Section 320 of the Clean Water Act
(CWA) amendments of 1987 established the National Estuary Program
(NEP) to promote long-term planning and management in nationally
significant estuaries threatened by pollution, development, or
overuse. The NEP's objectives are to protect, preserve, and restore
estuaries. The strategy of the program is to focus on estuaries
that are nationally significant in recreational and commercial
value, and of great importance for fish and wildlife resources.
Another facet of national significance is whether lessons learned
in working with the estuary can be applied to other coastal areas.
The NEP strategy emphasizes estuaries with problems which detract
from the estuary=s value and where there is a greater likelihood
that NEP efforts will result in improvements in water and sediment
quality, as well as in the abundance and variety of living
resources. Information on the implementation of the NEP is
collected every one or three years to determine the effectiveness
of the program.
There is an increase of 6,512
hours in the total estimated respondent burden compared with the
ICR currently approved by OMB. This increase is due to 1) year-end
reporting of activities and accomplishments in Work Plans; 2)
Program Evaluations taking place in the next three years compared
to two years in the currently approved ICR; 3) expanded reporting
of existing information collection (Work Plans, Program Evaluation
Packages, Performance Measures) under BIL; and 4) requirement to
develop Equity Strategies designed to meet expectations under the
Justice40 Initiative, as well as to waive the remaining NEP
non-federal match/cost-share requirements for BIL funds in
FY2024-FY2026.
$162,254
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Vince Bacalan 202
566-0930
No
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.
1500ss11.docx
National Estuary Program - Government Performance Results Act