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contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

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examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

33156 

Vol. 77, No. 108 

Tuesday, June 5, 2012 

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 to provide state-level 

estimates of the prevalence and 

geographic distribution of School Food 

Authorities (SFAs) conducting Farm to 

School activities. 

DATES: Written comments on this notice 

must be received on or before August 6, 

2012 to be assured of consideration. 

ADDRESSES: Address all comments 

concerning this notice to Katherine 

Ralston, Food Economics Division, 

Economic Research Service, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, STOP 1800, 

1400 Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–1800. 

Comments may also be submitted via 

fax to the attention of Katherine Ralston 

at 202–245–4779 or via email to 

kralston@ers.usda.gov, or through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal (http:// 

www.regulations.gov), which provides 

online instructions for submitting 

comments electronically. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Katherine Ralston, 

kralston@ers.usda.gov, Tel. 202–694– 

5463. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Farm to School Census. 

OMB Number: 0536–XXXX. 

Expiration Date: Three years from the 

date of approval. 

Type of Request: New collection. 

Abstract: The Healthy, Hunger-Free 

Kids Act of 2010 directed USDA to carry 

out, through grants and technical 

assistance, a program to help eligible 

schools, State and local agencies, Indian 

tribal organizations, agricultural 

producers or groups of agricultural 

producers, and nonprofit entities 

implement farm to school activities that 

promote and improve access to local 

foods in eligible schools. The Act 

funded this requirement with an 

authorization of $5,000,000, to be 

allocated with consideration for 

geographic diversity and equitable 

treatment of rural, urban, and tribal 

communities as it relates to the 

distribution of farm to school programs. 

The Farm to School Census will be 

used to establish a baseline measure of 

local food purchases in schools and set 

priorities for USDA programming 

related to local school food sourcing. 

The Farm to School Census data will be 

used in mapping School Food 

Authorities (SFAs) that procured local 

foods for school meal programs in 2011– 

12 in order to characterize the 

geographic distribution of farm to 

school programs and obtain State-level 

estimates of the prevalence of local 

procurement among SFAs. These data 

will be used to set priorities for USDA 

outreach and technical support. 

The 2011–12 Farm to School Census 

questionnaire will be disseminated 

electronically to all public school 

district SFA food service directors as 

part of an invitation to participate from 

the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) 

Child Nutrition Division, through State 

Child Nutrition Directors. State Child 

Nutrition Directors will also forward 3 

reminder emails from FNS. A sample of 

non-respondents will be followed up by 

phone as part of an analysis of nonresponse. Data collection instruments 

will be kept as simple and respondentfriendly as possible. Responses are 

voluntary. 

The map of local procurement by 

SFAs will require geocode boundary 

coordinates for each SFA. While 

boundary coordinates are available from 

the U.S. Census Bureau for school 

districts, SFAs can include more than 

one school district. Available data on 

SFAs from the Food and Nutrition 

Service is only available for SFAs that 

submit verification reports and is thus 

not a complete list of SFAs. Therefore, 

in order to obtain a more complete list, 

we will ask State Child Nutrition 

Directors to submit a list of SFAs with 

business contact information for SFA 

Food Service Directors in each State. 

This list will be matched to geocode 

boundary coordinates from the U.S. 

Census Bureau and characteristics such 

as enrollment and rural/urban status 

from the Common Core of Data, a data 

file compiled annually by the U.S. 

Department of Education’s National 

Center of Education Statistics. Geocode 

boundary coordinates will be used to 

map SFAs purchasing local foods. 

Characteristics such as enrollment and 

rural/urban status will be used to 

analyze non-response and develop nonresponse weights. Business contact 

information will be used to follow-up a 

sample of non-respondents by telephone 

for an analysis of non-response. 

Respondents will be informed that the 

information collected will be used for 

non-statistical purposes, i.e., to map 

each individual School Food Authority 

and the proportion of food expenditures 

going to locally-produced foods. Given 

the intended purpose of this 

information collection, to create a 

publicly accessible map of the extent of 

local purchasing by individual SFAs, 

this information collection is not 

covered by the Confidential Information 

Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act 

of 2002. The questionnaire will inform 

respondents that ERS will treat all 

information generated or gathered in the 

Farm to School Census in accordance 

with the Freedom of Information Act (5 

U.S.C. 552). 

