Information Collection Sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Approval; OMB Control Number 1018-0101; Monitoring Recovered Species After Delisting-American Peregrine Falcon

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Information Collection Sent to the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) for Approval; OMB Control Number 1018-0101; 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 (Fish and Wildlife Service) have sent an Information

Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for review and approval. The ICR, which

is summarized below, describes the nature of the collection and the

estimated burden and cost. This information collection is scheduled to

expire on April 30, 2008. 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 May 30, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments and suggestions on this ICR to the Desk

Officer for the Department of the Interior at OMB-OIRA at (202) 395-

6566 (fax) or [email protected] (e-mail). Please provide a copy

of your comments to Hope Grey, Information Collection Clearance

Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service, MS 222-ARLSQ, 4401 North Fairfax

Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 (mail); (703) 358-2269 (fax); or

[email protected] (e-mail).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information

about this ICR, contact Hope Grey by mail, fax, or e-mail (see

ADDRESSES) or by telephone at (703) 358-2482.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

OMB Control Number: 1018-0101.

Title: Monitoring Recovered Species After Delisting-American

Peregrine Falcon.

Service Form Number(s): FWS Forms 3-2307, 3-2308, and 3-2309.

Type of Request: Extension of currently approved collection.

Affected Public: 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. Monitoring is conducted every

3 years. For eggs and feathers, 15 to 20 of each are collected over a

period of no more than 5 years.

Estimated Nonhour Cost Burden: We estimate the total nonhour burden

cost to be $156.00 for expenses incurred when contaminants samples must

be shipped to designated labs for analysis and storage.

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Number of annual Number of annual Completion time per Annual burden

Activity respondents responses response hours

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FWS Form 3-2307................. 214 638 2.5 hours.......... 1,595

FWS Form 3-2308................. 8 8 2.5 hours.......... 20

FWS Form 3-2309................. 8 8 2.5 hours.......... 20

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Totals...................... 230 654 ................... 1,635

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Abstract: This information collection (IC) implements the

requirements of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1539). There are

no corresponding Service regulations for the ESA's post-delisting

monitoring requirement. This IC also implements the Migratory Bird

Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 704) contained in 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. Section 4(g) of

the Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires that all species that are

recovered and removed

[[Page 23487]]

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 website at http:/

/www.fws.gov/endangered/pdfs/peregrin/Peregrineplan2003.pdf . Formal

collection of monitoring data commenced in 2003. Rangewide population

monitoring of American peregrine falcons under the Monitoring Plan will

take place every 3 years through 2015.

We will use the information supplied on the FWS Forms 3-2307, 3-

2308, and 3-2309 to review the status of the American peregrine falcon

in the United States and determine if it remains recovered and,

therefore, does not require the protections of the ESA:

(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. Each nest

will be visited two (or more) times.

(2) FWS Form 3-2308 (Peregrine Falcon Egg Contaminants Data Sheet)

addresses the reporting requirements to 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 will be archived in a deep freeze for analysis at a

later time.

Comments: On February 25, 2008, we published in the Federal

Register (73 FR 10048) a notice of our intent to request that OMB renew

this collection of information. We solicited comments for 60 days,

ending on April 25, 2008. We did not receive any comments in response

to this notice.

We again invite comments concerning this information collection on:

(1) whether or not the collection of information is necessary,

including whether or not the information will have practical utility;

(2) the accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection

of information;

(3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the

information to be collected; and

(4) 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, e-mail

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.

Hope Grey,

Information Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service.

FR Doc. E8-9425 Filed 4-29-08; 8:45 am

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