Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 205 / Monday, October 23, 2000 / Notices 63231

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Intergovernmental Advisory

Committee Meeting

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Meeting.

SUMMARY: The Intergovernmental

Advisory Committee (IAC) will meet on

November 2, 2000, at the Hilton Hotel,

921 SW 6th Avenue, Portland, Oregon

97204–1296. The purpose of the

meeting is to continue discussions on

the implementation of the Northwest

Forest Plan (NFP). The meeting will

begin at 9:30 a.m. and continue until

3:30 p.m. Agenda items to be discussed

include, but are not limited to:

orientation for new IAC members, the

status of the Survey and Manage Final

Supplemental Environmental Impact

Statement, and progress reports on

ongoing NFP-related implementation

issues.

The IAC meeting will be open to the

public and is fully accessible for people

with disabilities, Interpreters are

available upon request in advance.

Written comments may be submitted for

the record at the meeting. Time will also

be scheduled for oral public comments.

Interested persons are encourage to

attend.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Questions regarding this meeting may

be directed to Steve Odell, Executive

Director, Regional Ecosystem Office, 333

SW 1st Avenue, P.O. Box 3623,

Portland, OR 97208 (Phone: 503–808–

2166).

Dated: October 16, 2000.

Stephen J. Odell,

Designated Federal Official.

[FR Doc. 00–27115 Filed 10–20–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Northwest Sacramento Provincial

Advisory Committee (PAC); Meeting

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Meeting.

SUMMARY: The Northwest Sacramento

Provincial Advisory Committee (PAC)

will meet Thursday, November 2, 2000,

at the BLM Conference Room 355

Hemsted Road, Redding, California. The

meeting will be held from 9 am to 5 pm.

Agenda items to be covered include: (1)

Report out from the PIEC meeting; (2)

Technical Committee from Clear Creek;

(3) August IAC meeting; (4) Assessment

of affect of Survey and Manage on

Province (all agencies) in regards to

timber, fuels reduction, and recreation

programs; (5) Update on the Fire

Management Strategy; (6) Open public

comment. All Northwest Sacramento

Provincial Advisory Committee

meetings are open to the public. Interest

citizens are encouraged to attend.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Direct questions regarding this meeting

to Sharon Heywood, Forest Supervisor,

or Duane Lyon, Public Affairs Officer,

USDA, Shasta-Trinity National Forest,

2400 Washington Avenue, Redding, CA

96001, (530) 244–2978.

Dated: October 9, 2000.

J. Sharon Heywood,

Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 00–27165 Filed 10–20–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[Docket Number: 000817241–0241–01]

Financial Assistance for Internship

Program for Postsecondary Students

AGENCY: Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce

(DoC) established a postsecondary

internship program to aid and promote

experiential training activities which

foster future employment in DoC or the

Federal Government in general. U.S.

citizens enrolled as students in two-and

four-year accredited educational

institutions, and accredited graduate

and law schools will participate in onsite work experiences in DoC bureaus

and offices in order to integrate

academic theory and workplace

requirements; gain relevant skills and

knowledge; explore Federal career

options; develop professional networks;

and develop a greater awareness of the

role of Federal agencies. The program

will be administered through a

partnership between the DoC and nonprofit and/or educational institution(s)

and funded by cooperative agreement(s).

This notice solicits proposals from

eligible institutions that desire to

collaborate with the DoC on this

initiative.

Student opportunities will be

primarily in the Washington, DC

metropolitan area, but will include field

locations outside the area. Summer

internship sessions will be for a tenweek period. Academic semester or

quarter internship sessions will be

structured to coincide with the

academic calendar of the students’

institutions. Institutions that are

selected as training partners will

develop and administer a

comprehensive internship program. The

DoC will serve as hosts for the student

interns and provide program support

through the financial assistance award;

however, students may be assigned to

work in Federal agencies other than

DoC. When interns are assigned to other

Federal agencies, those agencies will

reimburse DoC for costs associated with

the interns. There will be no employeremployee relationship between the DoC

and its hosted interns. Interns will

receive stipends. Round-trip air or

ground transportation between the

metropolitan DC area (or field job

location) and the students’ residence or

school site will also be provided to

interns, as needed. The number of

available internships will vary

depending upon the financial position

of the potential host offices and bureaus,

but for the purposes of this notice, the

following will be used for projections:

thirty student interns for the summer

session, and five interns for each

academic year session.

