USGS Ash Fall Report Collection Activities Announced
Summary
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has announced agency information collection activities related to an ash fall report. A public comment period is open for 51 days, closing on May 4, 2026.
What changed
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has published a notice announcing its intention to collect information related to ash fall reports. This notice initiates a public comment period, allowing interested parties to provide input on the proposed information collection activities.
Regulated entities or members of the public who wish to comment must submit their feedback by May 4, 2026. While this is an informational notice regarding data collection, it is important for compliance officers to be aware of potential future requirements or data reporting obligations that may arise from these activities.
What to do next
- Review the USGS ash fall report collection notice
- Submit comments by May 4, 2026, if applicable
Source document (simplified)
Legal Status This site displays a prototype of a “Web 2.0” version of the daily
Federal Register. It is not an official legal edition of the Federal
Register, and does not replace the official print version or the official
electronic version on GPO’s govinfo.gov.
The documents posted on this site are XML renditions of published Federal
Register documents. Each document posted on the site includes a link to the
corresponding official PDF file on govinfo.gov. This prototype edition of the
daily Federal Register on FederalRegister.gov will remain an unofficial
informational resource until the Administrative Committee of the Federal
Register (ACFR) issues a regulation granting it official legal status.
For complete information about, and access to, our official publications
and services, go to About the Federal Register on NARA's archives.gov.
The OFR/GPO partnership is committed to presenting accurate and reliable
regulatory information on FederalRegister.gov with the objective of
establishing the XML-based Federal Register as an ACFR-sanctioned
publication in the future. While every effort has been made to ensure that
the material on FederalRegister.gov is accurately displayed, consistent with
the official SGML-based PDF version on govinfo.gov, those relying on it for
legal research should verify their results against an official edition of
the Federal Register. Until the ACFR grants it official status, the XML
rendition of the daily Federal Register on FederalRegister.gov does not
provide legal notice to the public or judicial notice to the courts.
Legal Status
Notice
Agency Information Collection Activities; USGS Ash Fall Report
A Notice by the Geological Survey on 03/03/2026
- 1.
1.
This document has a comment period that ends in 51 days.
(05/04/2026) Submit a public comment
Thank you for taking the time to create a comment. Your input is important.
Once you have filled in the required fields below you can preview and/or submit your comment to the Interior Department for review. All comments are considered public and will be posted online once the Interior Department has reviewed them.
You can view alternative ways to comment or you may also comment via Regulations.gov at https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/USGS-2026-0067-0001.
It appears that you have attempted to comment on this document before
so we've restored your progress.
Start over.
1.
2. Comment * What is your comment about? Upload File(s) Note: You can attach your comment as a file and/or attach supporting
documents to your comment. Attachment Requirements.
Email this will NOT be posted on regulations.gov
Opt to receive email confirmation of submission and tracking number? Tell us about yourself! I am... * An Individual An Organization Anonymous First Name * Last Name * City Region State Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Zip Country Afghanistan Åland Islands Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Cook Islands Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Curaçao Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine, State of Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Réunion Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin (French part) Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten (Dutch part) Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States United States Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Phone Organization Type * Company Organization Federal State Local Tribal Regional Foreign U.S. House of Representatives U.S. Senate Organization Name * You are filing a document into an official docket. Any personal
information included in your comment text and/or uploaded
attachment(s) may be publicly viewable on the web. I read and understand the statement above.
- Preview Comment Please review the Regulations.gov privacy notice and user notice.
- Document Details Published Content - Document Details Agencies Department of the Interior Geological Survey Agency/Docket Numbers Docket No. USGS-2026-0067 OMB Control Number 1028-0106GX26WC00GJNV331 Document Citation 91 FR 10408 Document Number 2026-04155 Document Type Notice Pages 10408-10409 (2 pages) Publication Date 03/03/2026 Published Content - Document Details
- PDF Official Content
- View printed version (PDF) Official Content
- Document Details Published Content - Document Details Agencies Department of the Interior Geological Survey Agency/Docket Numbers Docket No. USGS-2026-0067 OMB Control Number 1028-0106GX26WC00GJNV331 Document Citation 91 FR 10408 Document Number 2026-04155 Document Type Notice Pages 10408-10409 (2 pages) Publication Date 03/03/2026 Published Content - Document Details
- Document Dates Published Content - Document Dates Comments Close 05/04/2026 Dates Text Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before May 4, 2026. Published Content - Document Dates
Table of Contents Enhanced Content - Table of Contents This table of contents is a navigational tool, processed from the
headings within the legal text of Federal Register documents.
This repetition of headings to form internal navigation links
has no substantive legal effect.- AGENCY:
- ACTION:
- SUMMARY:
- DATES:
- ADDRESSES:
- FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
- SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Enhanced Content - Table of Contents
Public Comments Enhanced Content - Public Comments Comments are being accepted - Submit a public comment.
Enhanced Content - Public Comments
- Regulations.gov Data Enhanced Content - Regulations.gov Data
FederalRegister.gov retrieves relevant information about this document
from Regulations.gov to provide users with additional context. This
information is not part of the official Federal Register document.
USGS-NatHaz-2026-0001
Comment Due Date 05/04/2026 Docket ID USGS-2026-0067 Supporting Documents No supporting documents available Enhanced Content - Regulations.gov Data
- Sharing Enhanced Content - Sharing Shorter Document URL https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2026-04155 Email Email this document to a friend Enhanced Content - Sharing
- Print Enhanced Content - Print
- Print this document Enhanced Content - Print
- Document Statistics Enhanced Content - Document Statistics Document page views are updated periodically throughout the day and are cumulative counts for this document. Counts are subject to sampling, reprocessing and revision (up or down) throughout the day.
