This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

48476 

Vol. 82, No. 200 

Wednesday, October 18, 2017 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request; 30-Day Federal 

Register Notice; National Agricultural 

Statistics Service 

Title: Fast Track Generic Clearance for 

the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 

on Customer Satisfaction Surveys. 

OMB Control Number: 0535—New. 

Summary of Collection: Executive 

Order 12862 directs Federal agencies to 

provide service to the public that 

matches or exceeds the best service 

available in the private sector. 

Improving National Agricultural 

Statistics Service (NASS) programs 

requires ongoing assessment of service 

delivery, by which we mean systematic 

review of the operation of a program, 

the quality, usability, and ease of 

accessing our surveys and public 

information compared to a set of 

explicit or implicit standards, as a 

means of contributing to the continuous 

improvement of the program. 

Need and Use of the Information: The 

information collection activity will 

garner qualitative customer and 

stakeholder feedback in an efficient, 

timely manner, in accordance with the 

Administration’s commitment to 

improving service delivery. By 

qualitative feedback we mean 

information that provides useful 

insights on perceptions and opinions, 

but are not statistical surveys that yield 

quantitative results that can be 

generalized to the population of study. 

This feedback will provide insights into 

customer or stakeholder perceptions, 

experiences and expectations, provide 

an early warning of issues with service, 

or focus attention on areas where 

communication, training or changes in 

operations might improve delivery of 

products or services. These collections 

will allow for ongoing, collaborative and 

actionable communications between 

NASS and its customers and 

stakeholders. It will allow feedback to 

contribute directly to the improvement 

of program management. 

Feedback collected under this generic 

clearance will provide useful 

information, but it will 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 

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. 

Description of Respondents: Farms; 

Business or other for-profit; Not-forprofit Institutions and State, Local or 

Tribal Government. 

Number of Respondents: 120,000. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

On occasion. 

Total Burden Hours: 8,375. 

Charlene Parker, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2017–22613 Filed 10–17–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–20–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utilities Service 

Announcement of Loan Refinancing 

Procedures, and Deadlines for the 

Refinancing of Federal Financing Bank 

Loans Pilot Program (Refinancing 

Program) 

AGENCY: Rural Development, Rural 

Utilities Service (RUS), USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of solicitation for letters 

of intent. 

SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service 

(RUS), an agency of the United States 

Department of Agriculture (USDA), is 

soliciting Letters of Intent and opening 

a window for a pilot program to 

refinance a loan, or any part thereof, 

consisting of one or more whole but not 

partial advance(s), made under a loan by 

the Federal Financing Bank (FFB) and 

guaranteed by RUS. RUS is announcing 

the process for the Refinancing of 

Federal Financing Bank Loans Pilot 

Program (Refinancing Program) made to 

RUS Electric Program borrowers 

operating as an electric utility (Eligible 

entity). This notice describes the 

eligibility requirements, the process and 

deadlines, and the criteria that will be 

used by RUS to assess refinancing 

requests from Eligible entities with 

outstanding FFB debt. The Refinancing 

Program will refinance a higher interest 

rate loan or a portion thereof i.e., one or 

more advance under a FFB loan at the 

interest rate available as of the date of 

the advance of the new FFB loan used 

to refinance the outstanding FFB loan. 

A new FFB loan will be advanced to 

prepay the FFB loan. A maximum 

amount for refinancing per Eligible 

entity is also being announced. The new 

FFB loan will be made for the amount 

identified solely by FFB and RUS to 

prepay the outstanding FFB loan 

together with the required prepayment 

premium, if applicable. In order to 

maximize the Refinancing Program and 

the benefits to electric consumers, the 

Eligible entity will have the option of 

paying the prepayment premium or 

rolling the amount into the new FFB 

loan. The Refinancing Program is made 

available under Section 749 of the 

Public Law 115–31, Consolidated 

Appropriations, Act 2017 (section 749). 

DATES: To be considered for this 

program, borrowers must submit their 

documentation no later than the dates 

set forth herein. Failure to comply with 

the following deadlines will prevent 

RUS from considering the borrower for 

the Refinancing Program. 

Step 1: To be considered for the 

Refinancing Program an Eligible entity 

must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), as 

provided herein, in an electronic 

Portable Document Format (PDF) by 

electronic mail (email) to REFINANCEEP@RD.usda.gov no later than 11:59 

p.m. (EST) on November 17, 2017. Late 

or incomplete Letters of Intent will not 

be considered by RUS for this 


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