45706 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 167 / Thursday, August 28, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

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.

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 commonlyhunted 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 Statespecific 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 fiveyear 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.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 167 / Thursday, August 28, 1997 / Rules and Regulations 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.
45708 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 167 / Thursday, August 28, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

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:

§ 20.20 Migratory Bird Harvest Information

Program.

(a) Information collection

requirements. The collections of

information contained in § 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.

BILLING CODE 4310–55-F

[FR Doc. 97–22849 Filed 8-27-97; 8:45 am]