Agency Information Collection Activities; Programmatic Clearance for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Social Science Research, 67792-67795 [2023-21665]
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2023 / Notices
Information collection
Number of
respondents
Frequency of
response
Responses
per annum
Burden hour
per response
Annual burden
hours
Hourly cost
per response
Annual cost
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
Sponsor Agreement ......................................
Table of Contents ..........................................
Issuance Statement ......................................
Tax Opinion ...................................................
Transfer Affidavit ...........................................
Supplemental Statement ...............................
Final Data Statements (attached to closing
letter) ..........................................................
Accountants’ Closing Letter ..........................
Accountants’ OSC Letter ..............................
Structuring Data ............................................
Financial Statements .....................................
Principal and Interest Factor File Specifications ...........................................................
Distribution Dates and Statement .................
Term Sheet ...................................................
New Issue File Layout ..................................
Flow of Funds ...............................................
Trustee Receipt .............................................
25
25
25
25
25
25
10
10
10
10
10
0.25
250
250
250
250
250
6.25
0.05
0.33
0.05
4
0.08
1
12.5
82.5
12.5
1000
20
6.25
45.56
45.56
45.56
45.56
45.56
45.56
569.50
3,758.70
569.50
45,560.00
911.20
284.75
25
25
25
25
25
10
10
10
10
10
250
250
250
250
250
32
8
8
8
1
8000
2000
2000
2000
250
45.56
45.56
45.56
45.56
45.56
364,480.00
91,120.00
91,120.00
91,120.00
11,390.00
25
25
25
25
25
25
10
10
10
10
10
10
250
250
250
250
250
250
16
0.42
2
4
0.16
2
4000
105
500
1000
40
500
45.56
45.56
45.56
45.56
45.56
45.56
182,240.00
4,783.80
22,780.00
45,560.00
1,822.40
22,780.00
Subtotal ..................................................
Deposit Agreement .......................................
MBS Schedule ..............................................
New Issue File Layout ..................................
Principal and Interest Factor File Specifications ...........................................................
........................
70
70
70
........................
10
10
10
5,756.25
700
700
700
........................
1
0.16
4
24,713.75
700
112
2,800
........................
45.56
45.56
45.56
1,125,958.45
31,892.00
5,102.72
127,568.00
70
10
700
16
11200
45.56
510,272.00
Subtotal ..................................................
........................
........................
2,800
........................
14,812.00
........................
674,834.72
Total Cost .......................................
........................
........................
8,556.25
........................
39,525.75
........................
1,800,793.17
B. Solicitation of Public Comment
C. Authority
This notice is soliciting comments
from members of the public and affected
parties concerning the collection of
information described in Section A on
the following:
(1) Whether the proposed collection
of information is necessary for the
proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of the agency’s
estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) Ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on those
who are to respond; including through
the use of appropriate automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of responses.
(5) ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including the use
of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
HUD encourages interested parties to
submit comments in response to these
questions.
Section 3507 of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C.
chapter 35.
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Anna P. Guido,
Department Reports Management Office,
Office of Policy Development and Research,
Chief Data Officer.
The Inter-American Foundation is
holding this meeting under the
Government in the Sunshine Act, 5
U.S.C. 552b.
Nicole Stinson,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2023–21862 Filed 9–28–23; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 7025–01–P
[FR Doc. 2023–21587 Filed 9–29–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210–67–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
INTER-AMERICAN FOUNDATION
[Docket No. FWS–HQ–NWRS–2023–0126;
FXRS126109HD000–234–FF09R23000; OMB
Control Number 1018–New]
Sunshine Act Meetings
TIME AND DATE October 10, 2023, ET,
2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
PLACE: Via Zoom.
STATUS: Meeting of the Board of
Directors, open to the public.
MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:
D Call to Order
D Overview of Meeting Rules by General
Counsel
D Approval of Minutes from June 6,
2023 meeting
D 2024 Strategic Priorities Review
D Adjournment
CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Nicole Stinson, Associate General
Counsel, (202) 683–7117 or nstinson@
iaf.gov.
For Dial-in Information Contact:
Nicole Stinson, Associate General
Counsel, nstinson@iaf.gov.
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Fish and Wildlife Service
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Programmatic Clearance for
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Social
Science Research
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of information collection;
request for comment.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), are proposing a new
information collection.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to
submit comments on or before
December 1, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the
information collection request (ICR) by
SUMMARY:
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one of the following methods (reference
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) Control Number 1018—
Programmatic in the subject line of your
comment):
• Internet (preferred): https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments
on Docket No. FWS–HQ–NWRS–2023–
0126.
