Published 30-day Federal Register Notice (88 FR 72099)

Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 201 / Thursday, October 19, 2023 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R7–MB–2023–N079;
FXMB12610700000–234–FF07M01000; OMB
Control Number 1018–0178]

Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget; Regulations
for the Taking of Migratory Birds for
Subsistence Uses in Alaska
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of information collection;
request for comment.
AGENCY:

In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), are proposing to renew,
without change, an information
collection.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to
submit comments on or before
November 20, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be
submitted within 30 days of publication
of this notice at https://
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
Find this particular information
collection by selecting ‘‘Currently under
Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or
by using the search function. Please
provide a copy of your comments to the
Service Information Collection
Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, MS: PRB (JAO/3W),
5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA
22041–3803 (mail); or by email to Info_
[email protected]. Please reference ‘‘1018–
0178’’ 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_
[email protected], or by telephone at (703)
358–2503. Individuals in the United
States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of
hearing, or have a speech disability may
dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to
access telecommunications relay
services. Individuals outside the United
States should use the relay services
offered within their country to make
international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 and 5 CFR
1320.8(d)(1), we provide the general
public and other Federal agencies with
an opportunity to comment on new,

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SUMMARY:

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17:48 Oct 18, 2023

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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.
On June 26, 2023, we published in the
Federal Register (88 FR 41410) a notice
of our intent to request that OMB
approve this information collection. In
that notice, we solicited comments for
60 days, ending on August 25, 2023. In
an effort to increase public awareness
of, and participation in, our public
commenting processes associated with
information collection requests, the
Service also published the Federal
Register notice on Regulations.gov
(Docket No. FWS–R7–MB–2023–0082)
to provide the public with an additional
method to submit comments (in
addition to the typical Info_Coll@
fws.gov email and U.S. mail submission
methods). We received one comment in
response to that notice which did not
address the information collection
requirements. No response to that
comment is required.
As part of our continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we are again soliciting
comments from the public and other
Federal agencies on the proposed ICR
that is described below. We are
especially interested in public comment
addressing the following:
(1) Whether or not the collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether or not the
information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the
burden for this collection of
information, including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) How might the agency minimize
the burden of 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 response.
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

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72099

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: The Migratory Bird Treaty
Act of 1918 (16 U.S.C. 703–712) and the
Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C.
742d) designate the Department of the
Interior as the key agency responsible
for managing migratory bird populations
that frequent the United States and for
setting harvest regulations that allow for
the conservation of those populations.
These responsibilities include gathering
data on various aspects of migratory
bird harvest. We use harvest data to
review regulation proposals and to issue
harvest regulations.
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act
Protocol Amendment (1995)
(Amendment) provides for the
customary and traditional use of
migratory birds and their eggs for
subsistence use by Indigenous
inhabitants of Alaska. The Amendment
states that its intent is not to cause
significant increases in the take of
species of migratory birds relative to
their continental population sizes. A
submittal letter from the Department of
State to the White House (May 20, 1996)
accompanied the Amendment and
specified the need for harvest
monitoring. The submittal letter stated
that the Service, the Alaska Department
of Fish and Game (ADF&G), and Alaska
Native Organizations would collect
harvest information cooperatively
within the subsistence-eligible areas.
Harvest data help to ensure that
customary and traditional subsistence
uses of migratory birds and their eggs by
Indigenous inhabitants of Alaska do not
significantly increase the take of species
of migratory birds relative to their
continental population sizes.
Information collection currently
authorized under the OMB approval
number 1018–0178 includes three items
related to the spring-summer
subsistence harvest of migratory birds in
Alaska: (1) invitation of residents of
non-eligible regions to participate in
harvesting activities in the eligible
regions; (2) household registration
permit for harvest in the Cordova area;
and (3) hunter registration permit for
harvest in the Kodiak Island Roaded
Area. Harvest monitoring associated
with the Cordova and Kodiak permits
are authorized under a separate OMB
control number (1018–0124).
1. Invitation to Harvest:
• Tribal Council Invitation Letter—
Regulations at 50 CFR 92.5(d) allow
immediate family members (children,
parents, grandparents, and siblings

