JUSTIFICATION for FACA ACTION

Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council 2018

Type of Package: Charter Renewal Request, and Two Federal RegisterNotices: (1) announcing the charter renewal, and (2) calling for nominations

Is this committee statutorily mandated? ______YES____X____NO

Authority for committee and year established
Specific responsibilities identified in the Sportfishing and Boating Safety Act of 1988 (Public Law 105-178) Executive Order 12962, and Secretarial Order 3347. Established by the Secretary in 1993.
Typical Average Costs to the FWS Per FY (provide more explanation below)) / Total # of members / # of Federal members / Typical # of meetings Per FY (include any subcommittee meetings)
$400,000 / 18 / 1-FWS Director serves as ex-officio / Approximately 2 full Council meetings, 2-4 subcommittee meetings
Instruction / Justification
Explain what FWS or DOI purpose is achieved by the committee’s work. / Council members consist of national, regional, and local representatives of state fish and wildlife agencies, national fishing and boating trade organizations, aquatic conservation organizations and tourism agencies. The Council members represent hundreds of thousands of anglers and boaters nationally and provide the Department with recommendations based on their constituents and industry concerns for maintaining access for anglers and boaters.
The Council:
-Assists the Service with oversight of the National Outreach and Communications Program, including routinely assessing the effectiveness of this program and coordinating the development of performance metrics for it. The Council’s Boating Issues subcommittee is leading a pilot project to identify ways Federal agencies can streamline and provide transparency to permitting processes for boating access developments.
-Provides critical input to the Service on the development and implementation of programs that affect fishing and boating. For example, the Council assessed the Service’s fishery program, which led to a strategic plan and practices that address the Council’s recommendations regarding recreational angling and cooperating with our partner state and tribal agencies.
-Oversees the Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) Program Tier II subcommittee, which meets jointly with Service grant specialists to review and rank competitive grant proposals submitted for funding from the BIGprogram.
Explain the average FY costs you provide above. / The typical costs incurred for this committee include Federal staff support of 2 FTEs, travel and per diem reimbursement for members to attend Council meetings and subcommittee meetings, meeting room costs, and consultants who assist with the Council’s program assessments.
The FWS Fish and Aquatic Conservation Program pays these costs with administrative funding identified for this purpose from the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund.
Explain the consequences if the committee didn’t meet or exist / The Council would not be able to provide recommendations about recreational fishing as required by Secretary’s Orders 3347 and 3356. They also would not be able to provide input about reducing regulatory burden associated with recreational fishing and boating and access to fishing, as required by Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 13777.
The Council representatives’ expertise in the engineering and design of boat access projects is not available within the Service, and their input with ranking BIG program grant recipients helps us to select fiscally sound and structurally feasibly projects.