Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 126 / Thursday, June 29, 2000 / Notices 40113

in 25 CFR part 900. The Department of

the Interior and the Department of

Health and Human Services invite you

to submit comments to the OMB on the

information collection described below.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to

submit comments on or before July 31,

2000.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment,

you may submit your comments to Attn:

Desk Officer for Department of the

Interior, Office of Information and

Regulatory Affairs, Office of

Management and Budget, Docket

Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street

NW, Washington, DC 20503. Please

send copy of comments to James

Thomas, Office of Tribal Services,

Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of

the Interior, 1849 C Street NW, MS 4660

MIB, Washington, DC 20240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

James Thomas, Office of Tribal Services,

Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of

the Interior, 1849 C Street NW, MS 4660

MIB, Washington, DC 20240, or (202)

208–5727.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Representatives of the Department of the

Interior, the Department of Health and

Human Services and the tribes

developed a joint rule, 25 CFR part 900,

to implement section 107 of the Indian

Self-Determination and Education

Assistance Act, as amended by, Public

Law 103–413, the Indian SelfDetermination Contract Reform Act of

1994. Section 107(a)(2)(A)(ii) of the

Indian Self-Determination Contract

Reform Act requires the joint rule to

permit contracts and grants be awarded

to Indian tribes without the unnecessary

burden or confusion associated with

two sets of rules and information

collection requirements when there is a

single program legislation involved. The

burden hours for this collection have

been reduced as a result of tribes

contracting multiple programs under a

single contract, as authorized under 25

CFR 900.8, tribes administering ‘mature’

contracts which require fewer reports

and, tribes entering into SelfGovernance ‘compacts,’ under which

Self-Governance tribes may combine all

programs under a single self-governance

compact.

The information requirements for this

joint rule represent significant

differences from other agencies in

several respects. Both the Bureau of

Indian Affairs and the Indian Health

Service let contracts for multiple

programs whereas other agencies

usually award single grants to tribes.

Under the Indian Self-Determination

and Education Assistance Act, as

amended by the Indian SelfDetermination Contract Reform Act of

1994, tribes are entitled to contract and

may renew contracts annually where

other agencies provide grants on a

discretionary/competitive basis.

The proposal and other supporting

documentation identified in this

information collection is used by the

Department of the Interior and the

Department of Health and Human

Services to determine applicant

eligibility, evaluate applicant

capabilities, protect the service

population, safeguard Federal funds and

other resources, and permit the Federal

agencies to administer and evaluate

contract programs. Tribal governments

or tribal organizations provide the

information by submitting Public Law

93–638 contract or grant proposals to

the appropriate Federal agency. No third

party notification or public disclosure

burden is associated with this

collection.

Request for Comments: The

Department of the Interior and the

Department of Health and Human

Services request comments on this

information collection particularly

concerning: (1) The necessity of the

information collection for the proper

performance of the agencies’ functions;

(2) whether this information collection

duplicates a collection elsewhere by the

Federal Government; (3) whether the

burden estimate is accurate or could be

reduced using technology available to

all respondents; (4) if the quality of the

information requested ensures its

usefulness to the agency(ies); (5) if the

instructions are clear and easily

understood, leading to the least burden

on the respondents. A Federal 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.

Please submit any comments to the

contact in the ADDRESSES section. Please

submit a copy of comments on this

information collection to the Bureau of

Indian Affairs by telefax to (202) 208–

5113. You may also hand deliver

written comments or view comments at

the address found in ‘‘FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT.’’ You may obtain

a copy of this information collection

document and the OMB submission at

no charge by a written request to the

same address, by telefaxing a request to

the above number, or by calling (202)

208–5727. Please identify the

information collection by, OMB #1076–

0136. We make the comments and

names and addresses of commentators

available for public review during

regular business hours. If you wish us

to withhold your name and address, you

must state this prominently at the

beginning of your comments. We will

honor your request to the extent

allowable by law.

Burden Statement: Respondents may

be required to respond from 1 to 12

times per year, depending upon the

number of programs they contract from

the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the

Indian Health Service. In addition, each

Subpart concerns different parts of the

contracting process. For example,

Subpart C relates to provisions of initial

contract proposal contents. The burden

associated with this would not be used

when contracts are renewed. Subpart F

describes minimum standards for the

management systems used by Indian

tribes or tribal organizations under these

contracts. Subpart G addresses the

negotiability of all reporting and data

requirements in the contract.

Total annual burden: 238,992 hours.

Total number of respondents: 550.

Total number of responses: 5,507.

Dated: June 21, 2000.

Kevin Gover,

Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs,

Department of the Interior.

Dated: April 26, 2000.

Michael H. Trujillo,

Assistant Surgeon General, Director, Indian

Health Service, Department of Health and

Human Services.

[FR Doc. 00–16429 Filed 6–28–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Information Collection Submitted to

the Office of Management and Budget

for Renewal Under the Paperwork

Reduction Act

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: We have submitted the

information collection requirements to

renew approval of the collection of

information for special use permit

applications on national wildlife refuges

in Alaska to OMB for approval under

the provisions of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Submit comments on or before

July 31, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Send comments and

suggestions on specific requirements

directly to the Office of Management

and Budget, Office of Information and

Regulatory Affairs, Attention:

Department of the Interior Desk Officer,

725 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC

40114 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 126 / Thursday, June 29, 2000 / Notices

20503; and a copy to our Information

Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service [MS 222 ARLSQ],

1849 C Street, NW, Washington, DC

20240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Leslie Marler, Management Analyst,

Branch of Policy and Planning, Division

of Refuges, (703) 358–2397; or Tony

Booth, Refuge Program Specialist,

Division of Refuges, Anchorage, AK

(907) 786–3384.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We

submitted the following proposed

information collection clearance

requirement to OMB for review and

approval under the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–13).