Selected institution(s) will perform

the following functions: Outreach and

recruitment; application processing and

referral; selection notification and

follow up; logistics, including

temporary housing and

accommodations; orientation and

communication; enrichment activities

program; intern personnel and pay

administration; intern monitoring;

intern evaluation; program evaluation;

and evaluation reporting.

DATES: Applications must be received

no later than 5 p.m., Eastern Standard

Time, December 22, 2000. Applications

or portions of applications will not be

accepted via facsimile or electronic

mail.

ADDRESSES: Applicants must submit one

signed original plus two (2) copies of

the application, including all

information required by the application

kit. Applications should be mailed to:

U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of

Executive Assistance Management,

Attn.: Carin M. Otero, Room H6022,

1401 Constitution Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20230.

Note: If the application is hand-delivered

by the applicant or its representative to the

U.S. Department of Commerce, Herbert C.

Hoover Building, the application must be

delivered to Room 1874, which is located at

Entrance #10, 15th Street, NW., between

Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues.

Applications delivered on the date of the

application deadline must be delivered by 5

p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

63232 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 205 / Monday, October 23, 2000 / Notices

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mrs.

Carin M. Otero, (202) 482–3275.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Authority:

5 U.S.C. 7201 requires that each

Executive agency conduct a continuing

program for the recruitment of members

of minorities to address under

representation of minorities in various

categories of Federal employment.

Executive Order 12876 provides for

Executive departments to enter into,

among other things, cooperative

agreements with Historically Black

Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to

further the goals of the Executive Order,

principally that of strengthening the

capacity of HBCUs to provide quality

education, and to increase opportunities

to participate in and benefit from

Federal programs. Executive Order

12900 calls for Executive departments to

develop plans to increase opportunities

for Hispanic Americans to participate in

and benefit from Federal education

programs. Executive Order 13201 helps

ensure that greater Federal resources are

available to the tribal colleges.

Executive Order 13125 directs Federal

agencies to increase participation of

Asian and Pacific Islanders in Federal

programs. Applications will be accepted

from any eligible institution, and

applications for internships shall be

accepted from all students meeting

program eligibility criteria and will not

be limited only to minority students.

Application, referral and selection

processes shall be conducted without

any consideration of race, ethnicity,

gender, or other personal factors.

Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance: 11.702–Internship Program

for Postsecondary Students

Program Description

In order to ensure that the Federal

Government can maintain visibility and

attractiveness to the ‘‘best and brightest’’

college students, this program supports

partnerships between Federal

departments and nonprofit or

educational institutions. This program

continues to improve opportunities for

college students to prepare for their

transition to the workplace and foster

human resource diversity in DoC.

Depending upon the responsiveness of

the institutions which submit

applications, more than one institution

may be selected to participate in this

program.

There will be two components to the

program: A ten-week summer session

and an academic year program that

consists of two sessions. The length of

each academic year session will be

structured to coincide with the

academic calendar of the students’

institutions, e.g., semester or quarter

hour system; applicants who wish to

administer an academic year program

must indicate the proposed duration of

the academic year sessions. In order to

obtain a sufficient number of quality

candidates during the spring and fall

sessions, applicants should consider a

component of the program to allow for

interns to work a part-time schedule

while attending school during those

sessions. The first session under this

program will begin summer 2001. The

first academic session will begin in fall

2001, followed by a session in the

spring of 2002. This cycle is expected to

be repeated until three years after the

initial grant is awarded. It is anticipated

that intern opportunities will be greater

during the summer sessions than the

academic year sessions.

