Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget; Programmatic Clearance for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Social Science Research, 17865-17868 [2024-05184]
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 49 / Tuesday, March 12, 2024 / Notices
Frequency
of response
Appendix A: Data License Application ......................................
Appendix B: Data License Agreement ......................................
Appendix C: Affidavit of Nondisclosure ....................................
Annual Report ...........................................................................
Appendix D: Data File Destruction Form ..................................
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15
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40
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Total Burden Hours ............................................................
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B. Solicitation of Public Comment
C. Authority
Section 3507 of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507.
Todd M. Richardson,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy,
Development and Research.
[FR Doc. 2024–05157 Filed 3–11–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210–67–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–HQ–NWRS–2024–N008;
FXRS126109HD000–245–FF09R23000; OMB
Control Number 1018–New]
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget;
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:
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Responses
per annum
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 April 11,
2024.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be
submitted within 30 days of publication
of this notice at https://
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
Find this particular information
collection by selecting ‘‘Currently under
Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or
by using the search function. Please
provide a copy of your comments to the
Service Information Collection
Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, MS: PRB (JAO/3W),
5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA
22041–3803 (mail); or by email to Info_
Coll@fws.gov. Please reference ‘‘1018–
USFWS Programmatic’’ in the subject
line of your comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Madonna 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 of 1995 (PRA, 44 U.S.C.
3501 et seq.) and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), we
provide the general public and other
Federal agencies with an opportunity 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.
SUMMARY:
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.
HUD encourages interested parties to
submit comments in response to these
questions.
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Burden
hours per
response
Number of
respondents
Information collection
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Annual
burden
hours
Hourly cost
per
response
Annual cost
15
15
11.25
40
1.5
$47.31
57.63
23.41
57.63
48.85
$709.65
864.45
263.36
2,305.20
73.28
82.75
....................
4,215.94
On October 2, 2023, we published in
the Federal Register (88 FR 67792) a
notice of our intent to request that OMB
approve this information collection. In
that notice, we solicited comments for
60 days, ending on December 1, 2023.
In an effort to increase public awareness
of, and participation in, our public
commenting processes associated with
information collection requests (ICRs),
the Service also published the Federal
Register notice on Regulations.gov
(Docket No. FWS–HQ–NWRS–2023–
0126). We received five comments
(described below) in response to that
notice:
Comments 1 and 2: Two comments
objected to collecting information from
specific populations and the
effectiveness of survey’s information
collection tools.
Agency Response to Comments 1 and
2: Input from a variety of populations
and recreation groups is critical to a
robust understanding of potential
impacts from management, planning,
and policy decisions. Information
collection and understanding social
landscapes help the Service better meet
its mission of working with others to
conserve, protect, and enhance fish,
wildlife, and plants and their habitats
for the continuing benefit of the
American People. The agency took no
action to unilaterally exclude public
input from certain recreation groups or
prevent stakeholder input as a tool to
inform decisions.
Comment 3: One comment was about
the appropriate use of animals for
hunting, fishing, and trapping.
Agency Response to Comment 3: The
agency took no action from this
comment, as it is unrelated to the
information collection.
Comments 4 and 5: Two comments
were supportive the use of information
collection to better understand
customers. One of these comments also
discussed methods to improve
inclusivity and reduce agency burden
with the use of technology.
Agency Response to Comments 4 and
5: The agency appreciates support of its
efforts and suggestions to improve
information collection. When
appropriate, individual information
collections may include methods such
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 49 / Tuesday, March 12, 2024 / Notices
as online data collection or QR code
recruitment. As noted in comment 5, it
may be more difficult to reach certain
populations, and reaching these
populations may necessitate the use of
sampling methods such as in-person
recruitment. The agency took no action,
as each information collection
submitted through this clearance will be
evaluated if sampling methods
appropriately reach the population of
interest.
On April 17, 2020, we published in
the Federal Register (85 FR 21450) a
notice of our intent to request that OMB
approve this information collection. In
that notice, we solicited comments for
60 days, ending on June 16, 2020. We
did not receive any comments in
response to that notice.
