[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 123 (Wednesday, June 30, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34721-34722]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14002]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Coral Reef Conservation Program

    The Department of Commerce will submit the following information 
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite the 
general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and 
continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of 
our information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the 
Federal Register on March 22, 2021 (86 FR 15204) during a 60-day 
comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public 
comments.
    Agency: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.
    Title: Coral Reef Conservation Program.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0448.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular (Revision and extension of current 
information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 65.
    Average Hours per Response: Matching funds waiver request: 2 hours; 
Reviewer Comments: 3 hours; Semi-Annual Progress Reports: 10 hours.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,437 hours.
    Needs and Uses: This request is for revision and extension of a 
currently approved information collection.
    The Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) 
was enacted on December 14, 2000, to preserve, sustain and restore the 
condition of coral reef ecosystems; to promote the wise management and 
sustainable use of coral reef ecosystems to benefit local communities 
and the Nation; to develop sound scientific information on the 
condition of coral reef ecosystems and the threats to such ecosystems; 
to assist in the preservation of coral reefs by supporting conservation 
programs, including projects that involve affected local communities 
and non-governmental organizations; to provide financial resources for 
those programs and projects; and to establish a formal mechanism for 
the collecting and allocating of monetary donations from the private 
sector to be used for coral reef conservation projects. Under section 
6403 of the Act, the Secretary, through the NOAA Administrator 
(Administrator) and subject to the availability of funds, is authorized 
to provide matching grants of financial assistance for coral reef 
conservation projects. Section 408(c) of the Act authorizes at least 
$8,000,000 annually for financial assistance projects under the 
Program.
    Collection activities for this program are outlined below and 
include: 1. Applicant creation and submission of requests for waivers 
of the non-Federal matching funds requirement; 2. Review of project 
proposals by Federal Agencies and non-Federal entities with 
jurisdiction or management authority over coral reef ecosystems in the 
area where the project is to be conducted; and 3. Revision of 
performance reporting methods to include a standard program-specific 
template and tracking report.
    As per section 6403(b) of the Act, NOAA will require that Federal 
funds for any coral conservation financial assistance project may not 
exceed 50 percent of the total cost. However, the Administrator may 
waive all or part of the matching requirement if the Administrator 
determines that no reasonable means are available through which an 
applicant can meet the matching requirement and the probable benefit of 
the project outweighs the public interest in the matching requirement. 
The suitability for a waiver is determined after the applicant has 
submitted a written request with the application package and provided 
the proper justification.
    As per section 6403(f) of the Act, NOAA will review eligible coral 
reef conservation proposals using an external governmental review and 
merit-based peer review. As part of this review, NOAA will request and 
consider written comments on the proposal from each Federal agency, 
state government, or other government jurisdiction, including the 
relevant regional Fishery Management Councils established under the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 
1801 et seq.), or any National Marine Sanctuary, with jurisdiction or 
management authority over coral reef ecosystems in the area where the 
project is to be conducted. Pursuant to this requirement of the Act, 
NOAA will apply the following standard in requesting comments: (A) 
Proposals for projects in state or territorial waters, including 
Federal marine protected areas in such waters (e.g., National Marine 
Sanctuaries), will be submitted to that state or territorial 
government's designated U.S. Coral Reef Task Force point of contact for 
comment; (B) proposals for projects in Federal waters will be submitted 
to the relevant Fishery Management Council for comment; (C) proposals 
for projects which require Federal permits will be submitted to the 
Federal agency which issued the permit for comment; (D) proposals for 
projects in Federal marine protected areas managed by Federal agencies 
(e.g., National Wildlife Refuges, National Parks, National Marine 
Sanctuaries, etc.) will be submitted to the respective Federal 
management authority for comment; and (E) NOAA will seek comments from 
other government entities, authorities, and/or jurisdictions, including 
international entities for projects proposed outside of U.S. waters, as 
necessary based on the nature and scope of the proposed project.

[[Page 34722]]

    As per 2 CFR part 200.329, all recipients of non-construction 
federal financial assistance awards are required to provide performance 
(technical) reports to the agency at intervals no less frequently than 
annually and no more frequently than quarterly in order for the agency 
to properly monitor the award and meet oversight responsibilities. The 
awarding agency must use OMB-approved common forms for this purpose or 
seek permission for program-specific forms that will collect the 
required data elements. The Coral Reef Conservation Program seeks OMB 
approval to revise this information collection to require use of a 
program-specific form for semi-annual reporting and tracking specific 
indicators. These indicators align with the new Coral Reef Conservation 
Program Strategic Plan (2018; https://www.coris.noaa.gov/activities/strategic_plan2018) and will be used to track national progress toward 
these strategic goals through 2040. The program-specific form for semi-
annual reporting will be a revised version of what is currently in use 
for NOAA's Marine Debris Program and will standardize reporting across 
projects.
    The number of respondents, responses, and burden hours have been 
corrected from the previous submission. The previous submission 
included federal employees and contractors working on behalf of NOAA as 
part of the burden for the collection. This burden has been removed and 
is instead added to the cost to the federal government.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations; Not-
for-profit institutions; State or Local Government; Federal government.
    Frequency: Semi Annual to Annual.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    Legal Authority: Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 
6401 et seq.).
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view the Department of 
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of 
this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently 
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search 
function and entering either the title of the collection or the OMB 
Control Number 0648-0448.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-14002 Filed 6-29-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-JE-P