[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 57 (Friday, March 25, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15344-15346]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-5955]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Information Collection Renewal Submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act; OMB Control Number 1018-0101; Monitoring Recovered Species After 
Delisting As Required Under Section 4(g) of the Endangered Species 
Act--American Peregrine Falcon

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The American peregrine falcon was removed from the List of 
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife on August 25, 1999. Section 4(g) of 
the Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires that all species that are 
recovered and removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened 
Wildlife (delisted) be monitored in cooperation with the States for a 
period of not less than 5 years. The purpose of this requirement is to 
detect any failure of a recovered species to sustain itself without the 
protections of the ESA. We (Fish and Wildlife Service) have submitted 
the collection of information described below to OMB for renewal under 
the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: You must submit comments on or before April 25, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on this information collection 
requirement

[[Page 15345]]

to the Desk Officer for the Department of the Interior at OMB-OIRA via 
fax at (202) 395-6566, or via e-mail at [email protected]. Also, 
please provide a copy of your comments to Hope Grey, Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 North 
Fairfax Drive, Mail Stop 222-ARLSQ, Arlington, Virginia 22203 (mail); 
(703) 358-2269 (fax); or [email protected] (e-mail).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the proposed 
information collection requirement, related forms, or explanatory 
material, contact Hope Grey at the above addresses or by telephone at 
(703) 358-2482.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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)). 
Currently we have approval from OMB to collect information on the 
American peregrine falcon under OMB control number 1018-0101. This 
approval expires on March 31, 2005. We have submitted a request to OMB 
to renew approval of the information collection included in the 
``Monitoring Plan for the American Peregrine Falcon: A Species 
Recovered under the Endangered Species Act'' (Monitoring Plan) (USFWS 
2003). The monitoring plan is available on our Web site at http://endangered.fws.gov/recovery/peregrine/plan2003.pdf. We are requesting a 
3-year term of approval for this information collection. 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. OMB has up to 60 days to approve or 
disapprove our information collection request, but may respond after 30 
days. Therefore, to ensure that your comments receive consideration, 
send all comments and suggestions to OMB by the date listed in the 
DATES section.
    We published a 60-day notice on this information collection renewal 
in the Federal Register on January 3, 2005 (70 FR 101) inviting public 
comment. In addition to publishing a Federal Register notice, we 
contacted seven non-Federal biologists who have used the forms 
previously and asked them to review each of the three forms associated 
with peregrine falcon monitoring and to comment on the clarity and 
relevance of the information collection, the burden associated with the 
collection, and whether there is something we could do to minimize the 
burden. We received a total of 10 comments, including three comments on 
the Federal Register notice.
    We received one comment from an individual and comments from two 
States on the Federal Register notice. The individual did not express 
an opinion on the information collection itself, but took issue with 
the original delisting of peregrine falcons in 1999. One State 
supported the collection of American peregrine falcon monitoring data 
and stated that the information will have tremendous practical utility 
for both the State and the Service. That State supports the submission 
of forms via e-mail and also agreed with our burden estimates for 
completing the monitoring forms, but commented that the data collection 
itself could take more than 1 day. The other State commented that we 
should request OMB approval for the entire time frame needed for 
peregrine monitoring (until 2015) rather than submit several requests. 
This is not an option. By law, OMB can grant approval of information 
collections for a maximum of 3 years. That State was also concerned 
that, while the burden hours for completion of the forms was accurate, 
the Service does not account for the time necessary to locate, access, 
and monitor falcon eyries. The State recommended that we reevaluate the 
estimate of burden to incorporate these important aspects of monitoring 
and data collection. In response, we have included burden estimates for 
the time required to visit nest sites and record the data. The State 
also recommended that we account for the extra time it takes to collect 
contaminants samples. We did not include that estimate in the burden 
hours, because collecting contaminants samples is done 
opportunistically, in conjunction with some other activity at the nest 
site. It is rarely, if ever, the primary reason for visiting a nest. 
However, we have included the time it takes to process the contaminants 
samples.
    The comments we received from our outreach effort were generally 
favorable and included some helpful suggestions for improving the 
forms. The commenters estimated the burden hours for completing the 
monitoring forms to be less than the hours we previously estimated.
    Post-delisting monitoring, required by the ESA, tracks population 
trends of recovered species. Data for American peregrine falcons are 
collected by and reported back to professional biologists and 
volunteers according to the monitoring plan. Contaminants monitoring is 
included as part of the post-delisting monitoring for peregrine falcons 
because they are sensitive to contaminants in the environment, and 
contaminants could cause population declines in the future. 
Contaminants monitoring involves collection of addled eggs found in 
nests and parts of feathers from nestlings.
    The Regional Migratory Birds and Habitat Programs and the 
Endangered Species offices use the information provided in the three 
monitoring forms (3-2307, 3-2308, and 3-2309) to track measures of 
reproductive success and levels of contaminants in American peregrine 
falcons. The nest monitoring data is reported on a 3-year interval, 
after each monitoring year. The contaminants monitoring is 
opportunistic, with sample size goals to be reached every 5 years. The 
results of contaminants monitoring will be reported after each 5-year 
interval. If we do not collect this data, we could not satisfy our 
responsibilities under the delisting monitoring requirements of section 
4(g) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1533g).
    Title: Monitoring Recovered Species After Delisting As Required 
Under Section 4(g) of the Endangered Species Act--American Peregrine 
Falcon.
    Approval Number: 1018-0101.
    Form Numbers: 3-2307, 3-2308, and 3-2309.
    Frequency of Collection: 3-2307 (every 3 years); 3-2308 and 3-2309 
(annually).
    Description of Respondents: Individuals, not-for-profit 
institutions, Federal Government, States, tribes, and local governments

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                                                                              Average burden
                    Monitoring forms                        Total annual        hours per        Annual burden
                                                              responses         respondent           hours
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3-2307--Nest Monitoring Form (filling out the form).....               494               0.25              123.5
3-2307--Nest Monitoring Form (collecting the data)......  ................              10               4,940
3-2308--Egg Contaminant Sheet...........................                12               1                  12

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3-2309--Feather Contaminant Sheet.......................                12                .5                 6
                                                         -------------------
    Total...............................................               518  .................             5081.5
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    We again invite comments concerning this information collection on: 
(1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of monitoring of recovered species as prescribed in 
section 4(g) of the ESA, including whether or not the information will 
have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of our estimate of burden, 
including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) 
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
for those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology; and (4) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents. 
The information collections in this program will be part of a system of 
records covered by the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552(a)).

    Dated: March 21, 2005.
Hope Grey
Information Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 05-5955 Filed 3-24-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P