[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 167 (Thursday, August 28, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 45706-45708]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-22849]
[[Page 45705]]
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Part II
Department of the Interior
_______________________________________________________________________
Fish and Wildlife Service
_______________________________________________________________________
50 CFR Part 20
Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program; Final Rule
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 167 / Thursday, August 28, 1997 /
Rules and Regulations
[[Page 45706]]
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 20
RIN 1018-AD08
Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and State wildlife
agencies (States) are cooperatively establishing a national Migratory
Bird Harvest Information Program (Program). The Program requires
licensed migratory game bird hunters to supply their names, addresses,
and other necessary information to the hunting licensing authority of
the State in which they hunt. The Program improves the quality and
extent of information about the harvests of migratory game birds to
better manage these populations. The Program requires hunters to have
evidence of current Program participation (Program validation) on their
person while hunting migratory game birds in participating States.
Hunters' names and addresses will provide a sample frame for voluntary
hunter surveys needed to improve harvest estimates for all migratory
game birds. States will gather migratory bird hunters' names and
addresses and the Service will conduct the harvest surveys. This
specific action adds five States to the list of those participating in
the Program, bringing the total to 22.
DATE: This rule takes effect on September 1, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul I. Padding, Office of Migratory
Bird Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 10815 Loblolly Pine
Drive, Laurel, Maryland 20708-4028, (301) 497-5980, FAX (301) 497-5981.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final rule facilitates the collection
of needed information about migratory game bird harvests. A proposed
rule was published in the March 14, 1997, Federal Register (62 FR
12524). This final rule amends Section 20.20 of 50 CFR by adding
Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, and North Carolina to the list of
participating States. Licensed hunters, as a condition for hunting
migratory game birds in these States, will be required to annually
provide their names, addresses, and other necessary information to the
licensing authority of the State in which they hunt. This information
will provide a nationwide sampling frame of migratory bird hunters,
from which representative samples of hunters will be selected and asked
to participate in voluntary harvest surveys that the Service will
conduct annually.
The Service and States are currently implementing this Program over
a 5-year period, starting with the 1994-95 hunting season. During this
implementation, the Program's participation requirement will not apply
on Federal Indian Reservations or to tribal members hunting on ceded
lands. Participating States will provide the sample frame by annually
collecting the name, address, and date of birth of each State licensed
migratory bird hunter. To reduce survey costs and to identify hunters
who hunt less commonly-hunted species, States will also request that
each migratory bird hunter provide a brief summary of his or her
migratory bird hunting activity for the previous year. States will send
this information to the Service, and the Service will sample hunters
and conduct national hunter activity and harvest surveys.
A notice of intent to establish the Program was published in the
June 24, 1991, Federal Register (56 FR 28812). A final rule
establishing the Program and initiating a 2-year pilot phase in three
volunteer States (California, Missouri, and South Dakota) was published
in the March 19, 1993, Federal Register (58 FR 15093). The pilot phase
was completed following the 1993-94 migratory bird hunting seasons in
California, Missouri, and South Dakota.
The Service formed a State/Federal group to evaluate Program
requirements, the different approaches used by the pilot States, and
the Service's survey procedures during the pilot phase. Their
evaluation resulted in Program changes specified in a final rule,
published in the October 21, 1994, Federal Register (59 FR 53334),
initiating the implementation phase of the Program.
Currently, all licensed migratory game birds hunters in
participating States are required to have a Program validation,
indicating that they have identified themselves as migratory bird
hunters and have provided the required information to the State
wildlife agency. Hunters must provide the required information to each
State in which they hunt migratory birds. Validations are printed on or
attached to the annual State hunting license or on a State-specific
supplementary permit.
Names, addresses, and other information are needed in time to
distribute hunting record forms to selected hunters before they forget
the details of their hunts. Previously, the Service's survey design
required participating States to send the required information to the
Service within 5 business days of the hunting license or permit
issuance (10 business days if the information is in electronic form).
