[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 11 (Thursday, January 16, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2348-2349]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-942]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Information Collection To Be Submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act; Federal Regional Council Application, Nomination, and Interview 
Forms

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will submit the collection 
of information listed below to OMB for approval under the provisions of 
the Paperwork Reduction Act. If you wish to obtain copies of the 
proposed information collection requirement, related forms, and 
explanatory material, contact the Service Information Collection 
Clearance Officer at the address listed below.

DATES: We will accept comments until February 18, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the requirement to Office of 
Management and Budget, Office of Regulatory Affairs, Attention: 
Department of the Interior Desk Officer, 725 17th Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20503, and to Anissa Craghead, Information Collection 
Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ms 222-ARLSQ, 4401 
N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203, (705) 358-2445.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the information 
collection request, explanatory information and related forms, contact 
Anissa Craghead at (703) 358-2445, or electronically to [email protected].

[[Page 2349]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
regulations at 5 CFR part 1320, which implement provisions of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), 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)). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(We) plan to submit a request to OMB for approval of the collection of 
information related to the recruitment of Federal Subsistence Advisory 
Council members. We are requesting a 3-year term of approval for this 
information collection activity.
    Federal agencies 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.
    Title VIII of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 
(16 U.S.C. 3101) designates the Departments of the Interior and 
Agriculture as the key agencies responsible for implementing the 
subsistence priority on Federal public lands for rural Alaska 
residents. These responsibilities include the establishment of Regional 
Advisory Councils with members from each region who are knowledgeable 
about the region and subsistence uses of the public lands. In order for 
the Federal Board to make recommendations to the Secretaries for 
membership on these Regional Councils, it is necessary to recruit and 
screen applicants. These three associated forms allow the Federal 
Subsistence Board to recruit applicants and to review their credentials 
in order to make recommendations to the Secretaries for appointment of 
members to the Regional Councils. One-third of the seats on the 
Regional Councils become vacant each year. Additional vacancies may 
occur due to resignations or deaths of sitting members.
    On October 29, 2002, we published in the Federal Register (67 FR 
65993) a notice informing the public that we are submitting the three 
forms described below to OMB for approval under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act. We included the forms, in their entirety, in that notice. We 
requested public comment on the forms for 60 days, ending December 30, 
2002. By that date, we received two comments. The comments raised 
several issues that are not relevant to the forms. The comments that 
are relevant to the forms suggest that we: (1) Elaborate on our 
``criteria for membership''; (2) ask applicants and nominees to 
identify all groups--instead of just the primary group--that they feel 
they would represent if they were selected to be Council members; (3) 
require a letter of recommendation for each applicant; and (4) ask 
applicants and nominees to identify potential conflicts of interest 
(such as a loyalty or interest that would supercede the needs of the 
entire region) if they were selected to sit on the Council. We are not 
making any changes to our submission to OMB based on these comments. We 
believe that, in the case of item (1), our criteria for membership list 
appropriate minimum qualifications for applicants and nominees to the 
Council. Further, in the case of items (2) through (4), we believe that 
requesting additional information from an applicant or nominee is an 
unnecessary burden. The detailed qualifications and interests of 
individuals applying or nominated for a position on the Council will be 
evident in their responses to questions on the application or 
nomination forms and during the candidate evaluation interviews.
    Title: Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Council Membership 
Application Form.
    Form number: 7-FW 4.
    Approval Number: 1018-XXXX.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually.
    Description of Respondents: Alaska residents.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: We estimate the reporting burden to 
average 0.5 hours per respondent. With an estimated 120 applicants 
annually, the estimated total annual burden hours is 60 hours.
    Total Annual Responses: We expect about 120 applications to be 
submitted annually.
    Title: Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Council Membership 
Nomination Form.
    Form number: 7-FW 5.
    Approval Number: 1018-XXXX.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually.
    Description of Respondents: Local governments, Tribal 
organizations, and special interest groups.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: We estimate the reporting burden to 
average 0.5 hours per respondent. With an estimated 50 nominations 
annually, the estimated total annual burden hours is 25 hours.
    Total Annual Responses: We expect about 50 nominations to be 
submitted annually.

    Title: Regional Advisory Council Member Evaluation--Candidate 
Interview Form.
    Form number: 7-FW 6.
    Approval Number: 1018-XXXX.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually.
    Description of Respondents: Alaska residents.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: We estimate the reporting burden to 
average 0.5 hours per interview. We will conduct 5 interviews per 
applicant or nominee. Therefore, with an estimated 170 applicants/
nominees, the estimated total annual burden hours is 425 hours.
    Total Annual Responses: We expect to conduct about 850 interviews 
annually.

    Note: The total annual burden hours estimated in this notice 
differ from the total annual burden hours we provided in the notice 
published in the Federal Register on October 29, 2002. In the 
previous notice, we neglected to include the burden hours associated 
with interviewing nominees for Council positions. Therefore, our 
corrected estimate is 250 hours greater than our previous estimate.

    We again invite comments concerning this proposed information 
collection on: (1) Whether the collection of information is necessary 
for the proper selection of Regional Council members, including whether 
the information will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of our 
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. The information collections in this program 
are part of a system of record covered by the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 
552(a)).

    Dated: January 13, 2003.
Anissa Craghead,
Information Collection Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 03-942 Filed 1-15-03; 8:45 am]
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