Affected Public: The first respondent 

group is the universe of State Child 

Nutrition Directors from the 50 States 

and the District of Columbia, numbering 

51 in total. The second respondent 

group is the universe of SFA food 

service directors in the 50 States and the 

District of Columbia, excluding private 

schools and charter schools, numbering 

13,629. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

All 51 State Child Nutrition Directors 

are expected to forward the invitation to 

participate in the Census and 3 

reminder emails from FNS. Forty State 

Child Nutrition Directors (78 percent) 

are expected to provide a list of SFAs 

in the State with contact information, 

and 10,494 SFA Food Service Directors 

(77 percent) are expected to complete 

the Census questionnaire. The expected 

response rate for State Child Nutrition 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 5, 2012 / Notices 33157 

Directors is based on consultation with 

FNS Farm to School Program liaisons in 

FNS regional offices. The expected 

response rate for SFA Food Service 

Director is based on experience with the 

2008 North Carolina Farm to School 

Survey, which was an email survey of 

similar length distributed by email with 

3 reminders from the State Child 

Nutrition Director. A sample of 100 nonresponding SFA Food Service Directors 

will be followed up by phone as part of 

an analysis of non-response. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 4 responses from State 

Child Nutrition Directors for the request 

to forward the invitation to participate 

and 3 reminder emails to SFAs, 1 

response from State Child Nutrition 

Directors for a list of SFAs with contact 

information, 1 response from SFA Food 

Service Directors for the Farm to School 

Census, and 1 response from Census 

non-responders contacted by telephone 

for follow-up. 

Estimated Total Responses: 204 

responses from 51 State Child Nutrition 

Directors to the request to forward the 

survey invitation and 3 reminder 

emails, 40 responses from State Child 

Nutrition Directors to the request for a 

list of SFAs in the State, 10,494 

responses from SFAs completing the 

Farm to School Census, and 100 SFAs 

selected as a sample of nonrespondents. 

Estimated Time per Response: State 

Child Nutrition Directors. The request to 

State Child Nutrition Directors to 

forward the Census invitation and 3 

reminder emails from the Director of 

Child Nutrition to SFA Food Service 

Directors is estimated to each take 15 

minutes, for a total of 1 hour. 

The request to State Child Nutrition 

Directors to provide the list of SFAs in 

the State is estimated to take 1 hour. 

Non-responding State Child Nutrition 

Directors are expected to take 10 

minutes determining that they are 

unable to provide this list in a timely 

fashion. 

SFA Food Service Directors. We 

estimate the average time for responding 

SFA Food Service Directors as 9 

minutes on average. This average 

includes 20 minutes for SFAs that have 

a local procurement program, and 5 

minutes for those that do not, based on 

reviews of the data collection 

instrument by food service directors 

who are registered as members of the 

National Farm to School Network. 

About 20 percent of SFAs are estimated 

to have a local procurement program, 

based on results from the 2009–10 

School Food Purchase Study. In 

addition, responding Food Service 

Directors are expected to spend an 

average of 1 minute total reading 

reminder emails either before they 

respond or after they respond, since 

reminders will be sent to all SFAs 

regardless of whether they have already 

responded. 

We estimate that non-responding SFA 

Food Service Directors will spend 1 

minute each reading the initial 

invitation to participate, a first reminder 

email, a second reminder email, and a 

third reminder email for a total of 4 

minutes. 

Non-responding Food Service 

Directors contacted by phone are 

expected to spend an average of 15 

minutes answering an abridged set of 

questions about the presence and 

volume of local food procurement for 

the SFA. 

Estimated Total Burden on 

Respondents: 1,901 hours. See the table 

below for details. 

