[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 142 (Friday, July 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44147-44148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-18080]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-HQ-ES-2015-N143; FXES1112090000-134-FF09E31000]
Information Collection Request Sent to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for Approval; Survey of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Habitat Conservation Bank Sponsors and Managers
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) have sent an Information
Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. We summarize
the ICR below and describe the nature of the collection and the
estimated burden and cost. We may not conduct or sponsor and you are
not required to respond to a collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control number.
DATES: You must submit comments on or before August 24, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments and suggestions on this information
collection to the Desk Officer for the Department of the Interior at
OMB-OIRA at (202) 395-5806 (fax) or OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov
(email). Please provide a copy of your comments to the Information
Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS BPHC,
5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803 (mail), or
hope_grey@fws.gov (email). Please include ``1018-Conservation Banking
Survey'' in the subject line of your comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information
about this ICR, contact Hope Grey at hope_grey@fws.gov (email) or 703-
358-2482 (telephone). You may review the ICR online at http://www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to review Department of the
Interior collections under review by OMB.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Information Collection Request
OMB Control Number: 1018--XXXX.
Title: Survey of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Habitat
Conservation Bank Sponsors and Managers.
Service Form Number: None.
Type of Request: Request for a new OMB control number.
Description of Respondents: Sponsors and managers of conservation
banks.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Frequency of Collection: One time.
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Number of Total annual
Activity responses Completion time per response burden hours
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Initial Contact............................... 85 5 minutes....................... 7
Initial Invitation Email...................... 186 2 minutes....................... 6
Complete Survey 1............................. 72 10 minutes...................... 12
Complete Survey 2............................. 86 15 minutes...................... 22
[[Page 44148]]
Reminder 1.................................... 102 1 minute........................ 2
Reminder 2.................................... 56 1 minute........................ 1
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Totals.................................... 587 ................................ 50
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Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.
Abstract: Conservation banks are permanently protected lands that
contain natural resource values, which are conserved and permanently
managed for species that are endangered or threatened, candidates for
listing as endangered or threatened, or are otherwise species at risk.
The habitat preserved, restored, or established in conservation banks
is used to offset adverse impacts to species that occurred elsewhere.
We approve habitat or species credits that bank owners may sell in
exchange for permanently protecting and managing habitat for these
species. We began approving conservation banks in the early 1990s, and
132 banks have been approved as of January 2015 (including approved and
sold-out banks).
The Service and the Department of the Interior's Office of Policy
Analysis are conducting an analysis to identify potential institutional
or other impediments to the habitat conservation banking program, and
develop possible options for encouraging expanded use of the program.
We plan to survey conservation bank sponsors and managers. The surveys
will benefit the Service by helping to identify constraints in the
current conservation banking program, and thus provide important
information for developing recommendations for further expansion or
perhaps changes to the program.
We will survey leaders and managers from the entire sample of
entities sponsoring conservation banks. Two surveys will be used to
obtain information from a corporate or organizational point of view, as
well as information about the operation of individual banks. We plan to
collect:
(1) Background information on the bank(s).
(2) Information about experience with the conservation banking
program.
(3) Perceptions of technical and institutional obstacles
encountered in the conservation banking program.
(4) Perceptions of incentives that would help foster successful
banks.
Comments Received and Our Responses
Comments: On May 15, 2013, we published in the Federal Register (78
FR 28619) a notice of our intent to request that OMB approve this
information collection. In that notice, we solicited comments for 60
days, ending on July 15, 2013. We received one comment in response to
that notice. The commenter objected to the survey, but did not address
the information collection requirements. We did not make any changes to
the survey.
Request for Public Comments
We again 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. 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 OMB in your comment to withhold your personal
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that it
will be done.
Dated: July 15, 2015.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy, Performance, and Management Programs, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-18080 Filed 7-23-15; 8:45 am]
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