[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 63 (Monday, April 3, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19663-19665]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06759]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2023-0050; FF09E41000-234-FXES111609C0000; OMB
Control Number 1018-0177]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Policy Regarding
Voluntary Prelisting Conservation Actions
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 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing to renew,
without change, an information collection.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
June 2, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the information collection request
(ICR) by one of the following methods (reference ``1018-0177'' in the
subject line of your comment):
Internet (preferred): https://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2023-
0050.
Email: Info_Coll@fws.gov.
U.S. mail: Service Information Collection Clearance
Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB
(JAO/3W), Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
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 in the United States who are
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial
711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay
services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay
services offered within their country to make international calls to
the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), we provide the general public and
other Federal agencies with an opportunity 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.
As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we are again soliciting comments from the public and other
Federal agencies on the proposed ICR that is described below. 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. 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 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 Service is charged with implementing the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The goal
of the Act is to provide a means to conserve the ecosystems upon which
listed species depend and a program for listed species conservation.
Through our Candidate Conservation program, we encourage the public to
take conservation actions for species prior to them being listed under
the Act. Doing so may result in precluding the need to list a species,
may result in listing a species as threatened instead of endangered,
or, if a species becomes listed, may provide the basis for its recovery
and eventual removal from the protections of the Act.
This policy provides incentives to landowners, government agencies,
and others to carry out voluntary conservation actions for unlisted
species. It allows the use of any benefits to the species from
voluntary conservation actions undertaken prior to listing under the
Act--by the person who undertook such actions or by third parties--to
mitigate or offset the detrimental effects of other actions undertaken
after listing. The policy requires participating States to track the
voluntary conservation actions and provide this information to us on an
annual basis. We require this information in order to provide the
entities that have taken the conservation actions with proper credit
that can later be used to mitigate for any detrimental actions they
take after the species is listed.
We plan to collect the following information:
Description of the prelisting conservation action being
taken.
Location of the action (does not include a specific
address).
Name of the entity taking the action and their contact
information (email address only).
Frequency of the action (ongoing for X years, or one-time
implementation)
[[Page 19664]]
and an indication if the action is included in a State Wildlife Action
Plan.
Any transfer to a third party of the mitigation or
compensatory measure rights.
Each State that chooses to participate will collect this
information from landowners, businesses and organizations, and Tribal,
Federal, and local governments that wish to receive credit for
voluntary prelisting conservation actions. States may collect this
information via an Access database, Excel spreadsheet, or other
database of their choosing and submit the information to the Fish and
Wildlife Service (via email) annually. States will use this information
to calculate the number of credits that the entity taking the
conservation action will receive and will keep track of the credits and
notify the entity of how much credit they have earned. The States will
report the number of credits to the Service, and we will determine how
many credits are needed by the entity to mitigate or offset the
detrimental effects of other actions they take after the species is
listed (assuming it is listed).
Additionally, on February 9, 2023, the Service published a proposed
rule (RIN 1018-BF99; 88 FR 8380) to clarify the appropriate use of
enhancement of survival permits and incidental take permits; clarify
our authority to issue these permits for non-listed species without
also including a listed species; simplify the requirements for
enhancement of survival permits by combining safe harbor agreements and
candidate conservation agreements with assurances into one agreement
type, and include portions of our five-point policies for safe harbor
agreements, candidate conservation agreements with assurances, and
habitat conservation plans in the regulations to reduce uncertainty. We
also propose to make technical and administrative revisions to the
regulations.
The goal of the rule is to reduce the time it takes for applicants
to prepare and develop the required supporting documents, thus
accelerating conservation implementation. The proposed regulatory
changes are intended to reduce costs and time associated with
negotiating and developing the required documents to support the
applications. We anticipate that these improvements will encourage more
individuals and companies to engage in these voluntary programs,
thereby generating greater conservation results overall.
When the Service finalizes this rule, anticipated in late 2023,
candidate conservation agreements with assurances (CCAAs) and safe
harbor agreements will no longer be in place, and will be combined into
one agreement type--conservation benefit agreements (CBAs). We will
update the Policy Regarding Voluntary Prelisting Conservation Actions
to replace all references to CCAAs with references to CBAs (for non-
listed species). We do not anticipate this update to the policy to
impact currently approved information collections.
Title of Collection: Policy Regarding Voluntary Prelisting
Conservation Actions.
OMB Control Number: 1018-0177.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Respondents/Affected Public: State governments.
Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion for new submissions, ongoing
for recordkeeping requirements, and annually for reporting
requirements.
Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.
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Average
Annual number Average completion Estimated
Information collection of number of Annual number time per annual burden
requirement respondents responses each of responses response hours *
(hours)
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Amendments to Conservation Strategy
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Government...................... 1 1 1 16 16
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Annual Reports
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Government...................... 1 1 1 20 20
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Credit Agreement/Transfer of Credits
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Government...................... 1 1 1 80 80
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Development of Conservation Strategy
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Government...................... 1 1 1 200 200
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Formal Agreements
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Government...................... 1 1 1 4 4
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Management Plans
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Government...................... 1 1 1 120 120
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Monitoring Reports
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Government...................... 1 1 1 24 24
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Site-Level Agreements
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Government...................... 1 1 1 100 100
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[[Page 19665]]
Site-Level Reports
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Government...................... 1 1 1 24 24
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State Developed Voluntary Conservation-Action Program
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Government...................... 1 1 1 320 320
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State Recordkeeping Requirements
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Government...................... 1 1 1 240 240
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State Reports--Voluntary Prelisting Conservation Actions Taken Under Program
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Government...................... 1 1 1 .25 0
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Totals:..................... 12 .............. 12 .............. 1,148
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* Rounded to match ROCIS.
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.).
Madonna Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-06759 Filed 3-31-23; 8:45 am]
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