Agency Information Collection Activities; Forms To Determine Compliance by Certain Landholders

AGENCY:

Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice of information collection; request for comments.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), are proposing to renew an information collection.

DATES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before November 16, 2020.

ADDRESSES:

Send your comments on this information collection request (ICR) by mail to Stephanie McPhee, Bureau of Reclamation, Office of Policy and Programs, 84-55000, P.O. Box 25007, Denver, CO 80225-0007; or by email to smcphee@usbr.gov. Please reference Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number 1006-0023 in the subject line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request additional information about this ICR, contact Stephanie McPhee by email at smcphee@usbr.gov, or by telephone at (303) 445-2897.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), all information collections require approval under the PRA. We may not conduct or sponsor and you are not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burdens, we invite the public and other Federal agencies to comment on new, proposed, revised, and continuing collections of information. This helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public understand our information collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format.

We are especially interested in public comment addressing the following:

(1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether or not the information will have practical utility;

(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

(3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(4) How might the agency 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, e.g., permitting electronic submission of response.

Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Abstract.

Identification of limited recipients—Some entities that receive Reclamation irrigation water may believe that they are under the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (RRA) forms submittal threshold and, consequently, may not submit the appropriate RRA form(s). However, some of these entities may in fact have a different RRA forms submittal threshold than what they believe it to be due to the number of natural persons benefiting from each entity and the location of the land held by each entity. In addition, some entities that are exempt from the requirement to submit RRA forms due to the size of their landholdings (directly and indirectly owned and leased land) may in fact be receiving Reclamation irrigation water for which the full-cost rate must be paid because the start of Reclamation irrigation water deliveries occurred after October 1, 1981 [43 CFR 426.6(b)(2)]. The information obtained through completion of the Limited Recipient Identification Sheet (Form 7-2536) allows us to establish entities' compliance with Federal reclamation law. The Limited Recipient Identification Sheet is disbursed at our discretion.

Trust review—In order to administer section 214 of the RRA and 43 CFR 426.7, we are required to review and approve all trusts. Land held in trust generally will be attributed to the beneficiaries of the trust rather than the trustee if the criteria specified in the RRA and 43 CFR 426.7 are met. We may extend the option to complete and submit for our review the Trust Information Sheet (Form 7-2537) instead of actual trust documents when we become aware of trusts with a relatively small landholding (40 acres or less in districts subject to the prior law provisions of Federal reclamation law, 240 acres or less in districts subject to the discretionary provisions of Federal reclamation law). If we find nothing on the completed Trust Information Sheet that would warrant the further review of a particular trust, that trustee will not be burdened with submitting trust documents to us for in-depth review. The Trust Information Sheet is disbursed at our discretion.

Acreage limitation provisions applicable to public entities—Land farmed by a public entity can be considered exempt from the application of the acreage limitation provisions provided the public entity meets certain criteria pertaining to the revenue generated through the entity's farming activities (43 CFR 426.10 and the Act of July 7, 1970, Pub. L. 91-310). We are required to ascertain whether public entities that receive Reclamation irrigation water meet such revenue criteria regardless of how much land the public entities hold (directly or indirectly own or lease) [43 CFR 426.10(a)]. In order to minimize the burden on public entities, standard RRA forms are submitted by a public entity only when the public entity holds more than 40 acres subject to the acreage limitation provisions westwide, which makes it difficult to apply the revenue criteria as required to those public entities that hold less than 40 acres. When we become aware of such public entities, we request those public entities complete and submit for our review the Public Entity Information Sheet (Form 7-2565), which allows us to establish compliance with Federal reclamation law for those public entities that hold 40 acres or less and, thus, do not submit a standard RRA form because they are below the RRA forms submittal threshold. In addition, for those public entities that do not meet the exemption criteria, we must determine the proper rate to charge for Reclamation irrigation water deliveries. The Public Entity Information Sheet is disbursed at our discretion.

Acreage limitation provisions applicable to religious or charitable organizations—Some religious or charitable organizations that receive Reclamation irrigation water may believe that they are under the RRA forms submittal threshold and, consequently, may not submit the appropriate RRA form(s). However, some of these organizations may in fact have a different RRA forms submittal threshold than what they believe it to be depending on whether these organizations meet all of the required criteria for full special application of the acreage limitations provisions to religious or charitable organizations [43 CFR 426.9(b)]. In addition, some organizations that (1) do not meet the criteria to be treated as a religious or charitable organization under the acreage limitation provisions, and (2) are exempt from the requirement to submit RRA forms due to the size of their landholdings (directly and indirectly owned and leased land), may in fact be receiving Reclamation irrigation water for which the full-cost rate must be paid because the start of Reclamation irrigation water deliveries occurred after October 1, 1981 [43 CFR 426.6(b)(2)]. The Religious or Charitable Organization Identification Sheet (Form 7-2578) allows us to establish certain religious or charitable organizations' compliance with Federal reclamation law. The Religious or Charitable Organization Identification Sheet is disbursed at our discretion.

Title of Collection: Forms to Determine Compliance by Certain Landholders, 43 CFR part 426.

OMB Control Number: 1006-0023.

Form Numbers: Form 7-2536, Form 7-2537, Form 7-2565, and Form 7-2578.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Respondents/Affected Public: Entity landholders, trusts, public entities, and religious or charitable organizations identified by Reclamation that are subject to the acreage limitation provisions of Federal reclamation law.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 500.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 500.

Estimated Completion Time per Response: See table below.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 72 hours.

Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.

Frequency of Collection: Generally, these forms will be submitted only once per identified entity, trust, public entity, or religious or charitable organization. Each year, we expect new responses in accordance with the following numbers.

Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).