60-day FRN

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 84 / Tuesday, April 30, 2024 / Notices
take final action to address the
emergency. The public also should be
aware that the meeting will be recorded.
Consistent with 16 U.S.C. 1852, a copy
of the recording is available upon
request.
Special Accommodations
This meeting is physically accessible
to people with disabilities. Requests for
sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to Cate
O’Keefe, Executive Director, at (978)
465–0492, at least 5 days prior to the
meeting date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: April 24, 2024.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024–09228 Filed 4–29–24; 8:45 am]
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receives are considered part of the
public record, and the entirety of the
comment, including the name of the
commenter, email address, attachments,
and other supporting materials, will be
publicly accessible. Sensitive personally
identifiable information, such as
account numbers and Social Security
numbers or Confidential Business
Information, should not be included
with the comment.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or
specific questions related to collection
activities should be directed to Craig
Reid, Grant Coordinator, Coral Reef
Conservation Program, NOAA National
Ocean Service, 1305 East West
Highway, 10th Floor, Silver Spring, MD
20910, 202–240–5332, and
Craig.A.Reid@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Coral Reef Conservation
Program
National Oceanic &
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of information collection,
request for comment.
AGENCY:

The Department of
Commerce, in accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA), invites the general public and
other Federal agencies to comment on
proposed, and continuing information
collections, which helps us assess the
impact of our information collection
requirements and minimize the public’s
reporting burden. This notice pertains to
a revision and extension of the
approved collection of information for
the Coral Reef Conservation Program.
The purpose of this notice is to allow for
60 days of public comment preceding
submission of the collection to OMB.
DATES: To ensure consideration,
comments regarding this proposed
information collection must be received
on or before July 1, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit written comments to
Adrienne Thomas, NOAA PRA Officer,
at NOAA.PRA@noaa.gov. Please
reference OMB Control Number 0648–
0448 in the subject line of your
comments. Written comments NOAA

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SUMMARY:

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This request is for revision and
extension to an approved collection of
information under the Paperwork
Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.,
and implementing regulations at 5 CFR
part 1320. The Coral Reef Conservation
Act of 2000, 16 U.S.C. 6401 et seq., has
been amended since the last approval
and the revised requirements for
information collection are outlined
below.
The Coral Reef Conservation Act was
enacted to conserve and restore the
condition of United States coral reef
ecosystems challenged by natural and
human-accelerated changes; to promote
the science-based management and
sustainable use of coral reef ecosystems
to benefit local communities and the
Nation; to develop sound scientific
information on the condition of coral
reef ecosystems, continuing and
emerging threats to such ecosystems,
and the efficacy of innovative tools,
technologies, and strategies to mitigate
stressors and restore such ecosystems; to
assist in the preservation of coral reefs
by supporting science-based, consensusdriven, and community-based coral reef
management by covered States (Florida,
Hawaii, and the territories of American
Samoa, the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto
Rico, and the United States Virgin
Islands) and covered Native entities (an
Indian Tribe, the Department of
Hawaiian Home Lands, the Office of
Hawaiian Affairs, or a Native Hawaiian
organization with interests in a coral
reef ecosystem); to provide financial
resources, technical assistance, and
scientific expertise to supplement,
complement, and strengthen
community-based management

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programs and conservation and
restoration projects of non-Federal reefs;
to establish a formal mechanism for
collecting and allocating monetary
donations from the private sector to be
used for coral reef conservation and
restoration projects; to support rapid,
effective, and science-based assessment
and response to exigent circumstances
that pose immediate and long-term
threats to coral reefs; and to serve as a
model for advancing similar
international efforts to monitor,
conserve, and restore coral reef
ecosystems.
Under section 6406 of the Act (Block
Grants), covered States are responsible
for documenting and reporting the
State’s use of Federal funds received
under the Act; and expenditures of nonFederal funds made in furtherance of
coral reef management and restoration
as the NOAA Administrator
(Administrator) deems appropriate. The
Administrator is responsible for
providing guidance on the proper
documentation of expenditures.
Under section 6410 of the Act (Ruth
D. Gates Coral Reef Conservation Grant
Program), the NOAA Administrator, and
subject to the availability of
appropriations, is authorized to provide
up to $3,500,000 annually (per section
6414(c)) in grants for coral reef
conservation projects.
Collection activities for this program
are outlined below and include: 1.
Collection and submission of covered
States’ non-Federal expenditures under
the block grants section; 2. Applicant
development and submission of a
proposal package to a Notice of Funding
Opportunity under the Ruth D. Gates
Coral Reef Conservation Grant Program;
and 3. If selected and awarded funding,
submission of performance progress
reports, to include a standard programspecific performance progress report
template with a new indicator tracking
report for all financial assistance
recipients.
NOAA anticipates the first block
grants will be awarded in fiscal year
2025 and NOAA is currently drafting
guidance for the covered States for the
annual collection of their non-Federal
expenditures. NOAA expects to supply
a simple form to each covered State for
an aggregated, high-level report of each
covered State’s Non-Federal
expenditures from the previous fiscal
year. NOAA expects the same
performance (technical) reports required
by 2 CFR 200.329 for all recipients of
non-construction Federal financial
assistance awards described in detail
below will be sufficient to document
and report the State’s use of Federal
funds.