In addition to including the

mandatory activities described below,

an organization should propose an

intern program design that represents a

comprehensive approach to a workstudy experience and its own

philosophy about workforce

preparedness. For the purposes of the

proposal, plans and budgets should be

presented separately for the summer

and academic year sessions. An

organization may wish to collaborate

with DoC on a summer program only,

on an academic year program only, or

on both a summer program and an

academic year program. It is not

required that both components be

included in an application in order to be

selected as a recipient.

The recipient(s) selected to administer

the intern program must conduct the

following activities:

Outreach and recruitment. Design,

prepare, duplicate and distribute

application materials to students.

Collect information about potential

internship openings from host offices to

assist in identifying student applicants

who are the best matches for the offices’

needs. Prepare publicity to inform

academic institutions and students

about upcoming program opportunities

and to solicit applications from a broad

range of students who meet defined

program criteria such as GPA and

academic standing. Process

applications, including evaluating

candidates’ eligibility and

qualifications, and referring candidates

to host Federal officials for

consideration and selection. Outreach

and publicity must be conducted so that

women and minorities that are under

represented in the DoC are included in

the target groups. Participation in the

program must be open to all eligible

students without regard to age, race,

ethnicity, gender, or other pertinent

factors. In cases of jobs requiring

technical skills or for other related

reasons, Federal managers, liaisons, or

other program officials may elect to

participate in the evaluation of

applicant packages.

Selection notification and follow up.

Receive selection decisions from host

offices, convey internship offers to

selectees, explain logistical and

administrative processes to selectees.

Distribute written information to

students that will help them adequately

prepare for their professional and

personal needs during their internship;

material must be sent to students before

their departure for their internship sites.

Communicate with DoC program

representatives or liaisons on the status

of offers of selection, acceptances and

declinations.

Logistical arrangements. Locate

suitable housing for students, make all

prior arrangements to allow students to

move into housing upon their arrival at

the internship site. Make round trip

airline reservations for students between

home/school city and host office

location; arrange for students to receive

their tickets. Arrange for ground

transportation to pick up arriving

students at airport and take to housing

site. At the end of the internship period,

arrange for transportation between the

housing site and the airport. Explain

housing, air transportation, ground

transportation, and other logistical

arrangements to students so that there is

a clear expectation of what costs, if any,

are involved and what the

responsibilities of both the student and

the recipient institution/organization

are. Housing must be convenient to

public transportation and affordable.

The DoC must be consulted in the

process to select student housing

facilities, but the final decision and

negotiations with the housing provider

will be left wholly to the recipient

institution.

Orientation and communication.

Design and provide orientation program

to familiarize students with local area in

which they will live and work, services,

safety and security, public

transportation systems, and educational

and administrative program

requirements. Applicants must include

plans for on-site orientation for summer

sessions.

Enrichment activities. Design and

implement a comprehensive enrichment

program; ideally the program should

require a minimum of time away from

the work site during duty hours. The

activities should focus on students’

personal and professional growth, and

provide insights into ways to reach their

academic and personal goals. They may

also be designed to teach students how

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 205 / Monday, October 23, 2000 / Notices 63233

the different branches of the Federal

Government operate, to improve interns’

communication skills, or to foster an

understanding of cultural or ethnic

issues.

Personnel administration. Maintain

interns’ personnel records, pay stipends,

deduct applicable payroll taxes, provide

worker compensation insurance,

unemployment insurance, and shortterm accident insurance, and provide

state, Federal and local tax information

and report of earnings forms to students.

Intern monitoring. Communicate on a

regular basis, both by telephone and in

person, with the students, their

supervisors, and DoC and bureau

coordinators to assure that the

experience is progressing as intended

and that problems or questions are

resolved.

Intern performance evaluation.

Selected recipients must develop and

design an effective evaluation program

that will assess the interns’ performance

and progress. Ideally, all aspects of

intern performance and the overall work

experience from the perspective of both

the intern and his or her supervisor will

be included in the assessment. Student

performance should be evaluated at the

mid-point and at the end of each

session. Evaluations will be submitted

to the DoC Federal Program manager

within one month of the assessment

date.

