[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 199 (Wednesday, October 15, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61848-61849]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-24535]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Farm Service Agency

Commodity Credit Corporation


Information Collection; Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance 
Program

AGENCY: Farm Service Agency, Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Farm Service Agency and the Commodity Credit Corporation are requesting 
comments from all interested individuals and organizations on a 
revision of a currently approved information collection in support of 
the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP). The information 
collected is needed from producers to determine eligibility for NAP 
assistance.

DATES: We will consider comments that we receive by December 15, 2014.

ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit comments on this notice. In your 
comments, include date, OMB control number, volume, and page number of 
this issue of the Federal Register. You may submit comments by any of 
the following methods:
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to/www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
    <bullet> Mail: Daniel McGlynn, Acting Division Director, 
Production, Emergencies, and Compliance Division, Farm Service Agency, 
USDA, Mail Stop 0517, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 
20250-0517.
    You may also send comments to the Desk Officer for Agriculture, 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and 
Budget, Washington, DC, 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Terry Hill, Section Head, Disaster 
Assistance Section, Program Policy Branch, (202) 720-3087.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Description of Information Collection

    Title: Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program.
    OMB Control Number: 0560-0175.
    Type of Request: Revision.
    Abstract: NAP is authorized under 7 U.S.C. 7333 and implemented 
under regulations issued at 7 CFR part 1437. NAP is administered by FSA 
for CCC and is carried out by FSA State and County committees. The 
information collected allows FSA to provide assistance under NAP for 
losses of commercial crops or other agricultural commodities (except 
livestock) that are produced for food or fiber and for which 
catastrophic coverage under section 508(b), or additional NAP coverage 
under sections 508(c) and 508(h) under the Federal Crop Insurance Act 
(7 U.S.C. 1508) is not available.
    NAP coverage is available for crops expressly grown for food 
(excluding livestock and their by-products); crops planted and grown 
for livestock consumption; crops grown for fiber (excluding trees grown 
for wood, paper, or pulp products); aquaculture species crops 
(including ornamental fish); floriculture; ornamental nursery; 
Christmas tree crops; turf grass sod; industrial crops; seed crops; and 
sea grass and sea oats. The information collected is necessary to 
determine whether a producer and crop or commodity meet applicable 
conditions for assistance and to determine compliance with existing 
regulations.
    Eligible producers must annually:
    (1) Request NAP coverage by completing an application for coverage 
and paying a service fee by the FSA-established application closing 
date;
    (2) File a report of acreage, inventory, or physical location of 
the operation, as applicable for the covered crop or commodity; and
    (3) Certify harvested production of each covered crop or commodity.
    When damage to a covered crop or commodity occurs, which is 
eligible for NAP, producers must file a notice of loss with the local 
FSA administrative county office within 15 calendar days of occurrence 
or 15 calendar days of the date damage to the crop or commodity becomes 
apparent. Producers must also file an application for payment by the 
FSA established deadline, and complete a certification of average 
adjusted gross income and consent for disclosure of tax information 
with the local FSA County office. The NAP application is also being 
used to provide a timelier, more accurate, and more reliable delivery 
of benefits to producers.
    FSA is revising a currently approved information collection because 
the number of producers is expected to increase due to changes to NAP 
by the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill) and additional changes 
that are under development and will be published in a separate 
rulemaking.
    The 2014 Farm Bill authorizes additional NAP coverage (NAP buy-up 
coverage) levels ranging from 50 to 65 percent of production at 100 
percent of the average market price, and expands NAP coverage to sweet 
sorghum, biomass sorghum, and industrial crops grown as feedstock for 
renewable biofuel, renewable electricity, and biobased products. It 
also expands a waiver of the NAP service fee which was previously 
available only to limited resource farmers to also include beginning 
and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
    Based on these changes, FSA is expecting an increase in the annual 
total number of respondents, and an increase in total burden hours for 
collection of the information.
    The formulas used to calculate the total burden hours is estimated 
average time per response (includes travel times) hours times total 
annual responses.
    Type of respondents: Producers of commercial crops or other 
agricultural commodities (except livestock).
    Estimated Annual Burden: Public reporting burden for this 
information collection is estimated to average 1.33 hours per response. 
The average travel time, which is included in the total

[[Page 61849]]

annual burden, is estimated to be 1 hour per respondent.
    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 298,943.
    Estimated Annual Number of Reponses Per Respondent: 3.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 1,565,366.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,036,452.
    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 FSA, including whether the 
information will have practical utility;
    (2) Evaluate the accuracy of FSA'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, 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, including name and addresses when 
provided, will be summarized and included in the request for OMB 
approval. All comments will also become a matter of public record.

    Signed on October 3, 2014.
Val Dolcini,
Executive Vice President, Commodity Credit Corporation, and 
Administrator, Farm Service Agency.
[FR Doc. 2014-24535 Filed 10-14-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P