[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 1, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 46399-46402]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-23541]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 20
RIN 1018--AE96
Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program; Participating States
for the 1998-99 Season
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) herein amends the
Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program (Program) regulations. The
Service requires all States except Hawaii to participate in the Program
annually, beginning with the 1998-99 hunting season. This regulatory
action will continue to require all licensed hunters who hunt migratory
game birds in participating States to register as migratory game bird
hunters and provide their name, address, and date of birth to the State
licensing authority. Hunters will be required to have evidence of
current participation in the Program on their person while hunting
migratory game birds in participating States. The quality and extent of
information about harvests of migratory game birds must be improved in
order to better manage these populations. Hunters' names and addresses
are necessary to provide a sample frame for voluntary hunter surveys to
improve harvest estimates for all migratory game birds. States will
gather migratory bird hunters' names and addresses and the Service will
conduct the harvest surveys.
DATES: This rule takes effect on September 1, 1998.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul I. Padding, Office of Migratory
Bird Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 10815 Loblolly Pine
Drive, Laurel, Maryland 20708-4028, (301)497-5980, FAX (301)497-5981.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final rule expands the Program to
include all States except Hawaii, beginning in the 1998-99 hunting
season.
Background
The purpose of this cooperative Program is to annually obtain a
nationwide sample frame of migratory bird hunters, from which
representative samples of hunters will be selected and asked to
participate in voluntary harvest surveys. State wildlife agencies will
provide the sample frame by annually collecting the name, address, and
date of birth of each licensed migratory bird hunter in the State. To
reduce survey costs and to identify hunters who hunt less commonly-
hunted species, States will also request that each migratory bird
hunter answer a series of questions to provide a brief summary of his
or her migratory bird hunting activity for the previous year. States
are required to ask each licensed migratory bird hunter approximately
how many ducks (0, 1-10, or more than 10), geese (0, 1-10, or more than
10), doves (0, 1-30, or more than 30), and woodcock (0, 1-30, or more
than 30) he or she bagged the previous year, and whether he or she
hunted coots, snipe, rails, and/or gallinules the previous year. States
that have band-tailed pigeon hunting seasons are also required to ask
migratory bird hunters whether they intend to hunt band-tailed pigeons
during the current year. States are not required to ask questions about
species that are not hunted in the State (for example, Maine does not
allow dove hunting, therefore, the State of Maine is not required to
ask migratory bird hunters how many doves they bagged the previous
year). States will send this information to the Service, and the
Service will sample hunters and conduct national hunter activity and
harvest surveys.
A notice of intent to establish the Program was published on June
24, 1991 (56 FR 28812). A final rule establishing the Program and
initiating a 2-year pilot phase in three volunteer States (California,
Missouri, and South Dakota) was published on March 19, 1993 (58 FR
15093). The pilot phase was completed following the 1993-94 migratory
bird hunting seasons in California, Missouri, and South Dakota. A
State/Federal technical group was formed to evaluate Program
requirements, the different approaches used by the pilot States, and
the Service's survey procedures during the pilot phase. Changes
incorporated into the Program as a result of the technical group's
evaluation were specified in an October 21, 1994 final rule (59 FR
53334), that initiated the implementation phase of the Program.
Implementation of the Program began with the addition of one State in
1994, three States in 1995 (60 FR 43318), ten States in 1996 (61 FR
46350), and five States in 1997 (62 FR 45706). Final implementation of
the Program will be accomplished with the addition of 27 States (all
except Hawaii) in this final rule.
All licensed hunters who hunt migratory game birds in participating
States are required to have a Program validation, indicating that they
have identified themselves as migratory bird hunters and have provided
the required information to the State wildlife agency. Hunters must
provide the required information to each State in which they hunt
migratory birds. Validations are printed on, written on, or attached to
the annual State hunting license or on a State-specific supplementary
permit. The State may charge hunters a handling fee to compensate
hunting-license agents and to cover the State's administrative costs.
The Service's survey design calls for hunting-record forms to be
distributed to hunters selected for the survey before they forget the
details of their hunts. Because of this design requirement, States have
only a short time to obtain hunter names and addresses from license
vendors and to provide those names and addresses to the Service.
Currently, participating States must send the required information to
the Service within 30 calendar days of issuance of the migratory bird
hunting authorization.
The Service has requested the cooperation of participating States
to facilitate obtaining harvest estimates for
[[Page 46400]]
hunters who are exempted from a permit requirement and those that are
also exempted from State licensing requirements. This includes several
categories of hunters such as junior hunters, senior hunters,
landowners, and other special categories. Because exemptions and the
methods for obtaining harvest estimates for exempt groups vary from
State to State, the Service will incorporate these methods into
individual memoranda of understanding with participating States.
