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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 18, 2017 / Notices

provides recommendations and advice
to the TMC on: (1) The effectiveness of
management actions in achieving
restoration goals and alternative
hypotheses (methods and strategies) for
study, (2) the priority for restoration
projects, (3) funding priorities, and (4)
other components of the Trinity River
Restoration Program.
We have filed a copy of the Working
Group’s charter with the Committee
Management Secretariat, General
Services Administration; the Committee
on Environment and Public Works,
United States Senate; the Committee on
Natural Resources, United States House
of Representatives; and the Library of
Congress.
Certification
I hereby certify that the Trinity River
Adaptive Management Working Group
is necessary and in the public interest
in connection with the performance of
duties imposed on the Department of
the Interior by Public Laws 84–386 and
96–335 (Trinity River Stream
Rectification Act), 98–541 and 104–143
(Trinity River Basin Fish and Wildlife
Management Act of 1984), and 102–575
(Central Valley Project Improvement
Act). The Working Group will assist the
Department of the Interior by providing
advice and recommendations on all
aspects of implementation of the Trinity
River Restoration Program.
Dated: December 13, 2016.
Sally Jewell,
Secretary of the Interior.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–HQ–IA–2017–N007;
FXIA16710900000–167–FF09A30000]

Information Collection Request Sent to
the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for Approval; Import of SportHunted African Elephant Trophies
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
AGENCY:

We (the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service) have sent an
Information Collection Request (ICR) to
OMB for review and approval. We
summarize the ICR below and describe
the nature of the collection and the
estimated burden and cost. This
information collection is scheduled to
expire on January 31, 2017. We may not
conduct or sponsor and a person is not
required to respond to a collection of

SUMMARY:

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Send your comments and
suggestions on this information
collection to the Desk Officer for the
Department of the Interior at OMB–
OIRA at (202) 395–5806 (fax) or OIRA_
[email protected] (email).
Please provide a copy of your comments
to Madonna L. Baucum, Information
Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, MS: BPHC, 5275
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041–
3803 (mail); or madonna_baucum@
fws.gov (email). Please include ‘‘1018–
0164’’ in the subject line of your
comments.

ADDRESSES:

To
request additional information about
this ICR, contact Madonna L. Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance
Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
at [email protected] (email),
or (703) 358–2503 (telephone). You may
review the ICR online at http://
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the
instructions to review Department of the
Interior collections under review by
OMB.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

I. Abstract

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17:41 Jan 17, 2017

You must submit comments on
or before February 17, 2017.

DATES:

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[FR Doc. 2017–00983 Filed 1–17–17; 8:45 am]

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information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
However, under OMB regulations, we
may continue to conduct or sponsor this
information collection while it is
pending at OMB.

Jkt 241001

Applications for permits for import of
African elephant sport-hunted trophies
from Appendix-I populations under the
Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES) are approved under OMB
Control Number 1018–0093, which
expires May 31, 2017. Under newly
revised regulations at 50 CFR 17.40(e),
import permits must now also be
obtained for import of African elephant
sport-hunted trophies from CITES
Appendix-II populations. Based on this
change, we expect to receive an
additional 300 applications for permits
per year. The burden associated with
these additional applications is the basis
of this information collection. If OMB
grants regular approval, we will include
the burden associated with the expected
300 additional applications in OMB
Control Number 1018–0093 when we
renew the approval in May 2017.
II. Data
OMB Control Number: 1018–0164.
Title: Import of Sport-Hunted African
Elephant Trophies, 50 CFR 17.

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Service Form Number: 3–200–19,
Importing African elephant trophies
from Appendix-II populations.
Type of Request: Extension of a
currently approved collection.
Description of Respondents:
Individuals.
Respondent’s Obligation: Required to
obtain or retain a benefit.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
Number of Respondents: 300.
Number of Annual Responses: 300.
Completion Time per Response: 20
minutes.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 100
hours.
Estimated Annual Non-hour Burden
Cost: $30,000, primarily associated with
application fees. The application fee is
$100 per application.
III. Comments
On June 9, 2016, we published in the
Federal Register (81 FR 37207) a notice
of our intent to request that OMB renew
approval for this information collection.
In that notice, we solicited comments
for 60 days, ending on August 8, 2016.
We received the following substantive
comments in response to this request.
Comment 1: The International Fund
for Animal Welfare and the Natural
Resources Defense Council submitted a
joint response to the notice. They
expressed their strong support for the
permit requirement for import of sporthunted trophies from all African
elephant populations (both Appendix-I
and Appendix-II populations) and the
associated collection of information.
They said that prospective trophy
importers should be required to provide
information on the specific elephant
and population, which should be added
to section E2 and/or E3 of FWS Form 3–
200–19. Such information should
include but not be limited to (1) sex and
approximate age of the elephant and (2)
approximate status of the individual
within the herd’s hierarchy. In addition,
they stated that section E5 of FWS Form
3–200–19 should be rephrased to
require trophy hunters to provide
information regarding ‘‘how the funds
from license/trophy fees will be spent
[and] what portion of the hunting fee
will support conservation,’’ because
they believe that the current language
on the FWS form suggests that hunters
may provide this information at their
own discretion. They also assert that in
section E5, the Service should include
specific subquestions and ‘‘require
supporting documentation that places
an increased burden on hunters to prove
that their trophy meets the enhancement
standard.’’
Response to Comment 1: We believe
that Form 3–200–19 requests the

