Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 14 / Monday, January 22, 2018 / Notices 2959 

OMB Control Number: 0572–0032. 

Summary of Collection: The Rural 

Utilities Service (RUS) was established 

in 1994 by the Federal Crop Insurance 

Reform and Department of Agriculture 

Reorganization Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 

103–354, 108 stat. 3178, 7 U.S.C. 6941 

et seq.) as successor to the Rural 

Electrification Administration (REA) 

with respect to certain programs, 

including the electric loan and loan 

guarantee program authorized under the 

Rural Electrification Act (RE Act) of 

1936. The RE Act authorizes and 

empowers the Administrator of RUS to 

make and guarantee loans to furnish and 

improve electric service in rural areas. 

These loans are amortized over a period 

of up to 35 years and secured by the 

borrower’s electric assets and/or 

revenue. RUS will collect information 

including studies and reports to support 

borrower loan applications. 

Need and Use of the Information: 

RUS will collect information to 

determine the eligibility of applicants 

for loans and loan guarantees under the 

RE Act; monitor the compliance of 

borrowers with debt covenants and 

regulatory requirements in order to 

protect loan security; ensure that 

borrowers use loan funds for purposes 

consistent with the statutory goals of the 

RE Act; and obtain information on the 

progress of rural electrification and 

evaluate the success of RUS program 

activities. Without the information RUS 

would be unable to accomplish 

statutory goals. 

Description of Respondents: Not-forprofit institutions; Business or other forprofit. 

Number of Respondents: 625. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

On occasion; Annually. 

Total Burden Hours: 52,130. 

Ruth Brown, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2018–01004 Filed 1–19–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2017–0102] 

Third-Party Inspection Programs 

Under the Animal Welfare Act; Public 

Meetings 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of public meetings. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public 

that the Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) will host a 

series of public meetings to solicit data 

and information from the public to aid 

in the development of criteria for 

recognizing the use of third-party 

inspection and certification programs as 

a positive factor when determining 

APHIS inspection frequencies at 

facilities licensed or registered under 

the Animal Welfare Act. 

DATES: The meetings will be held in 

Santa Clara, CA, on January 18, 2018; 

Riverdale, MD, on February 8, 2018; 

Kansas City, MO, on February 22, 2018, 

and Tampa, FL, on March 8, 2018. The 

public meetings will be held from 9 a.m. 

to 1 p.m., local time, except for the 

meeting in Maryland, which will be 

held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., local time. 

A virtual listening session will be held 

on March 14, 2018, from 1 p.m. to 5 

p.m. EST. We will accept written 

statements regarding the use of thirdparty inspection and certification 

programs until March 21, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: The public meetings will be 

held at the following locations: 

• January 18: Santa Clara Marriott, 

2700 Mission College Boulevard, Santa 

Clara, CA 95054; 

• February 8: USDA Center at 

Riverside, 4700 River Road, Riverdale, 

MD 20737; 

• February 22: USDA, Beacon 

Building, 6501 Beacon Road, Kansas 

City, MO 64133; and 

• March 8: Renaissance Tampa Hotel 

International Plaza, 4200 Jim Walter 

Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33607. 

You may also submit written 

statements using one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/#!

docketDetail;D=APHIS-2017-0102. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2017–0102, Regulatory Analysis 

and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 

3A–03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1238. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Mike Tuck, Management Analyst, 

Animal Care, APHIS, USDA 4700 River 

Road Unit 84, Riverdale, MD 20737; 

(301) 851–3747; James.M.Tuck@

aphis.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) is announcing a series 

of meetings to solicit data and 

information from the public to aid in the 

development of criteria for recognizing 

the use of third-party inspection and 

certification programs as a positive 

factor when determining APHIS 

inspection frequencies at facilities 

licensed or registered under the Animal 

Welfare Act (AWA). APHIS already 

recognizes inspections performed by 

other government agencies with animal 

welfare oversight and accreditation by 

the Association of Zoos & Aquariums as 

a positive factor when determining the 

frequency of Federal inspections 

through the use of a risk-based 

inspection system, and APHIS is 

seeking public comment on expanding 

this consideration to include other types 

of third-party inspections and 

certifications. 

The risk-based inspection system, 

initiated in 1998, uses several objective 

criteria, including but not limited to 

past compliance history, to determine 

the minimum inspection frequency at 

each licensed and registered facility. 

With this system, APHIS has been able 

to provide more in-depth inspections 

and improve its interactions with 

licensees and registrants—an approach 

that APHIS firmly believes makes better 

use of its inspection resources. 

The public may submit their 

comments in response to this notice in 

writing and/or at in-person and virtual 

listening sessions. The meetings will be 

held in various locations across the 

country and will include an internetbased virtual meeting to facilitate 

attendance. Participants will have the 

opportunity to offer written and oral 

comments. 

Specifically, APHIS is seeking data 

and information regarding the following 

topics and questions: 

1. APHIS is considering recognizing 

the use of qualified, third-party 

programs when determining APHIS 

inspection frequencies at regulated 

facilities. Would a potential reduction 

in the frequency of APHIS inspections 

be a sufficient incentive for regulated 

facilities to use third-party programs to 

support compliance under the AWA? 

Are there other incentives that could be 

offered to attract participation of 

regulated entities in the program? Please 

explain. 

2. What are the advantages and 

disadvantages of voluntary, third-party 

programs to support compliance under 

the AWA? What potential benefits and 

costs might accrue to regulated facilities 

that elect to use a third-party program? 

What are the risks associated with using 

a third-party program? 

3. Are third-party programs likely to 

be effective in practice? Is there 

potential for a well-functioning market 

for third-party programs to develop? 

Please explain. What existing thirdparty programs are already used by 

regulated facilities to help support their 

AWA compliance? 