• U.S. mail: Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, 5275 Leesburg
Pike, MS: PRB (JAO/3W), Falls Church,
VA 22041–3803.
We will not accept email or faxes.
Comments and materials we receive, as
well as supporting documentation, will
be available for public inspection on
https://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To
request additional information about
this ICR, contact Madonna L. Baucum,
Service Information Collection
Clearance Officer, by email at Info_
Coll@fws.gov, or by telephone at (703)
358–2503. Individuals in the United
States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of
hearing, or have a speech disability may
dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to
access telecommunications relay
services. Individuals outside the United
States should use the relay services
offered within their country to make
international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act (PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et
seq.) and its implementing regulations
at 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), all information
collections require approval under the
PRA. 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.
As part of our continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we invite the public and other
Federal agencies to comment on new,
proposed, revised, and continuing
collections of information. This helps us
assess the impact of our information
collection requirements and minimize
the public’s reporting burden. It also
helps the public understand our
information collection requirements and
provide the requested data in the
desired format.
We are especially interested in public
comment addressing the following:
(1) Whether or not the collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether or not the
information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the
burden for this collection of
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information, including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) How might the agency minimize
the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to
respond, including through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of response.
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 ICR. 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.
Abstract: Monitoring and evaluating
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service)
activities, including the activities
National Wildlife Refuge System
(Refuge System), is an essential
component of strategic and adaptive
management. The collection of
information is necessary to enable the
Service to garner customer and
stakeholder feedback in an efficient,
timely manner, in accordance with our
commitment to improved service
delivery and customer experience. In
particular, collection of information and
rigorous social science inquiries are
necessary to fulfil the goals of the
President’s Executive Order 14008—
Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and
Abroad, the principles of the Service’s
community-focused Urban Wildlife
Conservation Program, a commitment to
serving a broader and more diverse
public, and allowing the Service to
better understand the needs and
perspectives of Tribal Nations and
Native communities.
The proposed programmatic clearance
would cover 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. To ensure
continuous improvement, Service
activities and projects require ongoing
systematic assessment of their design,
implementation, and outcomes. Data
from collections undertaken through the
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proposed programmatic clearance
would provide information for
planning, monitoring, and evaluating
Refuge System efforts, as well as efforts
of other Service programs. 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.
The President’s Executive Order
14008 sets the goal of conserving ‘‘at
least 30 percent of our lands and waters
by 2030’’ through the Conserving and
Restoring America the Beautiful
campaign. A collaborative approach is
needed to achieve the principles for
locally led efforts and better understand
the patterns and trends occurring across
public lands and waters. The Service’s
national visitor survey is one approach
to collecting information from the
public related to visitation across the
Refuge System. The national visitor
survey seeks to understand the
recreation trends and experiences of
visitors at refuges to better manage for
future visitation that aligns with
national conservation goals. One of the
recommendations for early focus and
progress in the America the Beautiful
campaign specifically recommends
increasing access for outdoor recreation,
a management objective the monitoring
data from the visitor survey can help to
inform.
The Service’s Urban Wildlife
Conservation program (Urban program)
was established as a means to engage
with urban communities more
meaningfully in fish and wildlife
conservation. It enumerates designation
criteria for urban wildlife refuges (urban
refuges), partnerships, and bird treaty
cities, and describes how the standards
of excellence apply to urban refuges and
other urban activities. The Urban
program aligns particularly well with
the Department of the Interior’s focus on
equity and environmental justice, work
that helps to achieve one of the
President’s Four Pillars (Racial Equity).
Another recommendation outlined in
the Conserving and Restoring America
the Beautiful campaign includes
creating safe outdoor opportunities in
nature-deprived communities, a goal of
which the Urban program is helping to
achieve.
The Service is required to ‘‘evaluate
and adapt’’ the practices of the Urban
program through internal review of the
urban entities by the Division of Visitor
Services and Communications every 5
years, including an expanded visitor
services review for the Urban Refuges as
per Policy 110 FW 1. The Division
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2023 / Notices
‘‘must analyze the people they are
reaching and conduct approved visitor
use surveys to monitor the changes and
track audience engagement.’’ In
addition, the Service is committed to
evaluating progress and measuring
success of the Urban Program’s
standards of excellence, such as ‘‘know
and relate to the community; connect
urban residents with nature through the
steppingstones of engagement; and
ensure visitors feel safe and welcome.’’
