PRA section 
3506(c)(2)(A) requires each agency ``* * * to provide notice * * * and 
otherwise consult with members of the public and affected agencies 
concerning each proposed collection of information * * *''. Agencies 
must specifically solicit comments to: (a) Evaluate whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the agency to 
perform its duties, including whether the information is useful; (b) 
evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (c) enhance the quality, 
usefulness, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) 
minimize the burden on the respondents, including the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Agencies must also estimate the ``non-hour cost'' burdens to 
respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection of 
information. Therefore, if

[[Page 1650]]

you have costs to generate, maintain, and disclose this information, 
you should comment and provide your total capital and startup cost 
components or annual operation, maintenance, and purchase of service 
components. You should describe the methods you use to estimate major 
cost factors, including system and technology acquisition, expected 
useful life of capital equipment, discount rate(s), and the period over 
which you incur costs. Capital and startup costs include, among other 
items, computers and software you purchase to prepare for collecting 
information, monitoring, and record storage facilities. You should not 
include estimates for equipment or services purchased: (i) Before 
October 1, 1995; (ii) to comply with requirements not associated with 
the information collection; (iii) for reasons other than to provide 
information or keep records for the Government; or (iv) as part of 
customary and usual business or private practices.
    We will summarize written responses to this notice and address them 
in our submission for OMB approval. As a result of your comments, we 
will make any necessary adjustments to the burden in our submission to 
OMB.
    Public Comment Procedures: Before including your address, phone 
number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including 
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available 
at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your 
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
    MMS Information Collection Clearance Officer: Arlene Bajusz (202) 
208-7744.

    Dated: January 5, 2010
William S. Hauser,
Acting Chief, Office of Offshore Regulatory Programs.
[FR Doc. 2010-354 Filed 1-11-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P