63172 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 209 / Friday, October 29, 2004 / Notices 

by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 

and local jurisdictions.

Dated: September 28, 2004. 

Gale A. Norton, 

Secretary of the Interior.

[FR Doc. 04–24174 Filed 10–28–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312–52–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Information Collection Renewal 

Submitted to the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) for Approval Under 

the Paperwork Reduction Act; OMB 

Control Number 1018–0095; 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, 

50 CFR 17.84, Experimental 

Populations

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

Fish and Wildlife Service (We/Service) 

is requesting OMB to extend an existing 

approval to collect information on some 

experimental populations of threatened 

and endangered wildlife, as described 

below. We will use the information that 

we collect to monitor the success of 

reintroduction efforts and recovery 

efforts in general.

DATES: You must submit comments on 

or before November 29, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on 

this information collection renewal to 

the Desk Officer for the Department of 

the Interior at OMB–OIRA at (202) 395–

6566 (fax) or at 

OIRA_Docket@OMB.eop.gov (e-mail). 

Please provide a copy of your comments 

to Hope Grey, Information Collection 

Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife 

Service, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, MS 

222–ARLSQ, Arlington, Virginia 22203 

(mail); (703) 358–2269 (fax); or 

hope_grey@fws.gov (e-mail).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

request a copy of the information 

collection requirement or explanatory 

information, contact Hope Grey, 

Information Collection Clearance 

Officer, at the address or fax number 

listed above or by telephone at (703) 

358–2482.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We have 

sent a request to OMB to renew 

approval of the information collection 

requirements for Endangered and 

Threatened Wildlife, Experimental 

Populations. Currently we have 

approval from OMB to collect 

information under OMB Control 

Number 1018–0095, which expires on 

October 31, 2004. We are requesting a 3-

year term of approval for this 

information collection activity. Federal 

agencies 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. OMB regulations at 5 CFR 

1320, which implement provisions of 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), require that 

interested members of the public and 

affected agencies have an opportunity to 

comment on information collection and 

recordkeeping activities (see 5 CFR 

1320.8(d)). Following our submittal, 

OMB has up to 60 days to approve or 

disapprove our information collection 

renewal; however, they may respond as 

early as 30 days after our submittal. 

Therefore, to ensure consideration, send 

your comments and suggestions to OMB 

by the date listed in the DATES section 

near the beginning of this notice. 

On July 29, 2004, we published a 60-

day notice on this information 

collection requirement in the Federal 

Register (69 FR 45341) and invited 

public comment. The comment period 

ended on September 27, 2004. We 

received one comment from an 

individual who opposed collecting 

depredation information from certain 

groups of individuals, such as hunting 

or trapping clubs. We cannot exclude 

any group or individual from reporting 

information that they believe may be 

related to this information collection. 

The commenter did not address the 

appropriateness of the information or 

the burden hours. Therefore, we have 

not made any changes to our 

information collection requirements. 

Section 9 of the Endangered Species 

Act of 1973 (ESA) describes prohibited 

acts involving threatened or endangered 

species (16 U.S.C. 1538(a)(1)(B)). 

Information collection and reporting to 

the Service is required for some 

experimental populations established 

under section 10(j) of the Endangered 

Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended. 

We collect three major categories of 

information under the experimental 

population regulations (50 CFR 17.84): 

(1) General take or removal. General 

take or removal information refers to 

human-related mortality including 

unintentional taking incidental to 

otherwise lawful activities (e.g., 

highway mortalities), take in defense of 

human life, take related to defense of 

property (if authorized), or take in the 

form of authorized harassment. Most 

contacts related to this type of 

information collection are sightings of 

experimental animals or the inadvertent 

discovery of an injured or dead 

individual.

(2) Depredation-related take. 

Depredation-related take refers to take 

for management purposes where 

livestock depredation has been 

documented and may include 

authorized harassment or lethal take of 

experimental animals in the act of 

attacking livestock. The information 

collected for this type of take is 

necessary for follow-up reports after the 

Service has authorized harassment or 

lethal take of experimental animals in 

relation to confirmed instances of 

livestock depredation or in defense of 

human life. 

(3) Collection of specimens or the 

recovery of dead animals that are part of 

an experimental population. Specimen 

collection is for the purpose of 

documenting incidental or authorized 

scientific collection. Most of the 

information collection requirements for 

this take pertain primarily to the 

reporting of sightings of experimental 

population animals or the inadvertent 

discovery of an injured or dead 

individual. The information collected is 

necessary for follow-up reports when 

we have authorized take of experimental 

animals for specimen collection. 

Because individuals of designated 

experimental populations for species 

listed as threatened or endangered 

under the ESA are categorically 

protected, documentation of humanrelated mortalities, recovery of dead 

specimens, and other types of take 

related to the status of experimental 

populations are important for 

monitoring the success of reintroduction 

efforts and recovery efforts in general. 

To minimize potential conflict with 

humans, which could undermine 

recovery efforts, livestock depredations 

connected with some experimental 

populations of listed species require 

prompt attention to (1) determine the 

location, timing, and nature of the 

predatory behavior involved, (2) 

accurately determine the species 

responsible for a livestock kill, and (3) 

apply necessary control measures. 

