This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

66592

Vol. 62, No. 244

Friday, December 19, 1997

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

(Docket No. FV97–33–1 NC)

Notice of Request for Extension and

Revision of a Currently Approved

Information Collection

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice

announces the Agricultural Marketing

Service’s (AMS) intention to request an

extension for and revision to a currently

approved information collection for the

Export Fruit Acts, Apple and Pear Act

and the Export Grape and Plum Act.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be

received February 17, 1998 to be

assured of consideration.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR COMMENTS:

Contact Caroline C. Thorpe, Marketing

Order Administration Branch, F & V,

AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, Room

2525-S, Washington, D.C., 20090-6456,

Telephone (202) 720–8139 or Fax (202)

720–5698.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Export Fruit Regulations—

Export Apple and Pear Act (7 CFR part

33) and the Export Grape and Plum Act

(7 CFR part 35).

OMB Number: 0581–0143.

Expiration Date of Approval: June 30,

1998.

Type of Request: Extension and

revision of a currently approved

information collection.

Abstract: Fresh apples, pears and

grapes grown in the United States

shipped to any foreign destination must

meet minimum quality and other

requirements established by regulations

issued under the Export Apple and Pear

Act (7 U.S.C. 581–590) and the Export

Grape and Plum Act (7 U.S.C. 591–599).

Currently, plums are not regulated

under the Export Grape and Plum Act.

The regulations issued under the Export

Grape and Plum Act (7 CFR part 35)

cover fresh grapes grown in the United

States and shipped to foreign

destinations, except Canada and

Mexico. The regulations issued under

the Export Apple and Pear Act (7 CFR

part 3) cover fresh apples and pears

grown in the United States shipped to

foreign destinations. The Secretary of

Agriculture is authorized to oversee the

implementation of the export fruit acts

and issue regulations regarding these

commodities.

The information collection

requirements in this request are

essential to carry out the intent and

administration of the export fruit acts.

The Export Apple and Pear Act and the

Export Grape and Plum Act have been

in effect since 1933 and 1960

respectively.

Both Acts were designed to promote

the foreign trade of the United States in

apples, pears, grapes and plums; to

protect the reputation of these

American-grown commodities; and to

prevent deception or misrepresentation

of the quality of such products moving

in foreign commerce.

The regulations issued under the Acts

(§ 33.11 for apples and pears, and

§ 35.12 for grapes) require that the U.S.

Department of Agriculture (USDA)

officially inspect and certify that each

shipment of fresh apples, pears, and

grapes is in compliance with all

pertinent regulatory requirements

effective under the Acts. Persons who

ship fresh apples, pears, and grapes

grown in the United States to foreign

destinations must have such shipment

inspected and certified by Federal or

Federal-State Inspection Service (FSIS)

inspectors. The FSIS is administered by

the Agricultural Marketing Service.

The forms covered under this

information collection require the

minimum information necessary to

effectively carry out the export fruit

acts, and their use is necessary.

The information collection

requirements in this request is primarily

in the form of recordkeeping.

Information needed by USDA is

available on official Federal-State

Inspection Service (FSIS) inspection

certificates, and on phytosanitary

inspection certificates issued by USDA’s

Animal Plant Health Inspection Service.

Export carriers are required to keep on

file for three years copies of inspection

certificates for apples, pears, and grapes

transported by them. Export shippers

are required to label certain containers

of apples, pears, and grapes used for

export shipments.

The number of exporters has

remained fairly constant in recent years.

There are an estimated 115 exporters

who use the required forms and the

corresponding forms have remained

constant.

The information collection

requirements in this request are

periodically reviewed to ensure that

they place as small a burden on the

exporter as possible. Procedures have

been streamlined to assure efficiency in

administering the Acts.

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting

burden for this collection of information

is estimated to average 4.9528 hours per

response.

Respondents: Fruit export shippers

and export carriers.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

115.

Estimated Number of Responses per

Respondent: 3.96.

Estimated Total Annual Burden on

Respondents: 2,204.

Comments are invited on: (1) Whether

the proposed collection of information

is necessary for the proper performance

of the functions of the agency, including

whether the information will have

practical utility; (2) 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; (3)

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and (4) ways to minimize the

burden of the collection of information

on those who are to respond, including

the use of appropriate automated,

electronic, mechanical, or other

technological collection techniques or

other forms of information technology.

Comments may be sent to Docket

Clerk, Fruit and Vegetable Programs,

AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, Room

2525-S, Washington, D.C., 20090–6456.

Comments should reference the docket

number and the date and page number

of this issue of the Federal Register. All

comments received will be available for

public inspection during regular

business hours at the same address.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 244 / Friday, December 19, 1997 / Notices 66593

1The agency name of the Food and Consumer

Service was changed to the Food and Nutrition

Service by order of the Secretary of Agriculture on

November 25, 1997.

