In accordance
with 5 CFR 1320, OMB is withholding approval at this time. Prior to
publication of the final rule, the agency must submit to OMB a
summary of all comments related to the information collection
contained in the proposed rule and the agency response. The agency
should clearly indicate any changes made to the information
collection as a result of these comments.
Inventory as of this Action
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Previously Approved
36 Months From Approved
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(we, Service) is charged with implementing the Endangered Species
Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) (Act). The goal of
the Act is to provide a means to conserve the ecosystems upon which
listed species depend and a program for listed species
conservation. Through our Candidate Conservation program, we
encourage the public to take conservation actions for species prior
to them being listed under the Act. Doing so may result in
precluding the need to list a species, may result in listing a
species as threatened instead of endangered, or, if a species
becomes listed, may provide the basis for its recovery and eventual
removal from the protections of the Act. This proposed policy seeks
to give landowners, government agencies, and others incentives to
carry out voluntary conservation actions for unlisted species by
allowing the benefits to the species from voluntary conservation
actions undertaken prior to listing under the Act to be used-either
by the person who undertook such actions or by third parties-to
mitigate or offset the detrimental effects of other actions
undertaken after listing. The policy requires that participating
States track the voluntary conservation actions and provide this
information to us on an annual basis. We require this information
in order to provide the entities that have taken the conservation
actions with proper credit that can later be used to mitigate for
any detrimental actions they take after the species is
listed.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.