4. When assessing whether to 

recognize a third-party program, what 


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2960 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 14 / Monday, January 22, 2018 / Notices 

criteria should APHIS consider to assure 

its independence, determine whether 

the scope of its services support and 

align with the AWA, and mitigate 

potential conflicts of interest and other 

potential risks? In addition, what 

information should a regulated facility 

provide so APHIS may verify its use of 

a third-party program? 

5. Aside from recognizing the use of 

qualified, third-party programs, what 

are other methods APHIS could use to 

encourage facilities to achieve and 

sustain compliance with the AWA? 

Also, where do you see the greatest 

opportunity for APHIS to improve the 

consistency and effectiveness of its 

AWA program? 

Registration instructions for the 

listening session are available by 

contacting the person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT or by 

following the instructions available via 

the APHIS website at: https://

www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/

animalwelfare/sa_animal_welfare_

news/third-party-inspectioncertification-programs. 

If you require special 

accommodations, such as a sign 

language interpreter, please contact the 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. 

Done in Washington, DC, on January 16, 

2018. 

Kevin Shea, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–00966 Filed 1–19–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

National Agricultural Statistics Service 

Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To 

Revise and Extend a Currently 

Approved Information Collection 

AGENCY: National Agricultural Statistics 

Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 

notice announces the intention of the 

National Agricultural Statistics Service 

(NASS) to request revision and 

extension of a currently approved 

information collection, the Agricultural 

Resources Management Survey and 

Chemical Use Surveys. A revision to 

burden hours will be needed due to 

changes in the size of the target 

population, sampling design, and/or 

questionnaire length. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by March 23, 2018 to be 

assured of consideration. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by docket number 0535–0218, 

by any of the following methods: 

• Email: ombofficer@nass.usda.gov. 

Include docket number above in the 

subject line of the message. 

• eFax: (855) 838–6382. 

• Mail: Mail any paper, disk, or CD– 

ROM submissions to: David Hancock, 

NASS Clearance Officer, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Room 5336 

South Building, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250– 

2024. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Hand 

deliver to: David Hancock, NASS 

Clearance Officer, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Room 5336 South Building, 

1400 Independence Avenue SW, 

Washington, DC 20250–2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kevin L. Barnes, Associate 

Administrator, National Agricultural 

Statistics Service, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, (202) 720–4333. Copies of 

this information collection and related 

instructions can be obtained without 

charge from David Hancock, NASS— 

OMB Clearance Officer, at (202) 690– 

2388 or at ombofficer@nass.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Agricultural Resources 

Management Survey and Chemical Use 

Surveys. 

OMB Control Number: 0535–0218. 

Expiration Date of Current Approval: 

July 31, 2018. 

Type of Request: Intent to revise and 

extend a currently approved 

information collection. 

Abstract: The Agricultural Resource 

Management Survey(s) (ARMS) are the 

primary source of information for the 

U.S. Department of Agriculture on a 

broad range of issues related to: 

Production practices, costs and returns, 

pest management, chemical usage, and 

contractor expenses. Data is collected on 

both a whole farm level and on selected 

commodities. 

ARMS is the only source of 

information available for objective 

evaluation of many critical issues 

related to agriculture and the rural 

economy, such as: Whole farm finance 

data, including data sufficient to 

construct estimates of income for farms 

by: Type of operation, loan 

commodities, income for operator 

households, credit, structure, and 

organization; marketing information; 

and other economic data on input usage, 

production practices, and crop 

substitution possibilities. 

Data from ARMS are used to produce 

estimates of net farm income by type of 

commercial producer as required in 7 

U.S.C. 7998 as amended and estimates 

of enterprise production costs as 

required in 7 U.S.C. 1441(a) as 

amended. Data from ARMS are also 

used as weights in the development of 

the Prices Paid Index, a component of 

the Parity Index referred to in the 

Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as 

amended. These indexes are used to 

calculate the annual federal grazing fee 

rates as described in the Public 

Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 

and Executive Order 12548 and as 

promulgated in regulations found at 36 

CFR 222.51, as amended. 

In addition, ARMS is used to produce 

estimates of sector-wide production 

expenditures and other components of 

income that are used in constructing the 

estimates of income and value-added 

which are transmitted to the U.S. 

Department of Commerce, Bureau of 

Economic Analysis, by the USDA 

Economic Research Service (ERS) for 

use in constructing economy-wide 

estimates of Gross Domestic Product. 

This transmittal of data, prepared using 

the ARMS, is undertaken to satisfy a 

1956 agreement between the Office of 

Management and Budget and the 

Departments of Agriculture and 

Commerce that a single set of estimates 

be published on farm income. 

Chemical Use Surveys: Congress has 

mandated that NASS and ERS build 

nationally coordinated databases on 

agricultural chemical use and related 

farm practices; these databases are the 

primary vehicles used to produce 

specified environmental and economic 

estimates. The surveys will help provide 

the knowledge and technical means for 

producers and researchers to address 

on-farm environmental concerns in a 

manner that maintains agricultural 

productivity. 

In this approval request, there is only 

one significant program change. The 

annual Microbial Food Safety 

Practices—Packer Survey will be 

discontinued. 

The commodities that are scheduled 

to be included in this approval are in 

the following table. 

Year Survey Target 

commodity 

2018 ..... ARMS Phase II 

(PPCR).

Soybeans. 

ARMS Phase II 

(PPR).

Corn and Peanuts. 

Chemical Use .. Vegetables. 

ARMS Phase III Soybeans and 

Cow-Calf. 

2019 ..... ARMS Phase II 

(PPCR).

Cotton, Barley 

and Sorghum. 

ARMS Phase II 

(PPR).

Wheat. 


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