The Service’s Human Dimensions
(HD) Branch, programmatically aligned
within the National Wildlife Refuge
System, will serve as the office of
control for the programmatic clearance.
The role of the HD Branch is to build
conservation social science
understanding, capacity and integration
within the Service. A suite of questions
will serve as the basis for all
information collections under this
programmatic clearance. The suite of
questions will be used to develop
surveys to respond to the above-named
Presidential Priorities as well as
adaptively ensure improved customer
experience and satisfaction. As the
office of control, the HD branch ICR
Coordinator will conduct the necessary
quality control, including assuring that
each survey instrument comports with
the guidelines of the programmatic
clearance.
We developed the following topic
areas within the suite of questions to
streamline the ICR process:
(1) Respondent Characteristics (e.g.,
demographics, land and property
characteristics, and visits to other public
lands). This topic area allows us to
understand customer demographic
profiles and track visitation trends more
holistically over time.
(2) Communication (e.g., languages
spoken, sources of information used,
and use of social media and other webbased outlets). This topic area allows us
to understand customer preferences for
finding information.
(3) Trip Planning and Logistics (e.g.,
purpose of trip, information on
wayfinding used, and various trip
characteristics). This topic area allows
us to understand the logistics and
information involved with a customer’s
trip planning experience and make
strategic transportation decisions.
(4) Recreation Activities, Experiences,
and Preferences (e.g., recreation activity
preferences, experience, and
satisfaction). This topic area allows us
to better why customers visit,
understand preferences for wildlifedependent recreation, and provide a
quality customer experiences at specific
sites.
(5) Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs
(e.g., understanding and opinions
around nature, the outdoors, climate
change, and the agency). This topic area
allows us to improve future
programming and communications with
customers.
(6) Resource Management Perceptions
and Preferences (e.g., attitudes around
resource protection, transportation
needs, and other management
decisions). This topic area allows us to
understand current customer
perceptions and anticipate as how
customers would most likely react to
future management actions.
(7) Visitor Expenditures and
Economic Inputs (e.g., trip expenses,
information on local businesses, and
landowner contributions). This topic
area allows us to gather economic data
related to conservation goals of the
agency.
(8) Public, Stakeholder, and Partner
Engagement (e.g., participation in
programs, partnerships, and various
conservation actions). This topic area
allows us to understand if and how the
customer dedicates their time to
conservation-related actions.
(9) Program Evaluation (e.g., learning
outcomes, program experience rating,
and satisfaction). This topic area allows
to better assess overall program
outcomes and performance to improve
future programming.
To qualify for the generic
programmatic review process, each
individual collection under this
programmatic clearance must be welldefined in terms of its sample or
respondent pool and research
methodology; it should clearly fit within
the overall plan and scope of the
approved ICR; and the survey questions
must show a clear tie to Service
management needs. Individual
collections may not raise any
controversial policy issues, include
topics of significant public interest, or
go beyond the methods specified and
approved by OMB in this programmatic
ICR. Any individual collection that
requests non-agency goal-related data or
information on controversial topics
would be inappropriate for expedited
review under this programmatic
clearance and must go through the full
PRA clearance process to solicit public
feedback. In instances where HD Branch
staff are involved with the development
of the individual information collection,
other uninvolved staff in the HD Branch
or a member of the ICR review team
would review the ICR.
We will obtain OMB approval of all
individual survey submissions
developed using the pre-approved suite
of questions before the survey can be
initiated. If, after consultation with the
principal investigator, the ICR
coordinator recommends a proposed
survey for approval, both the Service
and Departmental Information
Collection Clearance Officers (ICCO)
will review the ICR before it is formally
transmitted to OMB for review and
approval.
A copy of the draft suite of questions
is available to the public for viewing in
the docket on the https://
www.regulations.gov website, or by
submitting an email request to the
Service ICCO as provided in the FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this notice.
Title of Collection: Programmatic
Clearance for U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service Social Science Research.
OMB Control Number: 1018–New.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: New.
Respondents/Affected Public: Persons
visiting units managed by the Service;
potential visitors, including ‘‘virtual
visitors’’ who access content from a
Service website; 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.
Total Estimated Annual Nonhour
Burden Cost: None.
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Annual estimates
Mode
Number of
respondents
On-site, mail, internet surveys * ...................................................................................................
Telephone surveys ......................................................................................................................
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20,333
833
E:\FR\FM\02OCN1.SGM
02OCN1
Completion
time per
response
(avg.
minutes)
20
25
Burden
hours **
6,778
347
67795
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2023 / Notices
Annual estimates
Mode
Completion
time per
response
(avg.
minutes)
Number of
respondents
Burden
hours **
All non-response surveys ............................................................................................................
