30-day FRN (91 FR 4097)

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Federal Register / Vol. 91, No. 20 / Friday, January 30, 2026 / Notices
We use Form 3–2555, ‘‘Bison
Donations Request Form,’’ to request
surplus bison. Respondents will
generally be from Tribal governments
and intertribal organizations, although
we do expect to receive a small number
of requests from States and private
sector organizations (nonprofit and
educational/research organizations).
The request form provides details
governing the protocol and collects the
following information:
• Name of requesting Tribe,
intertribal organization, State, or private
sector organization.
• Documentation that the proposed
project or program meets the definition
of a conservation herd.
• Demonstration of the educational
contribution of the donation to
increasing public knowledge and
appreciation of the wildlife values of
bison (for educational and research
organizations only).
• Total number (or percentage of total
donation request) of bison and purpose
of request:
—Establish a free-ranging conservation
herd;
—Supplement or augment a free-ranging
conservation herd;
—Establish a self-sustaining herd for
non-conservation purposes;
—Supplement or augment a selfsustaining herd for non-conservation
purposes;
—Public display, educational purposes,
and/or research;
—Tribal spiritual or cultural purposes;
or
—A description if ‘‘Other’’ purpose.
• Signature of requesting Tribe,
intertribal organization, State, or private
sector organization official.
In addition to the completion of Form
3–2555, recipients of donated bison
must inform the Service of the
destination State for donated bison no
fewer than 30 days prior to a scheduled
bison capture operation, to allow the
Service time to meet interstate transport
regulatory testing requirements.
Recipients of donated bison must also
inform the Service of the physical
destination address for donated bison
no fewer than 10 days prior to
scheduled bison loadout, to facilitate
timely completion of required interstate
veterinary permit applications and
veterinary inspection certificates.
The public may request a copy of
Form 3–2555 by sending a request to the
Service Information Collection
Clearance Officer (see ADDRESSES,
above).
Title of Collection: U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service Bison Donations
Request Program.

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OMB Control Number: 1018–0190.
Form Number: 3–2555.
Type of Review: Extension without
change of a currently approved
collection.
Respondents/Affected Public: Private
sector organizations and State/local/
Tribal governments.
Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Respondents: 22.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Responses: 33.
Estimated Completion Time per
Response: Varies from 30 minutes to 1
hour, depending on activity.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Burden Hours: 22.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
Total Estimated Annual Nonhour
Burden Cost: None.
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.
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. 2026–01900 Filed 1–29–26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–HQ–ES–2025–N041;
FXES11110900000–267–FF09E24000; OMB
Control Number 1018–0119]

Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget; Policy for
Evaluation of Conservation Efforts
When Making Listing Decisions (PECE)
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of information collection;
request for comment.
AGENCY:

In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (Service), are proposing to
renew a currently approved information
collection without change.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to
submit comments on or before March 2,
2026.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this
notice to https://www.reginfo.gov/
SUMMARY:

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4097

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 ‘‘1018–0119’’ in the subject
line of your comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Madonna L. 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-ofcontact in the United States. You may
also view the information collection
request at https://www.reginfo.gov/
public/do/PRAMain.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act (PRA; 44 U.S.C. 3501 et
seq.) and its implementing regulations
at 5 CFR part 1320, 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 Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) control
number.
On August 11, 2025, we published in
the Federal Register (90 FR 38658) a
notice of our intent to request that OMB
approve this information collection. The
Service published the Federal Register
notice on Regulations.gov (Docket No.
FWS–HQ–NWRS–2025–0023) to
provide the public with an additional
method to submit comments (in
addition to the typical email and U.S.
mail submission methods). In that
notice, we solicited comments for 60
days, ending on October 10, 2025. We
received the following comments in
response to that notice:
Comment 1: Electronic comment
received August 11, 2025 via
Regulations.gov (FWS–HQ–ES–2025–
0008–0002) from Jan Publie. The
commenter did not address the
information collection requirements.
Agency Response to Comment 1: No
response required.
Comment 2: Anonymous electronic
comment received September 22, 2025

