Information Collection Sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Approval; OMB Control Number 1018-0100; North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) Grant Programs

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R9-MB-2008-N0255] [91100-3740-GRNT 7C]

Information Collection Sent to the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) for Approval; OMB Control Number 1018-0100; North American

Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) Grant Programs

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We (Fish and Wildlife Service) have sent an Information

Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. The ICR, which

is summarized below, describes the nature of the collection and the

estimated burden and cost. This ICR is scheduled to expire on September

30, 2008. 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. However, under OMB regulations, we may

continue to conduct or sponsor this information collection while it is

pending at OMB.

DATES: You must submit comments on or before October 27, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments and suggestions on this ICR to the Desk

Officer for the Department of the Interior at OMB-OIRA at (202) 395-

6566 (fax) or [email protected] (e-mail). Please provide a copy

of your comments to Hope Grey, Information Collection Clearance

Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service, MS 222-ARLSQ, 4401 North Fairfax

Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 (mail), or [email protected] (e-mail).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information

about this ICR, contact Hope Grey by mail or e-mail (see ADDRESSES) or

by telephone at (703) 358-2482.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

OMB Control Number: 1018-0100.

Title: North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) Grant

Programs.

Service Form Number(s): None.

Type of Request: Extension of currently approved collection.

Affected Public: Households and individuals; businesses and other

for-profit organizations; educational organizations; not-for-profit

institutions; and Federal, State, local and/or tribal governments.

Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.

Frequency of Collection: On occasion. The Small Grants Program has

one project proposal period per year and the Standard Grants Program

has two per year. Annual reports are due 90 days after the anniversary

date of the grant agreement. Final reports are due 90 days after the

end of the project period. The project period is 2 years.

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Number of annual Number of annual Completion time per Annual burden

Activity respondents responses response hours

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Small Grants - Applications..... 70 70 59 hours........... 4,130

Small Grants - Reports.......... 88 88 32 hours........... 2,816

U.S. Standard Grants - 60 60 325 hours.......... 19,500

Applications.

Canadian and Mexican Standard 54 54 80 hours........... 4,320

Grants - Applications.

Standard Grants - Reports....... 201 201 35 hours........... 7,035

Totals...................... 473 473 ................... 37,801

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Abstract: The North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) is a

tripartite agreement among Canada, Mexico, and the United States to

enhance, restore, and protect habitat to benefit waterfowl and other

wetlands-associated wildlife. Because the NAWMP did not include a

mechanism to provide for broadly based and sustained financial support

for wetland conservation activities, Congress passed the North American

Wetlands Conservation Act in 1989. The NAWCA promotes, through

partnerships between the private and public sectors, long-term

conservation of North American wetland ecosystems and the waterfowl and

other migratory birds, fish, and wildlife that depend upon such

habitat.

In addition to providing for a continuing and stable funding base,

NAWCA establishes an administrative body, the North American Wetlands

Conservation Council. It is made up of a State representative from each

of the four flyways, three representatives from nonprofit wetlands

conservation organizations, the Secretary of the Board of the National

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

Service. The Council recommends funding of select wetlands conservation

project proposals to the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission.

There is a Standard and a Small Grants Program. Both are

competitive grants programs and require that grant requests be matched

by partner contributions at no less than a 1-to-1 ratio. Funds from

U.S. Federal sources may contribute to a project, but are not eligible

as match.

The Standard Grants Program supports projects in Canada, the United

States, and Mexico that involve long-term protection, restoration, and/

or enhancement of wetlands and associated uplands habitats. In Mexico,

partners may also conduct projects involving technical training,

environmental education and outreach, organizational infrastructure

development, and sustainable-use studies.

The Small Grants Program operates only in the United States. It

supports the same type of projects and adheres to the same selection

criteria and administrative guidelines as the U.S. Standard Grants

Program. However, project activities are usually smaller in scope and

involve fewer project dollars. Grant requests may not exceed $75,000,

and funding priority is given to grantees or partners new to the NAWCA

Grants Program.

We publish notices of funding availability on the Grants.gov

website (http://www.grants.gov) as well as in the Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance. To compete for grant funds, partnerships submit

applications that describe in substantial detail project locations,

project resources, future benefits, and other characteristics that meet

the standards established by the Council and the requirements of NAWCA.

Materials that describe the program and assist applicants in

formulating project proposals for Council consideration are available

on our website at http://www.fws.gov/birdhabitat/Grants/NAWCA. Persons

who do not have access to the Internet may obtain instructional

materials by mail. We have not made any major changes in the scope and

general nature of the instructions since the OMB first approved the

information collection in 1999.

Comments: On June 24, 2008, we published in the Federal Register

(73 FR

[[Page 55524]]

35703) a notice of our intent to request that OMB renew this ICR. In

that notice, we solicited comments for 60 days, ending on August 25,

2008. We received one comment. The comment expressed opposition to the

NAWCA grants program, but did not address the information collection

requirements. We did not make any changes to our information collection

requirements as a result of this comment.

We again invite comments concerning this information collection on:

(1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary,

including whether or not the information will have practical utility;

(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this 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.

Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of

public record. Before including your address, phone number, e-mail

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: September 4, 2008

Hope Grey,

Information Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service.

FR Doc. E8-22470 Filed 9-23-08; 8:45 am

BILLING CODE 4310-55-S