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.

Dated: December 15, 1997.

Robert C. Keeney,

Deputy Administrator, Fruit and Vegetable

Programs.

[FR Doc. 97–33166 Filed 12–18–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Consumer Service 1

Food Stamp Program: Quality Control

Provisions of the Mickey Leland

Childhood Hunger Relief Act

AGENCY: Food and Consumer Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Request for comments on

proposed collection of information.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this

action invites the general public and

other public agencies to comment on

proposed information collections.

Requirements in changes to the Food

Stamp Program regulations based on the

Mickey Leland Childhood Hunger Relief

Act are the basis for information

collection in the areas of arbitration and

good cause. This action revises the

information collection burden that

currently includes the Quality Control

(QC) sampling plan by adding to it the

burdens for the QC arbitration and good

cause processes. While these processes

have existed since 1981, they have not

been included in the burden previously.

A notice for the development of the QC

sampling plan, as required by Food

Stamp Program regulations, was

published March 4, 1997 and has been

approved through July 31, 2000. The

Department of Agriculture published a

final rule on June 2, 1997, entitled Food

Stamp Program: Quality Control

Provisions of the Mickey Leland

Childhood Hunger Relief Act, which

implements changes to the arbitration

and good cause processes.

DATES: Written comments must be

submitted on or before February 17,

1998.

ADDRESSES: Send comments and

requests for copies of this information

collection to: Retha Oliver, Chief,

Quality Control Branch, Program

Accountability Division, Food and

Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of

Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive,

Alexandria, VA 22302.

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 will 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

through the use of appropriate

automated, electronic, mechanical, or

other technological collection

techniques or other forms of information

technology.

All responses to this action will be

summarized and included in the request

for Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) approval. All comments will also

become a matter of public record. The

Food and Consumer Service (FCS) will

publish a document in the rules section

of the Federal Register announcing the

effective and implementation dates of

the provisions contained in 7 CFR

§§ 275.3(c)(4) and 275.23(e)(7) of the

Leland Rule after the approval of the

provisions by OMB under the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Retha Oliver, (703) 305–2474.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Food Stamp Program

Regulations, Part 275—Quality Control.

OMB Number: 0584–0303.

Expiration Date: July 31, 2000.

Type of Request: Revision of a

currently approved collection of

information.

Abstract: Pursuant to Section 13951 of

the Mickey Leland Childhood Hunger

Relief Act (Pub. L. 103–66), the final

rule entitled Quality Control Provisions

of the Mickey Leland Childhood Hunger

Relief Act, (‘‘The ‘‘Leland Rule’’),

published June 2, 1997 (62 FR 29652),

contains information collections which

are subject to review by OMB under the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. 3507). The reporting and

recordkeeping burden associated with

the Food Stamp Program QC sampling

plan is approved through July 31, 2000,

under OMB No. 0584–0303. This notice

proposes to add the burdens for the QC

arbitration and good cause processes to

the burden that currently includes the

QC sampling plan. The burden

approved for the QC sampling plan is

266 hours per year. The annual burdens

associated with the QC arbitration and

good cause processes are estimated to

total 1647 and 1917 respectively. The

total annual burden for the QC sampling

plan, arbitration and good cause

processes is estimated to be 3630 hours.

The increase of 3564 hours is solely the

result of adding the arbitration and good

cause processes to the burden.

The QC system contains procedures

for resolving differences in review

findings between State agencies and

FNS. This is referred to as the

arbitration process. The QC system also

contains procedures which provide

relief for State agencies from all or a part

of a QC liability when a State agency

can demonstrate that a part or all of an

excessive error rate was due to an

unusual event which had an

uncontrollable impact on the State

agency’s payment error rate. In the past,

information collections associated with

the QC arbitration or good cause

processes have not been included in the

reporting and recordkeeping burden.

However, since the good cause and

arbitration processes have been

implemented since 1981, in practice

State agencies will not notice an actual

increase in burden from current

practice.

Quality Control Burden Associated

With the Sampling Plan, Arbitration,

and Good Cause

1. Sampling Plan

Affected Public: State agencies.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

53.

Estimated Number of Responses Per

Respondent: 1.

Estimated Time Per Response: 5.0236

hours.

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 266.

2. Arbitration Process

Affected Public: State agencies.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

53.

Estimated Number of Responses Per

Respondent: 3.1.

Estimated Time Per Response:

10.0236 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Burden:

1647.

3. Good Cause Process

Affected Public: State agencies.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

53.

Estimated Number of Responses Per

Respondent: 0.226.

Estimated Time Per Response: 160

hours.

Estimated Total Annual Burden:

1917.

4. Combined Quality Control Burden

Associated With the Sampling Plan,