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Notices Federal Register

30399

Vol. 66, No. 109

Wednesday, June 6, 2001

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Commodity Credit Corporation

Extension of the Comments Deadline

on a Previously Published Notice

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Commodity Credit

Corporation (CCC) is seeking approval

from the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) for the information

collection activities necessary to

provide customers with an interactive

web site they can use to track United

States Department of Agriculture

(USDA) domestic commodity

shipments. The new procedure will be

more reliable and more efficient than

the current procedure. A notice was

published on September 21, 2000

(Volume 65, Number 1841), requesting

comments on this new web site.

Inadvertently, the prototype was not

ready for vendors to try at that time;

therefore, we are requesting approval for

an extension of the deadline for

comments.

DATE: Comments on this notice must be

received on or before August 6, 2001 to

be assured consideration.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Gregory Borchert, Chief, Planning and

Analysis Division, Kansas City

Commodity Office (KCCO), 6501 Beacon

Drive, Kansas City, Missouri 64131–

4676, telephone (816) 926–6509 or fax

(816) 926–6767.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Domestic Commodities Tracking

Service (DCTS).

OMB Control Number: 0560-New.

Type of Request: Approval of a new

information collection.

Abstract: The Commodity Credit

Corporation (CCC) purchases

agricultural commodities to meet

program needs and other objectives.

CCC issues invitations to purchase

agricultural commodities at various

times during the year. Vendors respond

by making offers on the contracts. After

contracts are awarded, the current

process of tracking shipments requires

manual documentation with data

gathering provided by telephone and

facsimile. The Farm Service Agency

(FSA), Kansas City Commodity Office

(KCCO) has developed information

technology to assist in tracking of

shipments of transported agricultural

commodities. The DCTS is a customer

service endeavor which has emphasis

on improved service to all customers

and increased efficiency in the

shipping/delivery operations. An

interactive web site is designed to

provide our customers with an efficient,

user friendly method for inquiring on

the status of shipments. Recipients and

other agencies may utilize this service to

determine if commodities have been

purchased, the target delivery date, and

date shipment was made. Accurate

tracking will provide timely shipment

information allowing recipients to

effectively schedule their workforce.

DCTS will reduce or eliminate:

paperwork, document handling, mail

and telephone time, postage, facsimile,

and telephone expenses. The users will

include: commodity vendors;

transportation carriers; State

Distributing Agencies; FSA; Traffic

Management Branch, Agricultural

Marketing Service; and the Food and

Nutrition Service. The equipment

required to access DCTS is a personal

computer, an internet service provider,

and an internet browser version 4.0 or

higher. Vendors will submit shipment

and late delivery data electronically

versus the current process of sending

hard copies.

Regulations governing paperwork

burdens on the public require that

before an agency collects information

from the public, the agency must receive

approval from the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB). In accordance with

those regulations, CCC is seeking

approval for DCTS to provide for the

tracking of shipments through the

Internet. A prototype of this system is

available on the internet for review at:

http://www.fsa.usda.gov/dcts. Once the

user obtains access to the internet, enter

the following to access the DCTS

prototype: LOGIN ID: testvendor, and

PASSWORD: abcd12345. The user will

then click on Vendor Entry, highlighted

in red. The user can enter his comments

by clicking on the link, Federal Register

Comments, highlighted in red, of the

DCTS prototype.

Estimate of Burden: 3 minutes per

response.

Respondents: Businesses and other for

profit.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

67.

Estimated Number of Annual

Responses per Respondent: 220.

Estimated Total Annual Burden on

Respondents: 737 hours.

Proposed topics for comments

include: (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 collected; or

(d) ways to minimize the burden of the

collection of the 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 requirement should be

directed to the Office of Information and

Regulatory Affairs, Office of

Management and Budget, Attention:

Desk Officer for Agriculture,

Washington, DC 20503, and to Gregory

Borchert, Chief, Planning and Analysis

Division, Kansas City Commodity

Office, 6501 Beacon Drive, Kansas City,

Missouri 64133–4676, telephone (816)

926–6509 or fax (816) 926–1648. The

user can enter his comments by clicking

on the link, Federal Register Comments,

highlighted in red, of the DCTS

prototype.

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.

Signed at Washington, DC, on May 23,

2001.

James R. Little,

Executive Vice President, Commodity Credit

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 01–14154 Filed 6–5–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–05–U