On October 12, 2016, we published in
the Federal Register (81 FR 70437) a
notice of our intent to request that OMB
approve this information collection. In
that notice, we solicited comments for
60 days, ending on December 12, 2016.
We received three nonsubstantive
comments in response to that notice
which did not address the information
collection comments. No responses
were required to those comments.
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
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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 of the
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 for the Service to fulfil the
goals of the President’s Executive Order
(E.O.) 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 a better
understanding of 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, residents of communities near
Service-managed units, and
stakeholders and partners, including
Tribal interests.
The President’s E.O. 14008 sets the
goal of conserving ‘‘at least 30 percent
of our lands and waters by 2030,’’
through the Conserving and Restoring
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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 is the increase of access to
outdoor recreation, a management
objective that 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
‘‘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.
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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 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
us 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 nonagency 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 will
review the ICR before it is formally
transmitted to OMB for review and
approval.
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.
Annual estimates
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Mode
Number of
respondents
Completion time
per response
(avg. minutes)
Burden hours **
On-site, mail, internet surveys * .................................................................................
Telephone surveys ....................................................................................................
All nonresponse surveys ...........................................................................................
Focus groups/in-person interviews ............................................................................
20,333
833
784
59
20
25
5
60
6,778
347
65
59
Annual Total .......................................................................................................
3-Year Total .................................................................................................
22,009
66,027
..............................
..............................
7,249
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
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respond to a collection of information
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unless it displays a currently valid OMB
control number.
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 49 / Tuesday, March 12, 2024 / Notices
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. 2024–05184 Filed 3–11–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS–HQ–JAO–2024–0029;
FXGO16621010070–245–FF10G13100; OMB
Control Number 1018–New]
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Improving Our
Understanding of How Trout Anglers
Differ in Their Valuations Between Wild
and Hatchery Trout
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 May 13,
2024.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the
information collection request (ICR) by
one of the following methods (please
reference ‘‘1018-Trout Angler Survey’’
in the subject line of your comments):
• Internet (preferred): https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments
on Docket No. FWS–HQ–JAO–2024–
0029.
• 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.
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.
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SUMMARY:
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19:36 Mar 11, 2024
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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: The Fish and Wildlife Act of
1956 (16 U.S.C. 742(a)–754) establishes
a comprehensive national fish and
wildlife policy and authorizes the
Secretary of the Interior to take steps
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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required for the development,
management, advancement,
conservation, and protection of fisheries
resources and wildlife resources
through research, acquisition of refuge
lands, development of existing facilities,
and other means. The Service, working
with others, is responsible for
conserving, protecting, and enhancing
fish and wildlife and their habitats for
the continuing benefit of the American
people through Federal programs
relating to migratory birds, endangered
species, interjurisdictional fish and
marine mammals, and inland sport
fisheries.
Pursuant to this mission, the Service
acts as a trustee for injured natural
resources when oil or hazardous
substances are spilled or released into
the environment. Through data
collected, scientific assessment
techniques, and extrapolated through
economic analyses, trustees seek to
identify the natural resources injured
from oil or hazardous substances,
determine the extent of the injuries,
recover damages from those responsible,
and plan and carry out restoration
activities. The primary benefit of the
Service’s Natural Resource Damage
Assessment and Response (NRDAR)
program is to achieve restoration of
injured resources for the benefit of the
American people, and at no cost. This
program seeks compensation from
responsible parties to restore natural
resources for all and allows all
Americans to enjoy clean and safe
public rivers and lands.
One aspect of the NRDAR program
relates to releases of oil or hazardous
substances that result in the loss of wild
trout populations. When wild trout
populations are killed or injured during
a release event, one remedy includes
using hatchery trout to replace wild
trout populations. The potential
problem with this approach is that there
is substantial anecdotal evidence that
trout anglers view and value catching
wild trout and hatchery trout
differently. If anglers value wild trout
lost in a spill or release more highly
than hatchery trout, then they may not
have been made fully whole by a
restoration action that substitutes
hatchery trout for wild trout.1 An
examination of existing trout angler
valuation studies found that, in the
1 Department of the Interior regulations at 43 CFR
11.83 state that trustees may recover the
replacement and/or acquisition of equivalent
natural resources capable of providing such services
(as injured) along with the compensable value of
the services lost to the public through the
completion of the baseline restoration,
rehabilitation, replacement, and/or acquisition of
equivalent natural resources.
