[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 155 (Friday, August 10, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47864-47866]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-19680]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R9-WSR-2012-N196; FVWF941009000007B-XXX-FF09W11000; 
FVWF51100900000-XXX-FF09W11000]


Proposed Information Collection; Application and Performance 
Reporting for Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Grants and 
Cooperative Agreements

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We (U.S. 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: To ensure that we are able to consider your comments on this IC, 
we must receive them October 9, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the IC to the Service Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS 2042-
PDM, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 (mail); or 
[email protected] (email). Please include ``1018-WSFR Application and 
Performance Reporting'' in the subject line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this IC, contact Hope Grey at [email protected] (email) or 703-358-
2482 (telephone).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program (WSFR) administers 
the following financial assistance programs in whole or in part. We 
award most financial assistance as grants, but cooperative agreements 
are possible if the Federal Government will be substantially involved 
in carrying out the project. You can find a description of most 
programs in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) or on our 
Web site at http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                               Implementing
                                                                                         regulations in the Code
               CFDA                         Program                   Authority           of Federal Regulations
                                                                                                  (CFR)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15.616...........................  Clean Vessel Act.........  33 U.S.C. 1322; 16 U.S.C.  50 CFR 85
                                                               777c.
15.668...........................  Coastal Impact Assistance  Outer Continental Shelf    None
                                    Program M.                 Lands Act, as amended;
                                                               31 U.S.C. 6301-6305.
15.614...........................  Coastal Wetlands           16 U.S.C. 3951 et seq....  50 CFR 84
                                    Planning, Protection,
                                    and Restoration Act.
15.615...........................  Cooperative Endangered     16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.,    50 CFR 81
                                    Species Conservation       with special reference
                                    Fund.                      to section 1535.

[[Page 47865]]

 
15.626...........................  Firearm and Bow Hunter     16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.,     50 CFR 80
                                    Education and Safety       with special reference
                                    Program (Enhanced Hunter   to 669h-1.
                                    Education and Safety) M.
15.664...........................  Fish and Wildlife          16 U.S.C. 661; 16 U.S.C.   None
                                    Coordination and           742a; 16 U.S.C. 2901-
                                    Assistance Programs.       2911.
15.667...........................  Highlands Conservation...  Highlands Conservation     None
                                                               Act (November 30, 2004),
                                                               Public Law 108-421.
15.633...........................  Landowner Incentive        Annual Appropriations      None
                                    Program.                   Acts for the Department
                                                               of the Interior,
                                                               Environment, and Related
                                                               Agencies for fiscal
                                                               years 2003 through 2007;
                                                               16 U.S.C. 460l-4 through
                                                               460l-11.
15.628...........................  Multistate Conservation    16 U.S.C. 669-669c, 669h-  None
                                    Grants.                    2; 16 U.S.C. 777-777c,
                                                               777m.
15.653...........................  National Outreach and      23 U.S.C. 101; 16 U.S.C.   None
                                    Communications.            777g(d).
15.650...........................  Research Grants (Generic)  16 U.S.C. 661; 16 U.S.C.   None
                                                               742f(a)(4); 16 U.S.C.
                                                               460l-4 through 460l-11;
                                                               16 U.S.C. 753a, b; 16
                                                               U.S.C. 1535, 1537.
15.649...........................  Service Training and       16 U.S.C. 661; 16 U.S.C.   None
                                    Technical Assistance       742f(a)(4).
                                    (Generic Training).
15.605...........................  Sport Fish Restoration,    16 U.S.C. 777 et seq.,     50 CFR 80
                                    including subprograms M.   except 777e-1 and g-1.
15.622...........................  Sportfishing and Boating   16 U.S.C. 777c, g, and g-  50 CFR 86
                                    Safety Act (Boating        1.
                                    Infrastructure Grants).
15.634...........................  State Wildlife Grants M..  Annual Appropriations      None
                                                               Acts for the Department
                                                               of the Interior,
                                                               Environment, and Related
                                                               Agencies for fiscal
                                                               years 2001 through 2012;
                                                               16 U.S.C. 460l-4 through
                                                               460l-11, fiscal years
                                                               2002 through 2007.
15.634...........................  State Wildlife Grants....  Annual Appropriations      None
                                                               Acts for the Department
                                                               of the Interior,
                                                               Environment, and Related
                                                               Agencies for fiscal
                                                               years 2001 through 2012;
                                                               16 U.S.C. 460l-4 through
                                                               460l-11, fiscal years
                                                               2002 through 2007.
15.638 archived..................  Tribal Landowner           Same as the Landowner      None
                                    Incentive Program.         Incentive Program at
                                                               CFDA number 15.633.
15.639...........................  Tribal Wildlife Grants...  Same as the State          None
                                                               Wildlife Grants Program
                                                               at CFDA number 15.634.
15.625 archived..................  Wildlife Conservation and  16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.,     None
                                    Restoration Program M.     with special reference
                                                               to sections 669-669c.
15.611...........................  Wildlife Restoration,      16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.....  50 CFR 80
                                    including subprograms M.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
M--Either a totally mandatory program or has a mandatory subprogram.

