[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 111 (Friday, June 11, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31336-31338]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-12289]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-HQ-MB-2021-N159; FF09M20200 FGMB123109CITY0 (212); OMB Control
Number 1018-NEW]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Urban Bird Treaty
Program Requirements
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we,
the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing a
new information collection.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
August 10, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the information collection request
(ICR) by mail to the Service Information Collection Clearance Officer,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB (JAO/3W), 5275 Leesburg Pike,
Falls Church, VA 22041-3803 (mail); or by email to Info_Coll@fws.gov.
Please reference OMB Control Number ``1018-UBT'' in the subject line of
your comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information
about this ICR, contact Madonna L. Baucum, Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer, by email at Info_Coll@fws.gov, or by
telephone at (703) 358-2503. Individuals who are hearing or speech
impaired may call the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 for TTY
assistance.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act (PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and its implementing regulations at 5
CFR 1320, all information collections require approval under the PRA.
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.
As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we invite the public and other Federal agencies to comment on
new, proposed, revised, and continuing collections of information. This
helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements
and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public
understand our information collection requirements and provide the
requested data in the desired format.
We are especially interested in public comment addressing the
following:
(1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether or not the information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection
of information, including the validity of the methodology and
assumptions used;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
(4) How might the agency minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g.,
permitting electronic submission of response.
Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request
to OMB to approve this ICR. 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 us in your comment to withhold your
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Abstract: The Urban Bird Treaty Program (UBT Program) is
administered through the Service's Migratory Bird Program, under the
authority of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (16 U.S.C. 661-
667e). The UBT Program aims to support partnerships of public and
private organizations and individuals working to conserve migratory
birds and their habitats in urban areas for the benefit of these
species and the people that live in urban areas. The UBT partners'
habitat conservation activities help to ensure that more natural areas,
including forests, grasslands, wetlands, and meadows, are available in
urban areas, so that underserved communities can have improved access
to green space and opportunities to engage in habitat restoration and
community science as well as bird-related recreation and educational
programs. These habitat restoration activities, especially urban forest
conservation, also contribute to climate resiliency by reducing the
amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Lights-out programs in UBT
cities help reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions by
reducing the use of electricity when people and businesses turn off
their lights between dusk and dawn during the fall and spring periods
of bird migration in order to reduce bird collisions with building
glass.
The Service designates Urban Bird Treaty cities or municipalities
through a process in which applicants submit a nomination package,
including a letter of intention and an implementation plan, for
approval by the Service's Migratory Bird Program. Within 3 months, the
Service reviews the package, makes any necessary recommendations for
changes, and then decides to either approve or reject the package. If
rejected, the city can reapply the following year. In most cases, when
the Service designates a new city partner, the Service and the new city
partner hold a signing ceremony, during which a representative from
both the Service and the city sign a nonbinding document that states
the importance of conserving birds and their habitats to the health and
well-being of people that live in and visit the city. To maintain this
city partner designation, the city must submit information on the
activities it has carried out to meet the goals of the UBT program,
including those related to bird habitat conservation, bird hazard
reduction, and bird-related community education and engagement. By
helping make cities healthier places for birds and people, the UBT
Program contributes to the Administration's priorities of justice and
racial equity, climate resiliency, and the President's Executive Order
14008 to protect 30 percent of the Nation's land and 30 percent of its
ocean areas by 2030.
The UBT program benefits city partners in many ways, including:
Helps city partners achieve their goals for making cities
healthier places for birds and people.
Provides opportunities to share and learn from other city
partners' tools, tactics, successes, and challenges, to advance city
partners' urban bird conservation efforts.
[[Page 31337]]
Strengthens the cohesion and effectiveness of the
partnerships by coming together and working under the banner of the UBT
program.
Gives city partners improved access to funding through the
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Five Star and Urban Waters
Restoration grant program, as UBT cities receive priority in this
program.
Helps partners garner additional funds through other urban
conservation grant programs that have shared goals and objectives.