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17865-17868]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-05184]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-HQ-NWRS-2024-N008; FXRS126109HD000-245-FF09R23000; OMB Control
Number 1018-New]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget; 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
April 11, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be submitted within 30 days of
publication of this notice at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting
``Currently under Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the
search function. Please provide a copy of your comments to the Service
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, MS: PRB (JAO/3W), 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-
3803 (mail); or by email to [email protected]. Please reference ``1018-
USFWS Programmatic'' in the subject line of your comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Madonna 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 of 1995 (PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), we
provide the general public and other Federal agencies with an
opportunity 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.
On October 2, 2023, we published in the Federal Register (88 FR
67792) a notice of our intent to request that OMB approve this
information collection. In that notice, we solicited comments for 60
days, ending on December 1, 2023. In an effort to increase public
awareness of, and participation in, our public commenting processes
associated with information collection requests (ICRs), the Service
also published the Federal Register notice on Regulations.gov (Docket
No. FWS-HQ-NWRS-2023-0126). We received five comments (described below)
in response to that notice:
Comments 1 and 2: Two comments objected to collecting information
from specific populations and the effectiveness of survey's information
collection tools.
Agency Response to Comments 1 and 2: Input from a variety of
populations and recreation groups is critical to a robust understanding
of potential impacts from management, planning, and policy decisions.
Information collection and understanding social landscapes help the
Service better meet its mission of working with others to conserve,
protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for
the continuing benefit of the American People. The agency took no
action to unilaterally exclude public input from certain recreation
groups or prevent stakeholder input as a tool to inform decisions.
Comment 3: One comment was about the appropriate use of animals for
hunting, fishing, and trapping.
Agency Response to Comment 3: The agency took no action from this
comment, as it is unrelated to the information collection.
Comments 4 and 5: Two comments were supportive the use of
information collection to better understand customers. One of these
comments also discussed methods to improve inclusivity and reduce
agency burden with the use of technology.
Agency Response to Comments 4 and 5: The agency appreciates support
of its efforts and suggestions to improve information collection. When
appropriate, individual information collections may include methods
such
[[Page 17866]]
as online data collection or QR code recruitment. As noted in comment
5, it may be more difficult to reach certain populations, and reaching
these populations may necessitate the use of sampling methods such as
in-person recruitment. The agency took no action, as each information
collection submitted through this clearance will be evaluated if
sampling methods appropriately reach the population of interest.
On April 17, 2020, we published in the Federal Register (85 FR
21450) a notice of our intent to request that OMB approve this
information collection. In that notice, we solicited comments for 60
days, ending on June 16, 2020. We did not receive any comments in
response to that notice.
On October 12, 2016, we published in the Federal Register (81 FR
70437) a notice of our intent to request that OMB approve this
information collection. In that notice, we solicited comments for 60
days, ending on December 12, 2016. We received three nonsubstantive
comments in response to that notice which did not address the
information collection comments. No responses were required to those
comments.
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 of the 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 for the
Service to fulfil the goals of the President's Executive Order (E.O.)
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 a better
understanding of 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,
residents of communities near Service-managed units, and stakeholders
and partners, including Tribal interests.
The President's E.O. 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 is the increase of access to outdoor
recreation, a management objective that 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 ``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.
[[Page 17867]]
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 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 us 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
nonagency 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 will review the ICR before it is formally
transmitted to OMB for review and approval.
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual estimates
--------------------------------------------------------
Mode Completion time
Number of per response Burden hours **
respondents (avg. minutes)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On-site, mail, internet surveys *...................... 20,333 20 6,778
Telephone surveys...................................... 833 25 347
All nonresponse 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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 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.
[[Page 17868]]
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. 2024-05184 Filed 3-11-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
