Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 56 / Tuesday, March 24, 2015 / Notices 15631 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

U.S. Geological Survey 

[USGS–GX15GL00DT7ST00] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Request for Comments 

AGENCY: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of a revision of a 

currently approved information 

collection (1028–0087). 

SUMMARY: We (the U.S. Geological 

Survey) will ask the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) to 

approve the information collection (IC) 

described below. As required by the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 

1995, and as part of our continuing 

efforts to reduce paperwork and 

respondent burden, we invite the 

general public and other Federal 

agencies to take this opportunity to 

comment on this IC. This collection is 

scheduled to expire on September 30, 

2015. 

DATES: To ensure that your comments 

are considered, we must receive them 

on or before May 26, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this information collection to the 

Information Collection Clearance 

Officer, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 

Sunrise Valley Drive MS 807, Reston, 

VA 20192 (mail); (703) 648–7197 (fax); 

or gs-info_collections@usgs.gov (email). 

Please reference ‘Information Collection 

1028–0087, ‘National Geological and 

Geophysical Data Preservation Program’ 

in all correspondence. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Betty Adrian at (303) 202–4828 or by 

mail at U.S. Geological Survey, Box 

25046, MS 975, Denver Federal Center, 

Denver, CO 80225, or by email at 

badrian@usgs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

Section 351 of the Energy Policy Act 

of 2005 directs the Secretary of the 

Interior, through the Director of the U.S. 

Geological Survey, as follows, ‘‘The 

Secretary shall carry out a National 

Geological and Geophysical Data 

Preservation Program in accordance 

with this section— 

(1) To archive geologic, geophysical, 

and engineering data, maps, well logs, 

and samples; 

(2) To provide a national catalog of 

such archival material; and 

(3) To provide technical and financial 

assistance related to the archival 

material.’’ 

The Plan outlines program goals and 

recommends implementation strategies. 

An action item in the plan is to ‘‘begin 

interactions with State geological 

surveys and other DOI agencies that 

maintain geological and geophysical 

data and samples to address their 

preservation and data rescue needs.’’ In 

response, the USGS is requesting each 

state that elects to participate in the 

program to: 

(1) Inventory their current collections and 

data preservation needs to provide a 

snapshot of the diversity of scientific 

collections held, supported, or used by State 

geological surveys. This inventory of current 

collections will form the foundation of the 

National Catalog; 

(2) Build the National Catalog by providing 

site-specific metadata for items in 

inventoried collections. Focus on sitespecific sample data allows broad national 

coverage with content useful to a wide 

variety of users. The types of sites cataloged 

will be determined by the holdings of 

participating states; and 

(3) In FY 2010 and beyond, depending on 

appropriations, states would be invited to 

propose projects that address other priorities 

identified in the Implementation Plan for the 

National Geological and Geophysical Data 

Preservation Program, including: (a) Digital 

infrastructure; (b) Metadata for items in data 

collections; and (c) Special data rescue 

needs. 

Furthermore, annual data 

preservation priorities are provided in 

the Program Announcement as guidance 

for applicants to consider when 

submitting proposals. its inception in 

2007, NGGDPP has awarded 44 states 

with $4,585,849 which, when matched 

or exceeded by the states, amounts to 

over $9M invested in the rescue and 

preservation efforts. This notice 

concerns the collection of information 

that is sufficient and relevant to 

evaluate and select proposals for 

funding. We will protect information 

from respondents considered 

proprietary under the Freedom of 

Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and 

implementing regulations (43 CFR part 

2), and under regulations at 30 CFR 

250.197, ‘‘Data and information to be 

made available to the public or for 

limited inspection.’’ Responses are 

voluntary. No questions of a ‘‘sensitive’’ 

nature are asked. We intend to release 

the project abstracts and identify 

primary investigators for awarded/ 

funded projects only. 

II. Data 

OMB Control Number: 1028–0087. 

Form Number: NA. 

Title: National Geological and 

Geophysical Data Preservation Program 

(NGGDPP) 

Type of Request: Notice of an 

extension of a currently approved 

information collection (1028–0087). 

Affected Public: All State Geological 

Surveys will have the opportunity to 

apply for matching Federal funds. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary, 

but necessary to receive benefits. 

Frequency of Collection: Annually. 

Estimated Total Number of Annual 

Responses: 34. 

Estimated Time per Response: We 

estimate the public reporting burden 

averages 36 hours per response. This 

includes time (1) to write and review 

the proposal and submit it through 

www.grants.gov and (2) prepare and 

submit the final technical report. 

Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 

1224. 

Estimated Reporting and 

Recordkeeping ‘‘Non-Hour Cost’’ 

Burden: There are no ‘‘non-hour cost’’ 

burdens associated with this IC. 

Public Disclosure Statement: The PRA 

(44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) provides that an 

agency may not conduct or sponsor and 

you are not required to respond to a 

collection of information unless it 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number and current expiration date. 

III. Request for Comments 

We are soliciting comments as to: (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the agency 

to perform its duties, including whether 

the information is useful; (b) the 

accuracy of the agency’s estimate of the 

burden of the proposed collection of 

information; (c) ways to enhance the 

quality, usefulness, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (d) how 

to minimize the burden on the 

respondents, including the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Please note that the comments 

submitted in response to this notice are 

a matter of public record. Before 

including your personal mailing 

address, phone number, email address, 

or other personally identifiable 

information in your comment, you 

should be aware that your entire 

comment, including your personally 

identifiable information, may be made 

publicly available at any time. While 

you can ask us in your comment to 

withhold your personally identifiable 

information from public view, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Betty M. Adrian, 

Program Coordinator, National Geological 

and Geophysical Data Preservation Program. 

[FR Doc. 2015–06682 Filed 3–23–15; 8:45 am] 

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