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mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 18, 2017 / Notices
information we need from applicants.
Hunters often apply for import permits
before leaving on safari and therefore
are not in a position to provide
information on the specific elephant
and population. In addition, hunters are
not necessarily in a position to know
what portion of their hunting fees will
support conservation. This is
information that we acquire from the
countries of origin, not from permit
applicants.
Comment 2: With regard to the cost
burden, the International Fund for
Animal Welfare and the Natural
Resources Defense Council claim that
the permit application fee is too small
and that it should be increased to fully
compensate FWS for costs associated
with performing individualized (as
opposed to country-wide) enhancement
findings. They note that the 2015 market
rate for an African elephant hunting
package was between $25,000 and
$60,000, and add that the $100 permit
application fee ‘‘imposes trivial
additional costs on the importer.’’
Response to Comment 2: We are
currently reevaluating our permit fees
and may, in the future, publish a
proposed rule to revise our fee structure.
Comment 3: The Humane Society of
the United States and Humane Society
International jointly submitted
comments in support of the request for
extension of approval for information
collection through FWS Form 3–200–19
from all importers of African elephant
sport-hunted trophies. They stated their
belief that it is critically important that
this information is collected from
applicants for import permits under the
Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.), because the information
‘‘is essential for FWS to comply with its
statutory duties to protect African
elephants from threats that jeopardize
the species’ continued existence.’’ They
also believe that FWS Form 3–200–19
requests the ‘‘bare minimum
information needed’’ from an applicant.
These joint commenters also stated
that the current ‘‘paltry’’ applicant fee of
$100 for an African elephant sporthunted trophy import permit is too low
and should be increased. They assert
that the $100 application fee for import
of trophies ‘‘cannot possibly reimburse
the agency for all of its costs associated
with ensuring that applicants are
eligible for permits,’’ and they ‘‘urge
OMB to formally request that FWS
amend this fee structure.’’
Response to Comment 3: See our
response to Comment 2.
Comment 4: Conservation Force
submitted comments in opposition to
the information collection, stating that
‘‘it is unnecessary and over burdensome

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17:41 Jan 17, 2017

Jkt 241001

for both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service . . . and permit applicants/
tourist safari hunters, and it will not
provide any useful information.’’ They
contend that it is ‘‘a burden without a
benefit’’ and that the burden cannot be
reduced unless the permit requirement
is removed. Conservation Force also
asserts that the burden estimate is
inaccurate, because the Service has not
considered its current backlog of
applications in assessing its ability to
process another 300 permits, the
additional costs and demands for
seizures and law enforcement actions,
and the permit renewal fee.
Response to Comment 4: Our newly
revised regulations require that we issue
an ESA import permit for import of all
African elephant sport-hunted trophies.
We are seeking authorization to collect
the information necessary for us to issue
these permits. The burden estimates are
developed in accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act. In estimating
the burden to the Service, we consider
the time required to process an
application, the cost of processing an
application, including the salaries of the
people doing the work, and the
estimated number of applications. In
estimating the burden to the applicant,
we consider the time it takes to
complete an application, including
gathering the necessary information, an
estimate of the salary of the person
completing the form, and the permit fee.
Based on our experience, we believe our
burden estimates are accurate.
We again invite comments concerning
this information collection 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. 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 OMB in your comment to
withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that it will be done.

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5597

Dated: January 11, 2017.
Tina A. Campbell,
Chief, Division of Policy and Directives
Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2017–00960 Filed 1–17–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R6–R–2016–N221];
[FXRS12610600000–178–FF06R00000]

Notice of Intent To Prepare a
Comprehensive Conservation Plan for
the National Bison Range, Moiese,
Montana
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent; request for
comments.
AGENCY:

We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service), intend to
gather information necessary to prepare
a draft Comprehensive Conservation
Plan (CCP) for the National Bison Range
(NBR), a unit of the National Wildlife
Refuge System. We are furnishing this
notice in compliance with Service
Refuge Planning policy to advise other
agencies and the public of our
intentions, and to obtain suggestions
and information on the scope of issues
to be considered in the planning
process. Participation in the planning
process will be encouraged and
facilitated by various means, including
news releases and public meetings.
Notification of all such meetings will be
announced in the local press and on the
NBR Web site.
DATES: To ensure consideration, written
comments must be received or
postmarked on or before February 17,
2017.
SUMMARY:

If you wish to comment on
the scope of the CCP/EIS, you may
submit your comments by the following
method: You may mail or hand-deliver
comments to Toni Griffin, Refuge
Planner, NBR CCP, 134 Union
Boulevard, Lakewood, CO 80228.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Toni
Griffin, Refuge Planner, NBR CCP, 134
Union Boulevard, Lakewood, CO 80228,
or by telephone (303) 236–4378.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ADDRESSES:

Introduction
With this notice, we initiate our
process for developing a CCP for the
National Bison Range, with
headquarters in Moiese, MT. The notice
complies with our CCP policy to (1)
advise other Federal and State agencies,

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