1018-0095 Supporting Statement A.rtf

Supporting Statement A for

Paperwork Reduction Act Submission

OMB Control Number 1018-0095

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, Experimental Populations

50 CFR 17.84

Terms of Clearance: None

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary.

Individuals of designated experimental populations for species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) are categorically protected. Documentation of human-related mortalities, recovery of dead specimens, and other types of take related to the status of experimental populations is important for monitoring the success of reintroduction efforts and recovery efforts in general. To minimize potential conflict with humans that could undermine recovery efforts, livestock depredations connected with experimental populations of listed species require prompt attention for purposes of determining the location, timing, and nature of the predatory behavior involved, accurate determination of the species responsible for a livestock kill, and the timely application of necessary control measures. We collect information in nonform format. The information collection requirements are in 50 CFR 17.84.

2. Indicate how, by whom, how frequently, and for what purpose the information is to be used. If the information collected will be disseminated to the public or used to support information that will be disseminated to the public, explain how the collection complies with all applicable Information Quality Guidelines.

Experimental populations established under section 10(j) of the ESA, as amended, require information collection and reporting to the Service. The Service collects information on the experimental populations listed in 50 CFR 17.84 to help further the recovery of the species and to assess the success of the reintroduced populations. We use the information to:

• Document the locations of reintroduced animals.

• Determine causes of mortality and conflict with human activities so that Service managers can minimize conflicts with people.

• Improve management techniques for reintroduction.

The information helps us assess the effectiveness of control activities and develop means to reduce problems with livestock for those species where depredation is a problem. Service recovery specialists use the information to determine the success of reintroductions in relation to established recovery plan goals for the threatened and endangered species involved.

Other Federal agencies provide us with the vast majority of the information on experimental populations under cooperative agreements for the conduct of the recovery programs. However, some information is provided by the public. Reporting parties include, but are not limited to, individuals or households, businesses, farms, nonprofit organizations, and State/local/tribal governments. We collect the information by means of telephone calls or facsimiles from the public to Service offices specified in the individual regulations. Standard information collected includes:

• Name, address, and phone number of reporting party.

• Species involved.

• Type of incident.

• Location and time of reported incident.

• Description of the circumstances related to the incident.

Some of these contacts are necessary followup reports under rules where the Service has authorized harassment or lethal take of experimental animals (e.g., livestock depredation or in defense of human life). We collect information in three categories:

• General take or removal. This type of information relates 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.

• Depredation-related take. This type of reporting involves take for management purposes where livestock depredation has been documented and may include authorized harassment or authorized lethal take of experimental animals in the act of attacking livestock.

• Specimen collection, recovery, or reporting of dead individuals from experimental populations. This type of information is for the purpose of documenting incidental or authorized scientific collection. Most of the contacts with the public deal primarily with the reporting of sightings of experimental population animals, or the inadvertent discovery of an injured or dead individual.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology; e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision for adopting this means of collection. Also describe any consideration of using information technology to reduce burden [and specifically how this collection meets GPEA requirements.].

Each reported incident is unique and those individuals responding generally are able to communicate details verbally via telephone, facsimile, or in writing. At this time, we do not have a system for electronic submission of reported incidents.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication.

Requested information is not available from any other source. The Service works with the U.S. Department of Agriculture/APHIS Division of Wildlife Services and other Federal agencies as necessary when investigating or confirming information received regarding any of the nonessential experimental populations. There is some potential for duplication if someone contacts both the Service and another agency regarding an experimental animal, but generally there is sufficient information available to the public through interagency outreach efforts to make reporting well known. The Service and cooperating agencies work closely together to minimize any duplication in reporting.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe the methods used to minimize burden.

This collection will not have a significant impact on small entities. There are no required forms or formats for the information we collect. We collect only the minimum information necessary to describe the reported incident. The average completion time per response is 15 minutes or less.

