71528 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 199 / Tuesday, October 17, 2023 / Notices 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Forestry Research 

Advisory Committee (FRAC) will hold a 

public meeting according to the details 

shown below. The Committee is 

authorized under the Agriculture and 

Food Act of 1981 (the Act) and operates 

in compliance with the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The 

purpose of this Committee is to make 

recommendations to and advise the 

Secretary of Agriculture on forestry 

research. The Agriculture and Food Act 

directs the Secretary to appoint the 

FRAC which advises on how to 

efficiently accomplish the purposes of 

the McIntire-Stennis Act of 1962. The 

FRAC focuses on developing and 

utilizing the Nation’s forest resources, 

forestry schools, and forest industries. 

FRAC recommendations support states 

in carrying out a program of forestry 

research through land-grant colleges or 

agricultural experiment stations and 

other state-supported colleges and 

universities that offer graduate training 

in forestry. The FRAC also provides 

advice related to the Forest Service 

research program which is authorized 

by the Forest and Rangeland Renewable 

Resources Research Act of 1978. 

DATES: An in-person meeting will be 

held on November 15, 2023, and 

November 16, 2023, 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. 

Eastern Standard Time (EST). 

Written and Oral Comments: Anyone 

wishing to provide oral comments must 

pre-register by 11:59 p.m. EST on 

November 10, 2023. Written public 

comments will be accepted by 11:59 

p.m. EST on November 10, 2023.

Comments submitted after this date will

be provided to the Forest Service, but

the Committee may not have adequate

time to consider those comments prior

to the meeting.

All committee meetings are subject to 

cancellation. For status of the meeting 

prior to attendance, please contact the 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. 

ADDRESSES: This meeting will be held in 

person at the USDA Forest Service, 

Sidney R. Yates Building, 201 14th 

Street SW, Washington, DC 20250 in the 

Yates Training Room. Committee 

information and meeting details can be 

found at the following website: https:// 

www.fs.usda.gov/research/about/frac or 

by contacting the person listed under 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 

Written Comments: Written comments 

must be sent by email to 

arthur.a.duggan@usda.gov or via mail to 

David Lytle, Research and Development 

2NW, USDA Forest Service, 201 14th 

Street SW, Washington, DC 20250. The 

Forest Service strongly prefers 

comments be submitted electronically. 

Oral Comments: Persons or 

organizations wishing to make oral 

comments must pre-register by 11:59 

p.m. EST November 10, 2023, and

speakers can only register for one

speaking slot. Oral comments must be

sent by email to arthur.a.duggan@

usda.gov or via mail to David Lytle,

Research and Development 2NW, USDA

Forest Service, 201 14th Street SW,

Washington, DC 20250.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Arthur Duggan, Jr., Science Quality

Services Program Manager, by phone at

510–542–0081 or email at

arthur.a.duggan@usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

purpose of the meeting is to:

1. Discuss the current purpose of the

Committee; 

2. Discuss questions Federal forestry

researchers are attempting to address 

and how they are addressing them; and 

3. Identify topics for future meetings.

The agenda will include time for

individuals to make oral statements of 

three minutes or less. Individuals 

wishing to make an oral statement 

should make a request in writing at least 

three days prior to the meeting date to 

be scheduled on the agenda. Written 

comments may be submitted to the 

Forest Service up to 14 days after the 

meeting date listed under DATES. 

Please contact the person listed under 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, by 

or before the deadline, for all questions 

related to the meeting. All comments, 

including names and addresses when 

provided, are placed in the record and 

are available for public inspection and 

copying. The public may inspect 

comments received upon request. 

Meeting Accommodations: The 

meeting location is compliant with the 

Americans with Disabilities Act, and the 

USDA provides reasonable 

accommodation to individuals with 

disabilities where appropriate. If you are 

a person requiring reasonable 

accommodation, please make requests 

in advance for sign language 

interpretation, assistive listening 

devices, or other reasonable 

accommodation to the person listed 

under the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section, or contact USDA’s 

TARGET Center at (202) 720–2600 

(voice and TTY) or USDA through the 

Federal Relay Service at (800) 877–8339. 

Additionally, program information may 

be made available in languages other 

than English. 

USDA programs are prohibited from 

discriminating based on race, color, 

national origin, religion, sex, gender 

identity (including gender expression), 

sexual orientation, disability, age, 

marital status, family/parental status, 

income derived from a public assistance 

program, political beliefs, or reprisal or 

retaliation for prior civil rights activity, 

in any program or activity conducted or 

funded by USDA (not all bases apply to 

all programs). Remedies and complaint 

filing deadlines vary by program or 

incident. 

Equal opportunity practices in 

accordance with USDA’s policies will 

be followed in all appointments to the 

Committee. To ensure that the 

recommendations of the Committee 

have taken into account the needs of the 

diverse groups served by USDA, 

membership shall include to the extent 

possible individuals with demonstrated 

ability to represent minorities, women, 

and persons with disabilities. USDA is 

an equal opportunity provider, 

employer, and lender. 

Dated: October 10, 2023. 

