[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 110 (Thursday, June 7, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33765-33766]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-13793]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R3-ES-2012-N138: FX3ES11130300000D2-123-FF03E00000]


Proposed Information Collection; Bald Eagle Post-delisting 
Monitoring

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We (U.S. 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. This IC is scheduled to expire 
on November 30, 2012. 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.

DATES: To ensure that we are able to consider your comments on this IC, 
we must receive them by August 6, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the IC 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] (email). Please include ``1018-0143'' in the subject 
line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this IC, contact Hope Grey at [email protected] (email) or 703-358-
2482 (telephone).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    This information collection implements the requirements of the 
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) (ESA). There are no 
corresponding Service regulations for the ESA's post-delisting 
monitoring requirement.
    The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in the lower 48 States 
was removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 
(delisted) on August 8, 2007 (72 FR 37346, July 9, 2007). Section 4(g) 
of the ESA requires that all species that are recovered and removed 
from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 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 work 
with relevant Federal, State, and tribal entities, and other species 
experts to develop plans and procedures for systematically monitoring 
recovered wildlife and plants after a species is delisted.
    The bald eagle has a large geographic distribution that includes a 
substantial amount of non-Federal land. Although the ESA requires that 
monitoring of recovered species be conducted for not less than 5 years, 
the life history of bald eagles is such that it is appropriate to 
monitor this species for a longer period of time in order to 
meaningfully evaluate whether or not the bald eagle

[[Page 33766]]

continues to maintain its recovered status.
    We plan to monitor the status of the bald eagle in the 48 
contiguous States by collecting data on nests over a 20-year period 
with sampling events held once every 5 years. The Post-delisting 
Monitoring Plan for the Bald Eagle (Plan) describes monitoring 
procedures and methods. The Plan is available at http://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/protect/FINAL_BEPDM11May2010.pdf. We will use the 
monitoring data to review the status of the bald eagle in the United 
States and determine if it remains recovered and, therefore, does not 
require the protections of the ESA.

II. Data

    OMB Control Number: 1018-0143.
    Title: Bald Eagle Post-delisting Monitoring.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Description of Respondents: States, tribes, and local governments; 
Federal land managers; and nongovernmental partners.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: Once every 5 years.

    Note: For each 5-year survey, we estimate a total of 48 
respondents will provide 48 responses totaling 1,478 burden hours. 
The burden estimates below are annualized over the 3-year period of 
OMB approval.

    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 16.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 16.
    Estimated Time per Response: 30.8 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 493.

III. Comments

    We 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. We will include or summarize each comment in our request 
to OMB to approve this IC. Before including your address, phone number, 
email 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 us in your comment to withhold your personal 
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we 
will be able to do so.

    Dated: May 31, 2012.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy and Directives Management, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-13793 Filed 6-6-12; 8:45 am]
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