REPORTING BURDEN

Description 

Estimated 

number of respondents or 

non-respondents 

Responses or 

non-responses 

annually per 

respondent 

Total annual 

reponses or 

non-responses 

Estimated average number 

of minutes per 

response or 

non-response* 

Estimated total 

annual hours 

of response 

and non-response burden 

Forwarding request to participate from FNS Child Nutrition 

Division to SFA Food Service Directors, plus 3 reminders ..................................................................................... 51 4 204 15 51 

Request to State Directors for list of School Food Authorities and Director Contact Information .............................. 40 1 40 60 40 

Non-respondents to request for list ..................................... 11 1 11 10 2 

Total Burden, State Child Nutrition Directors ......... ........................ ........................ ........................ ........................ 93 

Farm to School Census for School Food Authority Directors .................................................................................... 10,494 1 10,494 9 1,574 

Non-respondents .................................................................. 3,135 1 3,135 4 209 

Follow-up phone calls for non-response analysis ............... 100 1 100 15 25 

Total Burden, School Food Authority Directors ..... ........................ ........................ ........................ ........................ 1,808 

Total Burden ................................................................ ........................ ........................ ........................ ........................ 1,901 

* Average minutes per response and nonresponse are based on reviews of the questionnaire by School Food Authority Directors that are 

members of the National Farm to School Network. Complete responses to the Farm to School Census questionnaire are estimated to require 20 

minutes in School Food Authorities that purchase food locally, and 5 minutes for School Food Authorities that do not purchase food locally, with 

an estimated 20 percent purchasing locally produced food based on the 2009–10 School Food Purchase Study. In addition, respondents are estimated to spend an average of 1 minute total reading reminder emails either before they respond, or after they respond, since reminders will be 

sent to all SFAs regardless of whether they have already responded. 

Comments: All written comments will 

be open for public inspection in the 

Resource Center of the Economic 

Research Service during regular 

business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., 

Monday through Friday) at 355 E St. 

SW., Room 04P33, Washington, DC 

20024–4221. All responses to this notice 

will be summarized and included in the 

request for Office of Management and 

Budget approval. All comments 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 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
33158 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 5, 2012 / Notices 

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. 

Dated: May 22, 2012. 

Mary Bohman, 

Administrator, Economic Research Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–13497 Filed 6–4–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Plumas National Forest, California, 

Sugarloaf Hazardous Fuels Reduction 

Project 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service, 

Feather River Ranger District of the 

Plumas National Forest (PNF) will 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement (EIS) on the Sugarloaf 

Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project 

proposed to modify fire behavior, 

promote forest and watershed health, 

while contributing to the economic 

stability of rural communities through: 

fuels treatments; group selections (GS); 

area and variable density thinning from 

below; road improvements; and 

prescribed fire treatments on National 

Forest System (NFS) lands. The 

Sugarloaf Project is located south of 

Little Grass Valley Reservoir, from Goat 

Mountain in the north to American 

House in the south, surrounding the 

community of La Porte; including the 

Valley Creek Special Interest Area (SIA) 

administered by the PNF. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received within 

45 days from date of publication in the 

Federal Register. The draft 

environmental impact statement is 

expected July 2012 and the final 

environmental impact statement is 

expected August 2012. A decision is 

expected in September 2012 and 

implementation may begin as early as 

spring of 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

Carol Spinos, Interdisciplinary Team 

Leader, Feather River Ranger District 

Ranger District, 875 Mitchell Avenue, 

Oroville, CA 95965. Comments may be: 

(1) Mailed; (2) hand delivered between 

the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

weekdays Pacific Time; (3) faxed to 

(530) 532–1210; or (4) electronically 

mailed to: comments-pacificsouthwestplumas-featherrvr@fs.fed.us. Please 

indicate the name ‘‘Sugarloaf Hazardous 

Fuels Reduction Project’’ on the subject 

line of your email. Comments submitted 

electronically must be in Rich Text 

Format (.rtf), plain text format (.txt.) or 

Word (.doc). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carol Spinos, Interdisciplinary Team 

Leader, Feather River Ranger District 

Ranger District, 875 Mitchell Avenue, 

Oroville, CA 95966. Telephone: (530) 

534–6500 or electronic address: 

cspinos@fs.fed.us. 

