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Notices Federal Register

22509 

Vol. 74, No. 91 

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Office of the Assistant Secretary for 

Civil Rights; Notice of Intent To Seek 

Approval of a New Information 

Collection 

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Civil Rights, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture. 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

Office of the Assistant Secretary for 

Civil Rights (OASCR) is seeking 

comments from all interested 

individuals and organizations on a new 

information collection. This notice 

announces the OASCR’s intention to 

request approval for a new information 

collection aimed at standardizing and 

consolidating the race, ethnicity, sex, 

national origin, disability and age 

(RESNODA) data for agencies within the 

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

that serve agricultural producers and 

landowners. This information collection 

will assist the USDA agencies in the 

compilation of program application and 

participation rate data for socially 

disadvantaged farmers or ranchers for 

programs that serve agricultural 

producers and landowners. USDA 

continues to seek ways to improve 

delivery of program services and 

benefits, fulfill various civil rights 

responsibilities, and increase 

participation for those who are eligible 

to receive benefits and assistance. 

DATES: We will consider comment that 

we receive by July 13, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit 

comments on this notice. In your 

comment, include date, and page 

number of this issue of the Federal 

Register. You may submit comments by 

any of the following methods: 

• E-mail: Send comments to: 

Rhonda.davis@usda.gov. 

• Mail: Ms. Rhonda Davis, Director, 

Planning, Performance and 

Accountability Division, OASCR, 

USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Mailstop 9475, Washington, DC 

20250. 

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: 

Rhonda Davis, Director, Planning, 

Performance and Accountability 

Division, phone (202) 720–1010. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Section 14006 of the Food, 

Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 

(2008 Farm Bill; Pub. L. 110–246) 

requires the Secretary of Agriculture to 

compile program application and 

participation rate data on socially 

disadvantaged farmers or ranchers by 

race, ethnicity, and gender. The 

collection of data is necessary to 

provide USDA with the composition of 

its constituents, particularly from a race 

and ethnicity standpoint. Further, data 

is necessary to give USDA a baseline on 

its applicants and participants and 

assist it in planning and assisting its 

constituents. 

The goal of a farm program focused 

collection of RESNODA data is to 

reduce the burden on citizens to provide 

this type of information by creating a 

single voluntary survey transaction 

where the data is collected, one time in 

a standard format. For subsequent 

transactions where this information is 

needed to report on application or 

participation rates or to improve 

program participation, the Department 

will provide the opportunity for the 

applicant or participant to revise their 

data. If no revisions are made, USDA 

will reuse the data previously collected. 

This information collection request is 

intended over a period time to 

consolidate a number of agency 

collections of RESNODA data and to 

minimize the number of separate forms 

and transactions required to obtain 

USDA services, thereby reducing the 

burden in collecting this information 

from the public. 

When collected manually, a paper 

form will be used in conjunction with 

the appropriate program application 

form as a tear-off where the application 

for services will be electronically 

transmitted to the appropriate agency 

for action, and information from the 

paper form will be electronically 

transmitted to a Departmental repository 

to be used in subsequent customer 

transactions and for applicable Civil 

Rights analysis and reporting. The 

electronically collected data will reside 

in an enterprise database. 

While the demographic data will be 

available for management reporting 

purposes to comply with section 14006 

of the 2008 Farm Bill, a flag would 

graphically indicate to USDA employees 

that the information had been 

previously collected. The privacy of the 

data will be protected. The existing 

customer data Systems of Record will be 

modified or created if applicable to meet 

the Privacy Act requirement. 

Description of Information Collection 

Title: Customer Information. 

OMB Number: 0503–NEW. 

Type of Request: New information 

collection. 

Abstract: The purpose of the 

collection is to enable the agency heads 

to report annually to the Secretary of 

Agriculture on the collection of 

RESNODA data for all USDA farm 

programs, and to further ensure that this 

information is collected only once for 

each customer. When established, this 

information will assist OASCR and 

USDA agencies in assessing farm 

programs for each county and State in 

the United States based on program 

application and participation rate data 

for agricultural producers and 

landowners. 

Estimate of Burden: For the initial 

collection of RESNODA data, the 

estimated burden is 3 minutes per 

response either collected manually 

through a Departmental form or 

collected electronically through the 

USDA.gov web portal. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

The Department estimates 14,000,000 

constituents subject to the collection of 

RESNODA data. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 1. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 700,000 hours. 

We are requesting comments on all 

aspects of this information collection 

including the following to help us: 

(1) Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the Department, including 

22510 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 91 / Wednesday, May 13, 2009 / Notices 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; 

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of methodology 

and assumptions used; 

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and 

(4) Minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including the use of 

appropriate, automated, electronic, 

mechanical or other technology. 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for OMB approval. All comments will 

also become a matter of public record. 

