[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 75 (Friday, April 18, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19124-19125]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-10025]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Information Collection Request Submitted for Reinstatement 
Approval

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Fish and Wildlife Service 
(Service) has submitted a proposal for the collection of information 
described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
reinstatement approval under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995. Copies of the information collection requirement, related 
forms, and explanatory material may be obtained by containing the 
Service's Information Collection Clearance Officer at the phone number 
listed below. The Service is soliciting comments and suggestions on the 
requirements as described below.

DATES: Comments should be submitted on or before May 19, 1997.


[[Page 19125]]


ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs; Office of Management and Budget; Attention: Desk 
Officer for the Department of the Interior; Washington, DC 20240; and a 
copy of the comments should be sent to the Information Collection 
Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (MS 224 ARL SQ), 1849 
C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Phyllis H. Cook, Information Collection Clearance Officer, 703/358-
1943; 703/358-2269 (fax).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 26, 1996, the Service published 
in the Federal Register (61 FR 2470), a proposed rule which amended the 
test protocol for nontoxic shot approval procedures for shot and shot 
coatings. The principal purpose of this proposed rule making is to 
update and amend the current nontoxic shot approval procedures by 
establishing a 3-tiered approval process. Shot approval will be 
considered at each tier with the testing procedures becoming more 
demanding. An environmentally benign shot could be granted approval at 
the first tier. This process is designed to include both candidate shot 
and shot coating.
    Comments were not solicited on the information collection 
requirements contained in the proposed rule cited above. The Service is 
now soliciting comments on the proposed information collection 
requirements prior to the issuance of the final rule amending the 
nontoxic shot approval procedures. The public is invited to comment on: 
(1) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information will have practical utility (2) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the 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 on the requirements as outlined below.
    Title: Text Protocol for Nontoxic Approval Procedures for Shot and 
Shot Coatings.
    OMB Approval Number: 1018-0067.
    Description and Use: As of January 1991, lead shot was banned for 
hunting waterfowl and coots in the United States. Steel shot was the 
only nontoxic alternative available. Since then, the Service has 
encouraged manufacturers to develop other alternatives that the hunting 
public may use. In approving a candidate material as nontoxic for 
hunting waterfowl and coots, the Service must first ensure that the 
secondary exposure (ingestion of spent shot or its components) are not 
a hazard to migratory birds and the environment. In order to make this 
decision, the Service requires that applicant to submit information 
collected about the toxicity of their candidate material to migratory 
birds and the environment. This data provides the bulk of the 
application.
    The information from scientific literature, risk assessment 
analysis, and toxicity studies, will be gathered and packaged by the 
applicant (company producing and/or marketing the shot or shot 
coating). The Service will utilize the information about the candidate 
material to approve or deny a designation as nontoxic for hunting 
waterfowl and coots.
    Frequency of collection: On occasion.
    Description of respondents: Business or other for-profit; not-for-
profit institutions.
    Estimated completion time: The Service estimates it will take 3,200 
hours for an applicant to submit the requested information.
    Annual responses: 1.
    Annual burden hours: 3,200.

    Dated: March 21, 1997.
Carolyn A. Bohan,
Assistant Director, Refuges and Wildlife.
[FR Doc. 97-10025 Filed 4-17-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M