[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 159 (Tuesday, August 18, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50021-50023]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20335]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-HQ-MB-2015-N159; FF09M21200-156- FXMB1231099BPP0]
Proposed Information Collection; Control and Management of
Resident Canada Geese
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) will ask the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC)
described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and
as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent
burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take
this opportunity to comment on this IC. This IC is scheduled to expire
on December 31, 2015. 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.
DATES: To ensure that we are able to consider your comments on this IC,
we must receive them by October 19, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the IC to the Information Collection
Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS BPHC, 5275
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803 (mail); or hope_grey@fws.gov
(email). Please include ``1018-0133'' in the subject line of your
comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information
about this IC, contact Hope Grey at hope_grey@fws.gov (email) or 703-
358-2482 (telephone).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. 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
[[Page 50022]]
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 Web site 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 Web
site 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 agencies, to implement programs
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 may
implement the provisions of the order. Each implementing agricultural
producer must maintain a log of the date and number of birds taken
under this authorization. Each State and tribe exercising the
privileges of the order must submit an annual report of the numbers of
birds, nests, and eggs taken, and the county or counties 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.
Regulations at 50 CFR 21.49, 21.50, 21.51, and 21.52 require that
persons or entities operating under the depredation and control orders
must immediately report the take of any species protected under the
Endangered Species Act (ESA). This information ensures that the
incidental take limits authorized under Section 7 of the ESA are not
exceeded.
II. Data
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: None.
Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Description of Respondents: 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.
Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.
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Number of Number of Completion time per Total annual
Activity respondents responses response burden hours *
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21.49--Airport Control Order-- 50 50 1.5 hours........... 76
Annual Report.
21.50--Nest and Egg Depredation 1,000 1,000 30 minutes.......... 500
Order--Initial Registration.
21.50--Nest and Egg Depredation 3,000 3,000 15 minutes.......... 751
Order--Renew Registration.
21.50--Nest and Egg Depredation 4,000 4,000 15 minutes.......... 1,000
Order--Annual Report.
21.51--Agricultural Depredation 600 600 30 minutes.......... 300
Order--Recordkeeping.
21.51--Agricultural Depredation 20 20 8 hours............. 160
Order--Annual Report.
21.52--Public Health Control 20 20 1 hour.............. 20
Order--Annual Report.
21.49, 21.50, 21.51, and 21.52-- 2 2 15 minutes.......... 1
Report Take of Endangered
Species.
21.61--Population Control 8 8 24 hours............ 192
Approval Request--Recordkeeping
and Annual Report.
21.61--Population Control 8 8 160 hours........... 1,280
Approval Request--Population
Estimates.
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Totals....................... 8,708 8,708 .................... 4,280
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* Rounded.
III. Comments
We 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
[[Page 50023]]
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. We will include or summarize each comment in our request
to OMB to approve this IC. 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 can 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.
Dated: August 13, 2015.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy, Performance, and Management Programs, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-20335 Filed 8-17-15; 8:45 am]
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