[Federal Register: May 6, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 87)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 24862-24864]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr06my10-20]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 83
[Docket No. FWS-R9-WSR-2010-0009]
[91400-5110-POLI-7B; 91400-9410-POLI-7B]
RIN 1018-AX00
Removing Regulations Implementing the Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Act
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to
remove our regulations implementing the Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Act of 1980. The Act authorized financial and technical assistance to
States to design conservation plans and programs to benefit nongame
species; however, funds never became available to carry out the Act,
and we do not expect funds to become available in the future.
DATES: We will consider comments received or postmarked on or before
July 6, 2010.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments to Docket No. FWS-R9-
WSR-2010-0009.
U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing,
Attn: FWS-R9-WSR-2010-0009; Division of Policy and Directives
Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive,
Suite 222; Arlington, VA 22203.
We will not accept e-mail or faxes. We will post all public
comments on http://www.regulations.gov. This generally means that we
will post any personal information you provide us (see the Public
Comments section below for more information).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joyce Johnson, Wildlife and Sport Fish
Restoration Program, Division of Policy and Programs, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, 703-358-2156.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Service manages or comanages 54 financial assistance programs.
Our Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program manages, in whole or in
part, 19 of these programs. We implement some of these programs via
regulations in title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR),
particularly in subchapter F ``Financial Assistance--Wildlife and Sport
Fish Restoration Program,'' which currently includes parts 80 through
86.
The regulations at part 83 implement the Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Act of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 2901-2911). This act authorized the
Service to give financial and technical assistance to States and other
eligible jurisdictions to design conservation plans and programs to
benefit nongame species. The regulations tell the fish and wildlife
agencies of the 50 States, the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the
Northern Mariana Islands, the District of Columbia, and the territories
of Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa how they can take
part in this grant program. However, neither the Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Act nor any subsequent legislation established a
continuing source of funds for this grant
[[Page 24863]]
program, nor have annual Appropriations Acts provided any funds for it.
In 1984, the Service's Western Energy and Land Use Team prepared a
document identifying potential funding sources, but none of these
options were adopted.
Congress has appropriated funds in recent years for State
conservation planning and programs to benefit nongame species, but none
of these grant programs have been under the authority of the Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Act. Instead, Congress made funds available
through the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration grant program in 2001
and--during each year since 2002--the State Wildlife Grants program.
Based on this 30-year record, we do not expect that the grant program
authorized by the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1980 will
receive any funding, so we propose to remove its implementing
regulations.
Public Comments
You may submit your comments and materials concerning this proposed
rule by one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section. We will not
accept comments sent by e-mail or fax or to an address not listed in
the ADDRESSES section. Finally, we will not consider hand-delivered
comments that we do not receive, or mailed comments that are not
postmarked, by the date specified in the DATES section.
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 us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Required Determinations
Clarity of This Regulation
We are required by Executive Orders 12866 and 12988 and by the
Presidential Memorandum of June 1, 1998, to write all rules in plain
language. This means that each rule we publish must:
(a) Be logically organized;
(b) Use the active voice to address readers directly;
(c) Use clear language rather than jargon;
(d) Be divided into short sections and sentences; and
(e) Use lists and tables wherever possible.
If you feel that we have not met these requirements, send us
comments by one of the methods listed in the ``ADDRESSES'' section. To
better help us revise the rule, your comments should be as specific as
possible. For example, you should tell us the numbers of the sections
or paragraphs with unclear writing, which sections or sentences are too
long, the sections where you feel lists or tables would be useful, etc.
Regulatory Planning and Review
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has determined that this
rule is not significant and has not reviewed this rule under E.O.
12866. OMB bases its determination on the following four criteria:
(a) Whether the rule will have an annual effect of $100 million or
more on the economy or adversely affect an economic sector,
productivity, jobs, the environment, or other units of the government.
(b) Whether the rule will create inconsistencies with other
Federal agencies' actions.
(c) Whether the rule will materially affect entitlements, grants,
user fees, loan programs, or the rights and obligations of their
recipients.
