50164 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 188 / Wednesday, September 30, 2009 / Notices 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

50,000. 

Estimated Time per Response: 30 

minutes. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 25,000. 

Estimated Total Annual Cost: The 

estimated cost to the respondents is 

$643,000. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory. 

Legal Authority: Title 13, United 

States Code, sections 182, 224, and 225. 

IV. Request for Comments 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden 

(including hours and cost) of the 

proposed collection of information; (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 automated collection techniques 

or other forms of information 

technology. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and/or 

included in the request for OMB 

approval of this information collection; 

they also will become a matter of public 

record. 

Dated: September 24, 2009. 

Glenna Mickelson, 

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. E9–23531 Filed 9–29–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–09–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

U.S. Census Bureau 

Proposed Information Collection; 

Comment Request; Government 

Employment Forms 

AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department of 

Commerce, as part of its continuing 

effort to reduce paperwork and 

respondent burden, invites the general 

public and other Federal agencies to 

take this opportunity to comment on 

proposed and/or continuing information 

collections, as required by the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(2)(A)). 

DATES: To ensure consideration written 

comments must be submitted on or 

before November 30, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments 

to Diana Hynek, Departmental 

Paperwork Clearance Officer, 

Department of Commerce, Room 7845, 

14th and Constitution Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20230 (or via the 

Internet at DHynek@doc.gov). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

copies of the information collection 

instrument(s) and instructions should 

be directed to Ellen Thompson, Chief, 

Employment Branch, Governments 

Division, U.S. Census Bureau, 

Washington, DC 20233–6800 (301–763– 

1531) (or via the Internet at 

ellen.ann.thompson@census.gov). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

The Census Bureau plans to request 

clearance for the forms necessary to 

conduct the public employment 

program which consists of an annual 

collection of information and a 

quinquennial collection in a census 

environment in years ending in ‘‘2’’ or 

‘‘7’’. During the upcoming three years, 

we intend to conduct the 2010 and 2011 

Annual Survey of Government 

Employment and the 2012 Census of 

Governments—Employment phase. 

Under Title 13, section 161 & 182, of 

the United States Code, the Secretary of 

Commerce is authorized to conduct the 

public employment program, which 

collects and disseminates data by 

function for full-time and part-time 

employees, payroll, and number of parttime hours worked. The number and 

content of the data items collected are 

the same in the annual and census 

cycles. 

The burden hours we will request are 

based on the expected 2010 annual 

survey mail out of 16,956 forms. 

The State and local government 

statistics produced cover national, State, 

and local aggregates on various 

functions with comparative detail for 

individual governments for the pay 

period that includes March 12. The 

public employment program provides 

the only comprehensive count of 

employees and payrolls in State and 

local governments. Government 

employees constitute approximately 

one-sixth of the entire U.S. workforce 

and their salaries are a major source of 

personal income. 

The Census Bureau provides this 

employment data to the Bureau of 

Economic Analysis for constructing the 

functional payrolls in the public sector 

Gross Domestic Product, payroll being 

the single largest component of current 

operations. Other government users 

include the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 

as a benchmark for its monthly 

employment programs, and the 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, to establish payroll 

guidelines for local public housing 

authorities. 

The public employment program has 

increasingly been used as the base for 

reimbursable programs of other Federal 

agencies such as: (1) The government 

portion of the Medical Expenditure 

Panel Survey commissioned by the 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality to provide timely, 

comprehensive information about 

health care use and costs in the United 

States, and (2) The Bureau of Justice 

Statistics (BJS) survey Criminal Justice 

Expenditure and Employment Survey 

which provides criminal justice 

expenditure and employment data on 

spending and personnel levels. 

Statistics are produced as data files in 

both electronic and printed formats. The 

program has made possible the 

dissemination of comprehensive and 

comparable governmental statistics 

since 1940. 

The many users of the public 

employment program data include 

Federal agencies, State and local 

governments and related organizations, 

public interest groups, and many 

business, market, and private research 

organizations. 

II. Method of Collection 

Approximately 16,956 State agencies, 

county governments, consolidated citycounty governments, independent 

cities, towns, townships, special district 

governments, and public school systems 

designated for the annual survey will be 

sent an appropriate form or the data will 

be collected through a data sharing 

arrangement between the Census Bureau 

and the State government. 

We developed cooperative agreements 

with State and large local government 

officials to collect the data from their 

dependent agencies and report to us as 

one central respondent. These 

arrangements eliminate the need for a 

mail canvass of approximately 3,464 

State agencies and 129 school systems. 

The agreements reduce burden by 

greatly reducing the number of people 

who have to look at a form and 

complete, and by pulling data from an 

already centralized source instead of 

from multiple sources. Currently we 

have central collection agreements with 

45 states, four local school district 

governments, and ten local 

governments. We continue to work at 

expanding the conversion of paper 


CPrice-Sewell on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 188 / Wednesday, September 30, 2009 / Notices 50165 

submissions into electronic formats, for 

both individual units and central 

collection units. 

Since the 2003 annual collection 

cycle, all form types can be completed 

on the Internet. For the 2007 Census, 

18,708 governments responded using 

our Web site. For the 2008 Annual 

survey, 6,589 or 31% of the 

governments sample responded using 

our Web site. 

