2010-1076. Proposed Information Collection; OMB Control Number 1018-0129; Captive Wildlife Safety Act

AGENCY:

Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice; request for comments.

SUMMARY:

We (Fish and Wildlife Service) will ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the information collection (IC) described below. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on this IC. This IC is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2010. 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.

DATES:

To ensure that we are able to consider your comments on this IC, we must receive them by March 22, 2010.

ADDRESSES:

Send your comments on the IC to Hope Grey, Information Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service, MS 222-ARLSQ, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 (mail); or [e-mail] (e-mail).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request additional information about this IC, contact Hope Grey by mail or e-mail (see ADDRESSES) or by telephone at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

The Captive Wildlife Safety Act (CWSA) amends the Lacey Act by making it illegal to import, export, buy, sell, transport, receive, or acquire, in interstate or foreign commerce, live lions, tigers, leopards, snow leopards, clouded leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, or cougars, or any hybrid combination of any of these species, unless certain exceptions are met. There are several exceptions to the prohibitions of the CWSA, including accredited wildlife sanctuaries.

There is no requirement for wildlife sanctuaries to submit applications to qualify for the accredited wildlife sanctuary exemption. Wildlife sanctuaries themselves will determine if they qualify. To qualify, they must meet all of the following criteria:

• Approval by the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a corporation that is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, which is described in sections 501(c)(3) and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of that code.
• Do not engage in commercial trade in the prohibited wildlife species including offspring, parts, and products.
• Do not propagate the prohibited wildlife species.
• Have no direct contact between the public and the prohibited wildlife species.

The basis for this information collection is the recordkeeping requirement that we place on accredited wildlife sanctuaries. We require accredited wildlife sanctuaries to maintain complete and accurate records of any possession, transportation, acquisition, disposition, importation, or exportation of the prohibited wildlife species as defined in the CWSA (50 CFR 14, subpart K). Records must be up to date and include: (1) the names and addresses of persons to or from whom any prohibited wildlife species has been acquired, imported, exported, purchased, sold, or otherwise transferred; and (2) the dates of these transactions. Accredited wildlife sanctuaries must:

• Maintain these records for 5 years.
• Make these records accessible to Service officials for inspection at reasonable hours.
• Copy these records for Service officials, if requested.

II. Data

OMB Control Number: 1018-0129.

Title: Captive Wildlife Safety Act, 50 CFR 14.250 - 14.255.

Service Form Number(s): None.

Type of Request: Extension of currently approved collection.

Affected Public: Accredited wildlife sanctuaries.

Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.

Frequency of Collection: Ongoing.

Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 750.

Estimated Total Annual Responses: 750.

Estimated Time Per Response: 1 hour

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 750.

III. Request for Comments

We invite comments concerning this IC 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. We will include or summarize each comment in our request to OMB to approve this IC. 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 us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Dated: January 14, 2010.

Hope Grey,

Information Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service.