[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 54 (Wednesday, March 21, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13300-13301]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5076]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Proposed Information Collection; Electronic Reporting of Bird 
Electrocutions and Collisions with Power Lines

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We (Fish and Wildlife Service) will ask the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) 
described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 
as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent 
burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take 
this opportunity to comment on this IC.

DATES: You must submit comments on or before May 21, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the IC to Hope Grey, Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service, MS 222-ARLSQ, 
4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 (mail); hope--
[email protected] (e-mail); or (703) 358-2269 (fax).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this IC, contact Hope Grey by mail, fax, or e-mail (see 
ADDRESSES) or by telephone at (703) 358-2482.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Abstract
    The Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703 et seq.) (MBTA), the 
Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 668), and the 
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) make it unlawful to 
take without a permit federally listed migratory birds, including bald 
and golden eagles, endangered or threatened species, or any of the 
migratory birds listed under the MBTA. These laws define take to 
include pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or 
attempt any of these acts. The MBTA makes it a strict liability offense 
to take any of the federally listed migratory bird species contained in 
50 CFR 10.13. The MBTA does not authorize issuance of permits for 
unintentional take of migratory birds; e.g., for birds killed on power 
lines, poles, and equipment operated by the electric utility industry.

[[Page 13301]]

    The electric utility industry has documented instances of birds 
being killed by electrocutions and collisions with power equipment 
since the 19th Century. A bird is electrocuted when it contacts two 
energized phases (wires) at the same time, or when it simultaneously 
contacts grounded pole equipment and an energized phase. Large birds 
with long wingspans are most at risk, particularly species such as 
eagles and hawks that use power poles and towers for hunting, resting, 
feeding, nesting, and territorial defense. In areas where eagles occur, 
bald and golden eagles are electrocuted at a much higher rate than 
other birds. Since 2000, bald eagle electrocutions in Alaska make up 58 
percent of the documented bird electrocutions.
    We are asking electric utility companies to input information into 
the electronic bird incident reporting system. The information that we 
plan to collect includes:
    (1) Details on the fatality/injury of the bird.
    (2) Location where the bird was found.
    (3) Configuration of the electrical equipment.
    (4) Environmental conditions.
    (5) Existing protection/retrofit measures.
    (6) Photographs.
    We will use this information as a management tool to facilitate a 
cooperative approach between the Service and the electric utility 
industry to address the wide-scale problem of bird electrocutions and 
collisions with power equipment. The information will help us to 
understand how and why a bird is electrocuted or involved in a 
collision with power equipment, and will assist in the development and 
use of effective and economically feasible electrical configurations 
and protective equipment to prevent future bird electrocutions and 
collisions.
    The information will be available only to designated Service 
representatives and to the submitting electric utility for its internal 
use, unless the electric utility decides to share certain information 
in the query results section of the system.
    II. Data
    OMB Control Number: None.
    Title: Electronic Reporting of Bird Electrocutions and Collisions 
with Power Lines.
    Service Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Affected Public: Electric utility companies.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 120.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 1,440.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 15 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 360.
    III. Request for Comments
    We invite comments concerning this IC on:
    (1) whether or not the collection of information is necessary, 
including whether or not the information will have practical utility;
    (2) the accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this 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.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include and/or summarize each comment in our 
request to OMB to approve this IC.

    Dated: March 5, 2007
Hope Grey,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service.
FR Doc. E7-5076 Filed 3-20-07; 8:45 am
Billing Code 4310-55-S