[Federal Register: July 17, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 136)]
[Notices]
[Page 34772-34774]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17jy09-89]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R9-MB-2009-N140] [91200-1232-BPPR-P2]
Information Collection Sent to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for Approval; OMB Control Number 1018-0133; Control and
Management of Resident Canada Geese
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We (Fish and Wildlife Service) have sent an Information
Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. The ICR, which
is summarized below, describes the nature of the collection and the
estimated burden and cost. OMB approval for this information collection
is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2009. We may not conduct or
sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of
information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
However, under OMB regulations, we may continue to conduct or sponsor
this information collection while it is pending at OMB.
DATES: You must send comments on or before August 17, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments and suggestions on this information
collection to the Desk Officer for the Department of the Interior at
OMB-OIRA at (202) 395-5806 (fax) or OIRA_DOCKET@OMB.eop.gov (e-mail).
Please provide a copy of your comments to Hope Grey, Information
Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service, MS 222-ARLSQ,
4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 (mail) or hope_
grey@fws.gov (e-mail).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information
about this ICR, contact Hope Grey by mail or e-mail (see ADDRESSES) or
by telephone at (703) 358-2482.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Control Number: 1018-0133.
Title: Control and Management of Resident Canada Geese, 50 CFR
20.21, 21.49, 21.50, 21.51, 21.52, and 21.61.
Service Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
[[Page 34773]]
Affected Public: State fish and wildlife agencies, tribes, and
local governments; airports, landowners; and farms.
Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.
Frequency of Collection: Annually.
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Number of annual Number of annual Completion time per Annual burden
Activity respondents responses response hours
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21.49 - Airport Control Order - 110 110 1.5 hours.......... 166
Annual Report.
21.50 - Nest and Egg Depredation 2,000 4,000 .5 hours........... 2,000
Order - Registration and Report.
21.51 - Agricultural Depredation 600 600 .5 hours........... 300
Order - Recordkeeping.
21.51 - Agricultural Depredation 30 30 8 hours............ 240
Order - Annual Report.
21.52 - Public Health Control 35 35 1 hour............. 35
Order - Annual Report.
21.61 - Population Control 30 30 24 hours........... 720
Approval Request -
Recordkeeping and Annual Report.
21.61 - Population Control 30 30 160 hours.......... 4,800
Approval Request - Population
Estimates.
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Totals...................... 2,835 4,835 ................... 8,261
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Abstract: The Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibits the take,
possession, import, export, transport, sale, purchase, or bartering of
migratory birds or their parts except as permitted under the terms of a
valid permit or as permitted by regulations. In 2006, we issued
regulations establishing two depredation orders and three control
orders that allow State and tribal wildlife agencies, private
landowners, and airports to conduct resident Canada goose population
management, including the take of birds. We monitor the data collected
for activities under these orders and may rescind an order if
monitoring indicates that activities are inconsistent with conservation
of Canada geese.
Control order for airports. 50 CFR 21.49 allows managers at
commercial, public, and private airports and military airfields and
their employees or agents to implement management of resident Canada
geese to resolve or prevent threats to public safety. An airport must
be part of the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems and have
received Federal grant-in-aid assistance or be a military airfield
under the jurisdiction, custody, or control of the Secretary of a
military department. Each facility exercising the privileges of the
order must submit an annual report with the date, numbers, and
locations of birds, nests, and eggs taken.
Depredation order for nests and eggs. 50 CFR 21.50 allows private
landowners and managers of public lands to destroy resident Canada
goose nests and eggs on property under their jurisdiction provided they
register annually on our website at https://epermits.fws.gov/eRCGR.
Registrants must provide basic information, such as name, address,
phone number and email, and identify where the control work will occur
and who will conduct it. Registrants must return to the website to
report the number of nests with eggs they destroyed.
Depredation order for agricultural facilities. 50 CFR 21.51 allows
States and tribes, via their wildlife agency, to implement a program to
allow landowners, operators, and tenants actively engaged in commercial
agriculture to conduct damage management control when geese are
committing depredations or to resolve or prevent other injury to
agricultural interests. State and tribal wildlife agencies in the
Atlantic, Central, and Mississippi Flyway portions of 41 States can
implement the provisions of the order. Agricultural producers must
maintain a log of the date and number of birds taken under this
authorization. States and tribes exercising the privileges of the order
must submit an annual report of the numbers of birds, nests, and eggs
taken and the county where take occurred.
Public health control order. 50 CFR 21.52 authorizes States and
tribes of the lower 48 States to conduct (via the State or tribal
wildlife agency) resident Canada goose control and management
activities when the geese pose a direct threat to human health. States
and tribes operating under this order must submit an annual report
summarizing activities, including the numbers of birds taken and the
county where take occurred.
Population control. 50 CFR 21.61 establishes a managed take program
to reduce and stabilize resident Canada goose populations when
traditional and otherwise authorized management measures are not
successful or feasible. A State or tribal wildlife agency in the
Atlantic, Mississippi, or Central Flyway may request approval for this
population control program. If approved, the State or tribe may use
hunters to harvest resident Canada geese during the month of August.
Requests for approval must include a discussion of the State's or
tribe's efforts to address its injurious situations using other methods
or a discussion of the reasons why the methods are not feasible. If the
Service Director approves a request, the State or tribe must (1) keep
annual records of activities carried out under the authority of the
program, and (2) provide an annual summary, including number of
individuals participating in the program and the number of resident
Canada geese shot. Additionally, participating States and tribes must
monitor the spring breeding population by providing an annual estimate
of the breeding population and distribution of resident Canada geese in
their State.
Comments: On March 18, 2009, we published in the Federal Register
(74 FR 11597) a notice of our intent to request that OMB renew this
information collection. In that notice, we solicited comments for 60
days, ending on May 18, 2009. We received one comment in response to
that notice. The commenter opposed the killing of geese, but did not
address the information collection requirements. We did not make any
changes to the collection requirements.
We again invite comments concerning this information collection on:
(1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary,
including whether or not the information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection
of information;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
(4) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
respondents.
Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. Before including your address, phone number, e-mail
address,
[[Page 34774]]
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 can
ask OMB in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that it will be
done.
Dated: June 26, 2009
Hope Grey,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. E9-17070 Filed 7-16-09; 8:45 am]
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