SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: APHIS Pest Reporting and Asian Longhorn Beetle Program.

OMB Control Number: 0579-0311.

Type of Request: Extension of approval of an information collection.

Abstract: As authorized by the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.) and the Animal Health Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), either independently or in cooperation with States, may carry out operations or measures to detect, eradicate, suppress, control, prevent, or retard the spread of plant and animal pests and diseases that are new to or not widely distributed within the United States. This authority allows APHIS to establish control programs for pests and diseases of concern, including Asian longhorned beetle, citrus greening, or New World screwworm, to name a few.

APHIS' pest and disease detection, control, and eradication programs rely on various entities, such as individuals, households, businesses, producers, and State departments of agriculture, among others, to report sightings of foreign pests of concern or suspicious signs of pest or disease damage they may see in their local area and provide information needed to conduct APHIS activities. This reporting, and the detection and verification methods involved, include information collection activities that include online pest reporting.

Specifically for the Asian Longhorned Beetle Program, it also includes cooperative agreements for inspection; State compliance training workshop recordkeeping; inspections and Asian longhorned beetle unified surveys; contracts for inspection; litigation and warrants and associated letters; homeowner permission or refusal to inspect and agreements for treatment, removal, and monitoring or disposal; and certificate/permit cancellation.

We are asking the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve our use of these information collection activities, as described, for an additional 3 years.

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

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

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of our estimate of the burden of the collection of information, 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 collection of information on those who are to respond, through use, as appropriate, of automated, electronic, mechanical, and other collection technologies; e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

Estimate of burden: The public burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 0.134 hours per response.

Respondents: State plant health officials, business, individuals, and households.

Estimated annual number of respondents: 16,308.

Estimated annual number of responses per respondent: 39.

Estimated annual number of responses: 644,141.

Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 85,999 hours. (Due to averaging, the total annual burden hours may not equal the product of the annual number of responses multiplied by the 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.