Program Performance. In accordance

with 15 CFR Part 14, ‘‘Uniform

Administrative Requirements for Grants

and Agreements with Institutions of

Higher Education, Hospitals, Other NonProfit, and Commercial Organizations,’’

selected recipients must manage and

monitor functions and activities

supported by the financial award and

should have a plan to do so.

Performance reports are required at midterm and at the end of each session. The

reports should focus on program

accomplishments against the goals and

objectives of the program, and include

other pertinent information. Of interest

would be overall demographic

information about program participants

such as name of educational institutions

and/or regional area represented,

academic majors represented, academic

standing, and average GPA.

Additionally, lessons learned about the

design and implementation of the

program and identification of areas

requiring improvement are particularly

useful.

Funding Availability. Applicants must

submit project plans and budgets for

three years. Project(s) will be funded for

no more than one year at a time.

Funding for each subsequent year will

be at the sole discretion of the DoC and

will depend on satisfactory performance

by the recipient and the availability of

funds to support the continuation of the

project(s). Funds for the first year are

expected to be awarded in March 2001.

Funds available under this program for

successive years are expected to be

awarded in February of each year.

Projections based upon previous

experience indicate availability of

between $150,000–$730,000 to support

from 25 up to about 100 interns.

However the exact level of funding

available is not yet known. Proposals

should be based upon the cost of

administering a summer program for 30

student interns and also include a per

capita cost for additional interns,

proposals for a semester or quarter

session should be projected on the basis

of 5 interns.

Use of Program Income. Applicants

are advised that any program income

generated by a proposed project is

subject to special conditions.

Anticipated program income must be

documented appropriately in the

proposed budget. In addition, should an

application be funded, unanticipated

program income must be reported to the

Federal Program Officer, and the budget

for the project must be renegotiated to

reflect receipt of the program income.

Program income means gross income

earned by the recipient that is either

directly generated by a supported

activity, or earned as a result of the

award.

Matching Requirements. Applications

must reflect the total budget necessary

to accomplish the project, including

contributions and/or donations. Costsharing is not required for the

internship program; however, costsharing is encouraged. The

appropriateness of all cost-sharing will

be determined on the basis of guidance

provided in applicable Federal cost

principles. If an applicant chooses to

cost-share, and if that application is

selected for funding, the applicant will

be bound by the percentage of the costshare reflected in the cooperative

agreement award. The non-Federal

share may include the value of in-kind

contributions by the applicant or third

parties or funds received from private

sources or from state or local

governments. Federal funds may not be

used to meet the non-Federal share of

matching funds, except as provided by

Federal statute.

Third party in-kind contributions may

be in the form of, but are not limited to,

personal services rendered in carrying

out functions related to the project and

use of real or personal property owned

by others (for which consideration is not

required) in carrying out the projects.

The total cost of a project begins on the

effective award date of an authorized

cooperative agreement between the

applicant and the DoC Grants Officer

and ends on the date specified in the

award. Accordingly, time expended and

costs incurred in either the development

of a project or the financial assistance

application, or in any subsequent

discussions or negotiations prior to the

award, are neither reimbursable nor

recognizable as part of the recipient’s

cost share.

Type of Funding Instrument.

Financial assistance awards in the form

of cooperative agreements will be used

to fund this program. The DoC and its

participating bureaus will have

substantive involvement in the

following program activities: provide

liaisons to institutions who will assist in

coordinating program activities, provide

description of available intern

assignments and required academic

backgrounds and job skills, participate

in review and rating panels, and

interview and make final selections

from lists of eligible students that are

provided by the institutions.

Eligibility Criteria. Accredited

universities, colleges and non-profit

organizations are eligible to apply.