Several States expressed concern that they could not meet this time
requirement. The Service conducted an experiment during the 1994-95
hunting season to determine whether extending the time requirement
would adversely affect the accuracy of survey results. Based on the
results of that experiment, the Service now requires participating
States to forward hunter information to the Service within 30 calendar
days from the date of license or permit issuance.
The Service does not require hunters exempted from State permit and
licensing requirements to participate in the Program. This would
include junior hunters, senior hunters, landowners, and other special
categories. Exemptions vary on a State-by-State basis. Excluding these
hunters from the Program also excludes their harvest from the estimates
which may result in serious bias. Thus States may require exempted
hunters to participate; and the Service encourages States to provide
any available information about these groups (for example, junior
hunter safety course participant lists and State harvest estimates for
exempted categories) to the Service for use in improving harvest
estimates. Methodology may vary by State and will be incorporated into
individual Memoranda of Agreement with the Service.
The Service will use the names and addresses only for conducting
hunter surveys, and will delete names and addresses after the surveys.
State uses of these names and addresses will be governed by State laws.
Under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), at least 30 days is required for a rule
to become effective unless an agency has good cause to make it sooner.
The Service and the States are currently implementing this Program over
a five-year period at the request of the International Association of
Fish and Wildlife Agencies. The States added by this rule to the list
of participating States, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, and
North Carolina, have prepared for a September 1 implementation date of
the Program. Generally, migratory game bird hunting seasons may begin
as early as September 1, 1997, and since migratory game bird hunters
are required to have a Program validation on their person while hunting
migratory game birds in these States, the Service believes good cause
exists to make this rule effective on September 1, 1997.
[[Page 45707]]
Review of Comments and the Service's Response
The Service received comments on the proposed rule from two States.
1. Implementation Phase--Schedule of State Participation
Comment: Delaware requested that its scheduled implementation be
advanced from 1998 to 1997. Delaware will implement a telephone license
sales system in 1997 and prefers to implement the Program at the same
time.
Service Response: The Service welcomes Delaware's proposed advance
and will accommodate this change in the schedule.
Comment: Texas indicated that it experienced some technical
difficulties with the electronic license sales system that it
implemented last year. Texas requested that the Program's requirements
be waived for a portion of its 1997-98 hunting license year, to give
the State additional time to resolve those problems. Thus, Texas
proposed to begin collecting the required information from migratory
bird hunters on October 1, 1997.
Service Response: The Service recognizes the unique problems
associated with implementing a new electronic license system in Texas,
where the number of licensed hunters exceeds 1,000,000. However, this
proposal will result in an incomplete sample frame from Texas.
Therefore, the Service will not conduct Harvest Information Program
surveys of Texas' migratory bird hunters during the 1997 hunting
season. The Service will conduct the traditional waterfowl harvest
survey based upon a sample of Federal duck stamp purchasers in Texas.
To avoid confusion among hunters and law enforcement personnel in
Texas, the Service will omit Texas from the list of States in which
hunters are required to participate in the Program in 1997.
NEPA Consideration
The Service considered the establishment of this Harvest
Information Program and options in the ``Environmental Assessment:
Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program.'' Copies of this document
are available from the Service at the address indicated under the
caption FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
On June 14, 1991, the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and
Parks concluded that the rule would not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). This rule will eventually
affect about 3-5 million migratory game bird hunters when it is fully
implemented. It will require licensed migratory game bird hunters to
identify themselves and to supply their names, addresses, and birth
dates to the State licensing authority. Additional information will be
requested in order that they can be efficiently sampled for a voluntary
national harvest survey. Hunters will be required to have evidence of
current participation in the Program on their person while hunting
migratory game birds.
The States may require a handling fee to cover their administrative
costs. Many of the State hunting-license vendors are small entities,
but this rule should not economically impact those vendors. Only
migratory game bird hunters, individuals, would be required to provide
this information, so this rule should not adversely affect small
entities.
Collection of Information: Migratory Bird Harvest Information
Program
As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507
(d)), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has received approval for this
collection of information, with approval number 1018-0015, with the
expiration date of August 31, 1998.