Excluding from the Program those hunters who are not required to obtain
an annual State hunting license also excludes their harvest from the
estimates. The level of importance of the excluded harvest on the
resulting estimates depends on how many hunters are excluded and on the
number of birds they bag. If the level of importance is significant,
excluding these hunters will result in serious bias. Minimum survey
standards are being developed for exempted categories. States may
require exempted hunters to obtain permits (e.g., Maryland required
exempted hunters to obtain permits upon entry to the Program in 1994).
Review of Comments and the Service's Response
The Service received comments on the proposed rule from two States.
Missouri expressed strong support for the Program, calling it an
exemplary model of mutual cooperation between the States and the
Service. Florida also supported the Program's objectives but expressed
several concerns about the Program's information collection
requirements.
1. Type of Information Provided by Hunters
Comments: Florida stated that the questions they ask migratory bird
hunters, which were approved by the Service prior to Florida's
implementation of the Program in 1997, included one more response
category for ducks and doves than the number of categories specified by
the Service. They also noted that in 1997, the Service approved
Florida's request to ask hunters whether they hunted woodcock the
previous year rather than how many woodcock they bagged. They requested
clarification of the questions they are now required to ask migratory
bird hunters.
Service Response: The Service does not require a specific format
for the questions that ask migratory bird hunters approximately how
many ducks, geese, doves, and woodcock they bagged the previous year.
However, the format a State chooses must enable the State to assign
hunters' answers to the categories specified by the Service before the
State sends the data to the Service. Florida's current format that
includes an additional response category meets that criterion and does
not need to be changed. The Service has agreed that States such as
Florida, that are at the periphery of the woodcock range and that have
less than 1,000 active woodcock hunters annually, may elect to ask
hunters whether they hunted woodcock the previous year in lieu of
asking how many woodcock they bagged. Thus, Florida's current woodcock
question format also meets the Service's requirements and does not need
to be changed.
2. Impact of Procedures on Hunters and Hunting License Vendors
Comment: Florida stated that the Program places an additional
burden on both hunters and hunting license vendors. Migratory bird
hunters and license vendors in Florida have expressed dissatisfaction
with this burden, particularly the additional questions that all
migratory bird hunters are asked to complete. Although Florida
recognizes that hunters' responses to those questions provide the
Service with useful information, they noted that the benefits to the
Service come at increased costs to the States in the form of printing
costs, vendor training and implementation time, and confusion and
dissatisfaction on the part of hunters and vendors. They requested a
critical review of the Program, including a quantitative assessment of
the benefits of the required questions as compared to the monetary and
social costs assumed by the States.
Service Response: The Service recognizes that this Program imposes
an additional burden on States, hunters, and license vendors; that
burden is quantified in this document under the caption Regulatory
Flexibility Act. The Service believes, based on the experiences of
States that have participated in the Program for two or more years,
that dissatisfaction will dissipate as hunters and license vendors
become more accustomed to the Program. The Service does not have a
current assessment of the benefits derived from responses to the
questions that States are required to ask migratory bird hunters, and
the Service agrees that such an assessment should be included in the
critical review of the Program that will be undertaken after all States
have participated in the Program for at least one year.
NEPA Consideration
In compliance with the requirements of section 102(2)(C) of the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(C)), and the
Council on Environmental Quality's regulation for implementing NEPA (40
CFR 1500-1508), the Service prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA)
on the establishment of the Program and options considered in the
``Environmental Assessment: Migratory Bird Harvest Information
Program.'' This EA is available to the public at the location indicated
under the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT caption. Based on review and
evaluation of the information in the EA, the Service has determined
that amending 50 CFR 20.20 to require all States except Hawaii to
participate in the Program annually, beginning with the 1998-99
migratory bird hunting season would not be a major Federal action that
would significantly affect the quality of the human environment.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
On June 14, 1991, the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and
Parks concluded that the rule would not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). This rule will affect about
3,300,000 migratory game bird hunters when it is fully implemented. It
will require licensed migratory game bird hunters to identify
themselves and to supply their names, addresses, and birth dates to the
State licensing authority. Additional information will be requested in
order that they can be efficiently sampled for a voluntary national
harvest survey. Hunters will be required to have evidence of current
participation in the Program on their person while hunting migratory
game birds.
In total, the Service estimates that the Program information
collection will impose costs on society on the order of $4.1 million
per year. The Service estimates that hunters will require about 112,000
hours to complete Program forms. At the wage rate, this time is
estimated to be valued at $1.5 million (the average estimated cost of
time to an individual is less than $0.50). The cost to the States to
process and forward the Program information is estimated to be $2.6
million. Service payments of $0.10 per hunter name will mitigate the
impact of this requirement on State wildlife budgets to some extent.