6. Describe the consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

The current frequency and extent of information collection are necessary to assess the status of the nonessential experimental populations that have been introduced to suitable habitat. The consequence of not collecting the information or reduced information collection would result in our inability to address and/or measure these particular recovery goals. There is no information already available that can be used in lieu of that supplied by the respondent.

7. Explain any special circumstances that would cause an information collection to be conducted in a manner:

* requiring respondents to report information to the agency more often than quarterly;

* requiring respondents to prepare a written response to a collection of information in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it;

* requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any document;

* requiring respondents to retain records, other than health, medical, government contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records, for more than three years;

* in connection with a statistical survey, that is not designed to produce valid and reliable results that can be generalized to the universe of study;

* requiring the use of a statistical data classification that has not been reviewed and approved by OMB;

* that includes a pledge of confidentiality that is not supported by authority established in statute or regulation, that is not supported by disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unnecessarily impedes sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use; or

* requiring respondents to submit proprietary trade secrets, or other confidential information unless the agency can demonstrate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information's confidentiality to the extent permitted by law.

In cooperation with the USDA/APHIS 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.

8. Provide the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency's notice, required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB. Summarize public comments received in response to that notice (or in response to a PRA statement) and describe actions taken by the agency in response to these comments.

Describe efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported. [Please list the names, titles, addresses, and phone numbers of persons contacted.]

On July 11, 2007, we published a Federal Register notice (72 FR 37793) informing the public of our intent to renew information collection authority from OMB for experimental populations of threatened and endangered wildlife. We solicited comments for a period of 60 days, ending on September 10, 2007. We received no comments in response to this notice.

We did not conduct any outreach due to the nature of the information collection. Providing the information is not restricted to any one group or member of the public. Anyone seeing a dead animal or a depredation incident can report this information at the time of the incident. There are no forms associated with this information collection that respondents need to fill out. We collect the information via a telephone call or facsimile. Information collected includes the name, address, and phone number of reporting party, species involved, type of incident, location and time of the reported incident, and a description of the circumstances.

9. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

We do not provide payments or gifts to respondents.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

We collect the name, address, and phone number of the reporting party. This provides for individual accountability and assists managers and enforcement agents in conducting their duties. The confidentiality of this information is protected by provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974.

This information collection is not considered a system of records under the Privacy Act because:

• the information is filed and retrieved according to the affected species rather than according to a personal identifier;

• the information is generally nonelectronic, although reports are occasionally scanned into an electronic format and filed according to the affected species;

• the identifying information we collect (such as address and phone number) only applies to households rather than individuals;

• an incident report under this information collection does not tell us anything specific about the individual and does not describe the individual in any way, and, therefore, under the Privacy Act is not considered personal privacy information;

• if the information is forwarded to our Office of Law Enforcement for further investigation, it becomes part of an Investigative Case File, which is currently covered under 5 U.S.C. 552a

• some of the activities that may result in the need to provide information to the Service under this information collection are covered under an ESA section 10 permit, which is issued from our Service Permit Issuance and Tracking System database, an approved Privacy Act system of records FWS-21.

11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.

We do not ask questions of a sensitive nature.

12. Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information.

We estimate that there will be 72 respondents annually for the reporting requirements included in this ICR. We anticipate receiving 72 responses annually, totaling 18 annual burden hours. Of the 72 respondents, we estimate 11 will be individuals, 31 will be from the private sector, and 30 from State/local/tribal governments.

REQUIRE- MENT	ANNUAL RESPOND- ENTS INDIVIDUALS	ANNUAL RESPOND- ENTS PRIVATE SECTOR	ANNUAL RESPOND- ENTS GOVT	TOTAL ANNUAL RESPOND-ENTS	TOTAL ANNUAL RESPONSES	COMPLETION TIME PER RESPONSE	TOTAL ANNUAL BURDEN HRS	TOTAL $ VALUE OF ANNUAL BURDEN HOURS
Notification – general take or removal	2	10	13	25	25	15 minutes	6 (7)*	$230.59
Notification – depredation-related take	1	20	1	22	22	15 minutes	6 (5)*	247.42
Notification – specimen collection	8	1	16	25	25	15 minutes	6	186.59
Totals	11	31	30	72	72		18	$664.60

• Figure in parentheses is total burden hours reported in ROCIS because of rounding at the IC level.

