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

12138 

Vol. 80, No. 44 

Friday, March 6, 2015 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Farm Service Agency 

Commodity Credit Corporation 

Information Collection Request; Debt 

Settlement Policies and Procedures 

AGENCY: Farm Service Agency and 

Commodity Credit Corporation. 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) 

and the Farm Service Agency (FSA) are 

requesting comments from all interested 

individuals and organizations on an 

extension of a currently approved 

information collection that supports the 

FSA and CCC Debt Settlement Policies 

and Procedure regulations. 

DATES: We will consider comments that 

we receive by May 5, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit 

comments on this notice. In your 

comments, include the date, volume, 

and page number of this issue of the 

Federal Register, the OMB control 

number and the title of the information 

collection. You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: Thomas F. Harris II, Claims 

Program Specialist, Financial 

Management Division, Office of Budget 

and Finance, Farm Service Agency, 

USDA, STOP 0581, 355 E Street SW., 

Suite 11–181B, Washington, DC 20024. 

You may also send comments to the 

Desk Officer for Agriculture, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget, 

Washington, DC 20503. Copies of the 

information collection may be requested 

by contacting Thomas F. Harris at the 

above address. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Thomas F. Harris II, (202) 772–6014. 

Persons with disabilities who require 

alternative means for communication 

(Braille, large print, audio tape, etc.) 

should contact the USDA’s TARGET 

Center at (202) 720–2600 (Voice only). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Debt Settlement Policies and 

Procedures. 

OMB Control Number: 0560–0146. 

Expiration Date of Approval: July 31, 

2015. 

Type of Request: Extension of a 

currently approved information 

collection. 

Abstract: This information collection 

is required to enable FSA and CCC to 

effectively administer the regulations at 

7 CFR part 792 (FSA) and 7 CFR part 

1403 (CCC) pertaining to debt settlement 

policies and procedures and the 

identification of and settlement of 

outstanding claims. Collection of 

outstanding debts owed to FSA or to 

CCC can be effected by installment 

payments if a debtor furnishes 

satisfactory evidence of inability to pay 

a claim in full, and if the debtor 

specifically requests an installment 

agreement. Part of the requirement is 

that the debtor furnishes a financial 

statement or other information that 

would disclose the debtor’s assets and 

liabilities. This information is required 

in order to evaluate any proposed plan. 

Such requests for documentation 

furnished by the debtor are also used in 

the other collection tools employed by 

both FSA and CCC in managing debt 

settlement policies and procedures. If an 

installment agreement is approved, then 

a Promissory Note (CCC–279), or an 

approved alternative promissory note 

format, should be executed between the 

debtor and the FSA/CCC 

representative(s). 

During the past two years, 

$13,930,548.07 in debt collection for 

Farm Programs and for the Commodity 

Office was facilitated by the use of this 

requested information. Eighty four (84) 

Promissory Notes were established 

between debtors and FSA and CCC from 

10/01/2013 to 10/01/2014. Total active 

Note amount for the past two years is 

presently 305 total Promissory Notes 

(includes beginning outstanding notes 

(213); total notes established (84); notes 

defaulted (1), notes paid off in full (25); 

notes paid, small balance loans (-25); 

notes written off (07) and notes 

discharged in Bankruptcy (00)) with a 

beginning outstanding amount in 2014 

of $31,131,509.78, and an ending 

outstanding amount of $13,930,584.07. 

Collections for FSA and CCC from FSA/ 

CCC offices, DOJ actions, and Voluntary 

Payments totaled $3,416,702.42. The 

Debt Collection Improvement Act of 

1996 (DCIA) requires the head of an 

agency to take all appropriate steps to 

collect delinquent debts before 

discharging the debts. The current 

information collection forms and 

formats have been successfully used for 

the past several years and have become 

familiar tools for both agency employees 

and producers. Thus, adequate forms 

and formats already exist and are in use. 

Developing new forms and formats 

would be costly and is not required to 

meet the demands of the DCIA. Public 

comment is requested on how the forms 

and process may be improved, as 

specified below. There are no changes to 

the information collection since the last 

OMB approval. 

The formula used to calculate the 

total burden hour is estimated average 

time per responses hours times total 

annual responses. 

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting 

burden for this information collection is 

estimated to average 0.66 hours per 

response. The average travel time, 

which is included in the total annual 

burden, is estimated to be 1 hour per 

respondent. 

Respondents: Producers participating 

in FSA and CCC programs. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

300. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 1. 

Estimated Total Annual Responses: 

300. 

Estimated Average Time per 

Response: 0.66. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 200 Hours. 

