[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 69 (Friday, April 9, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18924-18926]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-8063]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Information Collection To Be Submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act; Federal Fish and Wildlife Permit Application; Native Endangered 
and Threatened Species

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will submit a request for 
approval of a collection of information to OMB under the provisions of 
the Paperwork Reduction Act. A description of the information 
collection requirement is included in this notice. If you wish to 
obtain copies of the proposed information collection requirement, 
related forms, or explanatory material, contact the Service Information 
Collection Clearance Officer at the address listed below.

DATES: You must submit comments on or before June 8, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the information collection requirement 
via mail to the Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Mail Stop 222-ARLSQ, 
Arlington, Virginia 22203; or via fax at (703) 358-2269; or via e-mail 
at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the proposed 
information collection requirement, related forms, or explanatory 
material, contact Anissa Craghead, Information Collection Clearance 
Officer, by telephone at (703) 358-2445 or by e-mail at [email protected]. You may also contact Mary Klee, Endangered Species 
Program, by telephone at (703) 358-2061 or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
regulations at 5 CFR 1320, which implement provisions of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), require that interested 
members of the public and affected agencies have an opportunity to 
comment on information collection and recordkeeping activities (see 5 
CFR 1320.8(d)). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or we) 
plans to submit a request to OMB to renew its existing approval of the 
collection of information for Native Threatened and Endangered Species 
Permit Applications, which expires on July 31, 2004. We are requesting 
a 3-year term of approval for this information collection activity.
    Federal agencies 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 OMB control number for this 
collection of information is 1018-0094.
    Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), it is unlawful to import or 
export; deliver, receive, carry, transport, or ship in interstate or 
foreign commerce in the course of a commercial activity; sell or offer 
for sale in interstate or foreign

[[Page 18925]]