RESPONDENTS	NOTIFICATION-GENERAL TAKE OR REMOVAL		NOTIFICATION-DEPREDATION-RELATED		NOTIFICATON-SPECIMEN COLLECTION
	TOTAL ANNUAL BURDEN HRS	TOTAL $ VALUE	TOTAL ANNUAL BURDEN HRS	TOTAL $ VALUE	TOTAL ANNUAL BURDEN HRS	TOTAL $ VALUE
INDIVIDUALS	.5	$ 12.54	.25	$ 6.27	2	$ 50.16
PRIVATE SECT.	2.5	116.68	5	233.35	.25	11.67
GOVT	3.25	101.37	.25	7.80	4	124.76
TOTAL $ VALUE		$230.59		$247.42		$186.59

We estimate the total dollar value of the burden hours to be $664.60. We used the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) website to calculate the hourly wage and multiplied by 1.3 for benefits. We used the figures for a U.S-wide average hourly pay rate for 2006 for all U.S. workers and for State government workers. See table below.

Most of the private sector respondents in this ICR are ranchers. We used the BLS website to calculate the U.S-wide average hourly pay rate for ranchers. Ranching is not included in the BLS Occupational Classification System Manual. As an alternative, we used the closest approximate occupation in the Manual: H485 Supervisors, Agriculture-Related Workers, to represent ranchers. We then used the BLS website ( http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/ ) to run a data query on the National Compensation Survey, selecting the query parameters that most closely matched a rancher’s job description ( http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/outside.jsp?survey=nc ).

Affected Public	Hourly Pay Rate ($/hr est.)	Hourly Rate Including Benefits (1.3 x hourly pay rate)
Individuals/ Households	$19.29	$25.08
Private Sector	$35.90	$46.67
State/Local/ Tribal Govts	$23.99	$31.19

13. Provide an estimate of the total annual [nonhour] cost burden to respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection of information.

We do not anticipate any nonhour burden costs to respondents beyond the possible cost of making a telephone call or sending a facsimile. Based on a cost of $3.00 per call or facsimile, we estimate the maximum total nonhour burden cost to respondents could be $216.00.

14. Provide estimates of annualized costs to the Federal Government.

The annual cost to the Federal Government for this information collection is approximately $1,194. These costs are primarily for staff time (GS-11 biologist) to review and process the information provided in the report. The review and processing time is 30 minutes per report, or 36 hours per year. We used the 2007 General Schedule (Base) pay scales published on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) web site (http://www.opm.gov/oca/07tables/ ) to determine the hourly wage. Federal Government offices collecting this information are spread throughout the country. Therefore, we used the figures from the national General Schedule pay scale, rather than using pay scales restricted to any particular location of the United States. Because any clerical involvement is minimal (transfer a call or facsimile to a biologist), we have not included clerical time in our estimates.

FEDERAL STAFF	GRADE	HOURLY PAY RATE	HOURLY RATE INCLUDING BENEFITS (1.3 X HOURLY PAY RATE)	REVIEW/ PROCESS TIME PER REPORT	TOTAL ANNUAL REVIEW/ PROCESS TIME	TOTAL FEDERAL COST
Biologist	GS-11, step 5	$25.51	$33.16	30 minutes	36	$1,193.76

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments.

We are requesting 72 responses totaling 18 burden hours for this collection, which is an increase of 10 responses and 2 burden hours from our previous request. This is an adjustment in our estimates to include information collection for experimental populations that have been added or may be added within the next 3 years.

16. For collections of information whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication.

The information is only for internal tracking and use. No publication of information is anticipated.

17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

We are not seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in Item 19, "Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions," of OMB Form 83-I.

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.