Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 183 / Friday, September 22, 2017 / Notices 44437 

were both analyzed in BLM’s 2012 EIS. 

The BLM’s 2012 ROD required further 

coordination with the Service regarding 

potential nest removal. 

In April 2014, Hycroft submitted a 

plan of operations modification for the 

phase II expansion of the mine to the 

BLM. The phase II expansion includes 

a proposal to construct a tailings storage 

facility. Three golden eagle nests were 

identified within the proposed footprint 

of the tailings storage facility. 

In this current joint EIS, BLM will 

analyze potential impacts of Hycroft’s 

proposed expansion as described in 

BLM’s notice published on December 

30, 2014 (79 FR 78469), and the Service 

will analyze impacts related to our Eagle 

Act take permit decisions. 

Scope for Eagle Permit Analysis 

All eagle permit alternatives 

considered in the EIS should conform to 

the Eagle Act permit issuance criteria 

for nest removal for the purpose of 

resource development and recovery 

operations, as allowed under 50 CFR 

22.25, and for incidental take as allowed 

under 50 CFR 22.26. The draft EIS will 

identify and analyze direct, indirect, 

and cumulative impacts of the proposed 

Eagle Act permit requests and 

alternatives associated with several 

resource areas, including biological 

resources, Native American religious 

concerns, air quality, noise, water 

resources, cultural resources, 

socioeconomics, and climate change. 

We will also consider evaluation of 

additional resource areas if issues of 

concern specific to the proposed action 

are identified during the public scoping 

process. The purpose of the public 

scoping process for the EIS is to 

determine relevant issues that will 

influence the scope of the 

environmental analysis, including 

potential alternatives, and the extent to 

which those issues and impacts will be 

analyzed in the EIS. We will evaluate a 

minimum of three alternatives. 

Applicant’s Proposal 

Hycroft has requested permits under 

the Eagle Act for nest removal 

associated with resource development 

and recovery, and incidental take for 

anticipated impacts, including the 

potential loss of nesting territories, 

associated with mining operations as 

described in the ECP. 

Hycroft is requesting authorization for 

removal of three golden eagle nests on 

the Silver Camel feature within the 

existing mine area and up to the three 

nests within the proposed tailings 

facility footprint. Nest removals would 

likely affect two different golden eagle 

breeding territories. Specific activities 

requested and being considered include 

the following: 

1. Removal of golden eagle nests. 

2. Implementation of mitigation 

measures to offset the loss of nesting 

territories and provide a no net loss to 

golden eagles in the local area breeding 

population, including, but not limited 

to: 

a. Creation of new nest sites, possibly 

on abandoned mine high walls; 

b. Offsite nest rehabilitation; and 

c. Retrofitting electric utility power 

poles to minimize the potential for 

electrocutions. 

3. Monitoring to evaluate project 

impacts and the effectiveness of the 

mitigation measures. Monitoring efforts 

would generally include: 

a. Monitoring of golden eagle nests 

located within the plan area and a 10- 

mile radius surrounding the plan area; 

and 

b. Monitoring of the offsite nests 

created or rehabilitated for the 

establishment of golden eagle use and 

creation of new breeding territories. 

Public Comments 

We request data, comments, new 

information, or suggestions from the 

public, other governmental agencies, the 

scientific community, Tribes, industry, 

or any other interested party on this 

notice. We are particularly interested in 

comments regarding the creation of new 

golden eagle nest sites or territories, a 

potential mitigation option. We will 

consider these comments in developing 

the draft EIS. 

Public Availability of Comments 

You may submit your comments and 

materials by one of the methods listed 

above in ADDRESSES. Before including 

your address, phone number, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—might 

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. 

Scoping Meetings 

See DATES for the dates and times of 

our public meetings. The primary 

purpose of these meetings and public 

comment period is to provide the public 

with a general understanding of the 

background of the proposed action and 

to solicit suggestions and information 

on the scope of issues and alternatives 

we should consider when drafting the 

EIS. Comments will be accepted at the 

meetings. An interpreter and/or court 

reporter will be present when deemed 

necessary. Comments can also be 

submitted by methods listed in the 

ADDRESSES section. Once the draft EIS is 

complete and made available for review, 

there will be additional opportunity for 

public comment on the content of these 

documents. 

Persons needing reasonable 

accommodations in order to attend and 

participate in the public meetings 

should contact the Pacific Southwest 

Region’s Migratory Bird Office using 

one of the methods listed above in 

ADDRESSES as soon as possible. In order 

to allow sufficient time to process 

requests, please make contact no later 

than one week before the public 

meeting. Information regarding this 

proposed action is available in 

alternative formats upon request. 

Authority 

We provide this notice under section 

668a of the Eagle Act (16 U.S.C. 668– 

668c) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 

1501.7, 40 CFR 1506.6, and 40 CFR 

1508.22). 

Jody Holzworth, 

Acting Deputy Regional Director, Pacific 

Southwest Region, Sacramento, California. 