Cikena Reid, 

USDA Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2023–22867 Filed 10–16–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3411–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utilities Service 

[Docket No. RUS–23–Telecom–0012] 

60-Day Notice of Proposed Information

Collection: Electric System Emergency

Restoration Plan; OMB Control No.:

0572–0140

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

United States Department of Agriculture 

(USDA), Rural Utilities Service (RUS) 

announces its’ intention to request an 

extension of a currently approved 

information collection and invites 

comments on this information 

collection. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by December 18, 2023 to be 

assured of consideration. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted by the Federal eRulemaking 

Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov 

and, in the ‘‘Search Field’’ box, labeled 

‘‘Search for dockets and documents on 

agency actions,’’ enter the following 

docket number: (RUS–23–Telecom– 

0012), and click ‘‘Search.’’ To submit 

public comments, select the ‘‘Comment’’ 

button. Before inputting your 

comments, you may also review the 

‘‘Commenter’s Checklist’’ (optional). 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 199 / Tuesday, October 17, 2023 / Notices 71529 

Insert your comments under the 

‘‘Comment’’ title, click ‘‘Browse’’ to 

attach files (if applicable). Input your 

email address and select an identity 

category then click ‘‘Submit Comment.’’ 

Information on using Regulations.gov, 

including instructions for accessing 

documents, submitting comments, and 

viewing the docket after the close of the 

comment period, is available through 

the site’s ‘‘FAQ’’ link. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Crystal Pemberton, Management 

Analyst, Branch 1, Rural Development 

Innovation Center—Regulations 

Management Division, United States 

Department of Agriculture, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, South 

Building, Washington, DC 20250–1522. 

Telephone: (202) 260–8621. Email: 

Crystal.Pemberton@usda.gov. 

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 the 

following information collection that 

RUS is submitting to OMB as extension 

to an existing collection with Agency 

adjustment. 

Title: Electric System Emergency 

Restoration Plan. 

OMB Control Number: 0572–0140. 

Expiration Date of Approval: March 

31, 2024. 

Type of Request: Extension of a 

currently approved information 

collection. 

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting 

burden for this collection of information 

is estimated to average .5 hour per 

response. 

Respondents: Not-for-profit 

institutions. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

41. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 1. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 20.5 hours. 

Abstract: USDA Rural Development 

administers rural utilities programs 

through the Rural Utilities Service 

(Agency). The Agency manages loan 

programs in accordance with the Rural 

Electrification Act (RE Act) of 1936, 7 

U.S.C. 901 et seq., as amended. One of 

the Agency’s main objectives is to 

safeguard loan security. An important 

part of safeguarding loan security is to 

make sure Agency financed facilities are 

utilized responsibly, adequately 

operated, and maintained. Accordingly, 

RUS borrowers have a duty to RUS to 

maintain their respective systems. In 

performing this duty, borrowers further 

the purposes of the RE Act while also 

preserving the value of electric systems 

to serve as collateral for repayment of 

RUS assistance. 

A substantial portion of the electric 

infrastructure of the United States 

resides in rural America and is 

maintained by rural Americans. 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, 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 to 

create an ERP. The VRA is utilized to 

identify specific assets and 

infrastructure owned or served by the 

electric utility, to determine the 

criticality and the risk level associated 

with the assets and infrastructure 

including a risk versus cost analysis, to 

identify threats and vulnerabilities, if 

present, to review existing mitigation 

procedures and to assist in the 

development of new and additional 

mitigating procedures, if necessary. The 

ERP provides written procedures 

detailing response and restoration 

efforts in the event of a major system 

outage resulting from a natural or manmade disaster. The annual exercise of 

the ERP ensures operability and 

employee competency and serves to 

identify and correct deficiencies in the 

existing ERP. The exercise may be 

implemented individually by a single 

borrower, or by an individual borrower 

as a participant in a multi-party (to 

include utilities, government agencies 

and other participants or combination 

thereof) tabletop execution or actual 

implementation of the ERP. 

Electric borrowers maintain ERPs as 

part of prudent utilities practices. These 

ERPs are essential to continuous 

operation of the electric systems. Each 

electric applicant provides RUS with a 

written self-certification letter form that 

an ERP exists for the system and that an 

initial VRA has been performed as part 

of the application process. 

Comments are invited on: 

(a) Whether the 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. All responses 

to this notice will be summarized and 

included in the request for OMB 

approval. All comments will become a 

matter of public record. 

Copies of this information collection 

can be obtained from Crystal Pemberton, 

Rural Development Innovation Center— 

Regulations Management Division, at 

(202) 260–8621. Email: 

Crystal.Pemberton@usda.gov. 

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. 

Andrew Berke, 

Administrator, Rural Utilities Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–22839 Filed 10–16–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Census Bureau 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

Review and Approval; Comment 

Request; Generic Clearance for 

Internet Panel Pretesting and 

Qualitative Survey Methods Testing 

AGENCY: Census Bureau, Department of 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of information collection, 

request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The Department of 

Commerce, in accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 

1995, invites the general public and 

other Federal agencies to comment on 

proposed, and continuing information 

collections, which helps us assess the 

impact of our information collection 

requirements and minimize the public’s 

reporting burden. The purpose of this 

notice is to allow for 60 days of public 

comment on the proposed extension of 

the Generic Clearance for Internet Panel 

Pretesting and Qualitative Survey 

Methods Testing, prior to the 

submission of the information collection 

request (ICR) to OMB for approval. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, 

comments regarding this proposed 


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