[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 59 (Monday, March 28, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17146-17147]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-7190]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R9-ES-2011-N067; 92220-1113-0000-C3]
Information Collection Sent to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for Approval; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife,
Experimental Populations
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) have sent an Information
Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. We summarize
the ICR below and describe the nature of the collection and the
estimated burden and cost. This information collection is scheduled to
expire on March 31, 2011. 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 submit comments on or before April 27, 2011.
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 the Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS 2042-
PDM, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 (mail), or
INFOCOL@fws.gov (e-mail). Please include 1018-0095 in the subject line
of your comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information
about this ICR, contact Hope Grey at INFOCOL@fws.gov (e-mail) or 703-
358-2482 (telephone). You may review the ICR online at http://www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to review Department of the
Interior collections under review by OMB.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Control Number: 1018-0095.
Title: Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, Experimental
Populations, 50 CFR 17.84.
Service Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Description of Respondents: Individuals and households, private
sector, and State/local/Tribal governments.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 101.
Estimated Annual Number of Responses: 101.
Completion Time per Response: 15 minutes.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 27.
Abstract: Section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(ESA), as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), authorizes the Secretary of
the Interior to establish experimental populations of endangered or
threatened species. Because individuals of experimental populations are
categorically protected under the ESA, the information we collect is
important for monitoring the success of reintroduction efforts and
recovery efforts in general. This is a nonform collection. Information
collection requirements for experimental populations of endangered and
threatened species are in 50 CFR 17.84. We collect three categories of
information:
(1) General take or removal. Relates to human-related mortality
including unintentional taking incidental to otherwise lawful
activities (e.g., highway mortalities); animal husbandry actions
authorized to manage the population (e.g., translocation or providing
aid to sick, injured, or orphaned individuals); take in defense of
human life; take related to defense of property (if authorized); or
take in the form of authorized harassment.
(2) Depredation-related take. Involves take for management purposes
where livestock depredation is documented, and may include authorized
harassment or authorized lethal take of experimental animals in the act
of attacking livestock.
(3) Specimen collection, recovery, or reporting of dead
individuals. This information documents incidental or authorized
scientific collection. Most of the contacts with the public deal
primarily with the reporting of sightings of experimental population
animals or the inadvertent discovery of an injured or dead individual.
The information that we collect includes:
Name, address, and phone number of reporting party.
Species involved.
Type of incident.
Take (quantity).
Location and time of the reported incident.
Description of the circumstances related to the incident.
This information helps us to assess the effectiveness of control
activities and to develop better means to reduce problems with
livestock for those species where depredation is a problem. Service
recovery specialists use the information to determine the success of
reintroductions in relation to established recovery plan goals for the
threatened and endangered species involved.
Comments: On November 3, 2010, we published in the Federal Register
(75 FR 67761) a notice of our intent to request that OMB renew approval
for this information collection. In that notice, we solicited comments
for 60 days, ending on January 3, 2011. We received information from
two commenters in response to this notice.
[[Page 17147]]
The first commenter objected to the authorization of depredation-
related take. We note the concerns raised by this individual, but the
comment did not address issues surrounding the proposed collection of
information or the cost and hour burden estimates.
The second commenter provided the following comments:
Comment: The estimated burden for collection of information is
severely underestimated. The commenter agreed that the actual reporting
time is probably only 15 minutes per respondent, but stated that
gathering data necessary to compile the reported information requires
far more time, and may require a field investigation or followup phone
call to verify the report.
Response: We believe our estimates are within reason because they
represent the average amount of time it will take to provide the
requested information via making a telephone call or sending a
facsimile. This ICR covers multiple experimental populations, multiple
species (which may have more than one experimental population),
multiple types of activities, multiple geographic locations across the
United States, and multiple Service Regions. We estimate that the time
required to provide the notification will vary substantially from 1 to
45 minutes. We acknowledge that it may take some respondents, such as
State fish and wildlife agencies, longer than others to gather and
compile the data prior to notifying us. State fish and wildlife
agencies may provide information to us on multiple species,
experimental populations, and incidents in a single notification
(thereby requiring more than 15 minutes for them to provide us with the
information). In contrast to State fish and wildlife agencies, the
general public usually provides information on a single species,
experimental population, and incident in one notification (thereby
requiring substantially less than 15 minutes for them to provide us
with the information). Given the variety of potential situations
requiring notification, as well as the variety of potential
respondents, we believe 15 minutes per response is a reasonable
estimate of the average burden.
Comment: General sighting reports do not appear to be included in
the three categories of information collection.
Response: General sightings are included in the description of the
information collection for specimen collection.
Comment: The Service should design a standard data input form and
evaluation descriptors for the reporting of visual information,
allowing for adjustments in the form for each population as needed.
Response: We collect the information by means of telephone calls or
facsimiles from the public. The actual details of the information we
collect are unique to each species and experimental population, based
on the specific information needed for that species and experimental
population. The types of incidents that must be reported also vary by
species. For example, under our wolf experimental populations,
livestock depredation under a permit must be reported within 24 hours.
We do not ask for this same information under our whooping crane
experimental populations because whooping cranes are not predators,
and, therefore, depredation permits are not needed. This ICR covers
multiple experimental populations, multiple species (which may have
more than one experimental population), multiple types of activities,
multiple geographic locations across the United States, and multiple
Service Regions. Given these complexities and variability in the detail
of the information needed, it is not feasible to develop a standard
data input form for each experimental population.
Comment: Sharing the data in summary form would increase the
utility of the data.
Response: State wildlife agencies are our primary conservation
partners, and we routinely share data with them (and vice versa),
including the data gathered under this information collection.
Comment: Reporting take (quantity) could be burdensome for species
that produce large numbers of young at a time (e.g., fish, amphibians,
and butterflies). The commenter suggests standardizing the reporting of
take (quantity) as a way to reduce the reporting burden for these
species.
Response: We will coordinate with our Regional Offices and
respondents to see if we can simplify and standardize the reporting of
take (quantity) for species with large numbers of young.
We have not made any changes to our information collection
requirements as a result of the above comments.
We again invite comments concerning this information collection on:
Whether or not the collection of information is necessary,
including whether or not the information will have practical utility;
The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this
collection of information;
Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
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, 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: March 22, 2011.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy and Directives Management, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-7190 Filed 3-25-11; 8:45 am]
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