[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 155 (Friday, August 10, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47864-47866]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-19680]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R9-WSR-2012-N196; FVWF941009000007B-XXX-FF09W11000;
FVWF51100900000-XXX-FF09W11000]
Proposed Information Collection; Application and Performance
Reporting for Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Grants and
Cooperative Agreements
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) will ask the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC)
described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and
as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent
burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take
this opportunity to comment on this IC. 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.
DATES: To ensure that we are able to consider your comments on this IC,
we must receive them October 9, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the IC 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-WSFR Application and
Performance Reporting'' in the subject line of your comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information
about this IC, contact Hope Grey at INFOCOL@fws.gov (email) or 703-358-
2482 (telephone).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program (WSFR) administers
the following financial assistance programs in whole or in part. We
award most financial assistance as grants, but cooperative agreements
are possible if the Federal Government will be substantially involved
in carrying out the project. You can find a description of most
programs in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) or on our
Web site at http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov.
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Implementing
regulations in the Code
CFDA Program Authority of Federal Regulations
(CFR)
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15.616........................... Clean Vessel Act......... 33 U.S.C. 1322; 16 U.S.C. 50 CFR 85
777c.
15.668........................... Coastal Impact Assistance Outer Continental Shelf None
Program M. Lands Act, as amended;
31 U.S.C. 6301-6305.
15.614........................... Coastal Wetlands 16 U.S.C. 3951 et seq.... 50 CFR 84
Planning, Protection,
and Restoration Act.
15.615........................... Cooperative Endangered 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq., 50 CFR 81
Species Conservation with special reference
Fund. to section 1535.
[[Page 47865]]
15.626........................... Firearm and Bow Hunter 16 U.S.C. 669 et seq., 50 CFR 80
Education and Safety with special reference
Program (Enhanced Hunter to 669h-1.
Education and Safety) M.
15.664........................... Fish and Wildlife 16 U.S.C. 661; 16 U.S.C. None
Coordination and 742a; 16 U.S.C. 2901-
Assistance Programs. 2911.
15.667........................... Highlands Conservation... Highlands Conservation None
Act (November 30, 2004),
Public Law 108-421.
15.633........................... Landowner Incentive Annual Appropriations None
Program. Acts for the Department
of the Interior,
Environment, and Related
Agencies for fiscal
years 2003 through 2007;
16 U.S.C. 460l-4 through
460l-11.
15.628........................... Multistate Conservation 16 U.S.C. 669-669c, 669h- None
Grants. 2; 16 U.S.C. 777-777c,
777m.
15.653........................... National Outreach and 23 U.S.C. 101; 16 U.S.C. None
Communications. 777g(d).
15.650........................... Research Grants (Generic) 16 U.S.C. 661; 16 U.S.C. None
742f(a)(4); 16 U.S.C.
460l-4 through 460l-11;
16 U.S.C. 753a, b; 16
U.S.C. 1535, 1537.
15.649........................... Service Training and 16 U.S.C. 661; 16 U.S.C. None
Technical Assistance 742f(a)(4).
(Generic Training).
15.605........................... Sport Fish Restoration, 16 U.S.C. 777 et seq., 50 CFR 80
including subprograms M. except 777e-1 and g-1.
15.622........................... Sportfishing and Boating 16 U.S.C. 777c, g, and g- 50 CFR 86
Safety Act (Boating 1.
Infrastructure Grants).
15.634........................... State Wildlife Grants M.. Annual Appropriations None
Acts for the Department
of the Interior,
Environment, and Related
Agencies for fiscal
years 2001 through 2012;
16 U.S.C. 460l-4 through
460l-11, fiscal years
2002 through 2007.
15.634........................... State Wildlife Grants.... Annual Appropriations None
Acts for the Department
of the Interior,
Environment, and Related
Agencies for fiscal
years 2001 through 2012;
16 U.S.C. 460l-4 through
460l-11, fiscal years
2002 through 2007.
15.638 archived.................. Tribal Landowner Same as the Landowner None
Incentive Program. Incentive Program at
CFDA number 15.633.
15.639........................... Tribal Wildlife Grants... Same as the State None
Wildlife Grants Program
at CFDA number 15.634.
15.625 archived.................. Wildlife Conservation and 16 U.S.C. 669 et seq., None
Restoration Program M. with special reference
to sections 669-669c.