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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 201 / Thursday, October 19, 2023 / Notices

living in excluded areas) of residents of
eligible areas to participate in the
spring-summer subsistence harvest of
migratory birds in a village’s subsistence
area. The regulations specify that
participation of residents of excluded
areas in the spring-summer harvest of
migratory birds in an eligible area must
be pre-authorized by a letter of
invitation issued by a local Tribal
council within the harvest area.
• Tribal Council Invitation Permit
Request—The permit request is another
method to invite an immediate family
member residing in an excluded area to
participate in the spring-summer
subsistence hunt in a defined eligible
area. The permit, issued by the Tribal
Council, certifies that the prospective
hunter is an immediate family member
as defined in 50 CFR 92.4 and is thereby
authorized to assist family members in
hunting migratory birds in a defined
subsistence harvest area. The permit is
valid for 2 years from the date of
issuance.
• Tribal Council Notification to
Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management
Council (AMBCC)—Tribal councils will
provide copies of all letters of invitation
regarding the invitation to hunt and of
all issued permits to the Executive
Director of the AMBCC.
• AMBCC Notification to AK Region
Office of Law Enforcement—Upon
receiving copies of the letters of
invitation and of issued permits from
Tribal Councils, the AMBCC Executive
Director will inform the Service’s
Alaska Regional Office of Law
Enforcement (AK–OLE) within 2
business days.
2. Cordova Harvest Household
Registration Permit—The Service’s final
rule published on April 8, 2014 (79 FR
19454), authorized spring-summer
harvest of migratory birds by residents
of the community of Cordova in the Gulf
of Alaska region. In 2017, the
regulations were updated to allow
residents of the neighboring
communities of Tatitlek and Chenega to
harvest in the area defined for the
Cordova harvest (April 4, 2017; 82 FR
16298). Local partners, including the
Eyak Tribe and the U.S. Forest Service
(USFS) Cordova Office’s Chugach
Subsistence Program, worked in close
collaboration with the ADF&G Division
of Subsistence to develop a household
registration and harvest monitoring
system using a post-season mail survey.
Household registrations are issued by
the Tribal Councils of the communities
of Cordova, Tatitlek, and Chenega, as
well as by the USFS Cordova Office’s
Chugach Subsistence Program. The
registration form includes fields to write

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the permit holder’s name and mailing
address, as well as a field for the permit
holder to sign acknowledging the terms
of the permit. The permit also has fields
to write the names of other household
members authorized to harvest under
the registration. Registration data are
securely disposed of after completion of
the annual harvest data collection and
analysis.
3. Kodiak Island Roaded Area Hunter
Registration Permit—On April 19, 2021,
we issued a final rule (86 FR 20311) that
allows migratory bird hunting and egg
gathering by registration permit in the
Kodiak Island Roaded Area in the
Kodiak Archipelago Region of Alaska
for a 3-year experimental season (2021–
2023), after which time the regulation
will sunset. The rule also finalized
regulations for the spring-summer
subsistence harvest of migratory birds in
the Kodiak Island Roaded Area under a
co-management process involving the
Service, the ADF&G, and Alaska Native
representatives. These regulations
include a permit and harvest reporting
system developed in collaboration with
the AMBCC local partner, the Sun’aq
Tribe of Kodiak. The intent of this rule
was to allow all residents of the Kodiak
Archipelago Region the opportunity to
participate in subsistence hunting
activities without the need for a
watercraft. Previous regulations closed
the Roaded Area to all subsistence
migratory bird hunting and egg
gathering, but allowed these activities in
adjacent marine waters beyond 500 feet
from shore, including offshore islands,
where access requires a watercraft. The
mandatory registration permit and the
mandatory reporting of hunter activity
and harvest in the 2021–2023
experimental hunt will allow estimation
of hunter participation, bird and egg
harvest, and harvest composition. These
data will inform a potential proposal
and decision to reopen the Roaded Area
to subsistence hunting in the future. To
protect species of conservation concern,
spring-summer subsistence hunting and
egg gathering for Arctic terns, Aleutian
terns, mew gulls, and emperor geese
will remain closed in the Roaded Area.
Results of harvest monitoring for the
3-year experimental season are expected
to be available in fall 2023 for review by
the Sun’aq Tribe and other members of
the AMBCC, who will make a
recommendation on whether to
continue the Kodiak Island Roaded Area
hunt and whether to continue the
requirement for the hunter registration
permit and harvest reporting. Based on
such forthcoming recommendation,
corresponding changes to harvest
regulations, if approved, could be