Focus groups/In-person interviews ..............................................................................................
784
59
5
60
65
59
Annual Total .........................................................................................................................
22,009
........................
7,249
3 Year Total ..........................................................................................................................
66,027
........................
21,747
* Includes 2-minute contact time for some surveys, interviews, and focus groups, and approximately 2,500 electronic surveys.
** All figures are rounded.
An agency 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.
The authority for this action is the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Madonna Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2023–21665 Filed 9–29–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[BLM_HQ_FRN_MO4500173718]
Call for Nominations for the National
Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of call for nominations.
AGENCY:
The purpose of this notice is
to solicit public nominations for three
positions on the Wild Horse and Burro
Advisory Board (Board) that will
become vacant on January 11, 2024. The
Board provides advice concerning the
management, protection, and control of
wild free-roaming horses and burros on
public lands administered by the
Department of the Interior, through the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and
the Department of Agriculture, through
the U.S. Forest Service.
DATES: Nominations must be post
marked or submitted to the following
addresses no later than November 16,
2023.
ADDRESSES: All mail sent via the U.S.
Postal Service should be addressed as
follows:
Wild Horses and Burro Division, U.S.
Department of the Interior, Bureau of
Land Management, Attn: Dorothea
Boothe, HQ–260, 9828 31st Avenue;
Phoenix, AZ 85051.
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SUMMARY:
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18:41 Sep 29, 2023
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All packages that are sent via FedEx
or UPS should be addressed as follows:
U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Land Management, Wild
Horse and Burro Division, Attn:
Dorothea Boothe, 9828 31st Avenue,
Phoenix, AZ 85051. Please consider
emailing PDF documents to Ms. Boothe
at dboothe@blm.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dorothea Boothe, Wild Horse and Burro
Program Coordinator, telephone: 602–
906–5543, email: dboothe@blm.gov.
Individuals in the United States who are
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have
a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY,
TDD, or TeleBraille) to access
telecommunications relay services.
Individuals outside the United States
should use the relay services offered
within their country to make
international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Members
of the Board serve without
compensation; however, while away
from their homes or regular places of
business, Board and subcommittee
members engaged in Board or
subcommittee business approved by the
Designated Federal Officer (DFO) may
be allowed travel expenses, including
per diem in lieu of subsistence under 5
U.S.C. 5703, in the same manner as
persons employed intermittently in
government service. Nominations for a
term of 3 years are needed to represent
the following categories of interest:
• Natural Resource Management;
• Public Interest (Equine Behavior);
and
• Wild Horse and Burro Research.
The Board will meet one to four times
annually. The DFO may call additional
meetings in connection with special
needs for advice. Individuals may
nominate themselves or others. Any
individual or organization may
nominate one or more persons to serve
on the Board.
Nominations should include a resume
providing an adequate description of the
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nominee’s qualifications, including
information that would enable the
Departments of the Interior and
Agriculture to make an informed
decision regarding meeting the
membership requirements of the Board
and permit the Departments to contact
a potential member. Nominations are to
be sent to the address listed under
ADDRESSES. To assist nominees in
developing nominations packets, please
visit the BLM website at https://
www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-andburro/get-involved/advisory-board and
use the document template, Applying to
Serve on the Advisory Board.
As appropriate, certain Board
members may be appointed as special
government employees (SGEs). Please
be aware that applicants selected to
serve as SGEs will be required, prior to
appointment, to file a Confidential
Financial Disclosure Report in order to
avoid involvement in real or apparent
conflicts of interest. You may find a
copy of the Confidential Financial
Disclosure Report at the following Web
site: https://www.doi.gov/ethics/
financial-disclosure. Additionally, after
appointment, members appointed as
SGEs will be required to meet
applicable financial disclosure and
ethics training requirements. Please
contact (202) 202–208–7960 or DOI_
Ethics@sol.doi.gov with any questions
about the ethics requirements for
members appointed as SGEs.
Membership Selection: Individuals
shall qualify to serve on the Board
because of their education, training, or
experience that enables them to give
informed and objective advice regarding
the interest they represent. They should
demonstrate experience or knowledge of
the area of their expertise and a
commitment to collaborate in seeking
solutions to resource management
issues. The Board is structured to
provide fair membership and balance,
both geographic and interest specific, in
terms of the functions to be performed
and points of view to be represented.
