3an-26-2009 05: 41 PM US Fish and W i ldl i fe Service 7033582201 
Fish and Wildlife Service Co&wnts on the Interim Final Rule for State Technical 
Committees 
General Comments 
Althou& the Food, Consetvation and Energy Act (2008 Parm Bill) does not list the Fish 
and Wildlife! Senrice ( S e ~ c e ) as a statutory member ofthe State Technical Committee 
(STC), the Sewice believes it is a %levant federal agency" as described in section 
610.22(b) of the interim iinal rule. Thc Service looks forward to continued participation 
in each STC as a relevant federal agency with specialized howledge about 
environmental impacts of co&crvation techniques and programs. The Service has a 
long-standing conservation partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Senrice 
and other USDA agencies implementing private land conservation programs that includes 
providing fish add wildlife technical expertise aid infomation that can maximize 
program benefits for fish and wildlife resources, wb3e helping to mitigate any adverse 
environmental impacts. 
Specsc Comments 
Section 610.24 (a) - R e s p o n w e s of State Technical Committeq 
The three examples of STC recommendations provided at the end of the paragraph relate 
to setting pr6grm priorities and application criteria. The Service recommends adding a 
fourth examfile of the type of recommendations .the STC c&n provide! to USDA that 
relates directly to on-the-ground program implementation: 
"(4) The state-specific conservation practice standards, policies and guidelines 
used to implement the conservation a~tivities and programs identified in this 
paragraph," 
' Section 61 O,Z(a] Subcommittees and Local Working Grou~s 
The S d c e recommends that the STC subcommittee members assembled by the State 
Conswationist, as described in the second sentence of the paragraph, include 
representatives &om federal, state or local govarnment agencies with statutory 
responsibility for the xasouxce(s) being analyzed by the subcommittee, 
Section 610.24 (b)(3).- Responsibilities of Stat6 Technical C o d t t e q 
In addition to following standard operating procedures and public notice requirements, 
the Local Working Groups should provide the STC witb. Wormation on their 
recommendations, including the process used to develop the recommendations. This will 
assist the STC in satisfying the statutory requirement to review whether Local Working 
Groups are addressing STC priorities.