[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 139 (Friday, July 19, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47563-47564]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-18298]


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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 for Grants 
Programs Authorized by the North American Wetlands Conservation Act 
(NAWCA)

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has submitted the 
material described below 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 August 19, 2002. The 60 day notice was published in the Federal 
Register on February 6, 2002 (67 FR 5608). No comments were received 
during the 60 day period.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments and/or suggestions on the requirement to 
the Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Department of the 
Interior Desk Officer, 725--17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503, 
with a copy to Rebecca Mullin, Service Information Collection Clearance 
Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS 222-ARLSQ, 1849 C Street, 
NW., Washington, DC 20240; telephone number 703.358.2287.

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]. For information related to the grant program, which is 
the subject of the information collection approval, please log onto 
http://birdhabitat.fws.gov.

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 May 26, 1999, the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) was given regular approval by 
OMB for collection of information in order to continue the grants 
programs

[[Page 47564]]

currently 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 approval 
expired on May 31, 2002. However, OMB has extended the period of 
approval through August. 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 birds, 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, i.e., Council, 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 North American Wetlands Conservation 
Council is exempt from the requirements of Public Law 92-463 (Federal 
Advisory Committee Act). 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 within the Service's Division of Bird 
Habitat Conservation.
    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 no longer 
publishes and distributes Standard and Small Grants instructional 
booklets. Materials that describe the program and assist applicants in 
formulating project proposals for Council consideration are now 
available on a website, as previously noted. However, those who are not 
able to access a website may still obtain instructional materials by 
regular mail. There has been, virtually, no change in the scope and 
nature of these instructions since the OMB approval was first granted 
in 1999. Nonetheless, the instructional materials that include 
booklets, Federal Register notices on request for proposals, and other 
instruments 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 qualifying 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 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: June 19, 2002.
Steve A. Williams,
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 02-18298 Filed 7-18-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P