[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 180 (Thursday, September 17, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49706-49707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-24859]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Information Collections Submitted to the Office of Management and 
Budget for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The collection of information described below has been 
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval 
under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Copies of 
the specific information collection requirements, related forms and 
explanatory material may be obtained by contacting the Service 
Information Collection Clearance Officer at the address provided below.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received on or 
before November 16, 1998. OMB has up to 60 days to approve or 
disapprove information collection but may respond after 30 days. 
Therefore, to ensure maximum consideration, OMB should receive public 
comments by the above referenced date.

ADDRESSES: Comments and suggestions on the requirement should be sent 
to Rebecca Mullin, Service Information Collection Clearance Officer, 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ms 860-ARLSQ, 1849 C Street, NW, 
Washington, DC 20240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the information 
collection request, explanatory information and related forms, contact 
Rebecca A. Mullin at 703/358-2287, or electronically to 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    The OMB regulations at 5 CFR part 1320, which implement provisions 
of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13), require that 
interested members of the public and affected agencies have an 
opportunity to comment on information collection and recordkeeping 
activities (see 5 CFR 1320.8(d)). On Monday, August 24, 1998, the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) was given emergency approval by OMB 
for collection of information in order to continue the grants programs 
conducted under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (Pub. L. 
101-233, as amended; December 13, 1989). The assigned OMB information 
collection control number is 1018-0100, and temporary approval expires 
in February 1999. The Service is requesting a three year term of 
approval for this information collection activity. An agency may not 
conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a 
collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB 
control number.
    Comments are invited on: (1) 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) the 
accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of 
information; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and, (4) ways to minimize the burden 
of the collection of information on respondents.
    Title: Information Collection In Support of Grant Programs 
Authorized by the North American Wetlands Conservation Act of 1989 
(NAWCA).
    Approval Number: 1018-0100.
    Service Form Number(s): N/A.
    Description and Use: The North American Waterfowl Management Plan 
(NAWMP), first signed in 1986, is a tripartite agreement among Canada, 
Mexico and the United States to enhance, restore and otherwise protect 
continental wetlands to benefit waterfowl and other wetland associated 
wildlife through partnerships between and among the private and public 
sectors. Because the 1986 NAWMP did not carry with it a mechanism to 
provide for broadly-based and sustained financial support for wetland 
conservation activities, Congress passed and the President signed into 
law the NAWCA to fill that funding need. The purpose of NAWCA, as 
amended, is to promote long-term conservation of North American wetland 
ecosystems and the waterfowl and other migratory bids, fish and 
wildlife that depend upon such habitat through partnerships. Principal 
conservation actions supported by NAWCA are acquisition, enhancement 
and restoration of wetlands and wetlands-associated habitat.
    As well as providing for a continuing and stable funding base, 
NAWCA establishes an administrative body, made up of a State 
representative from each of the four Flyways, three representatives 
from wetlands conservation organizations, the Secretary of the Board of 
the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the Director of the 
Service. This administrative body is chartered, under the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act, by the U.S. Department of the Interior as the 
North American Wetlands Conservation Council (Council). As such, the 
purpose of the Council is to recommend wetlands conservation project 
proposals to the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission (MBCC) for 
funding.
    Subsection (c) of Section 5 (Council Procedures) Provides that the 
`` *  *  * Council shall establish practices and procedures for the 
carrying out of its functions under subsections (a) and (b) of this 
section *  *  *,'' which are consideration of projects and 
recommendations to the MBCC, respectively. The means by which the 
Council decides which project proposals are important to recommend to 
the MBCC is through grants programs that are coordinated through the 
Council Coordinator's office (NAWWO) within the Service.
    Competing for grant funds involves applications from partnerships 
that describe in substantial detail project locations and other 
characteristics, to meet the standards established by the Council and 
the requirements of NAWCA. The Council Coordinator's office publishes 
and distributes Standard and Small Grants instructional booklets that 
assist the applicants in formulating project proposals for Council 
consideration. The instructional booklets and other instruments, e.g., 
Federal Register notices on request for proposals, are the basis for 
this information collection request for OMB clearance. Information 
collected under this program is used to respond to such needs as: 
audits, program planning and management, program evaluation, Government 
Performance and Results Act reporting, Standard Form 424 (Application 
For Federal Assistance), grant agreements, budget reports and 
justifications, public and private requests for information, data 
provided to other programs for databases on similar programs, 
Congressional inquiries and reports required by NAWCA, etc.
    In summary, information collection under these programs is required 
to obtain a benefit, i.e., a cash reimbursable grant that is given 
competitively to some applicants based on eligibility and relative 
scale of resource values involved in the projects. The information 
collection is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act requirements for 
such activity, which

[[Page 49707]]

includes soliciting comments from the general public regarding the 
nature and burden imposed by the collection.
    Frequency of Collection: Occasional. The Small Grants program has 
one project proposal submissions window per year and the Standard 
Grants program has two per year.
    Description of Respondents: Households and/or individuals; business 
and/or other for-profit; not-for-profit institutions; farms; Federal 
Government; and State, local and/or Tribal governments.
    Estimated Completion Time: The reporting burden, or time involved 
in writing project proposals, is estimated to be 80 hours for a small 
Grants submission and 400 hours for a Standard Grants submission.
    Number of Respondents: It is estimated that 150 proposals will be 
submitted each year, 70 for the Small Grants program and 80 for the 
Standard Grants program.
    Annual Burden Hours: 37,600.

    Dated: September 9, 1998.
Jamie Rappaport Clark,
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 98-24859 Filed 9-16-98; 8:45 am]
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