[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]


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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.

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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.


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    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