Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 105 / Wednesday, June 1, 2022 / Notices 33117 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

National Institute of Food and 

Agriculture 

Notice of Intent To Reinstate a 

Previously Approved Information 

Collection 

AGENCY: National Institute of Food and 

Agriculture, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The National Institute of Food 

and Agriculture, as part of its 

continuing effort to reduce paperwork 

and respondent burden, invites the 

general public to take this opportunity 

to comment on the ‘‘Generic Clearance 

for the Collection of Qualitative 

Feedback on Agency Service Delivery’’ 

for approval under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (PRA). This collection 

was developed to create a vehicle for 

obtaining stakeholder feedback and was 

previously approved in 2017. The 

collection approval expired on June 30, 

2020. This notice announces our intent 

to revise and re-submit this collection to 

Office of Management and Budget for 

approval and solicits comments on 

specific aspects for the proposed 

information collection. 

DATES: Written comments on this notice 

must be received by August 1, 2022 to 

be assured of consideration. Comments 

received after that date will be 

considered to the extent practicable. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Instructions: All comments received 

will be posted without change to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robert Martin, 202–445–5388, 

Robert.martin3@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title of Collection: Generic Clearance 

for the Collection of Qualitative 

Feedback on Agency Service Delivery. 

OMB Control Number: 0524–0051. 

Expiration Date of Current Approval: 

06/30/2020. 

Type of Request: Notice of intent to 

reinstate and revise a previously 

approved information collection. The 

burden for this collection remains 

unchanged. 

NIFA is requesting approval to 

reinstate a previously approved, but 

expired, information collection. 

Abstract: The National Institute of 

Food and Agriculture (NIFA), U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, oversees 

roughly $1.7 billion to fund research, 

education, and extension efforts in a 

wide range of scientific fields related to 

agricultural and behavioral sciences. 

NIFA achieves its mission through 

partnerships with Land-Grant 

Universities (LGU), non-profit 

organizations, private sector firms, and 

other government agencies. These 

partners, through research, education, 

and extension activities, help NIFA and 

USDA address highly complex and 

multidimensional challenges in food 

and agriculture. To ensure that our 

programs address the Nation’s food and 

agricultural priorities, and our processes 

minimize burden without jeopardizing 

accountability, NIFA seeks OMB 

approval of a generic clearance to 

collect qualitative feedback on our 

service delivery. By qualitative 

feedback, we mean information that 

provides insights on perceptions and 

opinions but are not statistical surveys 

or quantitative results that can be 

generalized to the population of study. 

This collection of information is 

necessary to enable NIFA, herein ‘‘the 

Agency,’’ to garner feedback from 

customers, stakeholders, and partners 

(herein ‘‘stakeholders’’) in an efficient 

and timely manner, and in accordance 

with our commitment to providing the 

highest quality service delivery. 

The information collected from our 

stakeholders will help NIFA identify 

emerging and significant priorities in 

food and agriculture; refine NIFA’s 

business processes; and promote 

inclusiveness and diversity to ensure 

that NIFA drives outcomes that meet the 

needs of all Americans. 

Improving agency programs requires 

ongoing assessment of NIFA’s programs 

and processes, by which we mean 

systematic review of the operation of a 

program compared to a set of explicit or 

implicit standards. NIFA will collect, 

analyze, and interpret information 

gathered through this generic clearance 

to identify strengths and weaknesses of 

current services and make 

improvements based on stakeholder 

feedback. 

If this information is not collected, 

NIFA’s ability to respond to 

stakeholders’ needs and continuously 

improve programs and services will be 

greatly diminished. 

The solicitation of feedback will target 

areas in: Strategic, portfolio, and 

programmatic planning; competitive 

and non-competitive awards processes; 

post-award management; information 

technology systems and websites; and, 

grants management training. Responses 

will inform efforts to improve or 

maintain the quality of service offered to 

the public. 

The Agency will only submit a 

collection for approval under this 

generic clearance if it meets the 

following conditions: 

• The collections are voluntary; 

• The collections are low-burden for 

respondents (based on considerations of 

total burden hours, total number of 

respondents, or burden-hours per 

respondent) and are low-cost for both 

the respondents and the Federal 

Government; 

• The collections are noncontroversial and do not raise issues of 

concern to other Federal agencies; 

• Any collection is targeted to the 

solicitation of opinions from 

respondents who have experience with 

the program or may have experience 

with the program in the near future; 

• Information gathered will be used 

only internally for general service 

improvement and program management 

purposes and is not intended for release 

outside of the agency; 

• Information gathered will not be 

used for the purpose of substantially 

informing influential policy decisions; 

and 

• Information gathered will yield 

qualitative information; the collections 

will not be designed or expected to 

yield statistically reliable results or used 

as though the results are generalizable to 

the population of study. 

Feedback collected under this generic 

clearance provides useful information, 

but it does not yield data that can be 

generalized to the overall population. 

