[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 150 (Thursday, August 4, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47142-47143]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-19750]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 
U.S.C. Chapter 35).
    Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
    Title: Defining Target Levels for Ecosystem Targets: A Socio-
Ecological Approach.
    OMB Control Number: None.
    Form Number(s): NA.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (request for a new, one-time 
information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 1,000.
    Average Hours per Response: 15 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 250.
    Needs and Uses: This notice is for the request of a new information 
collection. The creation of the Puget Sound Partnership (PSP) allowed 
for a group of private and public entities, local citizens, tribes and 
businesses to begin to collectively work toward restoring the 
ecological health of the Puget Sound. With the PSP's inception, the 
Puget Sound ecosystem has become a national example of ecosystem-based 
management (EBM) implementation. The Partnership Action Agenda 
indentified 80 near-term actions that are required for ecosystem 
recovery. These actions, however, will require specific performance 
measures.
    Ecosystems can contain numerous species, and a mean level of 
species placement within a predator/prey chain or food web can serve as 
an ecological indicator. Similarly, measures of relative biodiversity 
may provide indications of ecological health and therefore function as 
ecological indicators. Such indicators can facilitate EBMt, when target 
levels for indicators exist. Because targets are an expression of the 
desired state of the ecosystem, establishing targets must include both 
ecological understanding and societal values. This project will develop 
a unique approach for identifying scientifically rigorous ecosystem 
targets that explicitly considers social perspectives. For this reason, 
the Northwest Fisheries Science Center seeks to conduct social norm 
analyses which involve a survey of Puget Sound community stakeholders. 
Stakeholders will be asked, via telephone survey, a series of general 
questions regarding their views on the Puget Sound environment and the 
desirability of a range of potential ecosystem conditions for the Puget 
Sound.
    A random digit dial phone survey will be conducted. The survey will 
be voluntary, and contacted individuals may decline to participate. 
Respondents will be asked to respond to statements regarding their 
perceptions of the health of the Puget Sound. Demographic and 
employment information will be collected so that responses can be

[[Page 47143]]

organized based on a stakeholder typology. This survey is essential 
because data on social norms, values and beliefs in the Puget Sound 
region are sparse; yet, they are critical to the development of sound 
ecosystem health targets.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Frequency: One time.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    OMB Desk Officer: [email protected].
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Diana Hynek, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0266, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 
[email protected]).
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to [email protected].

    Dated: July 29, 2011.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-19750 Filed 8-3-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P