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 189 (Monday, October 2, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67792-67795]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-21665]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-HQ-NWRS-2023-0126; FXRS126109HD000-234-FF09R23000; OMB
Control Number 1018-New]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Programmatic Clearance
for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Social Science Research
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing a new
information collection.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
December 1, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the information collection request
(ICR) by
[[Page 67793]]
one of the following methods (reference Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) Control Number 1018--Programmatic in the subject line of your
comment):
Internet (preferred): https://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-HQ-NWRS-
2023-0126.
U.S. mail: Service Information Collection Clearance
Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB
(JAO/3W), Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
We will not accept email or faxes. Comments and materials we
receive, as well as supporting documentation, will be available for
public inspection on https://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information
about this ICR, contact Madonna L. Baucum, Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer, by email at [email protected], or by
telephone at (703) 358-2503. Individuals in the United States who are
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial
711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay
services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay
services offered within their country to make international calls to
the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act (PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and its implementing regulations at 5
CFR 1320.8(d)(1), all information collections require approval under
the PRA. 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.
As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we invite the public and other Federal agencies to comment on
new, proposed, revised, and continuing collections of information. This
helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements
and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public
understand our information collection requirements and provide the
requested data in the desired format.
We are especially interested in public comment addressing the
following:
(1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether or not the information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection
of information, including the validity of the methodology and
assumptions used;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
(4) How might the agency minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g.,
permitting electronic submission of response.
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 ICR. 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.
Abstract: Monitoring and evaluating U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service) activities, including the activities National Wildlife Refuge
System (Refuge System), is an essential component of strategic and
adaptive management. The collection of information is necessary to
enable the Service to garner customer and stakeholder feedback in an
efficient, timely manner, in accordance with our commitment to improved
service delivery and customer experience. In particular, collection of
information and rigorous social science inquiries are necessary to
fulfil the goals of the President's Executive Order 14008--Tackling the
Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, the principles of the Service's
community-focused Urban Wildlife Conservation Program, a commitment to
serving a broader and more diverse public, and allowing the Service to
better understand the needs and perspectives of Tribal Nations and
Native communities.
The proposed programmatic clearance would cover 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. To ensure continuous
improvement, Service activities and projects require ongoing systematic
assessment of their design, implementation, and outcomes. Data from
collections undertaken through the proposed programmatic clearance
would provide information for planning, monitoring, and evaluating
Refuge System efforts, as well as efforts of other Service programs.
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.
The President's Executive Order 14008 sets the goal of conserving
``at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030'' through the
Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful campaign. A
collaborative approach is needed to achieve the principles for locally
led efforts and better understand the patterns and trends occurring
across public lands and waters. The Service's national visitor survey
is one approach to collecting information from the public related to
visitation across the Refuge System. The national visitor survey seeks
to understand the recreation trends and experiences of visitors at
refuges to better manage for future visitation that aligns with
national conservation goals. One of the recommendations for early focus
and progress in the America the Beautiful campaign specifically
recommends increasing access for outdoor recreation, a management
objective the monitoring data from the visitor survey can help to
inform.
The Service's Urban Wildlife Conservation program (Urban program)
was established as a means to engage with urban communities more
meaningfully in fish and wildlife conservation. It enumerates
designation criteria for urban wildlife refuges (urban refuges),
partnerships, and bird treaty cities, and describes how the standards
of excellence apply to urban refuges and other urban activities. The
Urban program aligns particularly well with the Department of the
Interior's focus on equity and environmental justice, work that helps
to achieve one of the President's Four Pillars (Racial Equity). Another
recommendation outlined in the Conserving and Restoring America the
Beautiful campaign includes creating safe outdoor opportunities in
nature-deprived communities, a goal of which the Urban program is
helping to achieve.
The Service is required to ``evaluate and adapt'' the practices of
the Urban program through internal review of the urban entities by the
Division of Visitor Services and Communications every 5 years,
including an expanded visitor services review for the Urban Refuges as
per Policy 110 FW 1. The Division
[[Page 67794]]
``must analyze the people they are reaching and conduct approved
visitor use surveys to monitor the changes and track audience
engagement.'' In addition, the Service is committed to evaluating
progress and measuring success of the Urban Program's standards of
excellence, such as ``know and relate to the community; connect urban
residents with nature through the steppingstones of engagement; and
ensure visitors feel safe and welcome.''
