[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 136 (Friday, July 17, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34772-34774]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-17070]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R9-MB-2009-N140] [91200-1232-BPPR-P2]


Information Collection Sent to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for Approval; OMB Control Number 1018-0133; Control and 
Management of Resident Canada Geese

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY:  We (Fish and Wildlife Service) have sent an Information 
Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. The ICR, which 
is summarized below, describes the nature of the collection and the 
estimated burden and cost. OMB approval for this information collection 
is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2009. We 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. 
However, under OMB regulations, we may continue to conduct or sponsor 
this information collection while it is pending at OMB.

DATES: You must send comments on or before August 17, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments and suggestions on this information 
collection to the Desk Officer for the Department of the Interior at 
OMB-OIRA at (202) 395-5806 (fax) or [email protected] (e-mail). 
Please provide a copy of your comments to Hope Grey, Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service, MS 222-ARLSQ, 
4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 (mail) or hope_
[email protected] (e-mail).

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    OMB Control Number: 1018-0133.
    Title: Control and Management of Resident Canada Geese, 50 CFR 
20.21, 21.49, 21.50, 21.51, 21.52, and 21.61.
    Service Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.

[[Page 34773]]

    Affected Public: State fish and wildlife agencies, tribes, and 
local governments; airports, landowners; and farms.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually.

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                                   Number of annual    Number of annual   Completion time per    Annual burden
            Activity                  respondents          responses            response             hours
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21.49 - Airport Control Order -                  110                 110  1.5 hours..........                166
 Annual Report.
21.50 - Nest and Egg Depredation               2,000               4,000  .5 hours...........              2,000
 Order - Registration and Report.
21.51 - Agricultural Depredation                 600                 600  .5 hours...........                300
 Order - Recordkeeping.
21.51 - Agricultural Depredation                  30                  30  8 hours............                240
 Order - Annual Report.
21.52 - Public Health Control                     35                  35  1 hour.............                 35
 Order - Annual Report.
21.61 - Population Control                        30                  30  24 hours...........                720
 Approval Request -
 Recordkeeping and Annual Report.
21.61 - Population Control                        30                  30  160 hours..........              4,800
 Approval Request - Population
 Estimates.
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals......................               2,835               4,835  ...................              8,261
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    Abstract: The Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibits the take, 
possession, import, export, transport, sale, purchase, or bartering of 
migratory birds or their parts except as permitted under the terms of a 
valid permit or as permitted by regulations. In 2006, we issued 
regulations establishing two depredation orders and three control 
orders that allow State and tribal wildlife agencies, private 
landowners, and airports to conduct resident Canada goose population 
management, including the take of birds. We monitor the data collected 
for activities under these orders and may rescind an order if 
monitoring indicates that activities are inconsistent with conservation 
of Canada geese.
    Control order for airports. 50 CFR 21.49 allows managers at 
commercial, public, and private airports and military airfields and 
their employees or agents to implement management of resident Canada 
geese to resolve or prevent threats to public safety. An airport must 
be part of the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems and have 
received Federal grant-in-aid assistance or be a military airfield 
under the jurisdiction, custody, or control of the Secretary of a 
military department. Each facility exercising the privileges of the 
order must submit an annual report with the date, numbers, and 
locations of birds, nests, and eggs taken.
    Depredation order for nests and eggs. 50 CFR 21.50 allows private 
landowners and managers of public lands to destroy resident Canada 
goose nests and eggs on property under their jurisdiction provided they 
register annually on our website at https://epermits.fws.gov/eRCGR. 
Registrants must provide basic information, such as name, address, 
phone number and email, and identify where the control work will occur 
and who will conduct it. Registrants must return to the website to 
report the number of nests with eggs they destroyed.
    Depredation order for agricultural facilities. 50 CFR 21.51 allows 
States and tribes, via their wildlife agency, to implement a program to 
allow landowners, operators, and tenants actively engaged in commercial 
agriculture to conduct damage management control when geese are 
committing depredations or to resolve or prevent other injury to 
agricultural interests. State and tribal wildlife agencies in the 
Atlantic, Central, and Mississippi Flyway portions of 41 States can 
implement the provisions of the order. Agricultural producers must 
maintain a log of the date and number of birds taken under this 
authorization. States and tribes exercising the privileges of the order 
must submit an annual report of the numbers of birds, nests, and eggs 
taken and the county where take occurred.
    Public health control order. 50 CFR 21.52 authorizes States and 
tribes of the lower 48 States to conduct (via the State or tribal 
wildlife agency) resident Canada goose control and management 
activities when the geese pose a direct threat to human health. States 
and tribes operating under this order must submit an annual report 
summarizing activities, including the numbers of birds taken and the 
county where take occurred.
    Population control. 50 CFR 21.61 establishes a managed take program 
to reduce and stabilize resident Canada goose populations when 
traditional and otherwise authorized management measures are not 
successful or feasible. A State or tribal wildlife agency in the 
Atlantic, Mississippi, or Central Flyway may request approval for this 
population control program. If approved, the State or tribe may use 
hunters to harvest resident Canada geese during the month of August. 
Requests for approval must include a discussion of the State's or 
tribe's efforts to address its injurious situations using other methods 
or a discussion of the reasons why the methods are not feasible. If the 
Service Director approves a request, the State or tribe must (1) keep 
annual records of activities carried out under the authority of the 
program, and (2) provide an annual summary, including number of 
individuals participating in the program and the number of resident 
Canada geese shot. Additionally, participating States and tribes must 
monitor the spring breeding population by providing an annual estimate 
of the breeding population and distribution of resident Canada geese in 
their State.
    Comments: On March 18, 2009, we published in the Federal Register 
(74 FR 11597) a notice of our intent to request that OMB renew this 
information collection. In that notice, we solicited comments for 60 
days, ending on May 18, 2009. We received one comment in response to 
that notice. The commenter opposed the killing of geese, but did not 
address the information collection requirements. We did not make any 
changes to the collection requirements.
    We again invite comments concerning this information collection 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 that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. Before including your address, phone number, e-mail 
address,

[[Page 34774]]

or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should 
be aware that your entire comment, including your personal identifying 
information, may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask OMB in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that it will be 
done.

    Dated: June 26, 2009
Hope Grey,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service.
FR Doc. E9-17070 Filed 7-16-09; 8:45 am
BILLING CODE 4310-55-S