[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 87 (Thursday, May 6, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 24862-24864]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-10604]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 83

[Docket No. FWS-R9-WSR-2010-0009]
[91400-5110-POLI-7B; 91400-9410-POLI-7B]
RIN 1018-AX00


Removing Regulations Implementing the Fish and Wildlife 
Conservation Act

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to 
remove our regulations implementing the Fish and Wildlife Conservation 
Act of 1980. The Act authorized financial and technical assistance to 
States to design conservation plans and programs to benefit nongame 
species; however, funds never became available to carry out the Act, 
and we do not expect funds to become available in the future.

DATES: We will consider comments received or postmarked on or before 
July 6, 2010.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments to Docket No. FWS-R9-
WSR-2010-0009.
     U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing, 
Attn: FWS-R9-WSR-2010-0009; Division of Policy and Directives 
Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, 
Suite 222; Arlington, VA 22203.
    We will not accept e-mail or faxes. We will post all public 
comments on http://www.regulations.gov. This generally means that we 
will post any personal information you provide us (see the Public 
Comments section below for more information).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joyce Johnson, Wildlife and Sport Fish 
Restoration Program, Division of Policy and Programs, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, 703-358-2156.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Service manages or comanages 54 financial assistance programs. 
Our Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program manages, in whole or in 
part, 19 of these programs. We implement some of these programs via 
regulations in title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 
particularly in subchapter F ``Financial Assistance--Wildlife and Sport 
Fish Restoration Program,'' which currently includes parts 80 through 
86.
    The regulations at part 83 implement the Fish and Wildlife 
Conservation Act of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 2901-2911). This act authorized the 
Service to give financial and technical assistance to States and other 
eligible jurisdictions to design conservation plans and programs to 
benefit nongame species. The regulations tell the fish and wildlife 
agencies of the 50 States, the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the 
Northern Mariana Islands, the District of Columbia, and the territories 
of Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa how they can take 
part in this grant program. However, neither the Fish and Wildlife 
Conservation Act nor any subsequent legislation established a 
continuing source of funds for this grant

[[Page 24863]]

program, nor have annual Appropriations Acts provided any funds for it. 
In 1984, the Service's Western Energy and Land Use Team prepared a 
document identifying potential funding sources, but none of these 
options were adopted.
    Congress has appropriated funds in recent years for State 
conservation planning and programs to benefit nongame species, but none 
of these grant programs have been under the authority of the Fish and 
Wildlife Conservation Act. Instead, Congress made funds available 
through the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration grant program in 2001 
and--during each year since 2002--the State Wildlife Grants program. 
Based on this 30-year record, we do not expect that the grant program 
authorized by the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1980 will 
receive any funding, so we propose to remove its implementing 
regulations.

Public Comments

    You may submit your comments and materials concerning this proposed 
rule by one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section. We will not 
accept comments sent by e-mail or fax or to an address not listed in 
the ADDRESSES section. Finally, we will not consider hand-delivered 
comments that we do not receive, or mailed comments that are not 
postmarked, by the date specified in the DATES section.
    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 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

Required Determinations

Clarity of This Regulation

    We are required by Executive Orders 12866 and 12988 and by the 
Presidential Memorandum of June 1, 1998, to write all rules in plain 
language. This means that each rule we publish must:
    (a) Be logically organized;
    (b) Use the active voice to address readers directly;
    (c) Use clear language rather than jargon;
    (d) Be divided into short sections and sentences; and
     (e) Use lists and tables wherever possible.
    If you feel that we have not met these requirements, send us 
comments by one of the methods listed in the ``ADDRESSES'' section. To 
better help us revise the rule, your comments should be as specific as 
possible. For example, you should tell us the numbers of the sections 
or paragraphs with unclear writing, which sections or sentences are too 
long, the sections where you feel lists or tables would be useful, etc.

