[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 119 (Thursday, June 24, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33209-33211]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-13328]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Federal Crop Insurance Corporation

[Docket No. FCIC-21-0006]


Notice of Request for Renewal and Revision of the Currently 
Approved Information Collection

AGENCY: Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, USDA.

ACTION: Renewal and revision of the currently approved information 
collection.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Risk Management Agency (RMA) are 
requesting comments from all interested individuals and organizations 
on a revision of a currently approved paperwork package associated with 
the Acreage and Crop Reporting Streamlining Initiative (ACRSI).

DATES: Written comments on this notice will be accepted until close of 
business August 23, 2021.

[[Page 33210]]


ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit comments on this information 
collection request. In your comments, include the date, volume, and 
page number of this issue of the Federal Register, and the title of 
rule. You may submit comments by any of the following methods, although 
FCIC prefers that you submit comments electronically through the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal:
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID FCIC-21-0006. Follow the 
online instructions for submitting comments.
    <bullet> Mail: Todd Anderson, United States Department of 
Agriculture, FSA, DAFP, PDD, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Mail Stop 0570, 
Washington, DC 20250-0570; or David Zanoni, RMA, United States 
Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 419205, Kansas City, MO 64133-6205.
    All comments received, including those received by mail, will be 
posted without change and publicly available on http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Todd Anderson, United States 
Department of Agriculture, FSA, DAFP, PDD, Washington, DC 20250-0570, 
(202) 720-9106; or David Zanoni, RMA, United States Department of 
Agriculture, P.O. Box 419205, Kansas City, MO 64133-6205, (816) 926-
6142.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Acreage/Crop Reporting Streamlining Initiative (ACRSI).
    OMB Number: 0563-0084.
    Expiration Date of Approval: October 31, 2021.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Abstract: The currently approved information collection of OMB 
Number 0563-0084 is up for renewal and we are requesting an extension 
for 3 years. FSA and RMA are requesting comments from all interested 
individuals and organizations on the information collection request 
associated with ACRSI. FSA and RMA have established the procedures, 
processes, and standards to simplify commodity and acreage reporting by 
producers, eliminate or minimize duplication of information collection 
by multiple agencies, and reduce the burden on producers, allowing 
producers to report this information through FSA county office service 
centers, insurance agents, or through precision ag technology 
capabilities. FSA and RMA implemented a streamlined reporting solution 
to establish a common data collection and reporting capability that 
supports USDA's programs.
    RMA is continuing to improve the existing Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) approved information collections for RMA, 0563-0053, 
Multiple Peril Crop Insurance, acreage information, generally collected 
from the respondent during a personal visit to the FSA Service Center 
and again from the respondent during a personal visit with the 
insurance agent.
    The forms are still available to accommodate respondents with no 
internet access and those who wish to continue to personally visit the 
FSA Service Center and insurance agent to report this common 
information.
    Information reported to the common data collection and reporting 
capability (otherwise known as the Clearinghouse) are shared by both 
FSA and RMA, as well as other USDA agencies, such as NRCS and NASS that 
have the authority and need for such information. With continued ACRSI 
process enhancements, some or all of the commodity and acreage 
information in the existing approved information collections are 
reported through this solution. Furthermore, the information collected 
are the same as the information currently approved. Additionally, the 
respondent will continue to report their common information one time 
through a single source thereby reducing the respondent's burden of 
reporting such common information and eliminating the duplicate 
reporting that may be currently required. The information collected 
will continue to be the same as the information currently approved and 
are used in the same manner it would be used if reported separately to 
each agency. The producers are continuing to use their precision-ag 
systems, farm management information systems, or download data files to 
directly report certain commodity and acreage information needed to 
participate in USDA programs.
    The information being collected may consist of, but not be limited 
to: Producer name, customer/tax ID, state, county, commodity name, 
commodity type or variety, intended use, date planted, planted acreage, 
and land location (which may include legal description, FSA farm 
number, FSA tract number, FSA field number, geospatial as-planted field 
boundaries, Resource Land Unit, etc.).
    FSA and RMA continues to enhance the ACRSI process. The 
effectiveness and lessons learned from each phase informed changes and 
expansions in subsequent phases. The first phase was initiated in the 
fall of 2011 in Dickenson, Marion, McPherson, and Saline Counties in 
Kansas, and only for the collection of information from producers 
regarding winter wheat. The second phase was implemented in the spring 
of 2015 in 30 counties of Illinois and Iowa covering 9 crops. The third 
phase was implemented in the fall of 2015 in all counties of 15 states 
covering 9 crops. The fourth phase was implemented in the spring of 
2016 in all counties nationwide covering 13 crops and about 90 percent 
of reported acreage. The fifth phase was implemented in the fall of 
2016 expanding nationwide coverage to 16 crops and about 93 percent of 
reported acreage. The sixth phase was implemented in the fall of 2017 
expanding nationwide coverage to 25 crops and about 94 percent of 
reported acreage. Since that time, ACRSI has continuously added more 
crops and types that now covers over 97 percent of insurable acreage. 
The program will continue to add crops and types over time to stay 
current; however, there are no crops left to cross walk that have major 
acreage impacts.
    RMA and FSA additionally piloted a process to allow external 
providers to submit required data from precision agriculture or farm 
management information systems. This 2018 Pilot used planting data from 
Nebraska producers that was disseminated to the Agencies through the 
ACRSI Clearinghouse process. At that point for FSA, continued post 
processing of the data was manually labor intensive. Pilot findings 
identified the need for further software development by FSA to continue 
to automate the processing of geospatial land location data to further 
enhance the ACRSI process to ensure statutory criteria are met for 
Federal crop insurance, FSA, and Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) 
programs, the collection of commodity and acreage information is 
necessary. This is not a request for a change, addition, or deletion to 
the currently approved information collections.
    However, the existing approved information collection will be 
updated, modified or eliminated, as applicable, to reflect the 
reduction in burden on the respondents as the ACRSI process is 
enhanced.
    Respondents: Producers.
    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents Utilizing the Web-Based 
Single Source Reporting System and Benefiting From Sharing Information 
Between Agencies: 500,000.
    Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.5.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents Utilizing the Web-
Based Single Source Reporting System and Benefiting From Having That

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Information Shared Between Agencies: 187,500 hours.
    We are requesting comments on all aspects of this information 
collection to help us to:
    (1) Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the agencies, including 
whether the information will have practical utility;
    (2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of burden 
including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
    (3) Enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to 
be collected;
    (4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond through use of appropriate automated, electronic, 
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms 
to technology.
    All comments in response to this notice, including names and 
addresses when provided, will be a matter of public record. Comments 
will be summarized and included in the request for Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) approval.

Richard Flournoy,
Acting Manager, Federal Crop Insurance Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2021-13328 Filed 6-23-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-08-P