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Federal Register / Vol. 91, No. 20 / Friday, January 30, 2026 / Notices

via Regulations.gov (FWS–HQ–ES–
2025–0008–0003). The commenter did
not address the information collection
requirements.
Agency Response to Comment 2: No
response required.
Comment 3: Electronic comment
received October 3, 2025 via
Regulations.gov (FWS–HQ–ES–2025–
0008–0004) from Michael B. Sloane,
Director, on behalf of the New Mexico
Department of Game and Fish. The
commenter indicated their agency
responded to previous requests for
information regarding the listing
decision process for a variety of species
and their responses were prepared with
minimal time requirements (1–4 hours
per request). They also indicated they
provided information to inform Species
Status Assessments for a variety of
species and participated in the
development of conservation and
management plans. For these activities,
the commenter indicated the
information collection activities were
not burdensome and that the
information collected is valuable and
reflective of a good collaboration with
State agencies and consideration of their
perspectives and conservation work.
The commenter expressed their
appreciation for the opportunity to
comment on the information collection
process.
Agency Response to Comment 3: No
response required.
Comment 4: Electronic comment
received October 9, 2025 via
Regulations.gov (FWS–HQ–ES–2025–
0008–0005) from W. Laird Hamberlin,
Chief Executive Officer, on behalf of the
Safari Club International (SCI). The
submission included the following
comments:
The commenter indicated SCI
supports PECE because it is consistent
with the Endangered Species Act (ESA)
and provides a thoughtful and
structured method to consider
conservation efforts that have not yet
generated measurable results. However,
they also indicated SCI feels PECE is
incomplete and believes that PECE
should explicitly include the efforts
made by a foreign nation to protect
species. SCI recommends that FWS
develop a policy to specifically address
considerations of efforts being made by
foreign nations or political subdivisions
of foreign nations to protect species.
Agency Response to Comment 4: We
appreciate SCI’s comment and
recommendation for ways to expand our
considerations of efforts being made by
foreign nations to protect species;
however, revisions to the PECE Policy
are outside the scope of the currently
approved information collection. We

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will consider this suggestion in the
future if we undertake a revision to the
PECE Policy.
Comment 5: Electronic comment
received October 10, 2025 via
Regulations.gov (FWS–HQ–ES–2025–
0008–0006) from Jennifer A. McIvor,
EWAC Policy Chair, John M. Anderson,
EWAC Executive Director, and Brooke
Marcus, Nossaman LLP, on behalf of the
Energy and Wildlife Action Coalition.
The submission included the following
comments:
EWAC encourages FWS to continue to
incentivize and collect information on
voluntary conservation efforts across the
United States.
EWAC highlighted that voluntary
conservation plays a critical role in
species protection and can directly
influence the Service’s decision not to
list species under the Endangered
Species Act (ESA). EWAC did not
provide any information on the
information collection burden related to
the PECE policy but stated that
resources expended to collect
information on voluntary conservation
will help further national energy and
grid reliability goals.
Agency Response to Comment 5: We
appreciate EWAC’s comment and
support for the PECE Policy.
Comment 6: Electronic comment
received October 10, 2025 via
Regulations.gov (FWS–HQ–ES–2025–
0008–0007) from Andrew Langer,
Director, and Kiley McLeroy, Policy
Analyst, on behalf of the Conservative
Political Action Coalition (CPAC) Center
for Regulatory Freedom (CRF). The
submission included the following
comments opposing the renewal of the
information collection associated with
PECE:
The CPAC–CRF stated that the PECE
Policy is not based on the best reading
of the statutory authority and should be
rescinded. The CPAC–CRF contends
that the Policy which allows FWS to
consider voluntary conservation efforts
when making listing decisions under
the ESA misinterprets the ESA’s intent,
which they assert is focused on
protecting species already classified as
endangered or threatened—not those
that might become so in the future.
Their comment also cited legal and
procedural concerns they have with the
information collection and PECE policy.
Further, CPAC–CRF’s comment
invokes Executive Order 14219 and the
Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Loper
Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which
overturned Chevron deference. They
argue that PECE relies on agency
interpretation rather than the ‘‘best
reading’’ of the ESA, making it legally