commerce; take (includes harm, harass, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, 
kill, trap, capture, or collect any wildlife within the United States); 
take on the high seas; possess, ship, deliver, carry, transport, sell, 
or receive unlawfully taken wildlife; remove and reduce to possession 
any plant from areas under Federal jurisdiction; maliciously damage or 
destroy an endangered plant on areas under Federal jurisdiction; and 
remove, cut, dig up, or damage or destroy any endangered plant in 
knowing violation of any State law or regulation or in the course of a 
violation of a State criminal trespass law. These prohibitions apply 
equally to live or dead animals or plants, their progeny (seeds in the 
case of plants), and parts or products derived from them.
    The ESA provides a number of exceptions to these prohibitions, 
including the prohibition against ``take'' of listed species. 
Regulations have been promulgated at 50 CFR 17.22 (endangered wildlife 
species), 17.32 (threatened wildlife species), 17.62 (endangered plant 
species), and 17.72 (threatened plant species) to guide implementation 
of these exceptions through permitting programs.
    The information collection requirement in this submission 
implements the regulatory requirements of the Endangered Species Act 
(16 U.S.C. 1539), the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 704), the 
Lacey Act (18 U.S.C. 42-44), the Bald Eagle Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 
668), and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1374) contained 
in Service regulations in chapter I, subchapter B of title 50 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
    This entire information collection is titled, ``Federal Fish and 
Wildlife Permit Application; Native Endangered and Threatened 
Species.'' These permit applications are used to collect information on 
prohibited activities that may impact native endangered and threatened 
species. The information supplied on the application form and the 
attachments will be used to review the application and allow the 
Service to make decisions, according to criteria established in various 
Federal wildlife conservation statutes and regulations on the issuance, 
suspension, revocation, or denial of permits. The obligation to provide 
the information is ``required to obtain a benefit'' (i.e., to obtain an 
exception to the prohibited activities). An agency may not conduct or 
sponsor a collection of information unless the collection of 
information (i.e., the permit application form) displays a currently 
valid OMB control number. We have revised the following information 
collection requirement, and they are included in this submission:
    1. Title of Form: Enhancement of Survival Permits associated with 
Safe Harbor Agreements, and Candidate Conservation Agreements with 
Assurances.
    Approval Number: 1018-0094.
    Service Form Number: 3-200-54.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually.
    Description of Respondents: Individuals, households, businesses, 
State agencies, private organizations.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: The reporting burden is estimated to 
average 3 hours per respondent for the application and 8 hours per 
respondent for the annual report of permitted activities. The Total 
Annual Burden hours are 66 hours for the application and 424 hours for 
the annual report on the permitted activities.
    Total Annual Responses: The total number of annual responses is 
estimated to be 22 for the application and 53 for the annual report of 
the permitted activities.
    Background Explanation: Service form number 3-200-54 addresses 
application and reporting requirements for Enhancement of Survival 
permits associated with Safe Harbor Agreements and Candidate 
Conservation Agreements with Assurances under section 10(a)(1)(A) of 
the ESA. The permittee is required to notify the Service of any 
transfer of lands subject to the Safe Harbor Agreement so that any 
landowners may be offered the opportunity to continue the actions which 
the original landowner agreed to, and thus he or she may be offered the 
same regulatory assurances. A major incentive for landowner 
participation in the Safe Harbor program is the long-term certainty the 
program provides, including the certainty that the take authorization 
will stay with the land when it changes hands. The Service also 
requires the permittee/landowner to notify the Service as far in 
advance as possible when he or she expects to ``take'' any species 
covered under the permit and provide the Service with an opportunity to 
translocate affected individual specimens, if possible and appropriate.
    2. Title of Form: Permits for Scientific Purposes, Enhancement of 
Propagation or Survival (i.e., Recovery) and Interstate Commerce.
    Approval Number: 1018-0094.
    Service Form Number: 3-200-55.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually.
    Description of Respondents: Individuals, scientific and research 
institutions.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: The reporting burden is estimated to 
average 4 hours per respondent for the application and 8 hours per 
respondent for the annual report on the permitted activities. The Total 
Annual Burden hours are 3,280 hours for the application and 11,680 
hours for the annual report on the permitted activities.
    Total Annual Responses: The total number of annual responses is 
estimated to be 820 for the application and 1,460 for the annual report 
of the permitted activities.
    Background Explanation: Form number 3-200-55 addresses application 
and reporting information requirements for Recovery and Interstate 
Commerce permits under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA. Recovery permits 
allow ``take'' of listed species as part of scientific research and 
management actions, enhancement of propagation or survival, zoological 
exhibition, educational purposes, or special purposes consistent with 
the ESA designed to benefit the species involved. Interstate Commerce 
permits allow transport and sale of listed species across State lines 
as part of breeding programs enhancing the survival of the species. 
Detailed descriptions of the proposed taking, its necessities for 
success of the proposed action, and benefits to the species resulting 
from the proposed action are required under the implementing 
regulations cited above. Take authorized under this permit program 
would otherwise be prohibited by the ESA.
    3. Title of Form: Incidental Take Permits Associated With a Habitat 
Conservation Plan.
    Approval Number: 1018-0094.
    Service Form Number: 3-200-56.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually.
    Description of Respondents: Individuals, households, businesses, 
local and State agencies.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: The reporting burden is estimated to 
average 3 hours per respondent for the application and 20 hours per 
respondent for the annual report on the permitted activities. The Total 
Annual Burden hours are 288 hours for the application and 4,020 hours 
for the annual report on the permitted activities.
    Total Annual Responses: The total number of annual responses is 
estimated to be 96 for the application and 201 for the annual report of 
the permitted activities.
    Background Explanation: Form number 3-200-56 addresses application 
and reporting requirements for Incidental Take Permits under section 
10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA. These permits allow ``take'' of listed species 
that is incidental to otherwise lawful non-

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Federal actions. Take authorized under this permit program would 
otherwise be prohibited by the ESA.
    We invite comments concerning this renewal on: (1) Whether the 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
our endangered and threatened species management functions, including 
whether the information will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy 
of our 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. The information collections in this program 
are part of a system of records covered by the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 
552(a)).

    Dated: March 30, 2004.
Anissa Craghead,
Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-8063 Filed 4-8-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P