30-Day Notice

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 187 / Friday, September 26, 2014 / Notices
Falls Church, VA 22041; fax (703) 358–
2281.
Brenda Tapia,
Program Analyst/Data Administrator, Branch
of Permits, Division of Management
Authority.
[FR Doc. 2014–22922 Filed 9–25–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

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
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
AGENCY:

We (U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service) have sent an Information
Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for

SUMMARY:

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 OIRA_
Submission@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 hope_grey@fws.gov
(email). Please include ‘‘1018–0101’’ in
the subject line of your comments.

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.
Number of
annual
responses

Activity

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To
request additional information about
this ICR, contact Hope Grey at hope_
grey@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:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Completion
time per
response
(hours)

Total annual
burden hours

FWS Form 3–2307 ......................................................................................................................
FWS Form 3–2308 ......................................................................................................................
FWS Form 3–2309 ......................................................................................................................

254
12
12

2.5
2.5
2.5

636
30
30

Totals ....................................................................................................................................

278

........................

696

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

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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 nonFederal 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

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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

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57968

Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 187 / Friday, September 26, 2014 / Notices

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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 postdelisting 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 3year 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

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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 postdelisting 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

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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]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–HQ–IA–2014–N202;
FXIA16710900000–145–FF09A30000]

Endangered Species; Receipt of
Applications for Permit
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of receipt of applications
for permit.
AGENCY:

We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, invite the public to
comment on the following applications
to conduct certain activities with
endangered species. With some
exceptions, the Endangered Species Act
(ESA) prohibits activities with listed
species unless Federal authorization is
acquired that allows such activities.
DATES: We must receive comments or
requests for documents on or before
October 27, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Brenda Tapia, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Division of
Management Authority, Branch of
Permits, MS: IA, 5275 Leesburg Pike,
Falls Church, VA 22041; fax (703) 358–
2281; or email DMAFR@fws.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Brenda Tapia, (703) 358–2104
(telephone); (703) 358–2281 (fax);
DMAFR@fws.gov (email).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:

I. Public Comment Procedures
A. How do I request copies of
applications or comment on submitted
applications?
Send your request for copies of
applications or comments and materials
concerning any of the applications to
the contact listed under ADDRESSES.
Please include the Federal Register
notice publication date, the PRTnumber, and the name of the applicant
in your request or submission. We will
not consider requests or comments sent
to an email or address not listed under
ADDRESSES. If you provide an email
address in your request for copies of
applications, we will attempt to respond
to your request electronically.

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