Regulatory Planning and Review

    The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has determined that this 
rule is not significant and has not reviewed this rule under E.O. 
12866. OMB bases its determination on the following four criteria:
     (a) Whether the rule will have an annual effect of $100 million or 
more on the economy or adversely affect an economic sector, 
productivity, jobs, the environment, or other units of the government.
     (b) Whether the rule will create inconsistencies with other 
Federal agencies' actions.
     (c) Whether the rule will materially affect entitlements, grants, 
user fees, loan programs, or the rights and obligations of their 
recipients.
     (d) Whether the rule raises novel legal or policy issues.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires an agency to consider the 
impact of proposed rules on small entities, i.e., small businesses, 
small organizations, and small government jurisdictions. If there is a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, 
the agency must perform a Regulatory Flexibility Analysis. This is not 
required if the head of an agency certifies the rule would not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) amended 
the Regulatory Flexibility Act to require Federal agencies to state the 
factual basis for certifying that a rule would not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
    We are removing a rule governing an unfunded grant program. 
Consequently, we certify that the removal would not have a significant 
economic effect on a substantial number of small entities; a Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis is not required.
    In addition, this proposed rule is not a major rule under SBREFA 
and would not have a significant impact on a substantial number of 
small entities because it does not:
    a. Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more.
    b. Cause a major increase in costs or prices for consumers; 
individual industries; Federal, State, or local government agencies; or 
geographic regions.
    c. Would not have significant adverse effects on competition, 
employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the ability of 
U.S.-based enterprises to compete with foreign-based enterprises.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (2 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) 
establishes requirements for Federal agencies to assess the effects of 
their regulatory actions on State, local, and tribal governments and 
the private sector. The Act requires each Federal agency, to the extent 
permitted by law, to prepare a written assessment of the effects of a 
proposed rule with Federal mandates that may result in the expenditure 
by State, local, and tribal governments, in aggregate, or by the 
private sector, of $100 million or more (adjusted annually for 
inflation) in any 1 year. We have determined the following under the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act:
    a. As discussed in the determination for the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act, this proposed rule would not have a significant economic effect on 
a substantial number of small entities.
    b. The regulation does not require a small government agency plan 
or any other requirement for expenditure of local funds.
    c. There are no mandated costs associated with the proposed rule.
    d. This proposed rule would not produce a Federal mandate of $100 
million or greater in any year; i.e., it is not a ``significant 
regulatory action'' under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

Takings

    This proposed rule would not have significant takings implications 
under E.O. 12630 because it would not have a provision for taking 
private property. Therefore, a takings implication assessment is not 
required.

Federalism

    This proposed rule would not have sufficient Federalism effects to 
warrant preparation of a Federalism assessment under E.O. 13132. It 
would not interfere with the States' ability to manage themselves or 
their funds.

Civil Justice Reform

    The Office of the Solicitor has determined under E.O. 12988 that 
the rule would not unduly burden the judicial system and that it meets 
the

[[Page 24864]]

requirements of sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of E.O. 12988.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This proposed rule does not contain any new collections of 
information that require approval by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). This rule will not impose 
recordkeeping or reporting requirements on State or local governments, 
individuals, businesses, or organizations. An agency 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.

National Environmental Policy Act

    We have analyzed this rule under the National Environmental Policy 
Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and part 516 of the Departmental Manual 
(DM). This rule does not constitute a major Federal action 
significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. An 
environmental impact statement/assessment is not required because this 
proposed action qualifies for the categorical exclusion for 
administrative changes provided in 516 DM 2, Appendix 1, section 1.10.

Government-to-Government Relationship with Tribes

    We have evaluated potential effects on federally recognized Indian 
tribes under the President's memorandum of April 29, 1994, 
``Government-to-Government Relations with Native American Tribal 
Governments'' (59 FR 22951), E.O. 13175, and 512 DM 2. We have 
determined that there are no potential effects. This proposed rule 
would not interfere with the tribes' ability to manage themselves or 
their funds.

Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use

    E.O. 13211 addresses regulations that significantly affect energy 
supply, distribution, and use and requires agencies to prepare 
Statements of Energy Effects when undertaking certain actions. This 
rule is not a significant regulatory action under E.O. 12866 and would 
not affect energy supplies, distribution, or use. Therefore, no 
Statement of Energy Effects is required.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 83

    Fish, Grant programs--natural resources, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Wildlife.

Proposed Regulation Promulgation

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, under the authority of 
16 U.S.C. 2901, we propose to amend subchapter F of chapter I, title 50 
of the Code of Federal Regulations, as follows:
    Part 83--[Removed and Reserved]
    Remove and reserve part 83, consisting of Sec. Sec.  83.1 through 
83.21.

    Dated: April 6, 2010.
Thomas L. Strickland,
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 2010-10604 Filed 5-5-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-S