Justification - Beachwatch

Project Title: Beach Watch

Program Office Sponsoring or Conducting this CSC Project: NOS/ONMS/Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary

Authority for this CSC Project: NMSA and CCSA

Purpose of this CSC Project: This project is designed to achieve the priorities in the ONMS Strategic Plan: Increase and share our understanding of sanctuary resources. Conduct baseline ecosystem and cultural resource assessments, characterization, and research to help inform management actions and prioritize research needs. Use community science to help fill research and data gaps. Promote and expand partnership research linked to sanctuary management needs.

Type(s) of Information Collected and From Whom It Is Collected: The project collects counts of live and dead birds and mammals, as well as information on human activities, oil pollution, wildlife entanglements, and qualitative assessment of beach erosion and deposition and beach wrack deposition. The voluntary participants collect and provide data on abundance and distribution from observations only, they do not respond to questions. This project does not ask questions of the public.

Use of the Information: NOS uses that information to: 1) increase protection of sanctuary resources; 2) share our understanding of sanctuary resources; 3) conduct baseline ecosystem and cultural resource assessments, characterization, and research to help inform management actions and prioritize research needs; 4) fill research and data gap with community science; and 5) promote and expand partnership research linked to sanctuary management needs.

Method(s) of Information Collection: Shoreline survey data are collected on hard copy forms and entered into a database. Hard copy forms are used in order to provide QA/QC checks from the field to the database.

Affected Public: Individuals, not-for-profit institutions

Estimated Average Annual Number of Participants: 160

Estimated Average Annual Number of Responses per Participant: 14.9

Estimated Average Minutes per Response: 64.76

Estimated Average Annual Burden Hours: 2,565

Estimated Total Annual Cost to Participants in this CSC Project: $8,000 Equipment cost is $250/unit and a unit usually lasts 5 years, for a total annual cost of $8,000.

160 participants * $250 unit / 5 year lifespan = $8,000/year.

Estimated Average Annual Costs to the Federal Government: $167,090

Estimated Average Annual Number of Federal Government Employees (FTEs): 0.26

Recruitment and Retention Methods for Voluntary Participants (SSA item 1): Volunteer recruitment occurs every 2-3 years, as needed. Volunteer retention rate is >85%. Volunteers are recruited through partnership with Greater Farallones Association and media outlets, including social media. Volunteers are provided with monthly updates of their findings, enrichment classes, and semiannually advanced training to improve their species identification skills.

Gifts or Payments (SSA Item 9): No planned gifts. Gifts may come in the form of volunteer recognition through ONMS and NOAA programs, plaques, and recognition buttons and badges every 1, 5, 10, 20, and 25 years. Funds for gifts come from non-NOAA sources, grants and Greater Farallones Association, a partner to NOAA and a 501c3 non-profit.

Annual and Multi-Year Schedules (SSA Item 16): Volunteers have conducted surveys every four weeks, since 1993. This project is ongoing, there is no end date.

Display OMB Control No. and Expiration Date (SSA Item 17): This information will be provided when individuals sign up to participate in this CSC project.

Statistical Methods: This CSC project will not employ statistical methods.

Approval for Pretesting: This CSC project will not require additional pretesting with more than nine members of the public.

Supplemental Documents: The supplemental documents for this CSC project include the following five scientific data collection forms:

1. Beach Monitoring Survey

2. Human Activities Form—Non Boating

3. Live Species Form

4. Photo Documentation Log

5. Oil Descriptor Form

The other two supplemental documents are a recruitment flyer and an application form.

CERTIFICATION: I certify the following are true.

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The collection will not include highly influential scientific information, ,which is information NOAA or OMB determines: (i) could have a potential impact of more than $500 million in any year, or (ii) is novel, controversial, or precedent setting or has significant interagency interest.

5. The collection complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).

6. The collection will provide qualitative and quantitative data that help inform scientific research and monitoring, validate models or tools, support STEM learning, and enhance the quantity and quality of data collected to support NOAA’s mission.

Name: Jan Roletto