[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 159 (Tuesday, August 18, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50021-50023]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20335]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-HQ-MB-2015-N159; FF09M21200-156- FXMB1231099BPP0]


Proposed Information Collection; Control and Management of 
Resident Canada Geese

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 December 31, 2015. 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 October 19, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the IC to the 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 ``1018-0133'' 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

    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

[[Page 50022]]

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 agencies, to implement programs 
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 may 
implement the provisions of the order. Each implementing agricultural 
producer must maintain a log of the date and number of birds taken 
under this authorization. Each State and tribe exercising the 
privileges of the order must submit an annual report of the numbers of 
birds, nests, and eggs taken, and the county or counties 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). This information ensures that the 
incidental take limits authorized under Section 7 of the ESA are not 
exceeded.

II. Data

    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.
    Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.

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

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

[[Page 50023]]

     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: August 13, 2015.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy, Performance, and Management Programs, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-20335 Filed 8-17-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P