[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 197 (Friday, October 9, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64155-64156]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-22400]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R3-FAC-2020-N124; FF03F43100-XXXF1611NR; OMB Control Number 1018-
New]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Sea Lamprey 
Control Program

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, 
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing a new 
information collection in use without Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) approval.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
November 9, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by clicking on the link ``Currently under 
Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. 
Please provide a copy of your comments to the Service Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/
PERMA (JAO/3W), 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803 (mail); 
or by email to [email protected]. Please reference OMB Control Number 
1018-Sea Lampreys in the subject line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Madonna L. Baucum, Service Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, by email at [email protected], or by 
telephone at (703) 358-2503. Individuals who are hearing or speech 
impaired may call the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 for TTY 
assistance. You may also view the information collection request (ICR) 
at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), we 
provide the general public and other Federal agencies with an 
opportunity to comment on new, proposed, revised, and continuing 
collections of information. This helps us assess the impact of our 
information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting 
burden. It also helps the public understand our information collection 
requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format.
    On June 1, 2020, we published in the Federal Register (85 FR 33192) 
a notice of our intent to request that OMB approve this information 
collection. In that notice, we solicited comments for 60 days, ending 
on July 31, 2020. We did not receive any comments in response to that 
notice.
    As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent 
burdens, we are again soliciting comments from the public and other 
Federal agencies on the proposed ICR that is described below. We are 
especially interested in public comment addressing the following:
    (1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including 
whether or not the information will have practical utility;
    (2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection 
of information, including the validity of the methodology and 
assumptions used;
    (3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    (4) How might the agency minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of 
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., 
permitting electronic submission of response.
    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 us in your comment to withhold your personal 
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we 
will be able to do so.
    Abstract: Service staff at the Marquette and Ludington biological

[[Page 64156]]

stations fulfill U.S. obligations under the Convention on Great Lakes 
Fisheries Between the United States of America and Canada, Washington, 
1954, and the Great Lakes Fishery Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 931 et seq.). 
The Service works with State, Tribal, and other Federal agencies to 
monitor progress towards fish community objectives for sea lampreys in 
each of the Great Lakes, and also to develop and implement actions to 
achieve these objectives. Activities are closely coordinated with those 
of State, Tribal, and other Federal and provincial management agencies, 
nongovernmental organizations, private landowners, and the public. Our 
primary goal is to conduct ecologically sound and publicly acceptable 
integrated sea lamprey control.
    The Sea Lamprey Control Program is administered and funded by the 
Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) and implemented by two control 
agents, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Fisheries and Oceans 
Canada, who often partner on larger projects. The sea lamprey 
(Petromyzon marinus), a parasitic fish species native to the Atlantic 
Ocean, parasitizes other fish species by sucking their blood and other 
bodily fluids. Having survived through at least four major extinction 
events, the species has remained largely unchanged for more than 340 
million years. The sea lamprey differs from many other fishes, in that 
it does not have jaws or other bony structures, but instead has a 
skeleton made of cartilage. Sea lampreys prey on most species of large 
Great Lakes fish such as lake trout, salmon, lake sturgeon, whitefish, 
burbot, walleye, and catfish.
    In the 1800s, sea lampreys invaded the Great Lakes system via 
manmade locks and shipping canals. Their aggressive behavior and 
appetite for fish blood wreaked havoc on native fish populations, 
decimating an already vulnerable lake trout fishery. The first recorded 
observation of a sea lamprey in the Great Lakes was in 1835 in Lake 
Ontario. For a time, Niagara Falls served as a natural barrier, 
confining sea lampreys to Lake Ontario and preventing them from 
entering the remaining four Great Lakes. However, in the early 1900s, 
modifications were made to the Welland Canal, which bypasses Niagara 
Falls and provides a shipping connection between Lakes Ontario and 
Erie. These modifications allowed sea lampreys access to the rest of 
the Great Lakes system. Within a short time, sea lampreys spread 
throughout the system: Into Lake Erie by 1921, Lakes Michigan and Huron 
by 1936 and 1937, and Lake Superior by 1938. Sea lampreys were able to 
thrive once they invaded the Great Lakes because of the availability of 
excellent spawning and larval habitat, an abundance of host fish, a 
lack of predators, and their high reproductive potential--a single 
female can produce as many as 100,000 eggs.
    The Sea Lamprey Control Program (SLCP) maintains an internal 
database. In existence for more than 20 years, it contains information 
critical to the delivery and evaluation of an integrated control 
program to manage invasive sea lamprey populations in the five Great 
Lakes. The storage of data in this database not only documents the 
history of the SLCP since inception in 1953, but it also provides data 
to steer assessment and control of invasive sea lamprey populations in 
the Great Lakes in partnership with the GLFC. We provide annual 
population data to Federal and State regulatory agencies to inform 
critical evaluations used to issue permits to allow sea lamprey control 
actions. The SLCP database maintains the points of contact for 
landowners to request landowner permission to access their land for 
treatment. The Service collects basic contact information for the 
landowner (name, home address, phone number, cell phone number, and 
email address), along with alternate contact information, whether they 
allow access to their land, methods of transportation allowed on 
property, whether a gate key or gate combination is needed to access 
the land, whether the landowner irrigates the land, and an opportunity 
to ask additional questions about treatment or sea lamprey management.
    Title of Collection: Sea Lamprey Control Program.
    OMB Control Number: 1018-New.
    Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: Existing collection of information in use without 
an OMB Control Number.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals, private sector, and 
State/local/Tribal governments.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually.
    Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.

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                                Average number  Average number  Average number       Average         Estimated
          Requirement              of annual     of responses      of annual     completion time   annual burden
                                  respondents        each          responses      per response        hours *
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                                Landowner Contact Information for Access Approval
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Individuals...................             400               1             400  5 minutes.......              33
Private Sector................              25               1              25  5 minutes.......               2
Government....................              15               1              15  5 minutes.......               1
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    Totals....................             440  ..............             440  ................              36
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* Rounded.

    An agency 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.
    The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

    Dated: October 6, 2020.
Madonna Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-22400 Filed 10-8-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P