Several States are imposing additional fees on migratory bird hunter
registrations to cover their additional costs. However,
[[Page 46401]]
the Service notes that the Program costs less than two tenths of one
percent of the $3.1 billion migratory bird hunters spent in 1996 for
travel, equipment, and hunting rights.
Collection of Information: Migratory Bird Harvest Information
Program
As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507
(d)), the Service has received approval for this collection of
information, with approval number 1018-0015. The information to be
collected includes: the name, address, and date of birth of each
licensed migratory bird hunter in each participating State. Each
licensed migratory bird hunter will also be asked to provide a brief
summary of his or her migratory bird hunting activity for the previous
year. Hunters' names, addresses, and other information will be used to
provide a sample frame for voluntary hunter surveys to improve harvest
estimates for all migratory game birds. The Service needs and uses the
information to improve the quality and extent of information about
harvests of migratory game birds in order to better manage these
populations.
All information is to be collected once annually from licensed
migratory bird hunters in participating States by the State license
authority. Participating States are required to forward the hunter
information to the Service within 30 calendar days of issuance of the
migratory bird hunting authorization. Recent information from
participating States indicates that the annual reporting and record-
keeping burden for this collection of information averages 2 minutes
per response for 3,300,000 respondents, including the time for
reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the
collection of information. Thus, the total annual reporting and record-
keeping burden for this collection is estimated to be 112,000 hours.
The Department considered comments by the public on this collection
of information in: (1) Evaluating whether the collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the
Department, including whether the information will have practical
utility; (2) Evaluating the accuracy of the Department's estimate of
the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) Enhancing the
quality, usefulness, and clarity of the information to be collected;
and (4) Minimizing the burden of the collection of information on
respondents, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques.
Comments and suggestions on the information collection requirements
should be sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs;
OMB, Attention: Interior Desk Officer, Washington, DC 20503; and a
courtesy copy to the Service Information Collection Clearance Officer,
ms-224 ARLSQ, Fish and Wildlife Service, 1849 C Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20240.
Executive Order 12866
This rule was not subject to OMB review under Executive Order
12866.
Unfunded Mandates
The Service has determined and certifies pursuant to the Unfunded
Mandates Act, 2 U.S.C. 1502 et seq., that this rulemaking will not
impose a cost of $100 million or more in any given year on local or
state governments or private entities.
Civil Justice Reform
The Department has determined that these regulations meet the
applicable standards provided in Sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of Executive
Order 12988.
Regulations Promulgation
Under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), at least 30 days is required for a rule
to become effective unless an agency has good cause to make it sooner.
All participating States have prepared for a September 1 implementation
date of the Program. Generally, migratory game bird hunting seasons may
begin as early as September 1, 1998, and since migratory game bird
hunters are required to have a Program validation on their person while
hunting migratory game birds in these States, the Service believes good
cause exists to make this rule effective on September 1, 1998.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 20
Exports, Hunting, Imports, Reporting and Recordkeeping
requirements, Transportation, Wildlife.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 20 is amended
as set forth below.
PART 20--MIGRATORY BIRD HUNTING
1. The authority citation for part 20 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 703-711, 16 U.S.C. 712, and 16 U.S.C. 742
a-j.
2. Amend Sec. 20.20 by revising paragraphs (a), (b), and (e) to
read as follows:
Sec. 20.20 Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program.
(a) Information collection requirements. The collections of
information contained in Sec. 20.20 have been approved by the Office of
Management and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and assigned
clearance number 1018-0015. An agency 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. The information will
be used to provide a sampling frame for the national Migratory Bird
Harvest Survey. Response is required from licensed hunters to obtain
the benefit of hunting migratory game birds. Public reporting burden
for this information is estimated to average 2 minutes per response for
3,300,000 respondents, including the time for reviewing instructions,
searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data
needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.
Thus the total annual reporting and record-keeping burden for this
collection is estimated to be 112,000 hours. Send comments regarding
this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of
information, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to the
Service Information Collection Clearance Officer, ms-224 ARLSQ, Fish
and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC 20240, or the Office of Management
and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project 1018-0015, Washington, DC
20503.
(b) General provisions. Each person hunting migratory game birds in
any State except Hawaii must have identified himself or herself as a
migratory bird hunter and given his or her name, address, and date of
birth to the respective State hunting licensing authority and must have
on his or her person evidence, provided by that State, of compliance
with this requirement.
* * * * *
(e) State responsibilities. The State hunting licensing authority
will ask each licensed migratory bird hunter in the respective State to
report approximately how many ducks, geese, doves, and woodcock he or
she bagged the previous year, whether he or she hunted coots, snipe,
rails, and/or gallinules the previous year, and, in States that have
band-tailed pigeon hunting seasons, whether he or she intends to hunt
band-tailed pigeons during the current year.
[[Page 46402]]
Dated: August 26, 1998.
Donald Barry,
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 98-23541 Filed 8-31-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P