Notice2024-18385
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Coral Reef Conservation Program
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 16, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 159 (Friday, August 16, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 159 (Friday, August 16, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66695-66696]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-18385]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Coral Reef Conservation Program
The Department of Commerce will submit the following information
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite the
general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and
continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of
our information collection requirements and minimize the public's
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the
Federal Register on April 30, 2024, during a 60-day comment period.
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.
Title: Coral Reef Conservation Program.
OMB Control Number: 0648-0448.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Revision of a current information collection.
Number of Respondents: 49.
Average Hours per Response: 13.7.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 1004.
Needs and Uses: This request is for revision to an approved
collection of information and new information collection under the
Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., and implementing
regulations at 5 CFR part 1320. The Coral Reef Conservation Act of
2000, 16 U.S.C. 6401 et seq., has been amended since the last approval
and the revised requirements for information collection are outlined
below.
The Coral Reef Conservation Act was enacted to conserve and restore
the condition of United States coral reef ecosystems challenged by
natural and human-accelerated changes; to promote the science-based
management and sustainable use of coral reef ecosystems to benefit
local communities and the Nation; to develop sound scientific
information on the condition of coral reef ecosystems, continuing and
emerging threats to such ecosystems, and the efficacy of innovative
tools, technologies, and strategies to mitigate stressors and restore
such ecosystems; to assist in the preservation of coral reefs by
supporting science-based, consensus-driven, and community-based coral
reef management by covered States (Florida, Hawaii, and the territories
of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
Guam, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands) and covered
Native entities (an Indian Tribe, the Department of Hawaiian Home
Lands, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, or a Native Hawaiian
organization with interests in a coral reef ecosystem); to provide
financial resources, technical assistance, and scientific expertise to
supplement, complement, and strengthen community-based management
programs and conservation and restoration projects of non-Federal
reefs; to establish a formal mechanism for collecting and allocating
monetary donations from the private sector to be used for coral reef
conservation and restoration projects; to support rapid, effective, and
science-based assessment and response to exigent circumstances that
pose immediate and long-term threats to coral reefs; and to serve as a
model for advancing similar international efforts to monitor, conserve,
and restore coral reef ecosystems.
Under section 6406 of the Act (Block Grants), covered States are
responsible for documenting and reporting the State's use of Federal
funds received under the Act; and expenditures of non-Federal funds
made in furtherance of coral reef management and restoration as the
NOAA Administrator (Administrator) deems appropriate. The Administrator
is responsible for providing guidance on the proper documentation of
expenditures.
Under section 6410 of the Act (Ruth D. Gates Coral Reef
Conservation Grant Program), the NOAA Administrator, and subject to the
availability of appropriations, is authorized to provide up to
$3,500,000 annually (per section 6414(c)) in grants for coral reef
conservation projects.
Under section 6405 of the Act, Federal agencies, covered State or
County resource management agencies, and/or covered Native entities may
form and chair stewardship partnerships to further community-based
stewardship of coral reefs. The NOAA Administrator is responsible for
identifying ecologically significant coral reef units that stewardship
partnerships may be focused on and adjudicating multiple applicants for
stewardship of the same of overlapping reef units to ensure no
geographic overlap in representation among stewardship partnerships.
The match waiver requests and request for written comments are
being removed from this collection as they are no longer applicable.
The match waiver requests may still be made under Ruth D. Gates but are
not expected and not requested of applicants. They were included in the
original because all territories (5) requested a match waiver, however,
their awards are now located in Block Grants, and there is no matching
requirement. The Ruth D. Gates application process now requires
``evidence of support for the project by appropriate representatives of
States . . . in which the project will be conducted'' on the front end.
Additionally, the Performance Progress Report (PPR) from collection
0648-0718 is being added to this collection so that all program
requirements are under a single control number. The PPR will be removed
from 0648-0718 at the next renewal period.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations;
nonprofit, nongovernmental, and not-for-profit institutions; state or
local government; institutions of higher education; and regional
fishery management councils established under the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.).
Frequency: Annually.
Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits for
grant-related collections, or voluntary for coral reef stewardship
partnership submissions.
[[Page 66696]]
Legal Authority: The Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000, 16 U.S.C.
6401 et seq.,
This information collection request may be viewed at
<a href="http://www.reginfo.gov">www.reginfo.gov</a>. Follow the instructions to view the Department of
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of
this notice on the following website <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>.
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search
function and entering either the title of the collection or the OMB
Control Number 0648-0448.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2024-18385 Filed 8-15-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-08-P
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