The Service's Human Dimensions (HD) Branch, programmatically
aligned within the National Wildlife Refuge System, will serve as the
office of control for the programmatic clearance. The role of the HD
Branch is to build conservation social science understanding, capacity
and integration within the Service. A suite of questions will serve as
the basis for all information collections under this programmatic
clearance. The suite of questions will be used to develop surveys to
respond to the above-named Presidential Priorities as well as
adaptively ensure improved customer experience and satisfaction. As the
office of control, the HD branch ICR Coordinator will conduct the
necessary quality control, including assuring that each survey
instrument comports with the guidelines of the programmatic clearance.
We developed the following topic areas within the suite of
questions to streamline the ICR process:
(1) Respondent Characteristics (e.g., demographics, land and
property characteristics, and visits to other public lands). This topic
area allows us to understand customer demographic profiles and track
visitation trends more holistically over time.
(2) Communication (e.g., languages spoken, sources of information
used, and use of social media and other web-based outlets). This topic
area allows us to understand customer preferences for finding
information.
(3) Trip Planning and Logistics (e.g., purpose of trip, information
on wayfinding used, and various trip characteristics). This topic area
allows us to understand the logistics and information involved with a
customer's trip planning experience and make strategic transportation
decisions.
(4) Recreation Activities, Experiences, and Preferences (e.g.,
recreation activity preferences, experience, and satisfaction). This
topic area allows us to better why customers visit, understand
preferences for wildlife-dependent recreation, and provide a quality
customer experiences at specific sites.
(5) Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs (e.g., understanding and
opinions around nature, the outdoors, climate change, and the agency).
This topic area allows us to improve future programming and
communications with customers.
(6) Resource Management Perceptions and Preferences (e.g.,
attitudes around resource protection, transportation needs, and other
management decisions). This topic area allows us to understand current
customer perceptions and anticipate as how customers would most likely
react to future management actions.
(7) Visitor Expenditures and Economic Inputs (e.g., trip expenses,
information on local businesses, and landowner contributions). This
topic area allows us to gather economic data related to conservation
goals of the agency.
(8) Public, Stakeholder, and Partner Engagement (e.g.,
participation in programs, partnerships, and various conservation
actions). This topic area allows us to understand if and how the
customer dedicates their time to conservation-related actions.
(9) Program Evaluation (e.g., learning outcomes, program experience
rating, and satisfaction). This topic area allows to better assess
overall program outcomes and performance to improve future programming.
To qualify for the generic programmatic review process, each
individual collection under this programmatic clearance must be well-
defined in terms of its sample or respondent pool and research
methodology; it should clearly fit within the overall plan and scope of
the approved ICR; and the survey questions must show a clear tie to
Service management needs. Individual collections may not raise any
controversial policy issues, include topics of significant public
interest, or go beyond the methods specified and approved by OMB in
this programmatic ICR. Any individual collection that requests non-
agency goal-related data or information on controversial topics would
be inappropriate for expedited review under this programmatic clearance
and must go through the full PRA clearance process to solicit public
feedback. In instances where HD Branch staff are involved with the
development of the individual information collection, other uninvolved
staff in the HD Branch or a member of the ICR review team would review
the ICR.
We will obtain OMB approval of all individual survey submissions
developed using the pre-approved suite of questions before the survey
can be initiated. If, after consultation with the principal
investigator, the ICR coordinator recommends a proposed survey for
approval, both the Service and Departmental Information Collection
Clearance Officers (ICCO) will review the ICR before it is formally
transmitted to OMB for review and approval.
A copy of the draft suite of questions is available to the public
for viewing in the docket on the https://www.regulations.gov website,
or by submitting an email request to the Service ICCO as provided in
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this notice.
Title of Collection: Programmatic Clearance for U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service Social Science Research.
OMB Control Number: 1018-New.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: New.
Respondents/Affected Public: Persons visiting units managed by the
Service; potential visitors, including ``virtual visitors'' who access
content from a Service website; 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.
Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.
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Annual estimates
-----------------------------------------------
Completion
Mode Number of time per Burden hours
respondents response (avg. **
minutes)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On-site, mail, internet surveys *............................... 20,333 20 6,778
Telephone surveys............................................... 833 25 347
[[Page 67795]]
All non-response surveys........................................ 784 5 65
Focus groups/In-person interviews............................... 59 60 59
-----------------------------------------------
Annual Total................................................ 22,009 .............. 7,249
-----------------------------------------------
3 Year Total................................................ 66,027 .............. 21,747
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* Includes 2-minute contact time for some surveys, interviews, and focus groups, and approximately 2,500
electronic surveys.
** All figures are rounded.
An agency 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.
The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Madonna Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-21665 Filed 9-29-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