Eligible institutions may form joint

ventures to submit a joint application to

share costs and administration roles and

responsibilities. In such cases, one of

the institutions must be designated as

the lead organization for purposes of

receipt and overall accountability for

any financial assistance award received

under this program.

Award Period. The award period for

the internship project will be three

years. Funding will be provided

annually at the discretion of the DoC

and will depend upon satisfactory

performance by the recipient and

availability of funds for the DoC to

continue funding the project. Normally

each budget period may be no more

than 12 months in duration. Project

proposals accepted for funding for an

award period over 1 year that include

multiple project components and

severable tasks to be funded during each

budget period will not compete for

funding in subsequent budget periods

within the approved award period.

Publication of this notice does not

obligate DoC to award any specific

cooperative agreement or to obligate all

or any parts of the available funds.

Indirect Costs. The total dollar

amount of the indirect costs proposed in

an application under this program must

not exceed the indirect cost rate

negotiated and approved by a cognizant

Federal agency prior to the proposed

effective date of the award.

63234 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 205 / Monday, October 23, 2000 / Notices

Application Forms and Kit. An

application kit containing all required

application forms and certifications is

available by calling Lisa Duckett at (202)

482–3275. The application kit is also

available on-line at http://www.doc.gov/

oebam/.

Evaluation Criteria

Quality of Program Plan (30%).

Includes, but is not limited to, strategy

for outreach and publicity, procedures

for collecting and evaluating

applications, comprehensiveness of

program design to include plans for onsite orientation for summer sessions,

and practicality of approach.

Proposed Costs (30%). The proposed

budget must be comprehensive and

should include all costs for program

personnel, fringe benefits, travel,

equipment, supplies, and other

associated items. The stipend level

proposed for students should be stated

in the budget.

Key Personnel Qualifications (20%).

Includes an assessment of the number,

qualifications, and proposed roles of

staff who will administer the internship

program. Resumes of proposed

personnel will facilitate the evaluation

of the competency and experience of the

proposed staff.

Capabilities of the Applicant

Organization (20%). Considers, among

other things, previous experience and

success administering similar programs,

and staff and resources to assure

adequate development, supervision, and

execution of the proposed program.

Additionally, an organization’s

commitment to educate/advance the

education of women, minorities, and

people with disabilities will be a

consideration in evaluating this factor.

Selection Procedures

Each application will receive an

independent, objective review by a

panel qualified to evaluate the

applications submitted. The

Independent Review Panel, consisting

of at least three individuals, will review

all applications based on the criteria

stated above. The Independent Review

Panel will evaluate and rank the

proposals. The final decision on awards

will be based upon the numerical

review panel ranking, availability of

funding, and the Selecting Official’s

(DoC Federal Program Officer)

determination of which proposals best

meet the objectives of the program. The

amount of funds awarded to each

recipient will be determined in preaward negotiations between the

applicant, the Grants Officer, and the

DoC Program Officer.

Federal Policies and Procedures.

Recipients and subrecipients are subject

to all Federal laws and Federal and DoC

policies, regulations, and procedures

applicable to Federal financial

assistance awards.

Past Performance. Unsatisfactory

performance under prior Federal awards

may result in an application not being

considered for funding.

Pre-award Activities. If applicants

incur any costs prior to an award being

made, they do so solely at their own risk

of not being reimbursed by the

Government. Notwithstanding any

verbal or written assurance that may

have been received, there is no

obligation on the part of DoC to cover

pre-award costs.

No Obligation for Future Funding. If

an application is selected for funding,

DoC has no obligation to provide any

additional future funding in connection

with that award. Renewal of an award

to increase funding or extend the period

of performance is at the total discretion

of DoC.

Delinquent Federal Debts. No award

of Federal funds shall be made to an

applicant who has an outstanding

delinquent Federal debt until either: the

delinquent account is paid in full, a

negotiated repayment schedule is

established and at least one payment is

received, or other arrangements

satisfactory to DoC are made.