Page views 54
as of
03/14/2026 at 2:15 pm EDT Enhanced Content - Document Statistics
- Other Formats Enhanced Content - Other Formats This document is also available in the following formats:
JSON Normalized attributes and metadata XML Original full text XML MODS Government Publishing Office metadata More information and documentation can be found in our developer tools pages.
Enhanced Content - Other Formats
- Public Inspection Public Inspection This PDF is FR Doc. 2026-04155 as it appeared on Public Inspection on
03/02/2026 at 8:45 am.
It was viewed
7
times while on Public Inspection.
If you are using public inspection listings for legal research, you
should verify the contents of the documents against a final, official
edition of the Federal Register. Only official editions of the
Federal Register provide legal notice of publication to the public and judicial notice
to the courts under 44 U.S.C. 1503 & 1507. Learn more here.
Public Inspection
Published Document: 2026-04155 (91 FR 10408) This document has been published in the Federal Register. Use the PDF linked in the document sidebar for the official electronic format.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain
the following:
- the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document
- the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to
- the agency docket number / agency internal file number
- the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details.
Department of the Interior
Geological Survey
- [Docket No. USGS-2026-0067; OMB Control Number 1028-0106GX26WC00GJNV331]
AGENCY:
U.S. Geological Survey, Interior.
ACTION:
Notice of information collection; request for comment.
SUMMARY:
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is proposing to renew an information collection.
DATES:
Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before May 4, 2026.
ADDRESSES:
You may submit comments by one of the following methods:
Internet: https://www.regulations.gov. Search for and submit comments on Docket No. USGS-2026-0067.
U.S. Mail: USGS, Information Collections Clearance Officer, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 159, Reston, VA 20192.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kristi Wallace by email at kwallace@usgs.gov, or by telephone at 907-786-7109. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access ( printed page 10409) telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services offered within their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
In accordance with the PRA of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), all information collections require approval under the PRA. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, nor is an individual required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burdens, we invite the public and other Federal agencies to comment on new, proposed, revised, and continuing collections of information. This helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public understand our information collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format.
We are especially interested in public comments addressing the following:
(1) Whether or not 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) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used.
(3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
(4) How the agency might minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including using appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of response.
Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request to OMB to approve this information collection request. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personally identifiable information (PII) in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your PII—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your PII from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Abstract: The USGS provides notifications and warnings to the public of volcanic activity in the U.S. in order to reduce the loss of life, property, and economic and societal impacts. Ash fall to the ground can pose significant disruption and damage to buildings, transportation, water and wastewater, power supply, communications equipment, agriculture, and primary production leading to potentially substantial societal impacts and costs, even at thicknesses of only a few millimeters or inches. Additionally, fine grained ash can cause health impacts to humans and animals when ingested. The USGS will use reports entered in real time by respondents of ash fall in their local area to correct or refine ash fall forecasts as the ash cloud moves downwind. Retrospectively these reports will enable the USGS to improve their ash fall models and further research into eruptive processes.
This project is a database module and web interface allowing the public and Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) staff to enter reports of ash fall in their local area in real time and retrospectively following an eruptive event. Users browsing the AVO website during eruptions will be directed towards a web form allowing them to fill in ash fall information and submit the information to AVO.
Compiled ash fall reports are available in real-time to AVO staff through the AVO internal website. A pre-formatted summary report or table that distills information received online will show ash fall reports in chronological order with key fields including (1) date and time of ash fall, (2) location, (3) positive or negative ash fall, (4) name of observer, and (5) contact. Information is easily viewable internally on the report so that calls for clarification can be made by AVO staff quickly and so that operations room staff can visualize ashfall information quickly.
Ash fall report data will also be displayed on a dynamic map interface and show positive (yes ash) and negative (no ash) ash fall reports by location. Ash fall reports (icons) will be publicly displayed for a period of 24 hours and shaded differently as they age so that the age of reports is obvious.
The ash fall report database will help AVO track eruption clouds and associated fallout downwind. These reports from the public will also give scientists a more complete record of the amount and duration and other conditions of ash fall. Getting first-hand accounts of ash fall will support model ash fall development and interpretation of satellite imagery. AVO scientists will—as time allows—be able to contact the individuals using their entered contact information for clarification and details. Knowing the locations from which ash fall reports have been filed will improve ash fall warning messages and AVO Volcanic Activity Notifications and will make fieldwork more efficient. AVO staff will be able to condense and summarize the various ash fall reports and forward that information on to emergency management agencies and the wider public. The online form will also free up resources during exceedingly busy times during an eruption, as most individuals currently phone AVO with their reports.
Title of Collection: USGS Ash Fall Report.
OMB Control Number: 1028-0106.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Respondents/Affected Public: General Public, local governments, and emergency managers.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 250.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 250.
Estimated Completion Time per Response: 5 minutes.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 21 hours.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion, after each ash fall event.
Total Estimated Annual Non-hour Burden Cost: We have not identified any “non-hour cost” burdens associated with this collection of information.
The authority for this action is the PRA of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Jacob B. Lowenstern,
Acting Center Director, USGS Volcano Science Center.
[FR Doc. 2026-04155 Filed 3-2-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4388-11-P
Published Document: 2026-04155 (91 FR 10408)
Related changes
Source
Classification
Who this affects
Taxonomy
Browse Categories
Get Environment alerts
Weekly digest. AI-summarized, no noise.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
Get alerts for this source
We'll email you when FR: Geological Survey publishes new changes.