Agency information collection activities; proposals, submissions, and approvals,

[Federal Register: May 23, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 98)]

[Notices]

[Page 29475-29476]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr23my05-22]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service; Notice of Intent To Extend a Currently Approved Information Collection

AGENCY: Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations (5 CFR part 1320) which implement the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), this notice announces the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Services (CSREES) intention to request approval to extend the currently approved information collection for Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR).

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by July 22, 2005 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date will be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: Written comments concerning this notice and requests for copies of the information collection may be submitted by any of the following methods to Jason Hitchcock, eGovernment Program Leader, Information Systems and Technology Management; Mail: CSREES, USDA, STOP 2216, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-2216; Hand Delivery/Courier: 800 9th Street, SW, Waterfront Centre, Washington, DC 20024; Fax: 202-720-0857; or E-mail: jhitchcock@csrees.usda.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jason Hitchcock, 202-720-4343 or via the above e-mail address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) Year End Report.

OMB Number: 0524-0043.

Expiration Date of Approval: September 30, 2005.

Type of Request: Intent to request approval to extend an information collection.

Abstract: Funding for the Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) New Communities Project (NCP) is authorized under section 3(d) of the Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C. 341 et seq.), as amended, and other relevant authorizing legislation, which provides jurisdictional basis for the establishment and operation of Extension educational work for the benefit of youth and families in communities. The CYFAR funding program supports community-based programs serving children, youth, and families in at-risk environments. CYFAR funds are intended to support the development of high quality, effective programs based on research and to document the impact of these programs on intended audiences. The CYFAR Year End Report collects demographic and impact data from each community site to conduct impact evaluations of the programs on its intended audience.

The collection of information serves several purposes. It allows CSREES staff to gauge if the program is reaching the target audience and to make programmatic improvements. This collection also allows program staff to demonstrate the impacts and capacity that is developed in the locales where Federal assistance is provided.

The evaluation processes of CYFAR are consistent with the requirements of Congressional legislation and OMB. The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-62), the Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act (FAIR) (Pub. L. 105-107), and the Agricultural, Research, Extension and Education Reform Act (AREERA) of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-185), together with OMB requirements, support the reporting requirements requested in this information collection. One of the five Presidential Management Agenda initiatives, Budget and Performance Integration, builds on GPRA and earlier efforts to identify program goals and performance measures, and link them to the budget process. The FAIR act requires the development and implementation of a system to monitor and evaluate agricultural research and extension activities in order to measure the impact and effectiveness of research, extension, and education programs. AREERA requires a performance evaluation to be conducted to determine whether Federally funded agricultural, research, extension, and education programs result in public goods that have national or multi-state significance.

The immediate need of this information collection is to provide a means for satisfying accountability requirements. The long-term objective is to provide a means to enable the evaluation and assessment of the effectiveness of programs receiving Federal funds and to fully satisfy requirements of performance and accountability legislation in GPRA, the FAIR Act, and AREERA.

Estimate of Burden: There are currently CYFAR projects in 48 states and 2 territories. Each state and territory is required to submit an annual year-end report which includes demographic and impact data on each of the community projects. CSREES estimates the burden of this collection to be 322 hours per response. There are currently 50 respondents, thus making the total annual burden of this collection an estimated 16,100 hours.

Comments: 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 will have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and

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(d) ways to 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.

Done in Washington, DC, this 12th day of May, 2005. Rodney J. Brown, Deputy Under Secretary, Research, Education, and Economics.

[FR Doc. 05-10208 Filed 5-20-05; 8:45 am]

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