    Some grants are mandatory and receive funds according to a formula 
set by law or policy. Other grants are discretionary and we award them 
based on a competitive process. Mandatory grant recipients must give us 
specific, detailed project information during the application process 
so that we may ensure that projects are eligible for the mandatory 
funding, are substantial in character and design, and comply with all 
applicable Federal laws. All grantees must submit financial and 
performance reports that contain information necessary for us to track 
costs and accomplishments and according to schedules and rules in 43 
CFR 12. The Office of Management and Budget has approved our collection 
of information for applications and performance reports for these 
programs and assigned OMB Control Nos. 1018-0109 and 1018-0147.
    Currently, grantees send written performance reports to the 
Service. We extract information and enter data into the Federal 
Assistance Information Management System (FAIMS). However, FAIMS will 
be decommissioned on October 1, 2012, and we intend to replace it with 
a new electronic system for data collection (Wildlife Tracking and 
Reporting Actions for the Conservation of Species (Wildlife TRACS)) by 
January 1, 2013. Wildlife TRACS will allow us to take advantage of 
newer technology and give grantees direct access to enter data and 
accomplishments. We will train State, tribal, commonwealth, territory, 
and District of Columbia personnel to use the new system, and we will 
also lend technical and administrative support. Allowing applicants and 
grantees to enter information directly into Wildlife TRACS will provide 
more accurate reporting and allow us to process grant funds more 
efficiently. We will continue to enter information in Wildlife TRACS 
for some grantees or programs; e.g., those who do not have sufficient 
technology or grant programs with minimal participation.
    We plan to collect additional information not covered by our 
current OMB approvals. In addition, our current approvals do not cover 
data entry in Wildlife TRACS by applicants and grantees. We will 
request that OMB assign a new control number to cover these actions.
    For mandatory grant program applications and amendments, we plan to 
collect:
     Geospatial entry of project location.
     Project status (active, completed, etc.).
     Project leader contact information.
     Partner information.
     Goals, including output measures and desired future 
values.

[[Page 47866]]

     Plan information (for projects connected to plans).
    For all WSFR grant program reports, we plan to collect:
     Geospatial entry of action location.
     Action status (active, completed, etc.).
     Information beyond summary of land costs and title vesting 
evidence (for land acquisition projects).
     Current year data point(s) on trend line graph if there 
are 3 or more years (for survey projects).
     Estimated costs, by action.
     Effectiveness measures (mandatory for State Wildlife 
Grants).
    The table below shows the additional time that will be required to 
obtain and enter the information when we implement Wildlife TRACS. We 
expect that this time will decrease as grantees become familiar with 
the system. We also expect to reduce the burden currently approved 
under OMB Control Nos. 1018-0109 and 1018-0147 for reports. When 
grantees directly enter reporting information into Wildlife TRACS, they 
will not be required to submit written reports.

II. Data

    OMB Control Number: 1018-XXXX.
    Title: Application and Performance Reporting for Wildlife and Sport 
Fish Restoration Grants and Cooperative Agreements.
    Service Form Number: None.
    Type of Request: Request for a new OMB control number.
    Description of Respondents: Primarily States; the Commonwealths of 
Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands; the District of Columbia; 
the territories of Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa; and 
federally-recognized tribal governments. For certain grant programs, 
institutions of higher education and nongovernmental organizations may 
also apply.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.
    Frequency of Collection: We require applications annually for new 
grants or as needed for multi-year grants. We require amendments on 
occasion when key elements of a project change. We require quarterly 
and final performance reports in the National Outreach and 
Communication Program and annual and final performance reports in the 
other programs. We may require more frequent reports under the 
conditions stated at 43 CFR 12.52 and 43 CFR 12.914.

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                                                                                    Completion
                                                     Number of       Number of       time per      Total annual
                    Activity                        respondents      responses       response      burden hours
                                                                                      (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Application (Mandatory program)--collect and                  56             625               4           2,500
 enter information..............................
Amendment--collect and enter information........             150           1,500              .5             750
Performance Reports--collect and enter                       200           3,500               2           7,000
 additional information.........................
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals......................................             406           5.625  ..............          10,250
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III. Comment

    We invite comments concerning this information collection on:
     Whether or not the collection of information is necessary, 
including whether or not the information will have practical utility;
     The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this 
collection of information;
     Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     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 or summarize each comment in our request 
to OMB to approve this IC. Before including your address, phone number, 
email 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.

    Dated: August 3, 2012.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy and Directives Management, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-19680 Filed 8-9-12; 8:45 am]
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