Name Check Review (CD–346). All

nonprofit applicants are subject to a

name check review process. Name

checks are intended to reveal if any key

individuals associated with the

applicant have been convicted of or are

presently facing criminal charges such

as fraud, theft, perjury, or other matters

which significantly reflect on the

applicant’s management honesty or

financial integrity.

Primary Applicant Certifications. All

primary applicants must submit a

completed Form CD–511,

‘‘Certifications Regarding Debarment,

Suspension and Other Responsibility

Matters; Drug-Free Workplace

Requirements and Lobbying,’’ and the

following explanations are hereby

provided:

Nonprocurement Debarment and

Suspension. Prospective participants (as

defined at 15 CFR Part 26, Section 105)

are subject to 15 CFR Part 26,

‘‘Nonprocurement Debarment and

Suspension’’ and the related section of

the certification form prescribed above

applies;

Drug-Free Workplace. Recipients (as

defined at 15 CFR Part 26, Section 605)

are subject to 15 CFR Part 26, Subpart

F, ‘‘Government wide Requirements for

Drug-Free Workplace (Grants)’’ and the

related section of the certification form

prescribed above applies;

Anti-Lobbying. Persons (as defined at

15 CFR Part 28, Section 105) are subject

to the lobbying provisions of 31 U.S.C.

1352, ‘‘Limitation on use of

appropriated funds to influence certain

Federal contracting and financial

transactions,’’ and the lobbying section

of the certification form prescribed

above applies to applications/bids for

grants, cooperative agreements, and

contracts for more than $100,000, and

loans and loan guarantees for more than

$150,000, or the single family maximum

mortgage limit for affected programs,

whichever is greater; and

Anti-Lobbying Disclosures. Any

applicant that has paid or will pay for

lobbying using any funds must submit

an SF–LLL, ‘‘Disclosure of Lobbying

Activities,’’ as required under 15 CFR

Part 28, Appendix B.

Lower Tier Certifications. Recipients

shall require applicants/bidders for

subgrants, contracts, subcontracts, or

other lower tier covered transactions at

any tier under the award to submit, if

applicable, a completed Form CD–512,

‘‘Certifications Regarding Debarment,

Suspension, Ineligibility and Voluntary

Exclusion-Lower Tier Covered

Transactions and Lobbying’’ and

disclosure form, SF–LLL, ‘‘Disclosure of

Lobbying Activities.’’ Form CD–512 is

intended for the use of recipients and

should not be transmitted to DoC. SF–

LLL submitted by any tier recipient or

subrecipient should be submitted to

DoC in accordance with the instructions

contained in the award document.

False Statements. A false statement on

an application is grounds for denial or

termination of funds and grounds for

possible punishment by a fine or

imprisonment as provided in 18 U.S.C.

1001.

Intergovernmental Review.

Applications under this program are not

subject to Executive Order 12372,

‘‘Intergovernmental Review of Federal

Programs.’’

Purchase of American-Made

Equipment and Products. Applicants

are hereby notified that they are

encouraged, to the extent feasible, to

purchase American-made equipment

and products with funding provided

under this program in accordance with

Congressional intent.

Fly America Act. The Fly America Act

requires that Federal travelers and

others performing U.S. Governmentfinanced foreign air travel must use U.S.

flag air carriers, to the extent that

service by such carriers is available.

Foreign air carriers may be used only

when a U.S. flag air carrier is

unavailable, or use of U.S. flag air

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 205 / Monday, October 23, 2000 / Notices 63235

carrier service will not accomplish the

agency’s mission.

Classification

This document involves collections of

information subject to the Paperwork

Reduction Act, which have been

approved by OMB under OMB control

numbers 0348–0043, 0348–0044, 0348–

0040, and 0348–0046. Notwithstanding

any other provision of law, no person is

required to respond to nor shall a

person be subject to a penalty for failure

to comply with a collection of

information subject to the requirements

of the Paperwork Reduction Act unless

that collection of information displays a

current valid OMB control number.

This document has been determined

to be ‘‘not significant’’ for purposes of

Executive Order 12866.

