[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 3, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60455-60457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-24398]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-HQ-MB-2012-N227; FXMB1231099BPP0L2-112-FF09M21200]


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

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 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. 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 November 2, 2012.

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] (email). 
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] (email). Please include ``1018-0133'' in the subject 
line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this ICR, contact Hope Grey at [email protected] (email) or 703-
358-2482 (telephone). You may review the ICR online at http://www.reginfo.gov.

[[Page 60456]]

Follow the instructions to review Department of the Interior 
collections under review by OMB.

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: None.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Description of Respondents: 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Number of       Number of       Completion time per     Total annual
               Activity                   respondents      responses            response          burden hours *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.49--Airport Control Order--Annual                50              50  1.5 hours...............              76
 Report.
21.50--Nest and Egg Depredation Order--          1,000           1,000  30 minutes..............             500
 Initial Registration.
21.50--Nest and Egg Depredation Order--          3,000           3,000  15 minutes..............             751
 Renew Registration.
21.50--Nest and Egg Depredation Order--          4,000           4,000  15 minutes..............           1,000
 Annual Report.
21.51--Agricultural Depredation Order--            600             600  30 minutes..............             300
 Recordkeeping.
21.51--Agricultural Depredation Order--             20              20  8 hours.................             160
 Annual Report.
21.52--Public Health Control Order--                20              20  1 hour..................              20
 Annual Report.
21.49, 21.50, 21.51, and 21.52--Report               2               2  15 minutes..............               1
 Take of Endangered Species.
21.61--Population Control Approval                   8               8  24 hours................             192
 Request--Recordkeeping and Annual
 Report.
21.61--Population Control Approval                   8               8  160 hours...............           1,280
 Request--Population Estimates.
                                       -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals............................           8,708           8,708  ........................           4,280
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* rounded.

    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 Web site 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 Web site 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.
    Regulations at 50 CFR 21.49, 21.50, 21.51, and 21.52 require that 
persons or entities operating under the depredation and control orders 
must immediately report the take of any species protected under the 
Endangered Species Act (ESA) (21.49(d)(1)). This information ensures 
that the incidental take limits

[[Page 60457]]

authorized under Section 7 of the ESA are not exceeded.
    Comments: On May 2, 2012, we published in the Federal Register (77 
FR 26032) 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 July 2, 2012. We received one comment from the 
Wyoming Game and Fish Department (Wyoming) in response to that notice.
    Wyoming generally supported the information collection to document 
and monitor control and management activities for resident Canada 
geese. However, it did not support the level of detail that we request 
in the annual reports, stating that it puts an unnecessary burden on 
respondents and has no practical utility. Although Wyoming does not 
indicate which of the depredation orders it is referring to, only the 
control order for resident Canada geese at agricultural facilities 
(21.51), the public health control order (21.52), and the population 
control approval request (21.61) involve State agencies. To date, the 
State of Wyoming has not operated under any of these orders.
    The control order for agricultural facilities allows State wildlife 
agencies and tribes to authorize landowners, operators, and tenants 
actively engaged in commercial agriculture to conduct direct damage 
management actions. These entities must maintain records of the date 
and number of geese and eggs taken and provide it to their agency upon 
request. The State or tribal agency must provide us with an annual 
summary of the number of geese, nests, and eggs destroyed broken down 
by month so we can monitor the overall take of resident Canada geese 
and the continued use and effectiveness of the regulation.
    The public health control order may be implemented by State and 
tribal wildlife agencies. The State or tribal agency must provide us 
with an annual summary of the number of geese, nests, and eggs 
destroyed broken down by county. Very few geese are taken under this 
order.
    The population control order allows States and tribes to designate 
participants to act as their agents under this order. The State or 
tribe must keep records of the following information and provide an 
annual summary to us: (1) The number of individuals participating in 
the program; (2) the number of days individuals participated in the 
program; (3) the total number of resident Canada geese shot and 
retrieved; and (4) the number shot but not retrieved.
    Overall, we agree that the most important information the Service 
and States need to monitor these populations is the number of geese, 
nests, and eggs destroyed and the population status. However, the 
general time and location of any geese taken under the various 
depredation and control orders provides valuable insight and ongoing 
review of the regulations' continued effectiveness, or lack thereof. 
For example, we would expect that over time the numbers of geese taken 
with the various orders should trend downward, especially in locations 
where they are continually implemented. Further, the information helps 
us determine whether the existing regulations should be revised or 
expanded due to changing conditions, population status, or new 
conflicts. We would readily consider any potential changes in the 
existing regulations if information warranted such changes and have 
made minor revisions and clarifications to the regulations since their 
promulgation.
    Lastly, Wyoming commented that our 60-day Federal Register notice 
should have stated that State agencies may require State permits in 
order for (1) airports to operate under the control order for resident 
Canada geese at airports and military airfields (21.49), and (2) 
landowners to take nests and eggs under the nest and egg depredation 
order (21.50). Although we do not state this in the Federal Register 
notice for this information collection, that point is made clear in the 
regulations for these orders.
    We did not make any changes to our information collection 
requirements based on 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, 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 OMB in your comment to withhold your personal 
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that it 
will be done.

    Dated: September 26, 2012.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy and Directives Management, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-24398 Filed 10-2-12; 8:45 am]
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