[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 178 (Monday, September 15, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54955-54956]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-21904]
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Notices
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 178 / Monday, September 15, 2014 /
Notices
[[Page 54955]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Economic Research Service
Notice of Intent To Request Renewal of a Currently Approved
Information Collection
AGENCY: Economic Research Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
notice invites the general public and other public agencies to send
comments regarding any aspect of this information collection. This
notice announces the intention of the Economic Research Service to
request a renewal to a currently approved information collection,
namely a pilot generic clearance for experimental economic research.
DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received on or before
November 14, 2014 to be assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this notice to Nathaniel
Higgins, Resource and Rural Economics Division, Economic Research
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave. SW.,
Mail Stop 1800, Room 6-135B, Washington, DC 20250-0002. Comments may
also be submitted via fax to the attention of Nathaniel Higgins at 202-
245-4847 or via email to [email protected].
All written comments will be open for public inspection at the
office of the Economic Research Service during regular business hours
(8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday) at 355 E St. SW., Room
6-135B, Washington, DC 20024-3221.
All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the
request for Office of Management and Budget approval. All comments and
replies will be a matter of public record. Comments are invited on: (a)
Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether
the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions
used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on those who are to respond, including use of
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact
Nathaniel Higgins at the mailing address in the preamble. Tel. 202-694-
5602.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: A Pilot Generic Clearance for Experimental Economic
Research.
OMB Number: 0536-0070.
Expiration Date: November 30, 2014.
Type of Request: Renewal of a currently approved information
collection.
Abstract: The Economic Research Service (ERS) of the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) requests approval from the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for renewal of a pilot generic clearance
that allows ERS to conduct experimental economic research into the
cost-effectiveness of alternative policy mechanisms. ERS offers policy-
relevant research to its stakeholders, including other agencies of the
USDA, but does not offer recommendations or make policy decisions
itself. Research conducted under the expected clearance will be used to
assess features of alternative policy mechanisms, but will not be used
for the purposes making regulatory decisions; ERS does not intend to
use the information collected under this approval for the purposes of
developing or evaluating specific policies. ERS will not conduct any
experiments which alter a government program. ERS has no regulatory or
program authority with which to conduct such an experiment.
The primary mission of ERS is to provide economic and other social
science information and analysis for public and private decisions on
agriculture, food, natural resources, and rural America. ERS has
constructed a set of key strategic goals in support of this mission.
Research conducted under this generic clearance will further an ongoing
initiative that would use insights from behavioral economics to provide
economic intelligence, research, and analysis to inform agricultural
resource and conservation policies. Information collected from these
experiments will allow ERS to develop and implement state-of-the-art
research methodologies to better inform and advance scientific
understanding for its customers in response to both specific requests
and in anticipation of future need.
ERS envisions using a number of research techniques, as appropriate
to the individual investigation. These include laboratory and field
techniques, exploratory interviews, pilot experiments, and respondent
debriefing. Laboratory and field techniques are two methodologies based
on comparison of outcomes over groups that have been randomized into
different treatments. This request is being sought as a continuing
pilot of the concept of using a generic approval mechanism for those
types of experiments. As such, experiments will be limited to two topic
areas: Conservation and nutrition.
Following standard OMB requirements ERS will submit to OMB
individually for review of each specific experiment it undertakes under
this generic clearance and provide OMB with all materials associated
with the experiment.
Authority: Legislative authority for the planned information
collection are 7 U.S.C. 2204(a) and 7 U.S.C. 2026(a)(1).
ERS intends to protect respondent information under the Privacy Act
of 1974 and the E-Government Act of 2002. ERS has decided not to invoke
the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act
of 2002 (CIPSEA). The complexity and cost necessary to invoke CIPSEA is
not justified given the nature of the collection; the collections would
generally be designed to be hosted in university computer labs, where
CIPSEA compliance could not be assured.
Consistent with the Privacy Act and the E-Government Act, a Systems
of Records Notice (SORN) and a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) will be
submitted for approval, as appropriate.
[[Page 54956]]
The SORN and PIA will document the ways in which participant personally
identifiable information will be collected, stored, and accessed. Data
will be managed for research purposes only.
Specific details regarding information handling will be specified
in individual submissions under this generic clearance, but will
conform to these broad guidelines.
Affected Public: Respondents will include individuals and
households.
Estimated Number of Respondents and Respondent Burden: In all
cases, participation will be voluntary and time commitments will be
minimal (15-90 minutes). No experiments will put participants at risk
of physical, monetary, or psychological harm. No data collection is
estimated to take longer than 90 minutes per respondent, including the
time required for respondents and non-respondents to review
instructions and participate in the data collection.
The estimated number of respondents participating in data
collections under this generic clearance over an eighteen months period
is 6,900. The maximum total estimated response burden for all of those
participating in the study is 7,025 hours.
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Estimated Estimated
Estimated number of Average burden-hours per total burden
Type of research instrument number of responses per response hours
respondents respondent requested
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Laboratory study................... 4,240 1 1.5 (90 mins).............. 6,360
Field study........................ 2,660 1 <=1 (15 mins).............. 665
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Total.......................... 6,900 .............. ........................... 7,025
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Dated: September 4, 2014.
Mary Bohman,
Administrator, Economic Research Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-21904 Filed 9-12-14; 8:45 am]
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