[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 59 (Monday, March 28, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17146-17147]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-7190]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R9-ES-2011-N067; 92220-1113-0000-C3]


Information Collection Sent to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for Approval; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, 
Experimental Populations

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) have sent an Information 
Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. We summarize 
the ICR below and describe the nature of the collection and the 
estimated burden and cost. This information collection is scheduled to 
expire on March 31, 2011. 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 submit comments on or before April 27, 2011.

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 the Service Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS 2042-
PDM, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 (mail), or 
[email protected] (e-mail). Please include 1018-0095 in the subject line 
of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this ICR, contact Hope Grey at [email protected] (e-mail) or 703-
358-2482 (telephone). You may review the ICR online at http://www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to review Department of the 
Interior collections under review by OMB.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    OMB Control Number: 1018-0095.
    Title: Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, Experimental 
Populations, 50 CFR 17.84.
    Service Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Description of Respondents: Individuals and households, private 
sector, and State/local/Tribal governments.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 101.
    Estimated Annual Number of Responses: 101.
    Completion Time per Response: 15 minutes.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 27.
    Abstract: Section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(ESA), as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), authorizes the Secretary of 
the Interior to establish experimental populations of endangered or 
threatened species. Because individuals of experimental populations are 
categorically protected under the ESA, the information we collect is 
important for monitoring the success of reintroduction efforts and 
recovery efforts in general. This is a nonform collection. Information 
collection requirements for experimental populations of endangered and 
threatened species are in 50 CFR 17.84. We collect three categories of 
information:
    (1) General take or removal. Relates to human-related mortality 
including unintentional taking incidental to otherwise lawful 
activities (e.g., highway mortalities); animal husbandry actions 
authorized to manage the population (e.g., translocation or providing 
aid to sick, injured, or orphaned individuals); take in defense of 
human life; take related to defense of property (if authorized); or 
take in the form of authorized harassment.
    (2) Depredation-related take. Involves take for management purposes 
where livestock depredation is documented, and may include authorized 
harassment or authorized lethal take of experimental animals in the act 
of attacking livestock.
    (3) Specimen collection, recovery, or reporting of dead 
individuals. This information documents incidental or authorized 
scientific collection. Most of the contacts with the public deal 
primarily with the reporting of sightings of experimental population 
animals or the inadvertent discovery of an injured or dead individual.
    The information that we collect includes:
     Name, address, and phone number of reporting party.
     Species involved.
     Type of incident.
     Take (quantity).
     Location and time of the reported incident.
     Description of the circumstances related to the incident.
    This information helps us to assess the effectiveness of control 
activities and to develop better means to reduce problems with 
livestock for those species where depredation is a problem. Service 
recovery specialists use the information to determine the success of 
reintroductions in relation to established recovery plan goals for the 
threatened and endangered species involved.
    Comments: On November 3, 2010, we published in the Federal Register 
(75 FR 67761) a notice of our intent to request that OMB renew approval 
for this information collection. In that notice, we solicited comments 
for 60 days, ending on January 3, 2011. We received information from 
two commenters in response to this notice.

[[Page 17147]]

    The first commenter objected to the authorization of depredation-
related take. We note the concerns raised by this individual, but the 
comment did not address issues surrounding the proposed collection of 
information or the cost and hour burden estimates.
    The second commenter provided the following comments:
    Comment: The estimated burden for collection of information is 
severely underestimated. The commenter agreed that the actual reporting 
time is probably only 15 minutes per respondent, but stated that 
gathering data necessary to compile the reported information requires 
far more time, and may require a field investigation or followup phone 
call to verify the report.
    Response: We believe our estimates are within reason because they 
represent the average amount of time it will take to provide the 
requested information via making a telephone call or sending a 
facsimile. This ICR covers multiple experimental populations, multiple 
species (which may have more than one experimental population), 
multiple types of activities, multiple geographic locations across the 
United States, and multiple Service Regions. We estimate that the time 
required to provide the notification will vary substantially from 1 to 
45 minutes. We acknowledge that it may take some respondents, such as 
State fish and wildlife agencies, longer than others to gather and 
compile the data prior to notifying us. State fish and wildlife 
agencies may provide information to us on multiple species, 
experimental populations, and incidents in a single notification 
(thereby requiring more than 15 minutes for them to provide us with the 
information). In contrast to State fish and wildlife agencies, the 
general public usually provides information on a single species, 
experimental population, and incident in one notification (thereby 
requiring substantially less than 15 minutes for them to provide us 
with the information). Given the variety of potential situations 
requiring notification, as well as the variety of potential 
respondents, we believe 15 minutes per response is a reasonable 
estimate of the average burden.
    Comment: General sighting reports do not appear to be included in 
the three categories of information collection.
    Response: General sightings are included in the description of the 
information collection for specimen collection.
    Comment: The Service should design a standard data input form and 
evaluation descriptors for the reporting of visual information, 
allowing for adjustments in the form for each population as needed.
    Response: We collect the information by means of telephone calls or 
facsimiles from the public. The actual details of the information we 
collect are unique to each species and experimental population, based 
on the specific information needed for that species and experimental 
population. The types of incidents that must be reported also vary by 
species. For example, under our wolf experimental populations, 
livestock depredation under a permit must be reported within 24 hours. 
We do not ask for this same information under our whooping crane 
experimental populations because whooping cranes are not predators, 
and, therefore, depredation permits are not needed. This ICR covers 
multiple experimental populations, multiple species (which may have 
more than one experimental population), multiple types of activities, 
multiple geographic locations across the United States, and multiple 
Service Regions. Given these complexities and variability in the detail 
of the information needed, it is not feasible to develop a standard 
data input form for each experimental population.
    Comment: Sharing the data in summary form would increase the 
utility of the data.
    Response: State wildlife agencies are our primary conservation 
partners, and we routinely share data with them (and vice versa), 
including the data gathered under this information collection.
    Comment: Reporting take (quantity) could be burdensome for species 
that produce large numbers of young at a time (e.g., fish, amphibians, 
and butterflies). The commenter suggests standardizing the reporting of 
take (quantity) as a way to reduce the reporting burden for these 
species.
    Response: We will coordinate with our Regional Offices and 
respondents to see if we can simplify and standardize the reporting of 
take (quantity) for species with large numbers of young.
    We have not made any changes to our information collection 
requirements as a result of the above comments.
    We again invite comments concerning this information collection on:
     Whether or not the collection of information is necessary, 
including whether or not the information will have practical utility;
     The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this 
collection of information;
     Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     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, 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: March 22, 2011.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy and Directives Management, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-7190 Filed 3-25-11; 8:45 am]
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