[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 116 (Tuesday, June 17, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34548-34549]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-14102]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-HQ-NWRS-2012-0092; FXRS 84510900000-134-FF09R20000]
RIN 1018-AY36
Policy on Donations, Fundraising, and Solicitation
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces that it
has established a policy that covers Service procedures for accepting,
using, and recognizing donations. This donations policy is an extension
of the Department of the Interior's guidance on donations, found in the
Departmental Manual (DM) at 374 DM 6. The donations policy establishes
procedures for reviewing and evaluating potential donors and donations.
It lists delegations of authority for accepting donations and the roles
and responsibilities of the Service's Donations Senior Manager and
employees authorized to accept donations. It provides guidance on
soliciting donations, where appropriate, and provides general guidance
on fundraising by non-Federal entities on the Service's behalf. It
focuses on the ethical considerations of all types of donations, as
opposed to our Fish and Wildlife Service Manual (FW) guidance, 342 FW
5, Non-Purchase Acquisition, which covers the acquisition of real
property rights by methods other than purchase, including donation.
DATES: This policy is effective as of May 1, 2014.
ADDRESSES: You may obtain copies of this final policy at http://www.fws.gov/policy/manuals. The final policy and comments are available
at http://www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWS-HQ-NWRS-2012-0092.
Alternatively, you may request a copy by U.S. mail from USFWS, Division
of Realty, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 622, Arlington, Virginia 22203
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). They are also available for
public inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the
above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janet Bruner, 703-358-1713.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
We have established a final donations policy, which is available at
http://www.fws.gov/policy/manuals. We have incorporated this policy as
part 212, chapter 8, of the Fish and Wildlife
[[Page 34549]]
Service Manual. The purpose of this policy is to establish policy for
accepting, using, and recognizing donations. The policy includes
procedures for reviewing and evaluating potential donors and donations,
as well as guidance on soliciting donations and fundraising.
Background
The Department of the Interior issued ``ETHICS AND CONDUCT,
Employee Responsibilities and Conduct, Donations'' (374 DM 6) in 2007.
This guidance requires all Interior bureaus to develop their own policy
on donations.
Several authorities allow various types of donations, including
real and personal property, services, and money. These include the Fish
and Wildlife Coordination Act (16 U.S.C. 661 et seq.), which allows
acceptance of funds or lands, pending State approval. A later amendment
to the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 742f) allows the
Service to accept real and personal property donations. Other
authorities cited in this donations policy include the Partnerships for
Wildlife Act (16 U.S.C. 3741); Alaska National Interest Lands
Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3101); Migratory Bird Conservation Act, as
amended (16 U.S.C. 715-715r); National Wildlife Refuge System Volunteer
and Community Partnership Enhancement Act of 1998, as amended (16
U.S.C. 742f); Great Lakes Fisheries Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 932); and
the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 (16
U.S.C. 668dd(b)(2)).
In addition to those broader authorities, individual units of the
National Wildlife Refuge System or the National Fish Hatchery System
may have specific legislative authority to accept donations. This
donations policy is in keeping with statutory requirements as well as
with the aforementioned Departmental guidance, 374 DM 6.
Final Policy
We recognize the value of donations, but also the potential
problems with accepting them. This policy covers the ethical
considerations for donations, fundraising, and solicitation. While
donations can be a means to further our mission, not all donations are
appropriate. This policy provides consistent procedures for evaluating
potential donors and donations to determine if acceptance is
appropriate. The policy also helps the reader determine who has
authority to accept appropriate donations. That authority depends on
the type (real property or non-real property) and the monetary value of
the donation.
This policy also covers soliciting donations and fundraising. Those
activities are primarily done by Friends groups, which are groups of
volunteers who support specific refuges. The donations policy lists the
limited circumstances when Service employees may solicit donations. It
describes inappropriate fundraising activities and also mentions grant
applications and acceptance.
Recognizing donors is very important. This policy also contains
information on that, including a template for a thank-you letter.
Summary of Comments and Changes to the Final Policy
On January 15, 2013, we announced the draft policy and requested
public comments via a Federal Register notice (78 FR 3023). The comment
period was open from January 15, 2013, through February 15, 2013. We
received 14 comment letters on the draft policy. The letters included
69 individual comments on the draft policy. The comments were from
Federal government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and
individuals. Most of the comments addressed specific elements, while
some comments expressed general support, without addressing specific
elements. We considered all of the information and recommendations for
improvement included in the comments and made appropriate changes to
the draft policy. We also made some additions and clarifications to the
policy that were not addressed in the public comments, but were
discovered through internal briefings and reviews during the policy
revision period.
Dated: May 27, 2014.
Stephen Guertin,
Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-14102 Filed 6-16-14; 8:45 am]
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