Summary of 2004 Comments 

A previous notice requesting 

comments on this information 

collection request was published in the 

Federal Register on June 23, 2004 (69 

FR 34990–34991). The 60-day comment 

period for the notice closed on August 

23, 2004; 6 comments were received. 

The scope of the request for information 

collection approval has been narrowed 

to initially focus on information 

collected by the three service center 

agencies, the Farm Service Agency 

(FSA), the National Resources 

Conservation Service (NRCS), and Rural 

Development (RD). None of the 

comments addressed any issues related 

to information collection by FSA, NRCS, 

or RD. 

Signed at Washington, DC on May 7, 2009. 

Joe Leonard, Jr., 

Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights. 

[FR Doc. E9–11109 Filed 5–12–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–98–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Commodity Credit Corporation 

Amended Notice of Intent To Prepare 

an Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Biomass Crop Assistance Program 

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Commodity Credit 

Corporation (CCC) intends to prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

for the Biomass Crop Assistance 

Program (BCAP). BCAP is a new 

program authorized by the Food, 

Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 

(the 2008 Farm Bill). The EIS will assess 

the potential environmental impacts of 

alternatives for administration and 

implementation of BCAP. Through this 

notice and public meetings, CCC is 

requesting the public to provide 

comments and inputs on the 

preliminary proposed program 

alternatives and environmental 

concerns associated with the 

implementation of BCAP. 

DATES: See the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section for dates of the six 

public meetings. 

Comments: We will consider 

comments that we receive by June 12, 

2009. We will consider comments 

submitted after that date, to the extent 

possible. 

ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit 

comments and to participate in public 

meetings on the proposed alternatives 

related to BCAP. If you e-mail, fax, or 

mail your comments, include the 

volume, date, and page number of this 

issue of the Federal Register. You may 

submit comments by any of the 

following methods: 

• Go through the established public 

comments Web site located at http:// 

public.geo-marine.com. 

• E-Mail: bcapeis@geo-marine.com. 

• Fax: (757) 873–3703. 

• Mail: BCAP EIS c/o Geo-Marine, 

Inc., 2713 Magruder Boulevard, Suite D, 

Hampton, Virginia 23666. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: Deliver 

comments to the above address. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

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

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

Comments may be inspected in the 

Office of the Director, CEPD, FSA, 

USDA, 1400 Independence Ave., SW., 

Room 4709 South Building, 

Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and 

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except holidays. 

See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

section for addresses for the six public 

meetings. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Matthew T. Ponish, FSA National 

Environmental Compliance Manager at 

(202) 720–6853 or 

matthew.ponish@wdc.usda.gov. Persons 

with disabilities who require alternative 

means for communication (Braille, large 

print, audio tape, etc.) should contact 

the USDA Target Center at (202) 720– 

2600 (voice and TDD). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BCAP is 

authorized by Title IX of the 2008 Farm 

Bill (Pub. L. 110–246). The 2008 Farm 

Bill amends Title IX of the Farm 

Security and Rural Investment Act of 

2002 (Pub. L. 107–171); specifically, for 

BCAP, the 2008 Farm Bill adds section 

9011 (7 U.S.C. 8111) to Title IX. BCAP 

is intended to support the establishment 

and production of crops for conversion 

to bio-energy in project areas (locations) 

and to assist with collection, harvest, 

storage, and transportation of eligible 

material for use in a biomass conversion 

facility. 

As a new energy program, BCAP 

presents an opportunity to encourage 

landowners and operators to produce 

biomass for commercial energy 

production in ways that both are 

economically and environmentally 

sound. CCC plans to implement BCAP 

by approving the best-qualifying project 

proposals from project sponsors 

(producers or facilities) and then 

entering into contracts with individual 

producers in the approved project 

locations. BCAP is a CCC program 

administered by the Farm Service 

Agency (FSA) with the support of other 

Federal and local agencies. 

Under the National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA), the EIS process 

provides a means for the public to 

provide input on program 

implementation alternatives and on 

environmental concerns. This notice 

informs the public of CCC’s intention to 

prepare an EIS for BCAP. CCC initially 

solicited public input and comments on 

the proposed EIS for BCAP from the 

notice published in the Federal Register 

on October 1, 2008 (72 FR 5704–57047). 

When we received comments and 

inputs from the public and through 

internal agency scoping, CCC developed 

the following alternatives for the BCAP 

analysis to be considered as part of the 

regulatory requirements under NEPA 

process: 

(1) No Action Alternative—addresses 

the potential effects from not 

implementing BCAP. 

(2) Action Alternative 1—addresses a 

targeted implementation of BCAP to 

specific areas or regions of the United 

States. 

(3) Action Alternative 2—addresses a 

broad national implementation of 

BCAP. 

The public meetings will be scoping 

meetings and will provide public input 

for the development of the alternatives.