III. Data 

OMB Number: 0607–0452. 

Form Number: E–1, E–2, E–3, E–4, E– 

5, E–6, E–7, E–9. 

Type of Review: Regular. 

Affected Public: State governments, 

county governments, consolidated citycounty governments, independent 

cities, towns, townships, special district 

governments, and public school 

systems. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

16,956. 

Estimated Time per Response: The 

average for all forms is 49 minutes. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 13,973. 

Estimated Total Annual Cost: $ 

316,524. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

Legal Authority: Title 13 United States 

Code, section 161 & 182. 

IV. Request for Comments 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden 

(including hours and cost) of the 

proposed collection of information; (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 the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and/or 

included in the request for OMB 

approval of this information collection; 

they also will become a matter of public 

record. 

Gwelnar Banks, 

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. E9–23533 Filed 9–29–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–07–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XR62 

Endangered and Threatened Species; 

Recovery Plans 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability. 

SUMMARY: The National Marine 

Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces the 

adoption of an Endangered Species Act 

(ESA) recovery plan for the Middle 

Columbia River Steelhead 

(Oncorhynchus mykiss) Distinct 

Population Segment (DPS), which 

spawns and rears in tributaries to the 

Columbia River in central and eastern 

Washington and Oregon. The Plan 

includes four locally developed 

management unit plans that address 

tributary conditions, included as 

appendices to the Plan, as well as two 

‘‘modules’’ developed by NMFS to 

address conditions affecting all 

steelhead populations in the Columbia 

River mainstem and estuary - the Hydro 

Module, based on the NMFS 2008 

Biological Opinion on the Federal 

Columbia River Power System (FCRPS 

BiOP), and the Estuary Module (NMFS 

2007). The Plan also incorporates 

Hatchery and Genetic Management 

Plans (HGMPs); site-specific actions in 

the FCRPS BiOp Reasonable and 

Prudent Alternative 39 for updating 

HGMPs, Artificial Production for Pacific 

Salmon (FCRPS BiOp, Appendix C of 

Supplemental Comprehensive Analysis, 

NMFS 2008); and fishery management 

planning through U.S. v. Oregon for 

mainstem fisheries, the Pacific Salmon 

Treaty and Pacific Fishery Management 

Council guidelines and constraints for 

marine fisheries, and Fisheries 

Management Evaluation Plans (FMEPs) 

and Tribal Resource Management Plans 

for tributary fisheries. 

ADDRESSES: Additional information 

about the plan may be obtained by 

writing to Lynn Hatcher, National 

Marine Fisheries Service, 304 S. Water 

Street, Suite ι 201, Ellensburg, WA 

98926, or by calling (509) 962–8911. 

Electronic copies of the Plan and a 

summary of and response to public 

comments on the Proposed (Draft) 

Recovery Plan are available online at 

http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/SalmonRecovery-Planning/Recovery-Domains/ 

Interior-Columbia/Mid-Columbia/MidCol-Plan.cfm. A CD ROM of these 

documents can be obtained by calling 

Sharon Houghton at 503–230–5418 or 

by emailing a request to 

sharon.houghton@noaa.gov with the 

subject line ‘‘CD ROM Request for Final 

ESA Recovery Plan for Middle 

Columbia River Steelhead. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Lynn Hatcher, NMFS Middle Columbia 

Steelhead Salmon Recovery 

Coordinator, at 509–962–8911, or 

Elizabeth Gaar, NMFS Salmon Recovery 

Division, at 503–230–5434. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Recovery plans describe actions 

beneficial to the conservation and 

recovery of species listed under the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), 

as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The 

ESA requires that recovery plans, to the 

extent practicable, incorporate: (1) 

objective, measurable criteria which, 

when met, would result in a 

determination that the species is no 

longer threatened or endangered; (2) 

site-specific management actions 

necessary to achieve the plan’s goals; 

and (3) estimates of the time required 

and costs to implement recovery 

actions. The ESA requires the 

development of recovery plans for each 

listed species unless such a plan would 

not promote its recovery. 

NMFS is responsible for developing 

and implementing ESA recovery plans 

for listed salmon and steelhead. In so 

doing, NMFS’ goal is to restore 

endangered and threatened Pacific 

salmonids to the point that they are 

again self-sustaining members of their 

ecosystems and no longer need the 

protections of the ESA. Local support of 

recovery plans by those whose activities 

directly affect the listed species, and 

whose actions will be most affected by 

recovery efforts, is essential. NMFS 

therefore supports and participates in 

locally led collaborative efforts to 

develop recovery plans that involve 

local communities, state, tribal, and 

Federal entities, and other stakeholders. 

NMFS recognizes that to achieve 

recovery of ESA listed salmon and 

steelhead in the Columbia River Basin, 

site-specific actions addressing all 

limiting factors and threats (habitat, 

hydropower, hatcheries, harvest) are 

necessary. In this recovery plan, the 

relative impacts of this full range of 

limiting factors and threats are 

identified and evaluated, although 

effective site-specific actions may be 

better developed or more feasible to 

implement in some sectors than in 

others. At this time, site-specific 

management actions are more fully 

developed for tributary habitat and 


CPrice-Sewell on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES