[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 154 (Wednesday, August 10, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52899-52900]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-18928]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Geological Survey

[G15AC00486]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments on 
the Assessment of Effects of Climate on Waterfowl

AGENCY: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of a new information collection, Assessment of Effects 
of Climate on Waterfowl.

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SUMMARY: We (the U.S. Geological Survey) are notifying the public that 
we have submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) the 
information collection request (ICR) described below. To comply with 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) 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 ICR.

DATES: To ensure that your comments on this ICR are considered, OMB 
must receive them on or before September 9, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Please submit written comments on this information 
collection directly to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attention: Desk Officer 
for the Department of the Interior, via email: 
(OIRA[email protected]); or by fax (202) 395-5806; and identify 
your submission with `OMB Control Number 1028--NEW ASSESSMENT OF 
EFFECTS OF CLIMATE ON WATERFOWL'. Please also forward a copy of your 
comments and suggestions on this information collection to the 
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 
Sunrise Valley Drive MS 807, Reston, VA 20192 (mail); (703) 648-7195 
(fax); or [email protected] (email). Please reference `OMB 
Information Collection 1028--NEW: ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTS OF CLIMATE ON 
WATERFOWL' in all correspondence.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brad Griffith, Leader, USGS, Alaska 
Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at (907) 474-5067 or 
[email protected].
    You may also find information about this ICR at www.reginfo.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    The USGS National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center 
coordinates the research activities of 8 Regional Climate Science 
Centers. To increase efficiency of investigations, the relevance of 
research topics and the effectiveness of research it is critical to 
identify the types of information that are most critical for the 
development of a focused and integrated multi-regional research 
program. This is particularly true for wildlife species that migrate 
(e.g., waterfowl) among regions in which the direction and strength of 
climate effects on wildlife populations and their habitats are expected 
to be quite variable. This collection seeks to identify (1) the most 
important habitat and harvest factors that affect waterfowl population 
size on breeding, migratory and winter ranges, (2) the demographic 
traits (fecundity or survival) that are affected by these factors, (3) 
the likely direction and magnitude of climate effects on the most 
important waterfowl habitat and harvest factors that affect waterfowl 
population size and (4) the highest priority research needs on 
breeding, migratory and wintering ranges. We are collecting this 
information with a questionnaire survey of a sample of professional 
waterfowl researchers and managers because scientific papers that 
present this information are not available. The information we collect 
will identify the most important research topics within and among 
Regional Climate Science Centers in regard to climate effects on 
migratory waterfowl. We will (1) summarize the results, (2) present 
them at a workshop at a national scientific meeting, (3) use this 
presentation to facilitate further discussion among professional 
waterfowl researchers and managers who attend the workshop regarding 
research priorities and (4) publish the results of the survey and the 
workshop discussion in a refereed scientific publication.

II. Data

    OMB Control Number: 1028-NEW.
    Title: ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTS OF CLIMATE ON WATERFOWL.
    Type of Request: Approval of new information collection.
    Respondent Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: One time.
    Description of Respondents: Professional waterfowl researchers and 
managers that are employed by State or Federal government agencies or 
Private organizations such as Ducks Unlimited.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 250; Private 125, State 
and Local Govt. 125.
    Estimated Time per Response: We estimate that it will take 20 
minutes per person to complete the questionnaire for a single waterfowl 
species and that approximately half of the respondents

[[Page 52900]]

will take an additional 10 minutes to complete the survey for a second 
species.
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 106 hours.
    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' Burden: 
There are no ``non-hour cost'' burdens associated with this collection 
of information.
    Public Disclosure Statement: The PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) 
provides that an agency may not conduct or sponsor and you are not 
required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid OMB control number. Until the OMB approves a collection 
of information, you are not obliged to respond.
    Comments: On 10/30/2015, we published a Federal Register notice (80 
FR 66931) announcing that we would submit this ICR to OMB for approval 
and soliciting comments. The comment period closed on 12/29/2015. USGS 
received one public comment regarding the general hardship of birdlife 
and a statement that no information needed to be collected because the 
information was already collected by every state. This latter statement 
was not correct as we found when we queried five professional waterfowl 
biologists asking whether any similar surveys to ours were being, or 
had been, conducted and all said they knew of none and that our survey 
work would be useful.

III. Request for Comments

    We again invite comments concerning this ICR as to: (a) Whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the agency to 
perform its duties, including whether the information is useful; (b) 
the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed 
collection of information; (c) how to enhance the quality, usefulness, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) how to minimize 
the burden on the respondents, including the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Please note that comments submitted in response to this notice are 
a matter of public record. Before including your personal mailing 
address, phone number, email address, or other personally identifiable 
information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire 
comment, including your personally identifiable information, may be 
made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us and the OMB 
in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from 
public review, we cannot guarantee that it will be done.

    Legal Authority:  Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (MBTA), 
codified at 16 U.S.C. 703-712.

John Thompson,
Deputy Chief, U.S. Geological Survey, Cooperative Research Units.
[FR Doc. 2016-18928 Filed 8-9-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4338-11-P