6174 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 25 / Monday, February 8, 2010 / Notices 

Administrative Assistant at (312) 353– 

8311 or by e-mail: callen@usccr.gov. 

Hearing-impaired persons who will 

attend the meeting and require the 

services of a sign language interpreter 

should contact the Regional Office at 

least ten (10) working days before the 

scheduled date of the meeting. 

Records generated from this meeting 

may be inspected and reproduced at the 

Midwestern Regional Office, as they 

become available, both before and after 

the meeting. Persons interested in the 

work of this advisory committee are 

advised to go to the Commission’s Web 

site, http://www.usccr.gov, or to contact 

the Midwestern Regional Office at the 

above e-mail or street address. 

The meeting will be conducted 

pursuant to the provisions of the rules 

and regulations of the Commission and 

FACA. 

Dated in Washington, DC, February 2, 

2010. 

Peter Minarik, 

Chief, Regional Programs Coordination Unit. 

[FR Doc. 2010–2608 Filed 2–5–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6335–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

The Department of Commerce will 

submit to the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) for clearance the 

following proposal for collection of 

information under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

chapter 35). 

Agency: U.S. Census Bureau. 

Title: Government Employment 

Forms. 

OMB Control Number: 0607–0452. 

Form Number(s): E–1, E–2, E–3, E–4, 

E–5, E–6, E–7, E–9. 

Type of Request: Extension of a 

currently approved collection. 

Burden Hours: 13,985. 

Number of Respondents: 16,964. 

Average Hours per Response: 50 

minutes. 

Needs and Uses: This information 

collection request covers the 

questionnaires needed to conduct the 

public employment program for the 

2010 and 2011 Annual Survey of Public 

Employment & Payroll. 

The questionnaires for collecting the 

data are described below. There are 

eight survey forms used to collect data 

on government employment, pay, and 

hours. Since there are many different 

types and sizes of governments, each 

form is tailored to the unique 

characteristics of the type and size of 

government or government agency to be 

surveyed. 

E–1 State agencies, excluding state 

colleges and universities 

E–2 State colleges and universities 

E–3 Dependent agencies of local 

governments 

Single function special district 

governments 

E–4 County governments, Municipal 

and township governments with 

populations of 1,000 or more 

E–5 Municipalities and Townships (A 

shortened version of the E–4 form 

for Municipalities and Townships 

with a population of < 1,000) 

E–6 Elementary and secondary school 

systems 

Local government operated 

institutions of higher education 

E–7 Multifunction dependent agencies 

and fire protection agencies 

Multifunction special district 

governments 

E–9 State police 

County Sheriff departments 

The type of employment and pay data 

collected by the public employment 

program in the 2010 and 2011 Annual 

Survey of Public Employment & Payroll 

are identical to data collected in recent 

annual surveys of government 

employment. By State, the 2010 and 

2011 sample supports estimates of total 

local government employment and 

payrolls by type of government and 

government function. 

Statistics compiled from data gathered 

using these forms are used in several 

important Federal government 

programs. Economists at the Bureau of 

Economic Analysis (BEA) use the 

statistics in two ways for developing the 

National Income and Product Accounts. 

First, the employment data are used in 

developing price deflators for the 

government sector components of the 

gross domestic product accounts. 

Second, the employment and payroll 

data are used in developing the 

government sector components for the 

national and sub-national personal 

income accounts and tables. 

The regional BEA program uses the 

Census of Governments and the Annual 

Survey of Public Employment & Payroll 

to derive state-level estimates of the 

employment and wages and salaries of 

students and their spouses who are 

employed by public institutions of 

higher education in which the students 

are enrolled. There is no other national 

or state source for information on 

student workers at state institutions of 

higher education. 

The employment data are used for 

two other data collection efforts 

currently conducted by the Census 

Bureau. The Medical Expenditures 

Panel Survey (MEPS) collects data for 

the Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS) on health plans offered 

to state and local government 

employees. The MEPS sample of public 

employees is drawn from the Census of 

Governments—Employment file. The 

Criminal Justice Employment and 

Expenditure Survey (CJEE) uses 

employment data to provide employee 

and payroll statistics on police 

protection and correctional activities. 