This type of generic clearance for 

qualitative information will not be used 

for quantitative information collections 

that are designed to yield reliably 

actionable results, such as monitoring 

trends over time or documenting 

program performance. Such data uses 

require more rigorous designs that 

address: The target population to which 

generalizations will be made, the 

sampling frame, the sample design 

(including stratification and clustering), 

the precision requirements or power 

calculations that justify the proposed 

sample size, the expected response rate, 

methods for assessing potential nonresponse bias, the protocols for data 

collection, and any testing procedures 

that were or will be undertaken prior to 

fielding the study. Depending on the 

degree of influence the results are likely 

to have, such collections may still be 

eligible for submission for other generic 

mechanisms that are designed to yield 

quantitative results. 

As a general matter, information 

collections will not result in any new 

system of records containing privacy 

information and will not ask questions 

of a sensitive nature, such as sexual 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES1
33118 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 105 / Wednesday, June 1, 2022 / Notices 

behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, 

and other matters that are commonly 

considered private. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

11,250. 

Below we provide projected average 

estimates for the next three years: 

Average Expected Annual Number of 

activities: 15. 

Average number of Respondents per 

Activity: 750. 

Annual responses: 11,250. 

Frequency of Response: Once per 

request. 

Average minutes per response: 30. 

Burden hours: 5,625. 

Comments: Comments are invited on: 

(a) Whether the proposed 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 proposed 

collection of information; (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 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. 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

to OMB for approval. All comments will 

become a matter of public record. 

Obtaining a Copy of the Information 

Collection: A copy of the information 

collection and related instructions may 

be obtained free of charge by contacting 

Robert Martin as directed above. 

Done at Washington, DC, this day of May 

13, 2022. 

Dionne Toombs, 

Acting Director, National Institute of Food 

and Agriculture, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture. 

[FR Doc. 2022–11747 Filed 5–31–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utilities Service 

[Docket No: RUS–22–ELECTRIC–0030] 

Notice of Request for Extension of a 

Currently Approved Information 

Collection; Comments Requested 

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed collection; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

United States Department of 

Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Utilities 

Service (RUS) invites comments on this 

information collection for which the 

Agency intends to request approval 

from the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB). 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by August 1, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Lynn Gilbert, Regulatory Management 

Division, USDA Rural Development, 

1400 Independence Ave. SW, 

Washington, DC 20250–1522. Email: 

lynn.gilbert@usda.gov Telephone: (202) 

690–2682. 

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 an 

information collection that RUS is 

submitting to OMB as a extension to an 

existing collection. Comments are 

invited on: (a) Whether the proposed 

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 

proposed 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 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 May Be Sent by the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and, in the 

‘‘Search’’ box, type in the Docket No. 

RUS–22–ELECTRIC–0030. A link to the 

Notice will appear. You may submit a 

comment here by selecting the 

‘‘Comment’’ button or you can access 

the ‘‘Docket’’ tab, select the ‘‘Notice,’’ 

and go to the ‘‘Browse & Comment on 

Documents’’ Tab. Here you may view 

comments that have been submitted as 

well as submit a comment. 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 

‘‘FAQ’’ link at the bottom. Comments on 

this information collection must be 

received by August 1, 2022. 

Title: 7 CFR Part 1728, Electric 

Standards and Specifications for 

Materials and Construction. 

OMB Control Number: 0572–0131. 

Type of Request: Extension of a 

currently approved collection. 

Abstract: RUS provides loans and 

loan guarantees in accordance with the 

Rural Electrification Act of 1936, 7 

U.S.C. 901 et seq., as amended, (RE Act). 

Section 4 of the RE Act requires that the 

Agency make or guarantee a loan only 

if there is reasonable assurance that the 

loan, together with all outstanding loans 

and obligations of the Borrower, will be 

repaid in full within the time agreed. In 

order to facilitate the programmatic 

interests of the RE Act and, in order to 

assure that loans made or guaranteed by 

the Agency are adequately secure, RUS, 

as a secured lender, has established 

certain standards and specifications for 

materials, equipment, and the 

construction of electric systems. The use 

of standards and specifications for 

materials, equipment and construction 

units helps assure the Agency that: (1) 

Appropriate standards and 

specifications are maintained; (2) RUS 

loan security is not adversely affected, 

and; (3) Loan and loan guarantee funds 

are used effectively and for the intended 

purposes. The regulation, 7 CFR part 

1728, establishes Agency policy that 

materials and equipment purchased by 

RUS Electric Borrowers or accepted as 

contractor-furnished material must 

conform to Agency standards and 

specifications where established and, if 

included in RUS Publication IP 202–1, 

‘‘List of Materials Acceptable for Use on 

Systems of Agency Electrification 

Borrowers’’ (List of Materials), must be 

selected from that list or must have 

received technical acceptance from 

RUS. 

Estimate of Burden: This collection of 

information is estimated to average 20 

hours per response. 

Respondents: Business or other forprofits. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

38. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 2.63. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 2,000 hours. 

Copies of this information collection 

can be obtained from Lynn Gilbert, 

Regulatory Management Division, at 

(202) 690–2682. 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES1