[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 142 (Friday, July 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44147-44148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-18080]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-HQ-ES-2015-N143; FXES1112090000-134-FF09E31000]


Information Collection Request Sent to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for Approval; Survey of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
Habitat Conservation Bank Sponsors and Managers

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) have sent an Information 
Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. We summarize 
the ICR below and describe the nature of the collection and the 
estimated burden and cost. We may not conduct or sponsor and you are 
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 August 24, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments and suggestions on this information 
collection to the Desk Officer for the Department of the Interior at 
OMB-OIRA at (202) 395-5806 (fax) or [email protected] 
(email). Please provide a copy of your comments to the Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS BPHC, 
5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803 (mail), or 
[email protected] (email). Please include ``1018-Conservation Banking 
Survey'' in the subject line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this ICR, contact Hope Grey at [email protected] (email) or 703-
358-2482 (telephone). You may review the ICR online at http://www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to review Department of the 
Interior collections under review by OMB.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Information Collection Request

    OMB Control Number: 1018--XXXX.
    Title: Survey of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Habitat 
Conservation Bank Sponsors and Managers.
    Service Form Number: None.
    Type of Request: Request for a new OMB control number.
    Description of Respondents: Sponsors and managers of conservation 
banks.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: One time.

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                                                   Number of                                       Total annual
                   Activity                        responses      Completion time per response     burden hours
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Initial Contact...............................              85  5 minutes.......................               7
Initial Invitation Email......................             186  2 minutes.......................               6
Complete Survey 1.............................              72  10 minutes......................              12
Complete Survey 2.............................              86  15 minutes......................              22

[[Page 44148]]

 
Reminder 1....................................             102  1 minute........................               2
Reminder 2....................................              56  1 minute........................               1
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
    Totals....................................             587  ................................              50
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    Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.
    Abstract: Conservation banks are permanently protected lands that 
contain natural resource values, which are conserved and permanently 
managed for species that are endangered or 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 
132 banks have been approved as of January 2015 (including approved and 
sold-out banks).
    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 survey conservation bank sponsors and managers. 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.
    We will survey leaders and managers from the entire sample of 
entities sponsoring conservation banks. Two surveys will be used to 
obtain information from a corporate or organizational point of view, as 
well as information about the operation of individual banks. We plan to 
collect:
    (1) Background information on the bank(s).
    (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.

Comments Received and Our Responses

    Comments: On May 15, 2013, we published in the Federal Register (78 
FR 28619) a notice of our intent to request that OMB approve this 
information collection. In that notice, we solicited comments for 60 
days, ending on July 15, 2013. We received one comment in response to 
that notice. The commenter objected to the survey, but did not address 
the information collection requirements. We did not make any changes to 
the survey.

Request for Public Comments

    We again 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. 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 OMB in your comment to withhold your personal 
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that it 
will be done.

    Dated: July 15, 2015.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy, Performance, and Management Programs, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-18080 Filed 7-23-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-55-P