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indefensible under current federal
policy and judicial precedent.
Agency Response to Comment 6: We
appreciate CPAC–CRF’s comment,
however, the concerns regarding the
legality of the PECE Policy are outside
the scope of the currently approved
information collection.
As part of our continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we are again inviting 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. 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
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: Section 4 of the Endangered
Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.) outlines the process by which we
can list a species as a threatened species
or an endangered species. When we
consider whether to list a species, the
ESA requires us to take into account the
efforts made by any State or any
political subdivision of a State to protect
such species. We also consider the

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Federal Register / Vol. 91, No. 20 / Friday, January 30, 2026 / Notices
efforts made by other entities. States or
other entities often formalize
conservation efforts in conservation
agreements, conservation plans,
management plans, or similar
documents. The conservation efforts
recommended or described in such
documents could prevent some species
from becoming so imperiled that they
meet the definition of a threatened
species or an endangered species under
the ESA.
The Policy for Evaluation of
Conservation Efforts When Making
Listing Decisions (PECE; 68 FR 15100,
March 28, 2003) encourages the
development of conservation
agreements or plans and provides the
standard that an individual
conservation effort must meet in order
for us to consider whether it is likely to
make a difference in a species’ status.
PECE applies to formalized conservation

efforts that have not been implemented
or have been implemented but have not
yet demonstrated if they are effective at
the time of a listing decision.
Under PECE, formalized conservation
efforts are defined as conservation
efforts (specific actions, activities, or
programs designed to eliminate or
reduce threats or otherwise improve the
status of a species) identified in a
conservation agreement, conservation
plan, management plan, or similar
document. To assist us in evaluating
whether a formalized conservation effort
meets the standard under PECE, we
collect information such as conservation
plans, monitoring results, and progress
reports. The development of any
agreement or plan is voluntary. The
PECE is posted on our candidate
conservation website at https://
www.fws.gov/library/collections/
Estimated
number of
annual
respondents

Activity

Average
number of
submissions
each

candidate-conservation-policiesregulations-and-guidance.
Title of Collection: Policy for
Evaluation of Conservation Efforts
When Making Listing Decisions (PECE).
OMB Control Number: 1018–0119.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Extension without
change of a currently approved
collection.
Respondents/Affected Public:
Primarily State, local, or Tribal
governments. However, individuals,
businesses, and not-for-profit
organizations also could develop
agreements/plans or may agree to
implement certain conservation efforts
identified in a State agreement or plan.
Respondent’s Obligation: Required to
obtain or retain a benefit.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
Total Estimated Annual Nonhour
Burden Cost: None.
Estimated
number of
annual
responses

Completion
time per
response
(hours)

Estimated
annual
burden
hours

PECE—Reporting
Individuals ............................................................................
Private Sector ......................................................................
Government .........................................................................

1
1
1

1
1
1

1
1
1

120
120
120

120
120
120

1
1
1

1
1
1

600
600
600

600
600
600

PECE—Monitoring
Individuals ............................................................................
Private Sector ......................................................................
Government .........................................................................

1
1
1

PECE—Development of Conservation Plan/Agreement (One-Time Burden)
Individuals ............................................................................
Private Sector ......................................................................
Government .........................................................................

1
1
1

1
1
1

1
1
1

2,000
2,000
2,000

2,000
2,000
2,000

Totals ............................................................................

9

........................

9

........................

8,160

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.
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.
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[FR Doc. 2026–01909 Filed 1–29–26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–HQ–LE–2025–N042;
FXLE18110900000–267–FF09L00000; OMB
Control Number 1018–0092]

Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget; Federal Fish
and Wildlife Applications and
Reports—Law Enforcement
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of information collection;
request for comment.
AGENCY:

In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

SUMMARY:

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Service (Service), are proposing to
renew an information collection without
change.
Interested persons are invited to
submit comments on or before March 2,
2026.

DATES:

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),

ADDRESSES:

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