[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 187 (Thursday, September 25, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55523-55524]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-22470]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R9-MB-2008-N0255] [91100-3740-GRNT 7C]


Information Collection Sent to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for Approval; OMB Control Number 1018-0100; North American 
Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) Grant Programs

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We (Fish and Wildlife Service) have sent an Information 
Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. The ICR, which 
is summarized below, describes the nature of the collection and the 
estimated burden and cost. This ICR is scheduled to expire on September 
30, 2008. 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. However, under OMB regulations, we may 
continue to conduct or sponsor this information collection while it is 
pending at OMB.

DATES: You must submit comments on or before October 27, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments and suggestions on this ICR 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), or [email protected] (e-mail).

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    OMB Control Number: 1018-0100.
    Title: North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) Grant 
Programs.
    Service Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Extension of currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Households and individuals; businesses and other 
for-profit organizations; educational organizations; not-for-profit 
institutions; and Federal, State, local and/or tribal governments.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion. The Small Grants Program has 
one project proposal period per year and the Standard Grants Program 
has two per year. Annual reports are due 90 days after the anniversary 
date of the grant agreement. Final reports are due 90 days after the 
end of the project period. The project period is 2 years.

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                                   Number of annual    Number of annual   Completion time per    Annual burden
            Activity                  respondents          responses            response             hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small Grants - Applications.....                  70                  70  59 hours...........              4,130
Small Grants - Reports..........                  88                  88  32 hours...........              2,816
U.S. Standard Grants -                            60                  60  325 hours..........             19,500
 Applications.
Canadian and Mexican Standard                     54                  54  80 hours...........              4,320
 Grants - Applications.
Standard Grants - Reports.......                 201                 201  35 hours...........              7,035
    Totals......................                 473                 473  ...................             37,801
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    Abstract: The North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) is a 
tripartite agreement among Canada, Mexico, and the United States to 
enhance, restore, and protect habitat to benefit waterfowl and other 
wetlands-associated wildlife. Because the NAWMP did not include a 
mechanism to provide for broadly based and sustained financial support 
for wetland conservation activities, Congress passed the North American 
Wetlands Conservation Act in 1989. The NAWCA promotes, through 
partnerships between the private and public sectors, long-term 
conservation of North American wetland ecosystems and the waterfowl and 
other migratory birds, fish, and wildlife that depend upon such 
habitat.
    In addition to providing for a continuing and stable funding base, 
NAWCA establishes an administrative body, the North American Wetlands 
Conservation Council. It is made up of a State representative from each 
of the four flyways, three representatives from nonprofit wetlands 
conservation organizations, the Secretary of the Board of the National 
Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the Director of the Fish and Wildlife 
Service. The Council recommends funding of select wetlands conservation 
project proposals to the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission.
    There is a Standard and a Small Grants Program. Both are 
competitive grants programs and require that grant requests be matched 
by partner contributions at no less than a 1-to-1 ratio. Funds from 
U.S. Federal sources may contribute to a project, but are not eligible 
as match.
    The Standard Grants Program supports projects in Canada, the United 
States, and Mexico that involve long-term protection, restoration, and/
or enhancement of wetlands and associated uplands habitats. In Mexico, 
partners may also conduct projects involving technical training, 
environmental education and outreach, organizational infrastructure 
development, and sustainable-use studies.
    The Small Grants Program operates only in the United States. It 
supports the same type of projects and adheres to the same selection 
criteria and administrative guidelines as the U.S. Standard Grants 
Program. However, project activities are usually smaller in scope and 
involve fewer project dollars. Grant requests may not exceed $75,000, 
and funding priority is given to grantees or partners new to the NAWCA 
Grants Program.
    We publish notices of funding availability on the Grants.gov 
website (http://www.grants.gov) as well as in the Catalog of Federal 
Domestic Assistance. To compete for grant funds, partnerships submit 
applications that describe in substantial detail project locations, 
project resources, future benefits, and other characteristics that meet 
the standards established by the Council and the requirements of NAWCA. 
Materials that describe the program and assist applicants in 
formulating project proposals for Council consideration are available 
on our website at http://www.fws.gov/birdhabitat/Grants/NAWCA. Persons 
who do not have access to the Internet may obtain instructional 
materials by mail. We have not made any major changes in the scope and 
general nature of the instructions since the OMB first approved the 
information collection in 1999.
    Comments: On June 24, 2008, we published in the Federal Register 
(73 FR

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35703) a notice of our intent to request that OMB renew this ICR. In 
that notice, we solicited comments for 60 days, ending on August 25, 
2008. We received one comment. The comment expressed opposition to the 
NAWCA grants program, but did not address the information collection 
requirements. We did not make any changes to our information collection 
requirements as a result of this comment.
    We again invite comments concerning this information collection 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. 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 OMB in your comment to withhold your personal 
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that it 
will be done.

    Dated: September 4, 2008
Hope Grey,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service.
FR Doc. E8-22470 Filed 9-23-08; 8:45 am
BILLING CODE 4310-55-S