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[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 232 (Friday, December 2, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75521-75522]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-30969]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Economic Research Service

Notice of Intent To Request New Information Collection

AGENCY: Economic Research Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice invites the general public and other public agencies to send 
comments regarding any aspect of this proposed information collection. 
This is a new collection for a generic clearance that will allow the 
Economic Research Service to conduct a variety of quantitative data 
collections.

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received on or before 
January 31, 2012 to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this notice to Nathaniel 
Higgins, Resource and Rural Economics Division, Economic Research 
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 355 E St. SW., Room 6S-18, 
Washington, DC 20472. Comments may also be submitted via fax to the 
attention of Nathaniel Higgins at (202) 694-5602 or via email to 
nhiggins@ers.usda.gov. Comments will also be accepted through the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov, and 
follow the online instructions for submitting comments electronically.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact 
Nathaniel Higgins at the address in the preamble. Tel. (202) 694-5602.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: All written comments will be open for public 
inspection at the office of the Economic Research Service during 
regular business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday) at 
355 E St. SW., Room 6S-18, Washington, DC 20472.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for Office of Management and Budget approval. All comments and 
replies will be a matter of public record. 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 of the proposed 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 those who are to respond, including use of 
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Title: Formative Data Collections for Informing Policy Research.
    OMB Number: 0536-XXXX.
    Expiration Date: Three years from the date of approval.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Abstract: The anticipated generic clearance will authorize research 
in furtherance of an ongoing initiative to use insights from behavioral 
economics to provide economic intelligence, research, and analysis to 
inform agricultural resource and conservation policies, including those 
related to development of markets and incentives for environmental 
services, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy 
production, and to improve food choices and weight outcomes, 
particularly among children and low income adults.
    The specific purpose of this generic clearance is to allow ERS to 
develop and implement state-of-the-art research methodologies to 
evaluate policies for its customers in response to both specific 
requests and in anticipation of future need. This generic clearance 
will be particularly useful when ERS is tasked with evaluating 
prospective policies.
    ERS envisions using a number of research techniques, as appropriate 
to the individual investigation. These include laboratory and field 
techniques, exploratory interviews, pilot experiments, and respondent 
debriefing. In all cases, participation will be voluntary and time 
commitments will be minimal (10-90 minutes). Laboratory and field 
techniques are two methodologies based on comparison of outcomes over 
groups that have been randomized into different treatments.
    Information obtained from randomized comparison studies (lab and 
field techniques) will be used to develop and calibrate models of 
behavior. ERS uses behavioral models to estimate a variety of policy 
outcomes, for instance the level of farmer participation in voluntary 
conservation programs under alternative contract terms or changes in 
the nutritional quality of meals chosen when healthy items are 
displayed more prominently. Variation in behavioral response can have 
important implications for performance measures such as economic 
efficiency and effectiveness, and can help predict unintended 
consequences of policy-design options. Improved models of behavior will 
help policymakers and program managers as they face decisions that 
affect agriculture, nutrition and the environment.

    Authority:  These data will be collected under the authority of 
7 U.S.C. 2204(a) and sec. 501 of the Rural Development Act of 1972 
(7 U.S.C. 2661). Individually identifiable data collected under this 
authority are governed by 7 U.S.C. 2276, which requires USDA to 
afford strict confidentiality to non-aggregated data provided by 
respondents. This Notice is submitted in accordance with the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3501, 
et seq.) and Office of Management and Budget regulations at 5 CFR 
part 1320. ERS also complies with OMB Implementation Guidance, 
``Implementation Guidance for Title V of the E-Government Act, 
Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act 
of 2002 (CIPSEA)'', 72 FR 33362, June 15, 2007.

    Affected Public: Respondents will include Individuals and 
households.

Estimated Number of Respondents and Respondent Burden

    The proposed generic clearance will enable a number of separate 
data collections. No data collection is estimated to take longer than 
90 minutes per respondent, including the time required for respondents 
and non-respondents to review instructions and participate in the data 
collection.
    The estimated number of respondents participating in data 
collections under this generic clearance over a three year period is 
1,800. The maximum total estimated response burden for all of those 
participating in the study is 2,300 hours.

[[Page 75522]]

    Dated: November 9, 2011.
Mary Bohman,
Acting Administrator, Economic Research Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-30969 Filed 12-1-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-18-P
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