In cooperation with the United States 

Department of Agriculture, Animal 

Plant and Health Inspection Service, 

Division of Wildlife Services, or other 

cooperating Federal agencies, we rely on 

prompt public reporting of depredation 

in order to resolve livestock related 

problems. Therefore, a time sensitive 

requirement for reporting problems 

(generally within 24 hours) to the 

appropriate Service office is necessary. 

Cooperating Federal agencies provide 

the vast majority of the information 

collected by the Service as a result of 

experimental population regulations. 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 209 / Friday, October 29, 2004 / Notices 63173

However, some of the information is 

provided by the public. Information 

collection is achieved primarily by 

means of telephone calls from members 

of the public to Service offices specified 

in the individual regulations (some may 

choose to use facsimile or electronic 

mail). Reporting parties include, but are 

not limited to, individuals or 

households, farms, businesses, and 

other nonprofit organizations. We 

collect the following information: 

(a) Name, address, and phone number 

of the reporting party. 

(b) Type of incident. 

(c) Location and time of the incident. 

(d) Species of experimental 

population involved. 

(e) Description of circumstances 

related to the incident. 

The reporting of specimen collections, 

recovery, and dead individuals from 

experimental populations is important 

to our efforts to monitor these 

individuals and for other scientific 

purposes. Because the number of reports 

generated annually by the general 

public (rather than cooperating agencies 

or separately permitted individuals) 

under the experimental population 

regulations is extremely small (far less 

than one report per year, per rule) and 

to assure thorough documentation of 

results, we estimate the number of 

expected reports to assume a maximum 

number per year based on allowance for 

increased population size and public 

awareness of experimental populations. 

Several of the existing experimental 

populations described under 50 CFR 

17.84 contain information collection 

requirements. This information 

collection would also apply to any 

future experimental populations that 

become established that require the 

same types of reports as listed above. 

Title: Endangered and Threatened 

Wildlife, 50 CFR 17.84, Experimental 

populations. 

OMB Control Number: 1018–0095. 

Form Numbers: None. 

Frequency: Occasionally. 

Description of Respondents: Private 

individuals, households, businesses, 

nonprofit organizations, and farms. 

Total Annual Responses: 62. 

Total Annual Burden Hours: 15.5 

hours.

Type of report Number of

respondents 

Average time 

required per 

report

(minutes) 

Total annual 

burden (hours) 

General take or removal .............................................................................................................. 20 15 5 

Depredation related take ............................................................................................................. 22 15 5.5 

Specimen collection ..................................................................................................................... 20 15 5 

We again invite comments concerning 

this information collection on: (1) 

Whether or not the collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of our native endangered 

and threatened species management 

functions, including whether or not the 

information will have practical utility; 

(2) the accuracy of our estimate of the 

burden of the 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. The information 

collections in this program are part of a 

system of records covered by the 

Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552(a)).

Dated: October 20, 2004. 

Hope Grey, 

Information Collection Clearance Officer, 

Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 04–24207 Filed 10–28–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management 

[WY–060–1320–EL; WYW151643] 

Notice of Availability of the Record of 

Decision for the South Powder River 

Basin Coal Final Environmental Impact 

Statement, West Antelope Lease by 

Application Tract, Wyoming

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969, the Bureau of Land Management 

(BLM) announces the availability of the 

Record of Decision (ROD) for the South 

Powder River Basin Coal Final 

Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS); 

West Antelope Lease by Application 

Tract.

ADDRESSES: The document will be 

available electronically on the following 

Web site: http://www.wy.blm.gov/.

Copies of the ROD are available for 

public inspection at the following BLM 

office locations: 

• Bureau of Land Management, 

Wyoming State Office, 5353 

Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, 

Wyoming. 

• Bureau of Land Management, 

Casper Field Office, 2987 Prospector 

Drive, Casper, Wyoming.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Bob Janssen, Wyoming Coal 

Coordinator, (307) 775–6206 or Ms. 

Mavis Love, Land Law Examiner (307) 

775–6258. Both Mr. Janssen’s and Ms. 

Love’s offices are located at the BLM 

Wyoming State Office, 5353 

Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, Wyoming 

82009.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As stated 

in the FEIS, a ROD will be issued for 

each of the five Federal coal tracts 

considered for leasing in the South 

Powder River Coal FEIS. The ROD 

covered by this Notice of Availability is 

for the West Antelope coal tract 

(WYW151643) and addresses leasing an 

estimated 202.3 million tons of in-place 

Federal coal administered by the BLM 

Casper Field Office underlying 

approximately 2,809.13 acres of private 

surface land in Converse County, 

Wyoming. The ROD approves 

Alternative 3 as the selected alternative. 

A competitive lease sale will be 

announced in the Federal Register at a 

later date. 

Because the Assistant Secretary of the 

Interior, Land and Minerals 

Management, has concurred in this 

decision, it is not subject to appeal to 

the Interior Board of Land Appeals as 

provided in 43 CFR part 4. This 

decision is the final action of the 

Department of the Interior.

Alan L. Kesterke, 

Associate State Director.

[FR Doc. 04–23594 Filed 10–28–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–22–P