State and local government officials 

use these data to analyze and assess 

individual government labor force and 

wage levels. Both management and 

labor consult these data during wage 

and salary negotiations. 

Public interest groups of many types 

produce analyses of public sector 

activities using these data. User 

organizations representing state and 

local government include the Council of 

State Governments, National Conference 

of State Legislatures, Government 

Research Association, U.S. Conference 

of Mayors, National Association of 

Counties, National League of Cities, and 

the International City/County 

Management Association. A third 

category of users, having a more specific 

focus on government activities, includes 

organizations such as the Citizens 

Research Council of Michigan and the 

National Sheriffs Association. 

A variety of other organizations and 

individuals make use of these data. 

Notable research organizations include 

the Manhattan Institute for Policy 

Research, The Brookings Institution, 

and the Rockefeller Institute of 

Government. The instructors, 

researchers, and students in schools of 

public administration, political science, 

management, and industrial relations as 

well as other members of the public also 

use these data. 

Affected Public: State, local or Tribal 

Government. 

Frequency: Annually. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

Legal Authority: Title 13, Section 161, 

of the United States Code requires the 

Secretary of Commerce to conduct a 

census of governments every fifth year. 

Title 13, Section 182 of the United 

States Code allows the Secretary to 

conduct annual surveys in other years. 

OMB Desk Officer: Brian HarrisKojetin, (202) 395–7314. 

Copies of the above information 

collection proposal can be obtained by 

calling or writing Diana Hynek, 

Departmental Paperwork Clearance 

Officer, (202) 482–0266, Department of 

Commerce, Room 6625, 14th and 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 25 / Monday, February 8, 2010 / Notices 6175 

DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 

dhynek@doc.gov). 

Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to Brian Harris-Kojetin, OMB 

Desk Officer either by fax (202–395– 

7245) or e-mail (bharrisk@omb.eop.gov). 

Dated: February 2, 2010. 

Glenna Mickelson, 

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2010–2658 Filed 2–5–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–07–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XU06 

Notice of Intent to Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement on 

the Effects of Oil and Gas Activities in 

the Arctic Ocean 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The National Marine 

Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces its 

intent to prepare an Environmental 

Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze the 

environmental impacts of issuing 

Incidental Take Authorizations (ITAs) 

pursuant to the Marine Mammal 

Protection Act (MMPA) to the oil and 

gas industry for the taking of marine 

mammals incidental to offshore 

exploration activities (e.g., seismic 

surveys and exploratory drilling) in 

Federal and state waters of the U.S. 

Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off Alaska. 

DATES: All comments, written 

statements, and questions regarding the 

scoping process and preparation of the 

EIS must be received no later than April 

9, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

statements should be addressed to Mr. 

P. Michael Payne, Chief, Permits, 

Conservation and Education Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 

1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, 

MD 20190–3225. The mailbox address 

for providing e-mail comments is 

arcticeis.comments@noaa.gov. 

Comments sent via e-mail, including all 

attachments, must not exceed a 10– 

megabyte file size. Comments and 

statements may also be submitted via 

fax to (301) 713–0376. Information on 

this project can also be found on the 

Protected Resources webpage at: http:// 

www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/eis/

arctic.htm. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Payne, Office of Protected 

Resources, NMFS, (301) 713–2289 ext. 

110. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Sections 101 (a)(5)(A) and (D) of the 

MMPA (16 USC 1361 et seq.) direct the 

Secretary of Commerce to allow, upon 

request, the incidental, but not 

intentional taking of small numbers of 

marine mammals by U.S. citizens who 

engage in a specified activity (other than 

commercial fishing) within a specified 

geographical region if certain findings 

are made and either regulations are 

issued or, if the taking is limited to 

harassment, a notice of proposed 

authorization is provided to the public 

for review. The term ‘‘take’’ under the 

MMPA means ‘‘to harass, hunt, capture, 

kill or collect, or attempt to harass, 

hunt, capture, kill or collect.’’ Except 

with respect to certain activities not 

pertinent here, the MMPA defines 

‘‘harassment’’ as ‘‘any act of pursuit, 

torment, or annoyance which (i) has the 

potential to injure a marine mammal or 

marine mammal stock in the wild [Level 

A harassment]; or (ii) has the potential 

to disturb a marine mammal or marine 

mammal stock in the wild by causing 

disruption of behavioral patterns, 

including, but not limited to, migration, 

breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or 

sheltering [Level B harassment].’’ 

Authorization for incidental takings 

shall be granted if NMFS finds that the 

taking will have a negligible impact on 

the species or stock(s), will not have an 

unmitigable adverse impact on the 

availability of the species or stock(s) for 

subsistence uses (where relevant), and if 

the permissible methods of taking and 

requirements pertaining to the 

mitigation, monitoring and reporting of 

such takings are set forth. NMFS has 

defined ‘‘negligible impact’’ in 50 CFR 

216.103 as ’’...an impact resulting from 

the specified activity that cannot be 

reasonably expected to, and is not 

reasonably likely to, adversely affect the 

species or stock through effects on 

annual rates of recruitment or survival.’’ 

Summary of Previous National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

Documents 

In 2006, the U.S. Minerals 

Management Service (MMS) prepared a 

Programmatic Environmental 

Assessment (PEA) for the 2006 Arctic 

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) seismic 

surveys. NMFS was a cooperating 

agency and adopted the Final PEA on 

June 28, 2006. Under this PEA, NMFS 

issued Incidental Harassment 

Authorizations under Section 

101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA to oil and gas 

companies for the taking of marine 

mammals incidental to seismic surveys 

in 2006. This PEA analyzed the effects 

of four concurrent seismic surveys in 

the Beaufort Sea and four concurrent 

seismic surveys in the Chukchi Sea. At 

that time, NMFS indicated that 

increased activity and new available 

science would result in a need to 

prepare an EIS for future authorizations. 

On April 6, 2007, NMFS and MMS 

published a Notice of Availability for a 

Draft Programmatic EIS (DPEIS) and a 

schedule of public hearings (72 FR 

17117) to assess the impacts of MMS’ 

issuance of permits and authorizations 

under the Outer Continental Shelf 

Lands Act (OCSLA) for the conduct of 

seismic surveys in the Chukchi and 

Beaufort Seas off Alaska and NMFS’ 

authorizations under the MMPA to 

incidentally harass marine mammals 

while conducting those surveys. The 

proposed scope and effects of the 

seismic survey activities analyzed in the 

DPEIS were based on the best available 

information at the time. Since then, new 

information (e.g., scientific study 

results, changes in projections of level 

of activity) has become available that 

alters the scope, range of possible 

alternatives, and analyses in the DPEIS. 

Therefore, MMS and NMFS filed a 

Notice of Withdrawal of the DPEIS on 

October 28, 2009 (74 FR 55539) and 

announced our decision to begin a new 

NEPA process. 

Objectives of the EIS 

This NOI announces NMFS’ intent, as 

lead agency, to prepare a new EIS to 

analyze the potential effects of both 

geophysical surveys and exploratory 

drilling, address cumulative effects over 

a longer time frame, consider a more 

reasonable range of alternatives 

consistent with our statutory mandates, 

and reanalyze the range of practicable 

mitigation and monitoring measures for 

protecting marine mammals and 

availability of marine mammals for 

subsistence uses. MMS will be a 

cooperating agency on this EIS. 

Specifically, this EIS would: 

(1) Assess the environmental impacts 

to the physical, biological, cultural, 

economic, and social resources from 

deep-penetration, two-dimensional (2D) 

and three-dimensional (3D) streamer 

and ocean bottom cable surveys 

(hereafter referred to as seismic surveys) 

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