### 75520 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 232 / Friday, December 2, 2011 / Notices

regulation at 15 CFR 2011 subpart B to issue specialty sugar certificates, letters to importers signed by the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Certifying Authority, and ensuring that U.S. importers comply with the program’s requirements. The regulation sets forth the terms and conditions under which the Certifying Authority in FAS issues certificates to importers allowing themto enter specialty sugars under the tariffrate quota (TRQ) for refined sugar.

Need and Use of the Information: The collected information will be used to: (1) Determine whether applicants for the program meet the regulation’s eligibility criteria; (2) ensure that sugar to be imported is specialty sugar and meets the requirements of the regulation; (3) audit participants’ compliance with the regulation; and (4) prevent entry of world-priced program sugar from entering the domestic commercial market instead of domestic specialty sugar market. The Certifying Authority needs the information to manage, plan, evaluate, and account for program activities.

Description of Respondents: Business or other for-profit.

Number of Respondents: 41. Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Annually.

Total Burden Hours: 45.

Ruth Brown, Departmental Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011–31039 Filed 12–1–11; 8:45 am]

**BILLING CODE 3410–10–P**

**DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE**

**Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request** 

November 29, 2011.

The Department of Agriculture has submitted the following information collection requirement(s) to OMB for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104–13. Comments regarding (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 burden including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; (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 should be addressed to: Desk Officer for Agriculture, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), OIRA

_Submission@OMB.EOP. GOV or fax (202) 395–5806 and to Departmental Clearance Office, USDA, OCIO, Mail Stop 7602, Washington, DC 20250–7602. Comments regarding these information collections are best assured of having their full effect if received within 30 days of this notification. Copies of the submission(s) may be obtained by calling (202) 720–8958.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless the collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control number and the agency informs potential persons who are to respond to the collection of information that such persons are not required to respond to the collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Office of Procurement and Property Management

Title: Guidelines for Designating Biobased Products for Federal Procurement.

OMB Control Number: 0503–0011. Summary of Collection: Section 9002 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act (FSRIA) of 2002, as amended by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (FCEA) of 2008, provides for a preferred procurement program under which Federal agencies are required to purchase biobased products, with certain exceptions. Items (which are generic groupings of products) are designated by rulemaking for preferred procurement. To qualify items for procurement under this program, the statute requires that the Secretary of Agriculture consider information on the availability of items, the economic and technological feasibility of using such items and the life cycle costs of using such items. In addition, the Secretary is required to provide information on designated items to Federal agencies about the availability, relative price, performance, and environmental and public health benefits of such items and where appropriate shall recommend the level of biobased material to be contained in the procured product.

Need and Use of the Information: The Office of Procurement and Property Management (OPPM) and the Center for Industrial Research and Service at Iowa State University will interact with manufacturers and venders to gather such information and material for testing, as may be required for designation of items for preferred procurement by Federal agencies. The information collected will be gathered using a variety of methods, including face to face visits with a manufacturer or vendor, submission by manufacturers and vendors of information electronically to OPPM, and survey instruments filled out by manufacturers and vendors and submitted to OPPM.

Description of Respondents: Business or other for-profit.

Number of Respondents: 75. Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Other (once).

Total Burden Hours: 7,800.

Ruth Brown, Departmental Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011–31038 Filed 12–1–11; 8:45 am]

**BILLING CODE 3410–TX–P**

**DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE**

**Agricultural Research Service**

**Notice of Intent To Grant Exclusive License** 

**AGENCY :**  Agricultural Research Service, USDA.

**ACTION :**  Notice of intent.

**SUMMARY :**  Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, intends to grant to DICKEY-john Corporation of Auburn, Illinois, an exclusive license to U.S. Patent No. 6,691,563, ‘‘Universal Dielectric Calibration Method and Apparatus for Moisture Content Determination in Particulate and Granular Materials,’’ issued on February 17, 2004 and to U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 12/782,079, ‘‘Microwave Sensor and Algorithm for Moisture and Density Determination,’’ filed on May 18, 2010.

**DATES :**  Comments must be received on or before January 3, 2012.

**ADDRESSES :**  Send comments to: USDA, ARS, Office of Technology Transfer, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Rm. 4–1174, Beltsville, Maryland 20705–5131.

**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT :**  June Blalock of the Office of Technology Transfer at the Beltsville address given above; telephone: (301) 504–5989.

**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION :**  The Federal Government’s patent rights in these inventions are assigned to the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture. It is in the public interest to so license this invention as DICKEY-john Corporation of Auburn, Illinois has submitted a complete and sufficient application for


### 75521 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 232 / Friday, December 2, 2011 / Notices

a license. The prospective exclusive license will be royalty-bearing and will comply with the terms and conditions of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7. The prospective exclusive license may be granted unless, within thirty (30) days from the date of this published Notice, the Agricultural Research Service receives written evidence and argument which establishes that the grant of the license would not be consistent with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7.

Richard J. Brenner,
Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2011–30967 Filed 12–1–11; 8:45 am]

**BILLING CODE 3410–03–P**

**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.

**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 timerequired for respondents and nonrespondents 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.