(d) Whether the rule raises novel legal or policy issues.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires an agency to consider the
impact of proposed rules on small entities, i.e., small businesses,
small organizations, and small government jurisdictions. If there is a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities,
the agency must perform a Regulatory Flexibility Analysis. This is not
required if the head of an agency certifies the rule would not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) amended
the Regulatory Flexibility Act to require Federal agencies to state the
factual basis for certifying that a rule would not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
We are removing a rule governing an unfunded grant program.
Consequently, we certify that the removal would not have a significant
economic effect on a substantial number of small entities; a Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis is not required.
In addition, this proposed rule is not a major rule under SBREFA
and would not have a significant impact on a substantial number of
small entities because it does not:
a. Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more.
b. Cause a major increase in costs or prices for consumers;
individual industries; Federal, State, or local government agencies; or
geographic regions.
c. Would not have significant adverse effects on competition,
employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the ability of
U.S.-based enterprises to compete with foreign-based enterprises.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (2 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.)
establishes requirements for Federal agencies to assess the effects of
their regulatory actions on State, local, and tribal governments and
the private sector. The Act requires each Federal agency, to the extent
permitted by law, to prepare a written assessment of the effects of a
proposed rule with Federal mandates that may result in the expenditure
by State, local, and tribal governments, in aggregate, or by the
private sector, of $100 million or more (adjusted annually for
inflation) in any 1 year. We have determined the following under the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act:
a. As discussed in the determination for the Regulatory Flexibility
Act, this proposed rule would not have a significant economic effect on
a substantial number of small entities.
b. The regulation does not require a small government agency plan
or any other requirement for expenditure of local funds.
c. There are no mandated costs associated with the proposed rule.
d. This proposed rule would not produce a Federal mandate of $100
million or greater in any year; i.e., it is not a ``significant
regulatory action'' under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
Takings
This proposed rule would not have significant takings implications
under E.O. 12630 because it would not have a provision for taking
private property. Therefore, a takings implication assessment is not
required.
Federalism
This proposed rule would not have sufficient Federalism effects to
warrant preparation of a Federalism assessment under E.O. 13132. It
would not interfere with the States' ability to manage themselves or
their funds.
Civil Justice Reform
The Office of the Solicitor has determined under E.O. 12988 that
the rule would not unduly burden the judicial system and that it meets
the
[[Page 24864]]
requirements of sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of E.O. 12988.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This proposed rule does not contain any new collections of
information that require approval by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). This rule will not impose
recordkeeping or reporting requirements on State or local governments,
individuals, businesses, or organizations. 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.
National Environmental Policy Act
We have analyzed this rule under the National Environmental Policy
Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and part 516 of the Departmental Manual
(DM). This rule does not constitute a major Federal action
significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. An
environmental impact statement/assessment is not required because this
proposed action qualifies for the categorical exclusion for
administrative changes provided in 516 DM 2, Appendix 1, section 1.10.
Government-to-Government Relationship with Tribes
We have evaluated potential effects on federally recognized Indian
tribes under the President's memorandum of April 29, 1994,
``Government-to-Government Relations with Native American Tribal
Governments'' (59 FR 22951), E.O. 13175, and 512 DM 2. We have
determined that there are no potential effects. This proposed rule
would not interfere with the tribes' ability to manage themselves or
their funds.
Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use
E.O. 13211 addresses regulations that significantly affect energy
supply, distribution, and use and requires agencies to prepare
Statements of Energy Effects when undertaking certain actions. This
rule is not a significant regulatory action under E.O. 12866 and would
not affect energy supplies, distribution, or use. Therefore, no
Statement of Energy Effects is required.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 83
Fish, Grant programs--natural resources, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Wildlife.
Proposed Regulation Promulgation
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, under the authority of
16 U.S.C. 2901, we propose to amend subchapter F of chapter I, title 50
of the Code of Federal Regulations, as follows:
Part 83--[Removed and Reserved]
Remove and reserve part 83, consisting of Sec. Sec. 83.1 through
83.21.
Dated: April 6, 2010.
Thomas L. Strickland,
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 2010-10604 Filed 5-5-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-S