Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 23, 2014 / Notices 76985 

1Commission regulations referred to herein are 

found at 17 CFR Ch. 1 et seq. (2014). 

Authorization (e.g., previously wounded 

animal, carcass with moderate to 

advanced decomposition, or scavenger 

damage), Point Blue will report the 

incident to the Chief, Permits and 

Conservation Division, Office of 

Protected Resources, at 301–427–8401 

and/or by email to Jolie.Harrison@

noaa.gov and ITP.Cody@noaa.gov and 

the Assistant West Coast Regional 

Stranding Coordinator at (562) 980– 

3264 (Justin.Greenman@noaa.gov) 

within 24 hours of the discovery. Point 

Blue will provide photographs or video 

footage (if available) or other 

documentation of the stranded animal 

sighting to us and the Marine Mammal 

Stranding Network. Point Blue can 

continue their research activities. 

11. A copy of this Authorization must 

be in the possession of Point Blue and 

its designees (including contractors and 

marine mammal monitors) operating 

under the authority of this Incidental 

Harassment Authorization at all times. 

Request for Public Comments 

NMFS requests comment on the 

analyses, the draft Authorization, and 

any other aspect of the Notice of 

Proposed Incidental Harassment 

Authorization for Point Blue’s seabird 

research activities. Please include with 

your comments any supporting data or 

literature citations to help inform the 

final decision on Point Blue’s request 

for an MMPA Authorization. 

Dated: December 18, 2014. 

Donna S. Wieting, 

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–29991 Filed 12–22–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING 

COMMISSION 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities Under OMB Review 

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(‘‘PRA’’), this notice announces that the 

Information Collection Request (‘‘ICR’’) 

abstracted below has been forwarded to 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(‘‘OMB’’) for review and comment. The 

ICR describes the nature of the 

information collection and its expected 

costs and burden. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before January 22, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted to OMB within 30 days of the 

notice’s publication, identified by 

‘‘Privacy of Consumer Financial 

Information’’ (OMB Control No. 3038– 

0055). Comments can be mailed to the 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs, Office of Management and 

Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the 

Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission, 725 17th Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20503, or sent by email 

to OIRAsubmissions@omb.eop.gov, and 

also mailed to Kathy Harman-Stokes, 

Chief Privacy Officer, U.S. Commodity 

Futures Trading Commission, 1155 21st 

Street NW., Washington, DC 20581. 

Comments may also be submitted, 

regarding the burden estimated or any 

other aspect of the information 

collection, including suggestions for 

reducing the burden, identified by 

‘‘Privacy of Consumer Financial 

Information’’ (OMB Control No. 3038– 

0055), by any of the following methods: 

• Agency Web site, via its Comments 

Online process: http://

comments.cftc.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments 

through the Web site. 

• Mail: Christopher Kirkpatrick, 

Secretary of the Commission, 

Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 

1155 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20581. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as 

Mail, above. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov/search/index.jsp. 

Follow the instructions for submitting 

comments. 

All comments must be submitted in 

English, or if not, accompanied by an 

English translation. Comments will be 

posted as received to http://

www.cftc.gov. You should submit only 

information that you wish to make 

available publicly. If you wish the 

Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) to 

consider information that is exempt 

from disclosure under the Freedom of 

Information Act, a petition for 

confidential treatment of the exempt 

information may be submitted according 

to the procedures set forth in § 145.9 of 

the Commission’s regulations.1

The Commission reserves the right, 

but shall have no obligation, to review, 

pre-screen, filter, redact, refuse or 

remove any or all of your submission 

from www.cftc.gov that it may deem to 

be inappropriate for publication, such as 

obscene language. All submissions that 

have been redacted or removed that 

contain comments on the merits of the 

rulemaking will be retained in the 

public comment file and will be 

considered as required under the 

Administrative Procedure Act and other 

applicable laws, and may be accessible 

under the Freedom of Information Act. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kathy Harman-Stokes, Chief Privacy 

Officer, U.S. Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission, 1155 21st Street 

NW., Washington, DC 20581; (202) 418– 

6629; FAX: (202) 418–5532; email: 

kharman-stokes@cftc.gov, and refer to 

OMB Control No. 3038–0055. This 

contact can also provide a copy of the 

ICR. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: ‘‘Privacy of Consumer Financial 

Information,’’ OMB Control No. 3038– 

0055—Extension. This is a request for 

extension of a currently approved 

information collection. 