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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 84 / Tuesday, April 30, 2024 / Notices

As per section 6410(b) of the Act,
NOAA will require that each proposal
package submitted to a Ruth D. Gates
Coral Reef Conservation Program Notice
of Funding Opportunity at minimum
include: 1. The name of the individual
or entity responsible for conducting the
project; 2. A description of the
qualifications of the individual or
entity; 3. A succinct statement of the
purposes of the project; 4. An estimate
of the funds and time required to
complete the project; 5. Evidence of
support for the project by appropriate
representatives of States or other
government jurisdictions in which the
project will be conducted; 6.
Information regarding the source and
amount of matching funding available to
the applicant; 7. A description of how
the project meets one or more of the
priorities listed in the announcement;
and 8. In the case of a proposal
submitted by a coral reef stewardship
partnership, a description of how the
project aligns with the applicable coral
reef action plan in effect under section
6404 of this title. Additionally, Federal
funds for any coral conservation
financial assistance project may not
exceed 50 percent of the total cost.
However, the Administrator may waive
all or part of the matching requirement
if the Administrator determines that no
reasonable means are available through
which an applicant can meet the
matching requirement with respect to a
coral reef project and the probable
benefit of the project outweighs the
public interest in the matching
requirement. The applicant may choose
to also submit a request for this nonFederal matching requirement, if full or
in part, at their discretion.
Per 2 CFR 200.329, all recipients of
non-construction Federal financial
assistance awards are required to
provide performance (technical) reports
to the agency at intervals no less
frequently than annually and no more
frequently than quarterly in order for
the agency to properly monitor the
award and meet oversight
responsibilities. The awarding agency
must use OMB-approved common forms
for this purpose or seek permission for
program-specific forms that will collect
the required data elements. The Coral
Reef Conservation Program obtained
OMB approval to revise this information
collection to require use of a programspecific form for semi-annual reporting
and an annual form for tracking specific
indicators but has not been
implemented. These indicators align
with the new Coral Reef Conservation
Program Strategic Plan (2018; https://
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plan2018) and were to be used to track
national progress toward these strategic
goals through 2040, however section
6403 of the Act now requires the
creation of National Coral Resilience
Strategy by December, 2024, and the
form may need to be revised to track any
changes in indicators. The programspecific form for semi-annual reporting
will be a revised version of what is
currently approved and will standardize
reporting across projects.
II. Method of Collection
Information will be collected
electronically via the Department of
Commerce’s grant management system,
eRA Commons, for performance
(technical) reports, Grants.gov for nonFederal match waiver requests, and
email for covered States’ submissions of
expenditures of non-Federal funds. In
the event that electronic submission is
not available for non-Federal match
waiver requests, paper submissions may
be allowable pursuant to the Notice of
Funding Opportunity.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0648–0448.
Form Number(s): SF–424 series.
Type of Review: Regular (Revision and
extension of current information
collection).
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations; nonprofit,
nongovernmental, and not-for-profit
institutions; State or local government;
and regional fishery management
councils established under the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (16
U.S.C. 1801 et seq.).
Estimated Number of Respondents:
42.
Estimated Time per Response: Block
grant report of non-Federal expenditures
of covered States: to be determined;
Ruth D. Gates Grant Program proposal
package development and submission:
46.5 hours; performance progress report
and indicator report submission: 6
hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 937 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to
Public: No cost for electronic responses.
Respondent’s Obligation: Required to
obtain or retain benefits.
Legal Authority: Coral Reef
Conservation Act of 2000, 16 U.S.C.
6401 et seq.
IV. Request for Comments
We are soliciting public comments to
permit the Department/Bureau to: (a)
Evaluate whether the proposed
information collection is necessary for
the proper functions of the Department,

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including whether the information will
have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the
accuracy of our estimate of the time and
cost burden for this proposed collection,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (c)
Evaluate ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and (d) Minimize the
reporting burden on those who are to
respond, including the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
Comments that you submit in
response to this notice are a matter of
public record. We will include or
summarize each comment in our request
to OMB to approve this information
collection request. 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 made
publicly available at any time. While
you may 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.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of
the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs,
Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2024–09206 Filed 4–29–24; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XD912]

Council Coordination Committee
Meeting
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
AGENCY:

The Caribbean Fishery
Management Council (CFMC) will host
a meeting of the Council Coordination
Committee (CCC) consisting of eight
Regional Fishery Management Council
(RFMC) chairs, vice chairs, and
executive directors and its
subcommittees from May 21 to May 23,
2024. The intent of this meeting is to
discuss issues of relevance to the
Councils and NMFS, including issues
related to the implementation of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management
Reauthorization Act (MSA), other topics

SUMMARY:

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