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Notices Federal Register

424 

Vol. 87, No. 3 

Wednesday, January 5, 2022 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utilities Service 

[Docket No. RUS–21–ELECTRIC–0022] 

Information Collection Activities: 

Extension of a Currently Approved 

Information Collection; Comment 

Request; Settlement of Debt Owed by 

Electric Borrowers 

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. 

ACTION: 60-Day notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

United States Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS) 

announces its’ intention to request an 

extension of a currently approved 

information collection and invites 

comments on this information 

collection. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by March 7, 2022 to be assured 

of consideration. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted by the Federal eRulemaking 

Portal: Go to https://

www.regulations.gov and, in the lower 

‘‘Search Regulations and Federal 

Actions’’ box, select ‘‘Rural Utilities 

Service’’ from the agency drop-down 

menu, then click on ‘‘Submit.’’ In the 

Docket ID column, select RUS–21– 

ELECTRIC–0022 to submit or view 

public comments and to view 

supporting and related materials 

available electronically. Information on 

using Regulations.gov, including 

instructions for accessing documents, 

submitting comments, and viewing the 

docket after the close of the comment 

period, is available through the site’s 

‘‘User Tips’’ link. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

MaryPat Daskal, Chief, Branch 1, Rural 

Development Innovation Center— 

Regulations Management Division, 

United States Department of 

Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue 

SW, South Building, Washington, DC 

20250–1522. Telephone: (202) 720– 

7853. Email MaryPat.Daskla@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

The Office of Management and 

Budget’s (OMB) regulation (5 CFR part 

1320) implementing provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. 

L. 104–13) requires that interested 

members of the public and affected 

agencies have an opportunity to 

comment on information collection and 

recordkeeping activities (see 5 CFR 

1320.8(d)). This notice identifies the 

following information collection that 

RUS is submitting to OMB as extension 

to an existing collection with Agency 

adjustment. 

Title: 7 CFR Part 1717, Subpart Y, 

Settlement of Debt Owed by Electric 

Borrowers. 

OMB Control Number: 0572–0116. 

Expiration Date of Approval: March 

31, 2022. 

Type of Request: Extension of a 

currently approved information 

collection. 

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting 

for this collection of information is 

estimated to average 1,000 hours per 

response. 

Respondents: Not-for-profit 

institutions and other businesses. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 1. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 1. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 1,000 hours. 

Abstract: The Rural Utilities Service 

makes mortgage loans and loan 

guarantees to electric systems to provide 

and improve electric service in rural 

areas pursuant to the Rural 

Electrification Act of 1936, as amended 

(7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) (RE Act). This 

information collection requirement 

stems from passage of Public Law 104– 

127, on April 4, 1996, which amended 

section 331(b) of the Consolidated Farm 

and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

1921 et seq.) to extend to RUS the 

Secretary of Agriculture’s authority to 

settle debts with respect to loans made 

or guaranteed by RUS. Only those 

electric borrowers that are unable to 

fully repay their debts to the 

Government and who apply to RUS for 

relief will be affected by this 

information collection. The collection 

will require only that information which 

is essential for determining: The need 

for debt settlement; the amount of relief 

that is needed; the amount of debt that 

can be repaid; the scheduling of debt 

repayment; and the range of 

opportunities for enhancing the amount 

of debt that can be recovered. The 

information to be collected will be 

similar to that which any prudent 

lender would require to determine 

whether debt settlement is required and 

the amount of relief that is needed. 

Since the need for relief is expected to 

vary substantially from case to case, so 

will the required information collection. 

Comments are invited on: 

(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 

the burden of the 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 respondents, 

including through the use of appropriate 

automated, electronic, mechanical, or other 

technological collection techniques or other 

forms of information technology. 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. 

Copies of this information collection 

can be obtained from Kimble Brown, 

Rural Development Innovation Center— 

Regulations Management Division, at 

(202) 720–6780. Email: Kimble.Brown@

usda.gov. 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for OMB approval. All comments will 

also become a matter of public record. 

Christopher McLean, 

Acting Administrator, Rural Utilities Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–28541 Filed 1–4–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 


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