Proposed Information Collection; Programmatic Clearance for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Social Science Research, 70437-70438 [2016-24567]

Agencies

• Fish and Wildlife Service
• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 197 (Wednesday, October 12, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70437-70438]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-24567]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-HQ-R-2016-N175; FXRS126109HD000-167-FF09R23000]


Proposed Information Collection; Programmatic Clearance for U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service Social Science Research

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 by December 12, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the IC to the Information Collection 
Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS BPHC, 5275 
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803 (mail); or 
tina_campbell@fws.gov (email). Please include ``1018-SS Programmatic'' 
in the subject line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this IC, contact Tina Campbell at tina_campbell@fws.gov (email) 
or 703-358-2676 (telephone).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The programmatic clearance applies to social science surveys, 
interviews, and focus groups designed to provide information to Service 
managers and practitioners to improve quality and utility of agency 
programs, services, and planning efforts. Data from collections 
undertaken through the proposed programmatic clearance would provide 
information for agency management, planning, and monitoring and 
evaluating the National Wildlife Refuge System (Refuge System) efforts 
generally and the Urban Wildlife Conservation Program specifically, as 
well as efforts of other Service programs. To ensure continuous 
improvement, Service activities and projects require ongoing systematic 
assessment of their design, implementation, and outcomes. The scope of 
this programmatic clearance includes individual surveys, focus groups, 
and interviews of refuge visitors, potential visitors, and residents of 
communities near Service-managed units, and stakeholders and partners, 
including tribal interests. We estimate that we will receive 20,333 
responses to surveys at 20 minutes per survey; 833

[[Page 70438]]

responses to telephone surveys at 25 minutes per survey; 784 
nonresponses at 5 minutes per survey; and 59 responses from focus 
groups at 1 hour per focus group annually.
    Questions asked under the programmatic clearance must show a clear 
tie to Service management needs. The programmatic review may only be 
used for noncontroversial information collections that are unlikely to 
attract or include topics of significant public interest. OMB must 
approve all collections before we can collect the information.

II. Data

    OMB Control Number: 1018-XXXX.
    Title: Programmatic Clearance for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
Social Science Research.
    Service Form Number: None.
    Type of Request: Request for a new OMB control number.
    Description of Respondents: Persons visiting units managed by the 
Service; potential visitors, including ``virtual visitors'' who access 
content from a Service Web site; local community members; educators 
taking part in programs both on and off Service lands; government 
officials representing the local area, landowners, partners, 
stakeholders, and tribal interests.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
    Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 22,009.
    Estimated Completion Time per Response: Varies from 5 minutes to 1 
hour.
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 7,249.
    Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.

III. Comments

    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: October 5, 2016.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy, Performance, and Management Programs, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-24567 Filed 10-11-16; 8:45 am]
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