We are requesting comments on all 

aspects of this information collection to 

help us to: 

(1) Evaluate 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) Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

collection of information including the 

validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; 

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 44 / Friday, March 6, 2015 / Notices 12139 

(3) Evaluate the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information technology; 

and 

(4) Minimize the burden of the 

information collection on those who 

respond through the use of appropriate 

automated, electronic, mechanical, or 

other technological collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. 

All comments received in response to 

this notice, including names and 

addresses where provided, will be made 

a matter of public record. Comments 

will be summarized and included in the 

request for OMB approval of the 

information collection. 

Signed on March 3, 2015. 

Val Dolcini, 

Administrator, Farm Service Agency, and 

Executive Vice President, Commodity Credit 

Corporation. 

[FR Doc. 2015–05227 Filed 3–5–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

March 2, 2015. 

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. 

Comments regarding this information 

collection received by April 6, 2015 will 

be considered. Written comments 

should be addressed to: Desk Officer for 

Agriculture, Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB), New 

Executive Office Building, 725—17th 

Street NW., Washington, DC 20503. 

Commenters are encouraged to submit 

their comments to OMB via email to: 

OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov or fax 

(202) 395–5806 and to Departmental 

Clearance Office, USDA, OCIO, Mail 

Stop 7602, Washington, DC 20250– 

7602. Copies of the submission(s) may 

be obtained by calling (202) 720–8681. 

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. 

National Agricultural Statistics Service 

Title: Colony Loss Surveys. 

OMB Control Number: 0535–NEW. 

Summary of Collection: The primary 

objectives of the National Agricultural 

Statistics Service (NASS) are to prepare 

and issue official State and national 

estimates of crop and livestock 

production, disposition and prices, 

economic statistics, and environmental 

statistics related to agriculture and to 

conduct the Census of Agriculture and 

its follow-on surveys. Pollinators 

(honeybees) are vital to the agricultural 

industry for producing food for the 

world’s population. Ad hoc surveys 

showed a dramatic rise in the number 

of disappearances of honeybee colonies 

in North America in late 2006. The 

collapse or decline of honeybee colonies 

is significant economically because 

many agricultural crops worldwide are 

pollinated by European honeybees. 

General authority for these data 

collection activities is granted under 

U.S.C. Title 7, Section 2204. 

Need and Use of the Information: To 

collect critical information NASS will 

use two surveys which will complement 

its existing Bee and Honey Collection 

(0535–0153) that focuses on bee keepers 

with 5 or more colonies. The Colony 

Loss Quarterly Survey will be 

administered quarterly to a subsample 

of bee keepers responding to the annual 

Bee and Honey Inquiry. The Colony 

Loss Annual Survey will be 

administered to bee keepers with fewer 

than 5 colonies. The data collected will 

include state of colony residence, the 

commercial movement of colonies 

between states, newly added or 

replacement colonies, colony losses, 

and presence of colony stress factors, 

such as pests or parasites. 

Description of Respondents: Farmers 

and Beekeepers. 

Number of Respondents: 23,300. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

Quarterly; One time. 

Total Burden Hours: 8,353. 

Charlene Parker, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2015–05263 Filed 3–5–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–20–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Flathead National Forest, Montana; 

Revision of the Land Management Plan 

for the Flathead National Forest and an 

Amendment of the Helena, Kootenai, 

Lewis and Clark, and Lolo National 

Forest Plans To Incorporate Relevant 

Direction From the Northern 

Continental Divide Ecosystem Grizzly 

Bear Conservation Strategy 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: As directed by the National 

Forest Management Act, the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Forest 

Service, is preparing the Flathead 

National Forest’s revised land 

management plan (forest plan) and an 

amendment to provide relevant 

direction from the Northern Continental 

Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) Grizzly Bear 

Conservation Strategy into the forest 

plans for the Helena, Kootenai, Lewis 

and Clark and Lolo National Forests. 

The Forest Service will prepare a single 

environmental impact statement (EIS) 

for its revised forest plan and the 

amendment. 

This notice briefly describes the 

proposed action based on the need to 

change the existing plans, the nature of 

the decision to be made, and 

information concerning public 

participation. This notice also provides 

estimated dates for filing the EIS, the 

name and address of the responsible 

agency officials, and the individuals 

who can provide additional 

information. Finally, this notice 

identifies the applicable planning rule 

that will be used for completing the 

plan revision and amendment. 

The revised Flathead forest plan will 

supersede the existing forest plan that 

was approved by the Regional Forester 

in 1986, and amended more than 20 

times since. The existing Flathead forest 

plan will remain in effect until the 

revised forest plan takes effect. The 

management direction pertaining to 

grizzly bear within the current forest 

plans of the Helena National Forest, 

approved by the Regional Forester in 

1986; Kootenai National Forest, 

approved by the Regional Forester in 

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