[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 187 (Friday, September 26, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57967-57968]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing 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 OIRASubmission@omb.eop.gov
(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 hopegrey@fws.gov (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 hopegrey@fws.gov (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.
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Completion
Number of time per Total annual
Activity annual response burden hours
responses (hours)
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FWS Form 3-2307................................................ 254 2.5 636
FWS Form 3-2308................................................ 12 2.5 30
FWS Form 3-2309................................................ 12 2.5 30
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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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