OMB has up to 60 days to approve or

disapprove information collection. To

ensure maximum consideration, OMB

should receive public comments by July

31, 2000. We may not conduct or

sponsor a collection of information, and

a person is not required to respond to

a request for information unless it

displays a currently valid OMB control

number. We previously published a 60-

day notice inviting public comment on

this information collection in the

Federal Register on February 9, 2000

(65 FR 6388). We received no

comments.

We invite comments on: (1) Whether

the collection of information is

necessary for the proper performance of

the functions of the agency, including

whether the information will have

practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of burden, 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)

ways to minimize the burden of the

collection of information on those who

are to respond, including the use of

appropriate automated, electronic,

mechanical, or other technological

collection techniques or other forms of

information technology.

The National Wildlife Refuge System

Improvement Act of 1997 (Pub. L. 105–

57) that amends the National Wildlife

Refuge Administration Act of 1966 (16

U.S.C. 668 dd-ee) requires that we

authorize economic or other special

privileges on any national wildlife

refuge by permit only when we

determine the activity will be

compatible with the purposes for which

the refuge was established and the

mission of the National Wildlife Refuge

System. The Alaska National Interest

Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) (16

U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) provides for the

disposition and use of national wildlife

refuges and other federally owned lands

in Alaska. Title III of ANILCA identifies

the purposes for each Alaska refuge and

requires that all uses we authorize on

them first be found to be compatible

with the refuge purposes. Section 1307

of ANILCA contains two provisions

concerning persons and entities who we

are to give special rights and preferences

with respect to providing ‘‘visitor

services’’ on national wildlife refuges in

Alaska and certain other Federal lands.

Other sections of ANILCA allow us to

permit uses on national wildlife refuges

in Alaska under certain conditions.

We will provide the permit

applications as requested by interested

Alaska citizens. We will use information

provided on the required written forms

and/or verbal applications to determine

if the proposed activity is compatible

with refuge purposes and ensure that

the applicant is eligible for a permit. In

the case of competitively awarded

permits, we will use the information to

determine the most qualified applicant

to receive benefits of a refuge permit. In

the case of ‘‘1307’’ permits, we will use

the information to determine whether

the applicant is: A member of a Native

Corporation; a local resident; engaged in

adequately providing visitors services

on or before January 1, 1979; or eligible

to receive Cook Inlet Region rights.

We make provision in our general

refuge regulations for public entry for

specialized purposes, including

economic activities such as the

operation of guiding and other visitor

services on refuges by concessionaires

or cooperators under appropriate

contracts or legal agreements (found in

50 CFR 25.61) or special use permits

(found in 50 CFR 26.22(b), 26.25, 36.37,

and 36.41). These rules provide the

authorities and procedures for selecting

permittees on Alaska refuges, the vast

majority of which are providers of

services and facilities to the public. We

will issue permits for a specific period

as determined by the type and location

of the use or visitor service provided.

We are making several minor

modifications to the Special Use Permit

application form:

1. On page one, Part 1 of the form, we

changed cc:mail address to e-mail

address.

2. On page two, Part 2 of the form, we

eliminated Aleutian Islands Unit/Alaska

Maritime NWR from the list of National

Wildlife Refuge Code Acronyms because

there is no need for separate entry for

the Aleutian Islands Unit of the refuge.

3. On page two, Part 2 of the form, we

also revised the list of Activity Codes to

provide more effective and clearer

identification of the types of commercial

visitor service uses that we most

commonly permit on Alaska refuges. We

changed the activity codes from twoletter codes to three-letter codes.

4. On page three, Part 4 of the form,

we revised the instructions that state,

‘‘List the MAKE, MODEL, WHEEL/

FLOAT/SKI, COLOR and TAIL

NUMBER of all the aircraft you own/

lease/operate:’’ We added to this

statement the phrase, ‘‘* * * that you

will use in your proposed activity:’’ to

clarify that we only need information

about aircraft the applicant will use for

activities permitted on the refuge.

5. In addition to the revisions

identified above, we made several minor

editorial changes on the application

form for clarification and plain language

requirements. The editorial revisions do

not affect information requirements of

the application.

Title: Special Use Permit Applications

on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska.

OMB form number: 1018–0014—

Service form number: 3–2001.

Frequency of collection: On occasion.

Description of the respondents:

Individuals and households; business

and other.

Number of respondents: 212.

Estimated completion time: 8.6 hours

(average time for competitive and noncompetitive respondents).

Burden estimate: 1,820 hours.

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 126 / Thursday, June 29, 2000 / Notices 40115

40116 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 126 / Thursday, June 29, 2000 / Notices

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 126 / Thursday, June 29, 2000 / Notices 40117

40118 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 126 / Thursday, June 29, 2000 / Notices

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 126 / Thursday, June 29, 2000 / Notices 40119

Dated: April 12, 2000.

Paul R. Schmidt,

Assistant Director for Refuges and Wildlife.

[FR Doc. 00–16371 Filed 6–28–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–C