[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 37 (Friday, February 24, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9588-9589]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-2681]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Information Collection Renewal Sent to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; OMB 
Control Number 1018-0120; Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Council 
Membership Application/Nomination and Interview Forms

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We (Fish and Wildlife Service) have sent the information 
collection described below to OMB for approval under the provisions of 
the Paperwork Reduction Act. We use this information to screen and rank 
applicants for membership on the Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory 
Councils (Regional Councils).

DATES: You must submit comments on or before March 27, 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 requirement, explanatory information, or related forms, 
contact Hope Grey at the addresses above or by telephone at (703) 358-
2482.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OMB regulations at 5 CFR 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 CFR 1320.8(d)). We have 
sent a request to OMB to renew approval for our collection of 
information associated with the recruitment of members for the Regional 
Councils. The OMB control number for this information collection is 
1018-0120, which expires on February 28, 2006. 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.
    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 
Councils with members from each region who are knowledgeable about the 
region and subsistence uses of the public lands. 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. We 
currently use forms 7-FW 4, 7-FW 5, and 7-FW 6 to collect information 
during the recruitment process. During this renewal process, we 
reformatted and streamlined these forms and assigned Fish and Wildlife 
Service form numbers. We will ask OMB to approve FWS Form 3-2321 
(Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Council Membership Application/
Nomination), FWS Form 3-2322 (Regional Advisory Council Candidate 
Interview Form), and FWS Form 3-2323 (Regional Advisory Council 
Reference/Key Contact Interview Form). These proposed new forms collect 
the identical information as the current OMB-approved forms, but in an 
improved format.
    On November 23, 2005, we published in the Federal Register (70 FR 
70874) a 60-day notice of our intent to request renewal of information 
collection authority from OMB. In that notice, we solicited public 
comments for 60 days, ending on January 23, 2006. We received one 
comment. The commenter did not address the necessity, clarity, or 
accuracy of the information collection, but instead provided general 
comments on the membership of the Regional Councils and the humane 
treatment of fish and wildlife. We did not make any changes to our 
information collection based on this comment.
    Title: Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Council Membership 
Application/Nomination and Interview Forms.
    OMB Control Number: 1018-0120.
    Form Numbers: FWS Form 3-2321, FWS Form 3-2322, and FWS Form 3-
2323.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually.
    Description of Respondents: Alaska residents.

[[Page 9589]]



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                                                                     Number of    Average burden
                            Form No.                                  annual         hour per      Total annual
                                                                     responses       response      burden hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FWS Form 3-2321.................................................             100            2                200
FWS Form 3-2322.................................................             100             .5               50
FWS Form 3-2323.................................................             400             .25             100
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................             600  ..............             350
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    Each person desiring to serve on a Regional Council must complete 
FWS Form 3-2321. Persons nominating other individuals for membership 
must also complete this form. Applicants provide information on (1) 
their knowledge of fish and wildlife resources as well as subsistence 
and other uses of the resources; (2) their service on working groups, 
conservation committees, etc.; (3) how they would represent the people 
in the region; and (4) their willingness to travel and attend meetings. 
In addition, applicants must provide three references.
    Federal staff will use FWS Form 3-2322 to conduct applicant 
interviews by telephone. Respondents do not see the printed form. 
Interviewers will ask questions regarding the applicant's willingness 
to serve on the Regional Council and will ask the applicant to explain 
information provided on FWS Form 3-2321.
    Federal staff will use FWS Form 3-2323 (Regional Council Reference/
Key Contact Interview Form) to conduct interviews of references/key 
contacts for prospective Regional Council members. We conduct all 
interviews by telephone and the respondents do not see the printed 
form. Interviewers will ask questions about the applicant's (1) 
knowledge of fish and wildlife resources as well as subsistence 
practices and commercial/sport activities; (2) leadership ability; and 
(3) ability to communicate.
    The Federal Subsistence Board uses this information to make 
recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior for appointment of 
members to the Regional Councils. We restrict the information collected 
to the Regional Council member selection process and only to staff that 
the Federal Subsistence Board deems necessary. The information 
collections in this program are part of a system of records covered by 
the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552(a)).
    We invite comments concerning this proposed information collection 
on: (1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary for 
the proper selection of Regional Council members, including whether or 
not 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.

    Dated: January 30, 2006.
Hope G. Grey,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. E6-2681 Filed 2-23-06; 8:45 am]
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