Notice of Request for Extension of a Currently Approved Information Collection

AGENCY:

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION:

Approved information collection extension; comment request.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's intention to request an extension of a currently approved information collection in support of animal disease surveillance programs.

DATES:

We invite you to comment on this docket. We will consider all comments that we receive by July 10, 2000.

ADDRESSES:

Please send your comment and three copies to: Docket No. 00-029-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Suite 3C03, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that your comment refers to Docket No. 00-029-1.

You may read any comments that we receive on this docket in our reading room. The reading room is located in room 1141 of the USDA South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you, please call (202) 690-2817 before coming.

APHIS documents published in the Federal Register, and related information, including the names of organizations and individuals who have commented on APHIS dockets, are available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For information regarding the use of VS Form 10-4, contact Mr. Carl Nagle, Administrative Officer, National Veterinary Services Laboratories, VS, APHIS, P.O. Box 844, Ames, IA 50010; (515) 663-7357. For copies of more detailed information on the information collection, contact Ms. Cheryl Groves, APHIS' Information Collection Coordinator, at (301) 734-5086.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Specimen Submission.

OMB Number: 0579-0090.

Expiration Date of Approval: April 30, 2000.

Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved information collection.

Abstract: The United States Department of Agriculture is responsible for preventing the spread of contagious, infectious, or communicable animal diseases from one State to another, and for eradicating such diseases from the United States when feasible.

Disease prevention is the most effective method for maintaining a healthy animal population and enhancing our ability to compete in exporting animals and animal products.

Disease prevention cannot be accomplished without the existence of an effective disease surveillance program, an activity that is carried out by the Veterinary Services (VS) division of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). The VS Form 10-4 is a critical component of our disease surveillance mission; it is routinely used whenever specimens (such as blood, milk, tissue, or urine) from any animal (including cattle, swine, sheep, goats, horses, and poultry) are submitted to our National Veterinary Services Laboratories for disease testing.

We are asking the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve, for an additional 3 years, our use of this VS Form 10-4 in connection with our regulations.

The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments from the public (as well as affected agencies) concerning this information collection activity. These comments will help us:

(1) Evaluate whether the information collection is necessary for the proper performance of our Agency's functions, including whether the information will have practical utility;

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

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

(4) Minimize the burden of the information collection on those who are to respond (such as 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 responses).

Estimate of burden: The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average .5 hours per response.

Respondents: State, Federal, and accredited veterinarians.

Estimated annual number of respondents: 12,000.

Estimated annual number of responses per respondent: 2.524.

Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 15,149 hours. (Due to rounding, the total annual burden hours may not equal the product of the annual number of responses multiplied by the average reporting burden per response.)

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.