[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 187 (Friday, September 26, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57967-57968]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-22925]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R1-MB-2014--N205; FXES11120100000-145-FF01M01000]


Information Collection Request Sent to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for Approval; Monitoring Recovered Species After 
Delisting--American Peregrine Falcon

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 September 30, 2014. 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 October 27, 2014.

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 BPHC, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803 
(mail), or [email protected] (email). Please include ``1018-
0101'' 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:

Information Collection Request

    OMB Control Number: 1018-0101.
    Title: Monitoring Recovered Species After Delisting--American 
Peregrine Falcon.
    Service Form Numbers: 3-2307, 3-2308, and 3-2309.
    Type of Request: Extension of currently approved collection.
    Description of Respondents: Professional biologists employed by 
State agencies and other organizations, and volunteers that have been 
involved in past peregrine falcon conservation efforts.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    Completion
                                                                    Number of        time per      Total annual
                            Activity                                 annual          response      burden hours
                                                                    responses        (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FWS Form 3-2307................................................             254             2.5              636
FWS Form 3-2308................................................              12             2.5               30
FWS Form 3-2309................................................              12             2.5               30
                                                                ------------------------------------------------
    Totals.....................................................             278  ...............             696
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    Estimated Nonhour Cost Burden: We estimate the total nonhour burden 
cost to be $252.00 for expenses incurred when contaminants samples must 
be shipped to designated labs for analysis and storage.
    Abstract: This information collection implements requirements of 
the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) (ESA). There are no 
corresponding Service regulations for the ESA post-delisting monitoring 
requirement. This information collection also implements the Migratory 
Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 704) and Service regulations in chapter I, 
subchapter B of title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
    The American peregrine falcon was removed from the List of 
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife on August 25, 1999 (64 FR 46542). 
Section 4(g) of the ESA requires that all species that are recovered 
and removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 
(delisted) 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 State agencies and other 
species experts to develop appropriate plans and procedures for 
systematically monitoring recovered wildlife and plants.
    The American peregrine falcon 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 American peregrine falcons 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 recovered 
species continues to maintain its recovered status. The Monitoring Plan 
for the American Peregrine Falcon is available on our Web site at 
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa-library/pdf/Peregrineplan2003.pdf. 
Formal collection of monitoring data began in 2003 and continued 
through 2012. We monitored peregrines nationally four times over a span 
of 9 years. Although formal post-delisting monitoring concluded in 
2012, we will make an effort to continue to monitor peregrine falcons 
regionally in future years. Under this reduced effort, we will monitor 
peregrines in four southwestern States in 2015.
    We will use the information supplied on FWS Forms 3-2307, 3-2308, 
and 3-2309 to further our knowledge of American peregrine falcon 
breeding site occupancy, nest success, productivity, and contaminant 
levels in parts of the United States:
    (1) FWS Form 3-2307 (Peregrine Falcon Monitoring Form) addresses 
the reporting requirements to record observations on the nesting pair, 
and the numbers of eggs and young during each nest visit.
    (2) FWS Form 3-2308 (Peregrine Falcon Egg Contaminants Data Sheet) 
addresses the reporting requirements to

[[Page 57968]]

record data on eggs collected opportunistically during a nest visit.
    (3) FWS Form 3-2309 (Peregrine Falcon Feather Contaminants Data 
Sheet) addresses the reporting requirements to record data on feathers 
collected opportunistically during a nest visit. Once collected, the 
eggs and feathers are archived in a deep freeze for analysis at a later 
time.

Comments Received and Our Responses

    On July 14, 2014, we published in the Federal Register (79 FR 
40776) a notice of our intent to request that OMB renew approval for 
this collection of information. We solicited comments for 60 days, 
ending on September 12, 2014. We received four comments. One comment 
was from the State of Montana, Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, 
and the other three were from participants in and organizers of 
peregrine falcon monitoring in Montana. All commenters:
     Agreed that the collection of information is necessary and 
has practical utility.
     Stated that this information collection is not simply 
necessary, but is our obligation under the ESA.
     Argued for continuing post-delisting monitoring of 
peregrine falcons in 2015.
     Expressed concern that we terminated post-delisting 
monitoring prematurely.
     Elaborated on the reasons why the Service should continue 
monitoring the falcons; i.e., that the data will serve as a baseline by 
which to measure future breeding performance; that peregrine falcons 
are indicators of environmental health, and continued monitoring may 
reveal the presence of destructive environmental contaminants, the 
negative effects of climate change, or of emerging avian diseases.
    Two commenters mentioned that monitoring peregrines in Montana will 
be challenging without the financial assistance that the Service has 
given in previous post-delisting monitoring years.
    Response: The original design of the post-delisting monitoring plan 
called for monitoring the species five times at 3-year intervals from 
2003 through 2015. Fiscal conservatism forced us to critically evaluate 
expenditures in every program, including peregrine falcon post-
delisting monitoring. The monitoring results from 4 monitoring years, 
spanning a 9-year period, show that in most regions and nationally the 
species is doing well; e.g., meeting or exceeding targets for territory 
occupancy, nesting success, and productivity. Other data show that the 
numbers of breeding birds continue to increase in most States. We 
believe peregrine falcons have been monitored effectively for more than 
5 years, and the data show that the species is not in danger of being 
relisted as threatened or endangered. Therefore, we have met our 
obligations under the ESA, and post-delisting monitoring was concluded 
in 2012.
    We may continue to monitor peregrine falcons less intensively in 
the future, with periodic national or regional monitoring efforts. In 
2015, for example, we, with State partners, will monitor peregrine 
falcons in the southwestern United States (Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and 
New Mexico). We plan to monitor approximately 130 territories, or 20 
percent of the number of territories monitored nationally during post-
delisting monitoring.
    The 4 years of post-delisting monitoring data provide us with an 
adequate baseline against which future monitoring efforts may be 
compared regionally and nationally. Monitoring from each year met our 
goals for statistical rigor, each of the 4-year datasets stands alone, 
and together these datasets provide us with a justification to conclude 
delisting monitoring of this species. Peregrines are sensitive 
indicators of some environmental changes, particularly, as history has 
shown, to some chemical contaminants. For this reason, we will 
consider, with partners, a strategy to continue some level of 
monitoring in the future so we can detect potential problems before 
they become critical.

Request for Public 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 22, 2014.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy and Directives Management, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-22925 Filed 9-25-14; 8:45 am]
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