John J. Phelan, III,

Acting Director for Executive Budgeting and

Assistance Management.

[FR Doc. 00–27102 Filed 10–20–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–BV–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 101800LE]

Management and Oversight of the

National Estuarine Research Reserve

System

AGENCY: National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

ACTION: Proposed collection; Comment

request.

SUMMARY: The Department of

Commerce, as part of its continuing

effort to reduce paperwork and

respondent burden, invites the general

public and other Federal agencies to

take this opportunity to comment on

proposed and/or continuing information

collections, as required by the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C.

3506(c)(2)(A)).

DATES: Written comments must be

submitted on or before December 22,

2000.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments

to Madeleine Clayton, Departmental

Forms Clearance Officer, Department of

Commerce, Room 6086, 14th and

Constitution Avenue NW., Washington

DC 20230 (or via Internet at

MClayton@doc.gov).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or

copies of the information collection

instrument(s) and instructions should

be directed to Doris Grimm, N/ORM5,

Room 11616, 1305 East West Highway,

Silver Spring MD 20910-3282 (phone

301-713-3132 x107).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

The National Estuarine Research

Reserve System consists of carefully

selected estuarine areas of the U.S. that

are designated, preserved, and managed

for research and educational purposes.

Information is needed from states on

proposals for designations. For selected

sites the state must submit a

management plan and an annual report/

work plan. NOAA needs the

information to ensure that the sites

selected meet national standards.

II. Method of Collection

Much information can be submitted

electronically via a Web site. Other

information is submitted in paper form.

III. Data

OMB Number: 0648-0121.

Form Number: N/A.

Type of Review: Regular submission.

Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal

government.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

27.

Estimated Time Per Response: 2,000

hours for a management plan or site

nomination; 15 hours for an annual

report/work plan; and 2 hours for any

supporting documentation such as a

categorical exclusion checklist, state

Historical Preservation Office

comments, a preliminary engineering

report for activities involving

construction, and a Federal Consistency

Certification.

Estimated Total Annual Burden

Hours: 14,405.

Estimated Total Annual Cost to

Public: $185.

IV. Request for Comments

Comments are invited on: (a) whether

the proposed collection of information

is necessary for the proper performance

of the functions of the agency, including

whether the information shall have

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden

(including hours and cost) of the

proposed collection of information; (c)

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the

burden of the collection of information

on respondents, including through the

use of automated collection techniques

or other forms of information

technology.

Comments submitted in response to

this notice will be summarized and /or

included in the request for OMB

approval of this information collection;

they also will become a matter of public

record.

Dated: October 17, 2000.

Madeleine Clayton,

Departmental Forms Clearance Officer, Office

of the Chief Information Officer.

[FR Doc. 00–27184 Filed 10–20–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE: 3510–08 –S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 101800MC]

NOAA Space-based Data Collection

System (DCS) Agreements

AGENCY: National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

ACTION: Proposed collection; comment

request.

SUMMARY: The Department of

Commerce, as part of its continuing

effort to reduce paperwork and

respondent burden, invites the general

public and other Federal agencies to

take this opportunity to comment on

proposed and/or continuing information

collections, as required by the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Pub.

L. 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

DATES: Written comments must be

submitted on or before December 22,

2000.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments

to Madeleine Clayton, Departmental

Forms Clearance Officer, Department of

Commerce, Room 6086, 14th and

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,

DC 20230 (or via Internet at

MClayton@doc.gov).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or

copies of the information collection

instrument(s) and instructions should

be directed to the Direct Services

Divisions (E/SP3), Room 3320, FB-4,

NOAA, 5200 Auth Road, Suitland, MD

20746-4304.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

NOAA operates two space-based data

collection systems: the Geostationary

Operational Environmental Satellite

(GOES) Data Collection System and the

Argos Data Collection System. Both

systems are operated to support

environmental applications. Since the

entire capacity of the systems is not

used by NOAA, this extra capacity is

made available to other users who meet