[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 161 (Friday, August 20, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51701-51702]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-19114]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Information Collection Submitted to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; Injurious 
Wildlife; Importation Certification for Live Fish and Fish Eggs (50 CFR 
16.13)

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has submitted the 
collection of information listed below to OMB for approval 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 information collection requirement, 
related forms, or explanatory material, contact the Service Information 
Collection Officer at the address listed below.

DATES: OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove information 
collection but may respond after 30 days. Therefore, to ensure maximum 
consideration, you must submit comments on or before September 20, 
2004.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments on this information collection to the 
Desk Officer for the Department of the Interior at OMB-OIRA via 
facsimile or electronic mail: (202) 395-6566 (fax); or [email protected] (electronic mail). Please provide a copy of your 
comments to the Fish and Wildlife Service's Information Collection 
Clearance Officer via postal mail, electronic mail, or facsimile: 4401 
N. Fairfax Dr., MS 222 ARLSQ, Arlington, VA 22203; [email protected] 
(electronic mail); or (703) 358-2269 (fax).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the information 
collection request, explanatory information, or related forms, contact 
Hope Grey by phone at (703) 358-2482 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 
parties and affected agencies have an opportunity to comment on 
information collection and record keeping activities (see CFR 
1320.8(d)). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (we, or the Service) has 
submitted a request to OMB for approval of a collection of information 
included in FWS Form 3-2273, Title 50 Certifying Official form; FWS 
Form 3-2274, U.S. Title 50 Certification form; and FWS Form 3-2275, 
Title 50 Importation Request form. All three of these forms were 
granted emergency approval under OMB control number 1018-0078, which 
expires on August 31, 2004. We are requesting a 3-year term of approval 
for these collection activities.
    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 Lacey Act (18 U.S.C. 42) (``Act'') prohibits the possession or 
importation of any animal or plant deemed to be and prescribed by 
regulation to be injurious, to human beings, to the interests of 
agriculture, horticulture, forestry, or to wildlife or the wildlife 
resources of the United States. The Department of the Interior is 
charged with enforcement of this Act.
    The Act and our regulations at 50 CFR 16 allow for the importation 
of animals classified as injurious if specific criteria are met. 
Specifically, this information collection allows the Service to approve 
the importation of live salmonids and their reproductive products into 
the United States.
    On March 17, 2004, we published in the Federal Register (69 FR 
12708) a notice announcing that we planned to submit this information 
collection to OMB for approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act. We 
solicited public comments on that notice for 60 days, ending May 17, 
2004. By that date, we received one comment. The commenter expressed 
concern that the information collection does not specifically define 
``fish'' as ``wild fish'' or ``fisheries resources,'' which are the 
responsibility of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The commenter 
went on to explain the responsibility of health protection of all forms 
of animal agriculture, including aquaculture, in the United States 
rests with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture.
    As explained above, the authorizing legislation for this 
information collection is the Lacey Act, which deals with injurious 
animals, and this collection specifically allows the Service to approve 
the importation of live salmonids and their reproductive products into 
the United States regardless of their source, destination, or use. As 
such, we do not believe that, at this time, we need to further define 
the term ``fish'' on these forms.
    The importation of salmonids requires that we collect information 
from those individuals wishing to import salmonids or their 
reproductive products with regard to the numbers, life stages, and 
species to be imported, as well as their source and destination. In 
addition, we require a health certificate submitted by a certified 
Title 50 inspector to ensure the animals being imported do not pose a 
health risk to the nation's commercial and natural aquatic resources. 
Regarding the qualifications of the Title 50 inspectors, we collect 
information that verifies the applicants' professional qualifications 
and the adequacy of facilities available to those individuals to 
complete the inspections according to methods provided in 50 CFR 16.
    We have regulated the importation of live salmonids and their 
reproductive products for over 25 years. In order to effectively carry 
out these responsibilities and protect the aquatic resources of the 
United States, it is essential that we gather information on the 
animals being imported with regard to their source, destination, and 
health status. It is also imperative that we ensure the qualifications 
of those individuals providing the relevant fish health data upon which 
we base our decision to allow importation. This collection allows us to 
gather the information necessary to make sound decisions on allowing 
importation of live salmonids and their reproductive products into the 
United States. The forms are described below.

    Form Title: Title 50 Certifying Official Form.
    OMB Control Number: 1018-0078.
    Form Number: FW 3-2273.
    Frequency of Collection: Every 5 years as needed.
    Description of Respondents: Aquatic animal health professionals 
seeking to be certified Title 50 inspectors.
    Total Annual Responses: 16 (estimate based on previous collection 
activities). There are currently approximately 80 inspectors.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 16 hours. We estimate the reporting 
burden at 1 hour for each of the total 16 responses, or approximately 
16 hours total.

    Form Title: U.S. Title 50 Certification Form.
    OMB Control Number: 1018-0078.
    Form Number: FW 3-2274.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion, as needed by the submitting 
individual or entity.
    Description of Respondents: Certified Title 50 inspectors that have 
performed health certifications on live salmonids

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or their reproductive products for importation into the United States.
    Total Annual Responses: Approximately 50 (estimate based on 
previous collection activities).
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 25 hours. We estimate the reporting 
burden at thirty minutes for each of the total 50 responses, or 
approximately 25 hours total.

    Form Title: Title 50 Importation Request Form.
    OMB Control Number: 1018-0078.
    Form Number: FW 3-2275.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion, as needed by the submitting 
individual or entity.
    Description of Respondents: Any entity wishing to import live 
salmonids or their reproductive products into the United States.
    Total Annual Responses: 50 (estimate based on previous collection 
activities).
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 12.5 hours. We estimate the reporting 
burden at 0.25 hours for each of the total 50 responses, or 
approximately 12.5 hours total.

    We again invite comments on this proposed information collection on 
the following: (1) Whether the collection of information is necessary 
for the proper performance of the function of the agency, 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 on 
respondents.
    Our practice is to make comments, including names and home 
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular 
business hours. Individual respondents may request that we withhold 
their home addresses from the record, which we will honor to the extent 
allowable by law. There may also be limited circumstances in which we 
would withhold a respondent's identity from the rulemaking record, as 
allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name and/or address, 
you must state this clearly at the beginning of your comment. We will 
not consider anonymous comments. We generally make all submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.

    Dated: July 7, 2004.
Anissa Craghead,
Information Collection Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 04-19114 Filed 8-19-04; 8:45 am]
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