Achieve green building credits, reduced energy costs,
green space requirements, environmental equity, and other
sustainability goals.
Promotes the livability and sustainability of partner
cities by spreading the word about the city's UBT Federal designation
and all the benefits of a green and bird-friendly city.
We collect the following information from prospective and
successful applicants in conjunction with the UBT Program:
Nomination Letter--Prospective applicants must submit a
letter of intention from the city's partnership that details its
commitment to urban bird conservation and community engagement in bird-
related education, recreation, conservation, science, and monitoring.
Support and involvement by the city government is required.
Implementation Plan--The required implementation plan
should contain the following (see the UBT Program Guidebook--https://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/pdf/grants/UrbanBirdTreatyV3.pdf--for full
descriptions of requirements):
--Detailed description of the importance of the city to migrating,
nesting, and overwintering birds; bird habitats; human population size
of the city; and socioeconomic profile of the human communities present
and those targeted for education and engagement programs.
--Map of the geographic area that is being nominated for designation.
--List of individuals and organizations, and their contact information,
that are active in the partnership.
--The mission, goals, and objectives of the partnership applying for
designation, organized by the three UBT goal categories.
--Description of accomplishments (e.g., activities, products, outcomes)
that have been completed over the last 3 years, the audiences and
communities reached/engaged through those activities, and the partner
organizations that have achieved them, organized by UBT goal
categories.
--Description of strategies, actions, tools/products that are being
planned for the next 5 years under the UBT designation, the objectives
to be accomplished, the audiences and communities targeted for
engagement, and the partners who will complete the work, organized by
UBT goal categories.
Ad Hoc Reports--The Service will also request information
updates on UBT city points of contact, activities and events, and other
information on an ongoing basis for urban bird conservation in the
city, as needed by the Service for storytelling, promotion, and
internal programmatic communications, education, and outreach.
Biennial Reporting--The Service requires city partners to
provide biennial metrics as well as written and photographic
descriptions of activities for each goal category. City partners are
required to submit this information to maintain their city's
designation by ensuring that they are actively working to achieve the
goals of the UBT Program.
We will use the information collected for storytelling purposes to
promote the urban bird conservation work of city partners, and to
enable the Migratory Bird Program to develop UBT Program accomplishment
reports and other communications tools to share with the public and the
conservation community at large. The reporting requirement ensures that
the UBT city designation is meaningful and that city partners are
accountable for the efforts that they agreed to undertake to earn their
designation. Additionally, we will use the information to promote the
UBT program to other interested city partners and the benefits of urban
bird conservation generally. For more information, please see the UBT
Program Guidebook at the following link: https://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/pdf/grants/UrbanBirdTreatyV3.pdf.
Title of Collection: Urban Bird Treaty Designation, Updates, and
Reporting Requirements.
OMB Control Number: 1018-NEW.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: New.
Respondents/Affected Public: Nonprofits; colleges, universities,
and schools; museums, zoos, and aquaria; local community groups;
private businesses; and municipal, State, and Tribal governments
involved in urban bird conservation in UBT cities.
Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.
Frequency of Collection: One-time submission of nomination letter;
one-time submission of implementation plan; on occasion for information
updates; and biennial reporting.
Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.
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Average
Average number Average number Average number completion Estimated
Requirement of annual of responses of annual time per annual burden
respondents each responses response hours
(hours)
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Nomination Letter:
Private Sector.............. 6 3 3 4 12
Government.................. 3 3 3 4 12
Implementation Plan (Initial
Submission):
Private Sector.............. 24 3 3 40 960
Government.................. 12 3 3 20 240
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Ad Hoc Reports:
Private Sector.............. 25 4 4 3 75
Government.................. 5 4 4 3 15
Biennial Reporting:
Private Sector.............. 12 1 12 80 960
Government.................. 3 1 3 80 240
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Totals:................. 90 .............. 35 .............. 2,514
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[[Page 31338]]
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 authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Dated: June 8, 2021.
Madonna Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-12289 Filed 6-10-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P