[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 9 (Friday, January 13, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2369-2371]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00624]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-HQ-MB-2023-0009; FF09M30000-223-FXMB12320900000; OMB 
Control Number 1018-0167]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Eagle Permits

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 to renew an 
information collection without change.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
March 14, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the information collection request 
(ICR) by one of the following methods (reference Office of Management 
and Budget

[[Page 2370]]

(OMB) Control Number 1018-0167 in the subject line of your comment):
     Internet (preferred): https://www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-HQ-MB-2023-
0009.
     Email: [email protected].
     U.S. mail: Service Information Collection Clearance 
Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB 
(JAO/3W), Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

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 in the United States who are 
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 
711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay 
services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay 
services offered within their country to make international calls to 
the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and its implementing regulations at 5 
CFR 1320.8(d)(1), all information collections require approval under 
the PRA. We 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.
    As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent 
burdens, we invite the public and other Federal agencies 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.
    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. We will include or summarize each comment in our request 
to OMB to approve this ICR. 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: The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (Eagle Act; 16 
U.S.C. 668-668d) prohibits take of bald eagles and golden eagles except 
pursuant to Federal regulations. The Eagle Act regulations at title 50, 
part 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) define the ``take'' of 
an eagle to include the following broad range of actions: To ``pursue, 
shoot, shoot at, poison, wound, kill, capture, trap, collect, destroy, 
molest, or disturb.'' The Eagle Act allows the Secretary of the 
Interior to authorize certain otherwise prohibited activities through 
regulations.
    All Service permit applications associated with eagles are in the 
3-200 and 3-202 series of forms, each tailored to a specific activity 
based on the requirements for specific types of permits. We collect 
standard identifier information for all permits. The information that 
we collect on applications and reports is the minimum necessary for us 
to determine if the applicant meets/continues to meet issuance 
requirements for the particular activity.
    The Service proposes to renew this information collection, without 
change, in order to extend the expiration date for the collection 
(currently July 31, 2023) while the Service continues to finalize our 
rulemaking under RIN 1018-BG70, Permits for Incidental Take of Eagles 
and Eagle Nests. On September 30, 2022, we published the proposed rule 
(87 FR 59598) to revise the regulations authorizing the issuance of 
permits for eagle incidental take and eagle nest take to increase the 
efficiency and effectiveness of permitting, facilitate and improve 
compliance, and increase the conservation benefit for eagles. The 
comment period for the proposed rule ended on November 29, 2022. On 
November 28, 2022, we extended the proposed rule's comment period to 
December 29, 2022 (87 FR 72957).
    In addition to continuing to authorize specific permits, the 
proposed rule, if finalized as written, would create general permits 
for certain activities under prescribed conditions (qualifying wind-
energy generation projects, power line infrastructure, activities that 
may disturb breeding bald eagles, and bald eagle nest take). It also 
would remove the current third-party monitoring requirement for eagle 
incidental take permits, update current permit fees, and clarify 
definitions. We anticipate publication of the final rule under RIN 
1018-BD70 in late 2023 or early 2024.
    The public may request copies of any form contained in this 
information collection by sending a request to the Service Information 
Collection Clearance Officer (see ADDRESSES).
    Title of Collection: Eagle Permits, 50 CFR 22.
    OMB Control Number: 1018-0167.
    Form Numbers: Forms 3-200-14, 3-200-15a, 3-200-16, 3-200-18, 3-200-
71, 3-200-72, 3-200-77, 3-200-78, 3-200-82, 3-200-11 through 3-200-16, 
3-1552, 3-1591, and 3-2480.
    Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved 
collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals and businesses. We expect 
that the majority of applicants seeking long-term permits will be in 
the energy production and electrical distribution business sectors.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 4,068.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 4,318.
    Estimated Completion Time per Response: Varies from 15 minutes to 
228 hours, depending on activity.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 25,894.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion for applications; annually or 
on occasion for reports.
    Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: $1,369,200 (primarily 
associated with application processing fees).
    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.

[[Page 2371]]

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

Madonna Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-00624 Filed 1-12-23; 8:45 am]
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