Abstract: The passage of the DoddFrank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 

Protection Act (‘‘Dodd-Frank Act’’), 

Public Law 111–203, 124 Stat. 1376 

(2010), broadened the Commission’s 

regulatory authority under the GrammLeach-Bliley Act (‘‘GLB Act’’) to cover 

two new entities: Swap Dealers and 

Major Swap Participants, in addition to 

Futures Commission Merchants, 

Commodity Trading Advisors, 

Commodity Pool Operators, and 

Introducing Brokers. Specifically, 

amendments to the GLB Act found in 

section 1093 of the Dodd-Frank Act, 

reaffirmed the Commission’s authority 

to promulgate regulations to require 

entities that are subject to the 

Commission’s jurisdiction to provide 

certain privacy protections for consumer 

financial information. These regulations 

were later extended to Retail Foreign 

Exchange Dealers. 

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 OMB control 

numbers for the Commission’s 

regulations were published on 

December 30, 1981. See 46 FR 63035 

(Dec. 30, 1981). The Federal Register 

notice with a 60-day comment period 

soliciting comments on this collection 

of information was published on 

October 23, 2014 (79 FR 63384). 

No comments have been received. 

Burden statement: The respondent 

burden for this collection is estimated to 

average 0.24 hours per response. 

Respondents/Affected Entities: 110. 

Estimated number of responses: 20. 

Estimated total annual burden on 

respondents: 528 hours. 

Frequency of collection: Annual. 

(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) 

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76986 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 23, 2014 / Notices 

1A discussion of NEPA applicability is beyond 

the scope of this guidance. For more information 

see CEQ, The Citizen’s Guide to the National 

Environmental Policy Act, available at https://

ceq.doe.gov/nepa/Citizens_Guide_Dec07.pdf. 

2National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Draft 

Guidance, Effective Use of Programmatic NEPA 

Reviews, 79 FR 50,578, August 22, 2014. 

Dated: December 18, 2014. 

Christopher J. Kirkpatrick, 

Secretary of the Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30037 Filed 12–22–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6351–01–P 

COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL 

QUALITY 

Final Guidance for Effective Use of 

Programmatic NEPA Reviews 

AGENCY: Council on Environmental 

Quality. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability, Final 

Guidance for Effective Use of 

Programmatic NEPA Reviews. 

SUMMARY: The Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) is issuing 

its final guidance on programmatic 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) reviews. This guidance provides 

clarification on when and how Federal 

agencies should use programmatic 

environmental analyses in accordance 

with NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4332, and the 

CEQ Regulations for Implementing the 

Procedural Provisions of NEPA, 40 CFR 

parts 1500–1508. Guidance on 

programmatic NEPA reviews has been 

requested by the agencies and attention 

on programmatic NEPA reviews has 

increased as agencies undertake more 

broad landscape-scale analyses for 

proposals that affect the resources they 

manage. This guidance is designed to 

assist agency decisionmakers and the 

public in understanding the 

environmental impacts from proposed 

large-scope Federal actions and 

activities and to facilitate agency 

compliance with NEPA by clarifying the 

different planning scenarios under 

which an agency may prepare a 

programmatic, broad-scale, review. The 

guidance also addresses how agencies 

can prepare such reviews to ensure they 

are timely, informative, and useful for 

advancing decision-making. The goal of 

this guidance is to encourage a more 

consistent approach to programmatic 

NEPA reviews so that the analyses and 

documentation will allow for the 

expeditious and efficient completion of 

any necessary tiered reviews. It builds 

on previous guidance that explained the 

use of tiering and its place in the NEPA 

process. 