The information to be collected includes: the name, address, and
date of birth of each licensed migratory bird hunter in each
participating State. Hunters' names, addresses, and other information
will be used to provide a sample frame for voluntary hunter surveys to
improve harvest estimates for all migratory game birds. The Service
needs and uses the information to improve the quality and extent of
information about harvests of migratory game birds in order to better
manage these populations.
All information is to be collected once annually from licensed
migratory bird hunters in participating States by the State license
authority. Participating States are required to forward the hunter
information to the Service within 30 calendar days of license or permit
issuance. Annual reporting and record keeping burden for this
collection of information is estimated to average 0.015 hours per
response for 1,650,000 respondents, including the time for reviewing
instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the
collection of information. Thus, the total annual reporting and record
keeping burden for this collection is estimated to be 24,750 hours.
Organizations and individuals desiring to submit comments on the
information collection requirements should direct them to the Service
Information Collection Clearance Officer, ms 224--ARLSQ, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, 1849 C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20240, or the
Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project 1018-0015,
Washington, DC 20503.
The Department considered comments by the public on this proposed
collection of information in--
(1) Evaluating whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the
Department, including whether the information will have practical
utility;
(2) Evaluating the accuracy of the Department's estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
(3) Enhancing the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
(4) Minimizing the burden or 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 responses.
Executive Order 12866
This rule was not subject to Office of Management and Budget review
under Executive Order 12866.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
The Service has determined and certifies pursuant to the Unfunded
Mandates Act, 2 U.S.C. 1502 et seq., that this rulemaking will not
impose a loss of $100 million or more in any given year on local or
state governments or private entities.
Civil Justice Reform--Executive Order 12988
The Department has determined that these regulations meet the
applicable standards provided in Sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of Executive
Order 12988.
Authorship
The primary author of this rule is Paul I. Padding, Office of
Migratory Bird Management.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 20
Exports, Hunting, Imports, Reporting and record keeping
requirements, Transportation, Wildlife.
[[Page 45708]]
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 20 is amended
as set forth below.
PART 20--MIGRATORY BIRD HUNTING
1. The authority citation for part 20 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 703-711, 16 U.S.C. 712, and 16 U.S.C. 742
a--j.
2. In Section 20.20 paragraphs (a), (b) and (e) are revised to read
as follows:
Sec. 20.20 Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program.
(a) Information collection requirements. The collections of
information contained in Sec. 20.20 have been approved by the Office of
Management and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and assigned
clearance number 1018-0015. The information will be used to provide a
sampling frame for the national Migratory Bird Harvest Survey. Response
is required from licensed hunters to obtain the benefit of hunting
migratory game birds. Public reporting burden for this information is
estimated to average 0.015 hours per response for 1,650,000
respondents, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching
existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and
completing and reviewing the collection of information. Thus the total
annual reporting and record keeping burden for this collection is
estimated to be 24,750 hours. Send comments regarding this burden
estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information,
including suggestions for reducing the burden, to the Service
Information Collection Clearance Officer, MS--224 ARLSQ, Fish and
Wildlife Service, Washington, DC 20240, or the Office of Management and
Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project 1018-0015, Washington, DC 20503.
(b) General provisions. Each person hunting migratory game birds in
Alabama, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho,
Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi,
Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota,
Tennessee, and Vermont must have identified himself or herself as a
migratory bird hunter and given his or her name, address, and date of
birth to the respective State hunting licensing authority and must have
on his or her person evidence, provided by that State, of compliance
with this requirement.
* * * * *
(e) Implementation schedule. The Service is completing the
implementation of this Program in 1998, which will incorporate
approximately 1.6 million additional migratory bird hunters. The State
of Texas will collect the name, address, and other necessary
information from migratory bird hunters who are issued hunting licenses
in Texas on or after October 1, 1997. All States must participate in
the Program in 1998.
Dated: August 21, 1997.
William L. Leary,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 97-22849 Filed 8-27-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-F
