[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 144 (Friday, July 26, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45264-45265]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-17955]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-HQ-LE-2013-N170; FF09L00200-FX-LE12200900000]


Information Collection Request Sent to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for Approval; Captive Wildlife Safety Act

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 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 August 31, 2013. 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 August 26, 2013.

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 ``1018-0129'' 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. Follow the instructions to review Department of the 
Interior collections under review by OMB.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    OMB Control Number: 1018-0129.
    Title: Captive Wildlife Safety Act, 50 CFR 14.250--14.255.
    Service Form Number: None.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Description of Respondents: Accredited wildlife sanctuaries.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.
    Frequency of Collection: Ongoing.
    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 750.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 750.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 1 hour.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 750.
    Abstract: The Captive Wildlife Safety Act (CWSA) amends the Lacey 
Act by making it illegal to import, export, buy, sell, transport, 
receive, or acquire, in interstate or foreign commerce, live lions, 
tigers, leopards, snow leopards, clouded leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, 
or cougars, or any hybrid combination of any of these species, unless 
certain exceptions are met. There are several exemptions to the 
prohibitions of the CWSA, including accredited wildlife sanctuaries.
    There is no requirement for wildlife sanctuaries to submit 
applications to qualify for the accredited wildlife sanctuary 
exemption. Wildlife sanctuaries themselves will determine if they 
qualify. To qualify, they must meet all of the following criteria:
     Approval by the United States Internal Revenue Service 
(IRS) as a corporation that is exempt from taxation under section 
501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, which is

[[Page 45265]]

described in sections 501(c)(3) and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of that code.
     Do not engage in commercial trade in the prohibited 
wildlife species, including offspring, parts, and products.
     Do not propagate the prohibited wildlife species.
     Have no direct contact between the public and the 
prohibited wildlife species.
    The basis for this information collection is the recordkeeping 
requirement that we place on accredited wildlife sanctuaries. We 
require accredited wildlife sanctuaries to maintain complete and 
accurate records of any possession, transportation, acquisition, 
disposition, importation, or exportation of the prohibited wildlife 
species as defined in the CWSA (50 CFR 14, subpart K). Records must be 
up to date and include: (1) the names and addresses of persons to or 
from whom any prohibited wildlife species has been acquired, imported, 
exported, purchased, sold, or otherwise transferred; and (2) the dates 
of these transactions. Accredited wildlife sanctuaries must:
     Maintain these records for 5 years.
     Make these records accessible to Service officials for 
inspection at reasonable hours.
     Copy these records for Service officials, if requested.
    Comments: On February 13, 2013, we published in the Federal 
Register (78 FR 10200) 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 April 15, 2013. We received the 
following comments in response to that notice: Comment: The 
recordkeeping requirement should be expanded to other exempt entities 
under the CWSA, including Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
(APHIS) licensed facilities and State--licensed wildlife 
rehabilitators.
    Response: The CWSA exempts accredited wildlife sanctuaries, if they 
meet certain requirements. The recordkeeping requirement enables us to 
confirm that the sanctuary qualifies for the exemption. The CWSA does 
not place requirements on the other exempt entities. Therefore, we do 
not have the authority to establish a recordkeeping requirement on 
those entities.
    Comment: Appropriate records should be made available to the 
Service on an annual basis.
    Response: We believe that the submission of records only on an as 
needed basis is adequate to substantiate that a particular wildlife 
sanctuary qualifies as accredited under the CWSA. The submission of 
records on an annual basis would require an application or other 
mechanism to receive and evaluate those records. In the development of 
the regulations to implement the CWSA, we considered options for 
developing some type of formal accreditation mechanism for wildlife 
sanctuaries, but concluded that because of a lack of available staff 
and resources to manage the submission of records on an annual basis, 
such a step was not practical.
    Comment: Records should be made available to the public through an 
online database or Freedom of Information Act requests.
    Response: The Privacy Act has certain requirements pertaining to 
the release of information that would prohibit us from making these 
records openly available to the public.
    Comment: The Service should develop an electronic recordkeeping 
system for wildlife sanctuaries that could be accessed and used by 
other Federal, State or, local agencies to, among other things, 
reconcile the information obtained under the CWSA with that maintained 
by APHIS under the Animal Welfare Act. An electronic recordkeeping 
system for wildlife sanctuaries could alleviate the time required to 
maintain records.
    Response: We considered options for developing some type of formal 
electronic accreditation mechanism for wildlife sanctuaries that could 
be accessed by other agencies, but because of a lack of available 
resources and staff to adequately implement such a mechanism we 
determined it was not practical.
    Comment: Records maintained by an accredited wildlife sanctuary 
should identify specific prohibited species and include the date of 
birth, age, and date of death of the specimen, and that ``otherwise 
transferred,'' as stated in the requirements, should include the 
disposition of the specimen remains.
    Response: We believe that the requirements, as written, are 
sufficient to confirm the acquisition or disposition of specimens.
    Comment: Maintaining records by an accredited wildlife sanctuary 
should not be considered a ``burden.''
    Response: We used the term ''burden'' in our Federal Register 
notice, because that is the term typically used to measure the impact 
(in time and dollars) of the information collection requirements on 
respondents.
    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: July 22, 2013.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy and Directives Management, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-17955 Filed 7-25-13; 8:45 am]
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