[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 1, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5357-5358]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-1315]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Information Collection Sent to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; OMB 
Control Number 1018-0128; Marine Turtle Conservation Fund Grant Program

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We (Fish and Wildlife Service) have submitted the collection 
of information described below to OMB for approval under the provisions 
of the Paperwork Reduction Act. The information collected for the 
Marine Turtle Conservation Fund Grant Program is needed to review 
project proposals in accordance with the Marine Turtle Conservation Act 
(Pub. L. 108-266).

DATES: You must submit comments on or before March 3, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments and suggestions on this information 
collection renewal to the Desk Officer for the Department of the 
Interior at OMB-OIRA at (202) 395-6566 (fax) or [email protected] (e-mail). Please provide a copy of your comments to 
Hope Grey, Information Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife 
Service, MS 222-ARLSQ, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 
(mail); (703) 358-2269 (fax); or [email protected] (e-mail).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the information 
collection submission, explanatory information, and/or related forms, 
contact Hope Grey, Information Collection Clearance Officer, at 703-
358-2482 or electronically at [email protected].

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 OMB control number for the 
collection of information for the Marine Turtles Conservation Fund 
Grants Program is 1018-0128, which expires on January 31, 2006. We have 
sent a request to OMB to renew its approval of this collection of 
information. OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove our request 
for renewal, but may respond in as early as 30 days. To ensure 
consideration, send your comments to OMB by the date listed in the 
DATES section. 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.
    On August 16, 2005, we published in the Federal Register (70 FR 
16148) a notice of our intent to request information collection 
authority from OMB. In that notice, we solicited comments for 60 days, 
ending on October 17, 2005. We received comments from one individual. 
The commenter did not address the necessity, clarity, or accuracy of 
the information collection, but instead provided general commentary on 
how the funds provided to this Federal program could be better used if 
given to a nonprofit organization. We have not made any changes to our 
information collection as a result of the comment.
    Proposals submitted for funding under the Marine Turtle 
Conservation Act are subject to a panel review, comprised of in-house 
and select outside technical experts. The information collected under 
this

[[Page 5358]]

program's Notice of Funding Availability includes: a project summary 
and narrative; letter of appropriate government endorsement; brief 
curricula vitae for key project personnel; and complete standard forms 
424, 424a and 424b. Proposals from U.S. applicants also include a copy 
of the organization's Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) 
(if applicable). The project summary and narrative is the basis for 
this information collection request for approval, and allows the review 
panel to assess how well the project addresses the priorities 
identified by the Act. As all of the projects under this Act will be 
conducted outside the United States, the letter of appropriate 
government endorsement ensures that the proposed activities will not 
meet with local resistance or work in opposition to locally identified 
priorities and needs. Brief curricula vitae for key project personnel 
allow the review panel to assess the qualifications of project staff to 
effectively carry out the project goals and objectives. Although the 
standard forms are only required for U.S. financial assistance 
applicants, we ask all applicants to submit these forms in order to 
allow for more uniformity across all proposals. As all Federal entities 
are required to honor the indirect cost rates an organization has 
negotiated with their cognizant agency, we require all organizations 
with a NICRA to submit the agreement paperwork with their proposals to 
verify how their rate is applied in their proposed budget.
    We believe the information requested in this collection, outside of 
the required standard forms, is the minimum information necessary to 
allow the review panel sufficient technical, financial, and 
administrative information to determine the merits of each proposal, 
and to select the best projects for funding.
    Title: Marine Turtle Conservation Fund Grant Program.
    OMB Control Number: 1018-0128.
    Service Form Numbers: None.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually.
    Description of Respondents: Foreign governments; domestic and 
foreign nongovernmental organizations, and individuals.
    Total Annual Responses: 95 responses (55 proposals, 40 reports).
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 1260 hours (12 hours/proposal and 15 
hours/report).
    Several recent applicants provided comments on (1) the clarity of 
the submission instructions, (2) the estimated length of time to 
complete a submission, and (3) ways to improve the documents. Most of 
the comments related to difficulties encountered filling in the 
standard Federal forms where English was not the applicant's first 
language. To provide better service to this worldwide program, we are 
developing additional instructions for filling in the standard forms in 
a variety of languages including Spanish, French and Portuguese. We 
will publish these instructions on our Web site in the future.
    We again invite comments concerning this collection on: (1) Whether 
or not the collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether or not 
the information will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of burden on the public; (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 
those who are to respond.

    Dated: January 26, 2006.
Hope Grey,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. E6-1315 Filed 1-31-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P