[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 3, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60455-60457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-24398]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-HQ-MB-2012-N227; FXMB1231099BPP0L2-112-FF09M21200]
Information Collection Request Sent to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for Approval; 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) 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 November 30, 2012. 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 November 2, 2012.
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 (email).
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 (email). Please include ``1018-0133'' 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 (email) or 703-
358-2482 (telephone). You may review the ICR online at http://www.reginfo.gov.
[[Page 60456]]
Follow the instructions to review Department of the Interior
collections under review by OMB.
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: 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.
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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--Annual 50 50 1.5 hours............... 76
Report.
21.50--Nest and Egg Depredation Order-- 1,000 1,000 30 minutes.............. 500
Initial Registration.
21.50--Nest and Egg Depredation Order-- 3,000 3,000 15 minutes.............. 751
Renew Registration.
21.50--Nest and Egg Depredation Order-- 4,000 4,000 15 minutes.............. 1,000
Annual Report.
21.51--Agricultural Depredation Order-- 600 600 30 minutes.............. 300
Recordkeeping.
21.51--Agricultural Depredation Order-- 20 20 8 hours................. 160
Annual Report.
21.52--Public Health Control Order-- 20 20 1 hour.................. 20
Annual Report.
21.49, 21.50, 21.51, and 21.52--Report 2 2 15 minutes.............. 1
Take of Endangered Species.
21.61--Population Control Approval 8 8 24 hours................ 192
Request--Recordkeeping and Annual
Report.
21.61--Population Control Approval 8 8 160 hours............... 1,280
Request--Population Estimates.
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Totals............................ 8,708 8,708 ........................ 4,280
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* rounded.
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 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 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.
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) (21.49(d)(1)). This information ensures
that the incidental take limits
[[Page 60457]]
authorized under Section 7 of the ESA are not exceeded.
Comments: On May 2, 2012, we published in the Federal Register (77
FR 26032) 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 July 2, 2012. We received one comment from the
Wyoming Game and Fish Department (Wyoming) in response to that notice.
Wyoming generally supported the information collection to document
and monitor control and management activities for resident Canada
geese. However, it did not support the level of detail that we request
in the annual reports, stating that it puts an unnecessary burden on
respondents and has no practical utility. Although Wyoming does not
indicate which of the depredation orders it is referring to, only the
control order for resident Canada geese at agricultural facilities
(21.51), the public health control order (21.52), and the population
control approval request (21.61) involve State agencies. To date, the
State of Wyoming has not operated under any of these orders.
The control order for agricultural facilities allows State wildlife
agencies and tribes to authorize landowners, operators, and tenants
actively engaged in commercial agriculture to conduct direct damage
management actions. These entities must maintain records of the date
and number of geese and eggs taken and provide it to their agency upon
request. The State or tribal agency must provide us with an annual
summary of the number of geese, nests, and eggs destroyed broken down
by month so we can monitor the overall take of resident Canada geese
and the continued use and effectiveness of the regulation.
The public health control order may be implemented by State and
tribal wildlife agencies. The State or tribal agency must provide us
with an annual summary of the number of geese, nests, and eggs
destroyed broken down by county. Very few geese are taken under this
order.
The population control order allows States and tribes to designate
participants to act as their agents under this order. The State or
tribe must keep records of the following information and provide an
annual summary to us: (1) The number of individuals participating in
the program; (2) the number of days individuals participated in the
program; (3) the total number of resident Canada geese shot and
retrieved; and (4) the number shot but not retrieved.
Overall, we agree that the most important information the Service
and States need to monitor these populations is the number of geese,
nests, and eggs destroyed and the population status. However, the
general time and location of any geese taken under the various
depredation and control orders provides valuable insight and ongoing
review of the regulations' continued effectiveness, or lack thereof.
For example, we would expect that over time the numbers of geese taken
with the various orders should trend downward, especially in locations
where they are continually implemented. Further, the information helps
us determine whether the existing regulations should be revised or
expanded due to changing conditions, population status, or new
conflicts. We would readily consider any potential changes in the
existing regulations if information warranted such changes and have
made minor revisions and clarifications to the regulations since their
promulgation.
Lastly, Wyoming commented that our 60-day Federal Register notice
should have stated that State agencies may require State permits in
order for (1) airports to operate under the control order for resident
Canada geese at airports and military airfields (21.49), and (2)
landowners to take nests and eggs under the nest and egg depredation
order (21.50). Although we do not state this in the Federal Register
notice for this information collection, that point is made clear in the
regulations for these orders.
We did not make any changes to our information collection
requirements based on 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, 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 OMB in your comment to withhold your personal
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that it
will be done.
Dated: September 26, 2012.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy and Directives Management, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-24398 Filed 10-2-12; 8:45 am]
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