[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 209 (Tuesday, October 30, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61363-61365]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-21301]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Proposed Information Collection; Africa Grant Program

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY:  We (Fish and Wildlife Service) will ask the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) 
described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 
as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent 
burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take 
this opportunity to comment on this IC. We 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.

DATES: You must submit comments on or before December 31, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the IC to Hope Grey, Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service, MS 222-ARLSQ, 
4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 (mail); [email protected] (e-mail); or (703) 358-2269 (fax).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this IC, contact Hope Grey by mail, fax, or e-mail (see 
ADDRESSES) or by telephone at (703) 358-2482.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
I. Abstract
     The Division of International Conservation awards grants funded 
under the:

[[Page 61364]]

    (1) African Elephant Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 4201-4245).
    (2) Asian Elephant Conservation Act of 1997 (16 U.S.C. 4261).
    (3) Great Apes Conservation Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-411).
    (4) Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act of 1994 (16 U.S.C. 5306).
    (5) Marine Turtle Conservation Act (Pub. L. 108-266).
    (6) Wildlife Without Borders Programs - Mexico, Latin America and 
the Caribbean, and Russia.
    OMB has approved the information collection associated with the 
above grants and assigned control number 1018-0123. We plan to ask OMB 
to approve our proposed information collection associated with the 
Africa Grant Program, which will be our newest area of focus under the 
Wildlife Without Borders programs.
    Africa's magnificent wildlife resources are under increasing 
pressure from human activities. The proposed Africa grant initiative 
aims to provide training opportunities for African conservationists, 
educators, and policymakers to strengthen wildlife management in and 
around protected areas. For the purpose of this fund, protected areas 
are defined as sites that are publicly or privately owned with 
recognized legal status accorded by national, provincial, or local 
government, containing primarily unmodified natural systems managed for 
long-term protection. Examples include: national parks, forest 
reserves, buffer zones, community reserves, and privately held land 
conservancies. Of particular interest are projects that provide 
training to:
    (1) Raise capacity in and around protected areas to mitigate the 
impact of extractive industries, climate change, human /wildlife 
conflict, illegal trade in bushmeat, and/or wildlife disease.
    (2) Strengthen the administrative capacity (human resource 
management, financial management, vehicle and facility maintenance, 
grant writing and project implementation, community outreach and 
education, conflict resolution, and coalition building) of protected 
areas.
    (3) Strengthen university, college, and other conservation training 
programs that address protected area management.
    (4) Strengthen decisionmakers' knowledge of concepts relevant to 
protected area legislation, policy, and finance and the importance of 
harmonizing these with other national sectoral policies.
    By providing wildlife professionals with opportunities for 
training, we can help empower a generation of local people to address 
key conservation issues such as the threat to wildlife from extractive 
industries, illegal hunting, human/wildlife conflict, and wildlife 
disease.
    Applicants submit proposals for funding in response to Notices of 
Funding Availability that we will publish on Grants.gov. We plan to 
collect the following information:
    (1) Cover page with basic project details (FWS Form 3-2338).
    (2) Project summary and narrative.
    (3) Letter of appropriate government endorsement.
    (4) Brief curricula vitae for key project personnel.
    (5) Complete Standard Forms 424 and 424b (nondomestic applicants do 
not submit the standard forms).
    Proposals may also include, as appropriate, a copy of the 
organization's Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NIRCA) and any 
additional documentation supporting the proposed project.
    The project summary and narrative are the basis for this 
information collection request for approval. A panel of technical 
experts reviews each proposal to assess how well the project addresses 
the priorities identified by each program's authorizing legislation. As 
all of the on-the-ground projects funded by this program 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. As all Federal 
entities must honor the indirect cost rates an organization has 
negotiated with its 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. Applicants 
may provide any additional documentation that they believe best 
supports their proposal.
II. Data
    OMB Control Number: None. This is a new collection.
    Title: Africa Grant Program.
    Service Form Number(s): 3-2338.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Affected Public: Domestic and nondomestic Federal, State, and local 
governments, nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations; public and 
private institutions of higher education; and any other organization or 
individual with demonstrated experience deemed necessary to carry out 
the proposed project.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Number of annual    Number of annual   Completion time per    Annual burden
            Activity                  respondents          responses            response             hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FWS Form 3-2338 (cover page)....                  50                  50  1 hour.............                 50
Application narrative...........                  50                  50  11 hours...........                550
Report (mid-term and final).....                  10                  20  30 hours...........                600
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals......................                 110                 120  ...................              1,200
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. Request for Comments
     We invite comments concerning this IC on:
    (1) whether or not the collection of information is necessary, 
including whether or not the information will have practical utility;
    (2) the accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this 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.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include and/or summarize each comment in our 
request to OMB to approve this IC. Before including your address, phone 
number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment, including 
your personal identifying information, may be made publicly available 
at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your 
personal identifying

[[Page 61365]]

information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

    Dated: August 22, 2007.
Hope Grey,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. E7-21301 Filed 10-29-07; 8:45 am]
Billing Code 4310-55-S