DATES: The guidance is effective 

December 23, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: The Final Guidance for 

Effective Use of Programmatic NEPA 

Reviews is available at White House 

Web site (http://www.whitehouse.gov/

administration/eop/ceq/initiatives/

nepa) and on the National 

Environmental Policy Act Web site 

(www.nepa.gov). Paper copies are 

available upon request by contacting the 

CEQ Associate Director for National 

Environmental Policy Act Oversight, 

722 Jackson Place NW., Washington, DC 

20503. Telephone: (202) 395–5750. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

Council on Environmental Quality 

(ATTN: Horst Greczmiel, Associate 

Director for National Environmental 

Policy Act Oversight), 722 Jackson Place 

NW., Washington, DC 20503. 

Telephone: (202) 395–5750. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Enacted in 

1970, the National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321– 

4370, is a fundamental tool used to 

harmonize our environmental, 

economic, and social aspirations and is 

a cornerstone of our Nation’s efforts to 

protect the environment. NEPA 

recognizes that many Federal activities 

affect the environment and mandates 

that Federal agencies consider the 

environmental impacts of their 

proposed actions before deciding to 

adopt proposals and take action.1 NEPA 

environmental reviews (the analyses 

and documentation prepared under 

NEPA) may be on the project-specific or 

on broader programmatic level. The 

analyses in a programmatic NEPA 

review are valuable in setting out the 

broad view of environmental impacts 

and benefits for a proposed decision 

such as a rulemaking, or establishing a 

policy, program, or plan. That 

programmatic NEPA review (e.g., 

Programmatic Environmental 

Assessment (EA), Programmatic 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)) 

can then be relied upon when agencies 

make decisions based on the 

programmatic EA or programmatic EIS, 

as well as decisions based on a 

subsequent (also known as tiered) NEPA 

review. Programmatic NEPA reviews 

should result in clearer and more 

transparent decision-making, as well as 

provide a better defined and more 

expeditious path toward decisions on 

proposed actions. This guidance 

clarifies the use of programmatic NEPA 

reviews by describing: (1) The nature of 

programmatic NEPA reviews; (2) when 

to use a programmatic and tiered NEPA 

review; (3) practical considerations for 

programmatic reviews and documents; 

(4) how to effectively conduct 

subsequent proposal-specific NEPA 

reviews; and (5) the lifespan of a 

programmatic NEPA document. 

The Federal Register notice 

announcing the draft programmatic 

guidance and requesting public 

comments was published on August 22, 

2014.2 CEQ appreciates the thoughtful 

responses to its request for comments on 

the draft guidance. Commenters 

included private citizens, corporations, 

environmental organizations, trade 

associations, federal agencies, and state 

agencies. CEQ received twenty-eight 

public comments, which are available 

online at www.whitehouse.gov/

administration/eop/ceq/initiatives/

nepa/comments and at www.nepa.gov. 

The comments that suggested editorial 

revisions and requested clarification of 

terms are addressed in the text of the 

final guidance. Comments that raised 

policy or substantive concerns are 

grouped into thematic issues and 

addressed in the following sections of 

this notice. 

Highlighting the Value of NEPA 

Many commenters expressed support 

for CEQ’s efforts to encourage timely 

and efficient use of the NEPA 

environmental review process to inform 

agency decision-making. Some 

commenters asserted that the draft 

guidance did not adequately highlight 

NEPA’s value and successes. These 

commenters urged CEQ to further 

discuss how NEPA is an effective tool 

for ensuring fully informed decisionmaking and meaningful public 

participation. 

CEQ agrees and expanded the 

introduction of the final guidance to 

incorporate a broader discussion of 

NEPA’s role in assisting agencies in 

decision-making and providing 

opportunity for meaningful public 

participation. This final guidance was 

developed to provide for the consistent, 

proper, and appropriate development 

and use of programmatic NEPA reviews 

by Federal agencies. It reinforces the 

process required to establish 

opportunities for public involvement, 

increased transparency, and informed 

decision-making. 

Applicability to Environmental 

Assessments 

One commenter asked for further 

explanation as to why programmatic 

approaches apply to developing an 

Environmental Assessment (EA) as well 

as Environmental Impact Statement 

(EIS). 

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