Individuals who use 

telecommunication devices for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern 

Time, Monday through Friday. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

proposed action is designed to meet the 

standards and guidelines for land 

management activities described in the 

Plumas National Forest Land and 

Resource Management Plan (PNF 

LRMP) (USDA 1988) as amended by 

Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group 

(HFQLG) Final Supplemental 

Environmental Impact Statement 

(FSEIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) 

(USDA 1999a, 1999b, 2003b, 2003c), 

and the Sierra Nevada Forest Plan 

Amendment (SNFPA) FSEIS and ROD 

(USDA 2004a, 2004b). This project is 

being planned under authorization of 

the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (H.R. 

1904; Pub. L. 108–148; 36 CFR part 

218—Predecisional Administrative 

Review Process). 

The Sugarloaf Hazardous Fuels 

Reduction Project boundary 

encompasses all or portions of T. 21 N., 

R. 8 E., sec. 24–26; T. 21 N., R. 9 E., sec. 

2, 3, 5–10, 15–22, 27–32 in Plumas 

County, CA, MDM. 

Purpose and Need for Action 

This Project is proposed to establish 

defensible fuel profile zones (DFPZs), 

modify fire behavior, promote forest and 

watershed health, while contributing to 

the economic stability of rural 

communities in Plumas County, CA. 

Fire behavior needs to be modified in 

selected forest stands in order to reduce 

high fuel loading and resulting 

increased risks to people, structures, 

and resources in the wildland urbaninterface (WUI). There is a need for 

forest health, tree species diversity and 

structural complexity to be altered in 

the Sugarloaf Project area, because stand 

densities are unnaturally overcrowded 

and dominated by shade-tolerant tree 

species (e.g. Douglas-fir and white-fir) 

and high fuel loads, at-risk from standreplacing wildfire, insect infestations 

and disease. There is a need to improve 

watershed health as road surfaces are 

eroding, contributing sedimentation 

downstream to degrade water quality. 

There is a need to contribute to local 

forestry-related employment and 

provide forest products offerings, vital 

for rural communities such as La Porte 

and American House, isolated from 

urban job markets. 

Proposed Action 

The USDA Forest Service, Feather 

River Ranger District of the Plumas 

National Forest will prepare an 

environmental impact statement (EIS) 

for the Sugarloaf Hazardous Fuels 

Reduction Project. The proposed action 

would establish 992 acres of defensible 

fuel profile zones (DFPZs) using 763 

acres of variable density and 229 acres 

of thinning from below; 100 acres of 

group selection (GS); 5 miles of NFS 

classified road reconstruction, 5 miles of 

unclassified (temporary) road 

construction (closed post operations) 

and the construction of up to 52 new log 

landing sites; 223 acres of mastication; 

455 acres of hand thin, pile, and burn; 

3,195 acres of prescribed fire using 

manual ignition (i.e., drip torch) 

techniques, and 28 miles of National 

Forest System (NFS) road improvements 

to mitigate resource damage; consistent 

with the Plumas National Forest Travel 

Management decision. The selected NFS 

land roads would be improved using 

various methods, such as grading, 

removing and upgrading culverts, 

ripping and seeding, slope recontouring, and installing barriers. 

Wood by-products from these 

treatments are expected to produce 7 

million board feet of commerciallyvaluable timber, while retaining all live 

trees greater than 29.9 inches diameter 

at breast height (DBH) and a minimum 

of 40 percent forest canopy cover. 

Possible Alternatives 

In addition to the proposed action, a 

no-action alternative and a noncommercial funding alternative aimed 

solely at reducing hazardous fuels as 

required by the Memorandum and 

Order dated 11/04/2009 (Case 2:05–CV– 

00205–MCE–GGH). Additional 

alternatives may be developed and 

analyzed during the environmental 

analysis process. 

Responsible Official 

The Plumas National Forest 

Supervisor is the Responsible Official. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

The decision to be made is whether 

to: (1) Implement the proposed action; 

(2) meet the purpose and need for action 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES