[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 220 (Tuesday, November 15, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70749-70751]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29386]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R9-MB-2011-N238; 91100-3740-GRNT-7C]
Information Collection Request Sent to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for Approval; Migratory Birds and Wetlands
Conservation Grant Programs
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. This information collection is scheduled to
expire on December 31, 2011. 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 December 15, 2011.
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 OIRA_DOCKET@OMB.eop.gov (email).
Please provide a copy of your comments 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
INFOCOL@fws.gov (email). Please include ``1018-0100'' in the subject
line of your comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information
about this ICR, contact Hope Grey at INFOCOL@fws.gov (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:
OMB Control Number: 1018-0100.
Title: Migratory Birds and Wetlands Conservation Grant Programs.
Service Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Description of Respondents: Domestic and foreign individuals,
businesses and other for-profit organizations;
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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.
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Completion time
Activity Number of Number of per response Total annual
respondents responses (hours) burden hours
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NAWCA Small Grants--Applications........ 87 87 58 5,046
NAWCA Small Grants--Reports............. 109 109 33 3,597
NAWCA U.S. Standard Grants--Applications 77 77 215 16,555
NAWCA Canadian and Mexican Standard 32 32 80 2,560
Grants--Applications...................
NAWCA Standard Grants--Reports.......... 188 188 43 8,084
NMBCA Grant Applications................ 106 106 62 6,572
NMBCA Reports........................... 71 71 42 2,982
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TOTALS.............................. 670 670 ................ 45,396
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Abstract: The Division of Bird Habitat Conservation administers
grant programs associated with the North American Wetlands Conservation
Act (NAWCA), Public Law 101-233, and the Neotropical Migratory Bird
Conservation Act (NMBCA), Public Law 106-247. Currently, information
that we collect for NMBCA grants is approved under OMB Control No.
1018-0113, which expires March 31, 2012. We are proposing to
consolidate NAWCA and NMBCA grants under OMB Control No. 1018-0100. If
OMB approves this request, we will discontinue OMB Control Number 1018-
0113.
North American Wetlands Conservation Act Grants
NAWCA provides matching grants to organizations and individuals who
have developed partnerships to carry out wetlands conservation projects
in the United States, Canada, and Mexico for the benefit of wetlands-
associated migratory birds and other wildlife. 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 types 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 Web
site at http://www.grants.gov as well as in the Catalog of Federal
Domestic Assistance at http://cfda.gov. 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 North
American Wetlands Conservation Council and the requirements of NAWCA.
Materials that describe the program and assist applicants in
formulating project proposals are available on our Web site 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.
Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act
NMBCA establishes a matching grant program to fund projects that
promote the long-term conservation of neotropical migratory birds and
their habitats in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the
Caribbean. Principal conservation actions supported are the protection
and management of populations; maintenance, management, protection and
restoration of habitat; research and monitoring; law enforcement; and
community outreach and education. We publish notices of funding
availability on the Grants.gov Web site 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 U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service and the requirements of NMBCA.
Materials that describe the program and assist applicants in
formulating project proposals for consideration are available on our
Web site at http://www.fws.gov/birdhabitat/Grants/NMBCA/index.shtm.
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 2002.
Comments: On May 24, 2011, we published in the Federal Register (76
FR 30186) 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 25, 2011. We received one comment. The commenter
opposed these grant programs, but did not address the information
collection requirements. We did not make any changes as a result of
this comment.
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
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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: November 7, 2011.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy and Directives Management, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-29386 Filed 11-14-11; 8:45 am]
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