[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 94 (Wednesday, May 15, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28619-28620]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-11536]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-HQ-ES-2013-N112; FXES1112090000-134-FF09E31000]


Proposed Information Collection; Fish and Wildlife Service 
Conservation Banking Survey

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 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 by July 15, 2013.

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--NEW'' 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

    Conservation banks are permanently protected lands that contain 
natural resource values, which are conserved and permanently managed 
for species that are endangered, threatened, candidates for listing as 
endangered or threatened, or are otherwise species-at-risk. The habitat 
preserved, restored, or established in conservation banks is used to 
offset adverse impacts to species that occurred elsewhere. We approve 
habitat or species credits that bank owners may sell in exchange for 
permanently protecting and managing habitat for these species. We began 
approving conservation banks in the early 1990s, and 105 banks have 
been approved as of March 2013.
    The Service and the Department of the Interior's Office of Policy 
Analysis are conducting an analysis to identify potential institutional 
or other impediments to the habitat conservation banking program, and 
develop possible options for encouraging expanded use of the program. 
We plan to ask OMB for approval to implement surveys of conservation 
bank sponsors and purchasers of conservation banking credits. The 
surveys will benefit the Service by helping to identify constraints in 
the current conservation banking program, and thus provide important 
information for developing recommendations for further expansion or 
perhaps changes to the program.

[[Page 28620]]

    We will use information from the Regulatory In lieu fee and Bank 
Information Tracking System (RIBITS) database and other sources to 
obtain contact information for bank sponsors and bank credit 
purchasers. We plan to survey the entire sample of entities taking part 
in our habitat conservation banking program, and a random sample of 
entities that have purchased bank credits. We plan to collect:
    (1) Background information on the bank(s) and credit purchasers.
    (2) Information about experience with the conservation banking 
program.
    (3) Perceptions of technical and institutional obstacles 
encountered in the conservation banking program.
    (4) Perceptions of incentives that would help foster successful 
banks.
    (5) Information about the choice of conservation bank credit 
purchase compared to other mitigation options for bank credit 
purchasers.

II. Data

    OMB Control Number: 1018-XXXX. This is a new collection.
    Title: Fish and Wildlife Service Conservation Banking Survey.
    Service Form Number: None.
    Type of Request: Request for a new OMB control number.
    Description of Respondents: Representatives from conservation banks 
and purchasers of conservation bank credits.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: One time.

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                                                                                    Completion
                                                     Number of       Number of       time per      Total annual
                    Activity                        respondents      responses       response      burden hours
                                                                                     (minutes)
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Survey of conservation bank representatives.....              75              75              25           1,875
Survey of conservation bank purchasers..........             100             100              25           2,500
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    TOTALS......................................             175             175  ..............           4,375
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    Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.

III. Comments

    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: May 9, 2013.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy and Directives Management, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-11536 Filed 5-14-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P