[FR Doc. 2017–20053 Filed 9–21–17; 8:45 am] 

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–HQ–ES–2017–N120; 

FXES11130900000–178–FF09E32000; OMB 

Control Number 1018–0095] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission to the Office of 

Management and Budget for Review 

and Approval; Endangered and 

Threatened Wildlife, Experimental 

Populations 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of information collection; 

request for comment. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, 

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

(Service), are proposing to renew an 

information collection. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before October 

23, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on 

this information collection request (ICR) 

to the Office of Management and 

Budget’s Desk Officer for the 

Department of the Interior by email at 

OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov; or via 

44438 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 183 / Friday, September 22, 2017 / Notices 

facsimile to (202) 395–5806. 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 by email to Info_Coll@

fws.gov. Please reference OMB Control 

Number 1018–0095 in the subject line of 

your comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

request additional information about 

this ICR, contact Madonna L. Baucum, 

Service Information Collection 

Clearance Officer, by email at Info_

Coll@fws.gov, or by telephone at (703) 

358–2503. You may also view the ICR 

at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, we provide the 

general public and other Federal 

agencies with an opportunity to 

comment on new, proposed, revised, 

and continuing collections of 

information. This helps us assess the 

impact of our information collection 

requirements and minimize the public’s 

reporting burden. It also helps the 

public understand our information 

collection requirements and provide the 

requested data in the desired format. 

A Federal Register notice with a 60- 

day public comment period soliciting 

comments on this collection of 

information was published on May 31, 

2017 (82 FR 24989). We received one 

comment that did not address the 

information collection. No changes were 

made in response to that comment. 

We are again soliciting comments on 

the proposed ICR that is described 

below. We are especially interested in 

public comment addressing the 

following issues: (1) Is the collection 

necessary to the proper functions of the 

Service; (2) will this information be 

processed and used in a timely manner; 

(3) is the estimate of burden accurate; 

(4) how might the Service enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (5) how 

might the Service minimize the burden 

of this collection on the respondents, 

including through the use of 

information technology. 

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 us in your comment to 

withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Abstract: Section 10(j) of the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), 

as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), 

authorizes the Secretary of the Interior 

to establish experimental populations of 

endangered or threatened species. 

Because individuals of experimental 

populations are protected under the 

ESA, the information we collect is 

important for monitoring the success of 

reintroduction and recovery efforts. This 

is a nonform collection (meaning there 

is no designated form associated with 

this collection). Information collection 

requirements for experimental 

populations of vertebrate endangered 

and threatened species are found in 50 

CFR 17.84. We collect three categories 

of information, which are specific to 

each species and are described within 

50 CFR 17.84: 

(1) General take or removal. Take is 

defined by the ESA as ‘‘[to] harass, 

harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, 

trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to 

engage in any such conduct.’’ In this IC, 

take most commonly takes the form of 

human-related mortality, including 

unintentional taking incidental to 

otherwise lawful activities (e.g., 

highway mortalities); animal husbandry 

actions authorized to manage the 

population (e.g., translocation or 

providing aid to sick, injured, or 

orphaned individuals); take in defense 

of human life; take related to defense of 

property (if authorized); or take in the 

form of authorized harassment. 

(2) Specimen collection, recovery, or 

reporting of dead individuals. This 

information documents incidental or 

authorized scientific collection. Most of 

the information collected addresses the 

reporting of sightings of experimental 

population animals or the inadvertent 

discovery of an injured or dead 

individual. 

(3) Depredation-related take. Involves 

take for management purposes where 

livestock depredation is documented, 

and may include authorized harassment 

or authorized lethal take of 

experimental population animals in the 

act of attacking livestock. See 50 CFR 

17.84 for specific provisions of 

harassment for each species within this 

section. 

The information that we collect 

includes: 

• Name, address, and phone number 

of reporting party. 

• Species involved. 

• Type of incident. 

• Quantity of take. 

• Location and time of the reported 

incident. 

• Description of the circumstances 

related to the incident. 

Service recovery specialists use this 

information to determine the success of 

reintroductions in relation to 

established recovery plan goals for the 

experimental populations of vertebrate 

endangered and threatened species 

involved. In addition, this information 

helps us to assess the effectiveness of 

control activities in order to develop 

better means to reduce problems with 

livestock for those species where 

depredation is a problem. 

Title of Collection: Endangered and 

Threatened Wildlife, Experimental 

Populations, 50 CFR 17.84. 

OMB Control Number: 1018–0095. 

Form Number: None. 

Type of Review: Extension of a 

currently approved collection. 

Respondents/Affected Public: 

Individuals and households, private 

sector, and State/local/tribal 

governments. 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Respondents: 105. 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Responses: 105. 

Estimated Completion Time per 

Response: 30 minutes. 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Burden Hours: 55. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

Frequency of Collection: On occasion. 

Total Estimated Annual Nonhour 

Burden Cost: The only foreseeable 

nonhour burden cost to respondents 

would be a small cost for making a 

telephone call or sending a facsimile. 

However, we do not expect that this 

would occur often and any costs would 

be negligible. 

An agency 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. 

The authority for this action is the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 

Madonna L. Baucum, 

Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 2017–20165 Filed 9–21–17; 8:45 am] 

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