15.611........................... Wildlife Restoration, 16 U.S.C. 669 et seq..... 50 CFR 80
including subprograms M.
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M--Either a totally mandatory program or has a mandatory subprogram.
Some grants are mandatory and receive funds according to a formula
set by law or policy. Other grants are discretionary and we award them
based on a competitive process. Mandatory grant recipients must give us
specific, detailed project information during the application process
so that we may ensure that projects are eligible for the mandatory
funding, are substantial in character and design, and comply with all
applicable Federal laws. All grantees must submit financial and
performance reports that contain information necessary for us to track
costs and accomplishments and according to schedules and rules in 43
CFR 12. The Office of Management and Budget has approved our collection
of information for applications and performance reports for these
programs and assigned OMB Control Nos. 1018-0109 and 1018-0147.
Currently, grantees send written performance reports to the
Service. We extract information and enter data into the Federal
Assistance Information Management System (FAIMS). However, FAIMS will
be decommissioned on October 1, 2012, and we intend to replace it with
a new electronic system for data collection (Wildlife Tracking and
Reporting Actions for the Conservation of Species (Wildlife TRACS)) by
January 1, 2013. Wildlife TRACS will allow us to take advantage of
newer technology and give grantees direct access to enter data and
accomplishments. We will train State, tribal, commonwealth, territory,
and District of Columbia personnel to use the new system, and we will
also lend technical and administrative support. Allowing applicants and
grantees to enter information directly into Wildlife TRACS will provide
more accurate reporting and allow us to process grant funds more
efficiently. We will continue to enter information in Wildlife TRACS
for some grantees or programs; e.g., those who do not have sufficient
technology or grant programs with minimal participation.
We plan to collect additional information not covered by our
current OMB approvals. In addition, our current approvals do not cover
data entry in Wildlife TRACS by applicants and grantees. We will
request that OMB assign a new control number to cover these actions.
For mandatory grant program applications and amendments, we plan to
collect:
Geospatial entry of project location.
Project status (active, completed, etc.).
Project leader contact information.
Partner information.
Goals, including output measures and desired future
values.
[[Page 47866]]
Plan information (for projects connected to plans).
For all WSFR grant program reports, we plan to collect:
Geospatial entry of action location.
Action status (active, completed, etc.).
Information beyond summary of land costs and title vesting
evidence (for land acquisition projects).
Current year data point(s) on trend line graph if there
are 3 or more years (for survey projects).
Estimated costs, by action.
Effectiveness measures (mandatory for State Wildlife
Grants).
The table below shows the additional time that will be required to
obtain and enter the information when we implement Wildlife TRACS. We
expect that this time will decrease as grantees become familiar with
the system. We also expect to reduce the burden currently approved
under OMB Control Nos. 1018-0109 and 1018-0147 for reports. When
grantees directly enter reporting information into Wildlife TRACS, they
will not be required to submit written reports.
II. Data
OMB Control Number: 1018-XXXX.
Title: Application and Performance Reporting for Wildlife and Sport
Fish Restoration Grants and Cooperative Agreements.
Service Form Number: None.
Type of Request: Request for a new OMB control number.
Description of Respondents: Primarily States; the Commonwealths of
Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands; the District of Columbia;
the territories of Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa; and
federally-recognized tribal governments. For certain grant programs,
institutions of higher education and nongovernmental organizations may
also apply.
Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.
Frequency of Collection: We require applications annually for new
grants or as needed for multi-year grants. We require amendments on
occasion when key elements of a project change. We require quarterly
and final performance reports in the National Outreach and
Communication Program and annual and final performance reports in the
other programs. We may require more frequent reports under the
conditions stated at 43 CFR 12.52 and 43 CFR 12.914.
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Completion
Number of Number of time per Total annual
Activity respondents responses response burden hours
(hours)
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Application (Mandatory program)--collect and 56 625 4 2,500
enter information..............................
Amendment--collect and enter information........ 150 1,500 .5 750
Performance Reports--collect and enter 200 3,500 2 7,000
additional information.........................
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Totals...................................... 406 5.625 .............. 10,250
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III. Comment
We 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. We will include or summarize each comment in our request
to OMB to approve this IC. 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.
Dated: August 3, 2012.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy and Directives Management, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-19680 Filed 8-9-12; 8:45 am]
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