33102 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 26, 1996 / Notices

Dated: June 20, 1996.

L.M. Bynum,

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison

Officer, Department of Defense.

[FR Doc. 96–16213 Filed 6–25; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 5000–04–C

Department of the Army

Revised Army-Wide Guidelines for the

Management of the Red-Cockaded

Woodpecker on Army Installations

AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: The Department of the Army

has prepared an environmental

assessment (EA) and a draft finding of

no significant impact (FNSI) for

assessing the impacts associated with its

revision to Army-wide guidelines for

the management of the red-cockaded

woodpecker (RCW) on Army

installations. The new guidelines will

replace existing guidelines approved in

1994. The RCW is a federally listed

endangered species found on seven

Army installations in the southeastern

United States: Fort Bragg and Sunny

Point Military Ocean Terminal, North

Carolina; Forts Stewart, Benning and

Gordon Georgia; Fort Jackson, South

Carolina; and Fort Polk, Louisiana. The

following Army installations do not

currently have RCWs but have sites

indicating past RCW presence: Forts

Rucker and McClellan, Alabama; Camp

Shelby, Mississippi; and Louisiana

Army Ammunition Plant, Louisiana.

The purpose of the revision is to

improve the effectiveness of Army-wide

RCW management in compliance with

the Endangered Species Act of 1973

(ESA) while maintaining the Army’s

ability to train and prepare soldiers for

military conflict. The revised guidelines

will be used by Army installations as

baseline standards in preparing their

RCW management plans. In the revised

guidelines, the Army identified

measures which should increase RCW

populations on military installations

while simultaneously enhancing the

realism of military training conducted

on military installations with RCW

populations.

As part of the guidelines revision

process, the Army has prepared an EA

in accordance with the National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969

(NEPA), the regulations published by

the Council on Environmental Quality,

and the Army’s NEPA implementing

regulations—Army Regulation 200–2,

Environmental Effects of Army Actions,

dated December 23, 1988. Additionally,

the Army has prepared a biological

assessment under the ESA to assess the

effects of the revised guidelines on

endangered and threatened species. The

Army announced commencement of the

guidelines revision process in the

Federal Register on March 13, 1996,

and invited public participation (61 FR

10330). One comment was received

from the public during the process and

has been addressed in the EA. The data,

analyses, and conclusions developed

through the course of the revisions

process, and incorporated and

documented in the EA, provide the

basis for the conclusion that the

guidelines will not have a significant

impact upon the environment. The

Army has documented and explained

this conclusion in a draft FNSI and will

implement the revised Army RCW

management guidelines, upon

completion of consultation with the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in

accordance with the ESA.

APPROVAL DATE: The Army shall publish

the draft FNSI in its present form, as

final, 30 days after publication of this

notice unless the public identifies

significant new issues of environmental

concern. Upon publication of the final

FNSI and completion of the ESA,

Section 7 process, the Army shall

immediately proceed with

implementation of the revised

guidelines.

ADDRESSES: Written comments or

requests to obtain a copy of the EA and

draft FNSI, with draft RCW management

guidelines and biological assessment

attached, may be forwarded to:

Headquarters, Department of the Army,

Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and

Plans, ATTN: DAMO–TRS (Army

Endangered Species Team),

Washington, DC 20310–0400.
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 26, 1996 / Notices 33103

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Questions regarding this action may be

directed to: Major Mark R. Lindon,

Army Endangered Species Team, (703)

695–2452; Mr. Phil Pierce, Army

Endangered Species Team, (703) 693–

0678; or Major Thomas E. Ayres, Army

Endangered Species Team, (703) 696–

1572.

Raymond J. Fatz,

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the

Army (Environment, Safety and Occupational

Health) OASA (I, L&E).

[FR Doc. 96–16247 Filed 6–25–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3710–08–M

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Notice of Proposed Information

Collection Requests

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Proposed collection; comment

request.

SUMMARY: The Director, Information

Resources Group, invites comments on

the proposed information collection

requests as required by the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to

submit comments on or before August

26, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and

requests for copies of the proposed

information collection requests should

be addressed to Patrick J. Sherrill,

Department of Education, 600

Independence Avenue, S.W., Room

5624, Regional Office Building 3,

Washington, DC 20202–4651.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patrick J. Sherrill (202) 708–8196.

Individuals who use a

telecommunications device for the deaf

(TDD) may call the Federal Information

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time,

Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of

1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires

that the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) provide interested

Federal agencies and the public an early

opportunity to comment on information

collection requests. OMB may amend or

waive the requirement for public

consultation to the extent that public

participation in the approval process

would defeat the purpose of the

information collection, violate State or

Federal law, or substantially interfere

with any agency’s ability to perform its

statutory obligations. The Director of the

Information Resources Group publishes

this notice containing proposed

information collection requests prior to

submission of these requests to OMB.

Each proposed information collection,

grouped by office, contains the

following: (1) Type of review requested,

e.g., new, revision, extension, existing

or reinstatement; (2) Title; (3) Summary

of the collection; (4) Description of the

need for, and proposed use of, the

information; (5) Respondents and

frequency of collection; and (6)

Reporting and/or Recordkeeping

burden. OMB invites public comment at

the address specified above. Copies of

the requests are available from Patrick J.

Sherrill at the address specified above.

The Department of Education is

especially interested in public comment

addressing the following issues: (1) Is

this collection necessary to the proper

functions of the Department, (2) will

this information be processed and used

in a timely manner, (3) is the estimate

of burden accurate, (4) how might the

Department enhance the quality, utility,

and clarity of the information to be

collected, and (5) how might the

Department minimize the burden of this

collection on the respondents, including

through the use of information

technology.