Mystery Form to OMB: Bureaucracy's Black Hole of Details
Published Date: 12/5/2025
Notice
Summary
The Department of Agriculture is asking for public feedback on their Volunteer Program info collection to make sure it’s useful and not too much work. If you volunteer or work with the Earth Team, this affects you! Comments are open until January 5, 2026, so jump in and help shape how info is gathered without wasting time or money.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Volunteer Minimum Age 14
You or your child can serve as a volunteer with the NRCS Earth Team only if they are at least 14 years old. The notice states volunteers must be 14 years of age.
Paperwork and Time Burden for Respondents
If you volunteer or represent an organization, NRCS will collect information using forms NRCS-PER-002 and NRCS-PER-004. The agency estimates 8,220 respondents, reporting semi-annually, with a total of 1,011 burden hours; the public may comment through January 5, 2026.
Info Used to Evaluate International Volunteers
NRCS will collect volunteers' skills and work-interest information and use it to evaluate potential international volunteers and to assess program effectiveness. Supervisors and the International Program Division will use the collected information for those purposes.
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Key Dates
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