Information Collections Submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Information Collections Submitted to the Office of Management and

Budget for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The collection of information described below has been

submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval

under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Copies of

the specific

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information collection requirements, related forms and explanatory

material may be obtained by contacting the Service Information

Collection Clearance Officer at the address provided below.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received on or

before March 1, 1999. OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove

information collection but may respond after 30 days. Therefore, to

ensure maximum consideration, OMB should receive public comments by the

above referenced date.

ADDRESSES: Comments and suggestions on the requirement should be sent

to Rebecca Mullin, Service Information Collection Clearance Officer,

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ms 860--ARLSQ, 1849 C Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the information

collection request, explanatory information and related forms, contact

Rebecca A. Mullin at 703/358-2287, or electronically to

[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The OMB regulations at 5 CFR part 1320,

which implement provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub.

L. 104-13), require that interested members of the public and affected

agencies have an opportunity to comment on information collection and

recordkeeping activities (see 5 CFR 1320.8(d)). On Monday, August 24,

1998, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) was given emergency

approval by OMB for collection of information in order to continue the

grants programs currently conducted under the North American Wetlands

Conservation Act (Pub. L. 101-233, as amended; December 13, 1989). The

assigned OMB information collection control number is 1018-0100, and

temporary approval expires in February 1999. The Service is requesting

a three year term of approval for this information collection activity.

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.

The Service previously published a 60-day notice on the information

collections associated with these grants programs (63 FR 49706;

Thursday, September 17, 1998). The comment period for this notice

expired on November 16, 1998, and the Service is in this notice

requesting comment for the 30-day period following the date of

publication in the Federal Register. No comments were provided to the

Service Information Collection Clearance Officer as a result of the

September 17 notice.

Comments are invited on : (1) Whether the collection of information

is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,

including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) the

accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of

information; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of

the information to be collected; and, (4) ways to minimize the burden

of the collection of information on respondents.

Title: Information Collection In Support of Grant Programs

Authorized by the North American Wetlands Conservation Act of 1989

(NAWCA).

Approval Number: 1018-0100.

Service Form Number(s): N/A.

Description and Use: The North American Waterfowl Management Plan

(NAWMP), first signed in 1986, is a tripartite agreement among Canada,

Mexico and the United States to enhance, restore and otherwise protect

continental wetlands to benefit waterfowl and other wetland associated

wildlife through partnerships between and among the private and public

sectors. Because the 1986 NAWMP did not carry with it a mechanism to

provide for broadly-based and sustained financial support for wetland

conservation activities, Congress passed and the President signed into

law the NAWCA to fill that funding need. The purpose of NAWCA, as

amended, is to promote long-term conservation of North American wetland

ecosystems and the waterfowl and other migratory birds, fish and

wildlife that depend upon such habitat through partnerships. Principal

conservation actions supported by NAWCA are acquisition, enhancement

and restoration of wetlands and wetlands-associated habitat.

As well as providing for a continuing and stable funding base,

NAWCA establishes an administrative body, made up of a State

representative from each of the four Flyways, three representatives

from wetlands conservation organizations, the Secretary of the Board of

the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the Director of the

Service. This administrative body is chartered, under the Federal

Advisory Committee Act, by the U.S. Department of the Interior as the

North American Wetlands Conservation Council (Council). As such, the

purpose of the Council is to recommend wetlands conservation project

proposals to the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission (MBCC) for

funding.

Subsection (c) of Section 5 (Council Procedures) provides that the

``. . . Council shall establish practices and procedures for the

carrying out of its functions under subsections (a) and (b) of this

section . . .'' which are consideration of projects and recommendations

to the MBCC, respectively. The means by which the Council decides which

project proposals are important to recommend to the MBCC is through

grants programs that are coordinated through the Council Coordinator's

office (NAWWO) within the Service.

Competing for grant funds involves applications from partnerships

that describe in substantial detail project locations and other

characteristics, to meet the standards established by the Council and

the requirements of NAWCA. The Council Coordinator's office publishes

and distributes Standard and Small Grants instructional booklets that

assist the applicants in formulating project proposals for Council

consideration. The instructional booklets and other instruments, e.g.,

Federal Register notices on request for proposals, are the basis for

this information collection request for OMB clearance. Information

collected under this program is used to respond to such needs as:

audits, program planning and management, program evaluation, Government

Performance and Results Act reporting, Standard Form 424 (Application

For Federal Assistance), grant agreements, budget reports and

justifications, public and private requests for information, data

provided to other programs for databases on similar programs,

Congressional inquiries and reports required by NAWCA, etc.

In summary, information collection under these programs is required

to obtain a benefit, i.e., a cash reimbursable grant that is given

competitively to some applicants based on eligibility and relative

scale of resource values involved in the projects. The information

collection is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act requirements for

such activity, which includes soliciting comments from the general

public regarding the nature and burden imposed by the collection.

Frequency of Collection: Occasional. The Small Grants program has

one project proposal submissions window per year and the Standard

Grants program has two per year.

Description of Respondents: Households and/or individuals; business

and/or other for-profit; not-for-profit institutions; farms; Federal

Government; and State, local and/or Tribal governments.

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Estimated Completion Time: The reporting burden, or time involved

in writing project proposals, is estimated to be 80 hours for a Small

Grants submission and 400 hours for a Standard Grants submission.

Number of Respondents: It is estimated that 150 proposals will be

submitted each year, 70 for the Small Grants program and 80 for the

Standard Grants program.

Dated: January 13, 1999.

Jamie Rappaport Clark,

Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 99-2164 Filed 1-28-99; 8:45 am]

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