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implemented for the 2025 Alaska
spring-summer migratory bird
subsistence harvest season.
Enforcement of regulations for the
Kodiak Island Roaded Area will be the
responsibility of the Service’s Office of
Law Enforcement. Enforcement
personnel are aware of cultural and
traditional practices of migratory bird
subsistence harvest by rural residents of
Alaska who are eligible to participate for
this permit hunt concurrent with the
need to ensure conservation of
migratory birds, particularly species of
conservation concern; of the necessary
adherence to specific regulations
requiring a permit and mandatory
harvest reporting; and that hunting and
egg gathering of Arctic terns, Aleutian
terns, mew gulls, and emperor geese
will remain closed in the Kodiak Island
Roaded Area.
The Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak worked in
close collaboration with the ADF&G
Division of Subsistence to develop a
permit and harvest monitoring system.
Permits are issued by the Sun’aq Tribe
of Kodiak to individual harvesters. The
Sun’aq Tribe provides copies of issued
permits to the ADF&G Division of
Subsistence, which uses this
information to manage the harvest
reporting system. The permit includes
fields to write the permit holder’s name
and mailing address, as well as a field
for the permit holder to sign
acknowledging the terms of the permit.
The permit also includes a map of the
harvest area and description of the
harvest regulations, including the list of
species open to harvest. Permit data are
securely disposed of after completion of
the annual harvest data collection and
analysis.
You may request copies of the
referenced permit applications by
submitting a request to the Service
Information Collection Clearance Officer
using one of the methods identified in
the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
Title of Collection: Regulations for the
Taking of Migratory Birds for
Subsistence Uses in Alaska, 50 CFR part
92.
OMB Control Number: 1018–0178.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Extension of a
currently approved collection.
Respondents/Affected Public:
Individuals/households and Tribal
governments within subsistence-eligible
areas of Alaska.
Respondent’s Obligation: Required to
obtain or retain a benefit.
Frequency of Collection: Annually.
Total Estimated Annual Nonhour
Burden Cost: None.

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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 201 / Thursday, October 19, 2023 / Notices
Average
number of
annual
respondents

Activity/respondents

Tribal Council Invitation Letter (50 CFR 92.5):
Tribal Governments ......................................................
Tribal Council Invitation Permit Request (50 CFR 92.5):.
Tribal Governments ......................................................
Tribal Council Notification to AMBCC (50 CFR 92.5):
Tribal Governments ......................................................
Kodiak Island Roaded Area Hunter Registration Permit (50
CFR 92.31):
Individuals .....................................................................
Cordova Household Registration Permit (50 CFR 92.31):
Individuals .....................................................................
Totals .....................................................................

Average
number of
submissions
each

Average
number of
annual
responses

Completion
time per
response
(min)

Total annual
burden
hours *

1

1

1

30

1

1

1

1

30

1

1

1

1

30

1

100

1

100

15

25

50

1

50

15

13

154

........................

154

........................

42

* Rounded.

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 Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2023–23029 Filed 10–18–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R7–MB–2023–N083;
FXMB12610700000–234–FF07M01000; OMB
Control Number 1018–0124]

Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget; Alaska
Subsistence Bird Harvest Survey
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of information collection;
request for comment.
AGENCY:

In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), are proposing to renew,
without change, a currently approved
information collection.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to
submit comments on or before
November 20, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be
submitted within 30 days of publication
of this notice at https://
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
Find this particular information
collection by selecting ‘‘Currently under

lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1

SUMMARY:

VerDate Sep<11>2014

17:48 Oct 18, 2023

Jkt 262001

Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or
by using the search function. Please
provide a copy of your comments to the
Service Information Collection
Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, MS: PRB (JAO/3W),
5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA
22041–3803 (mail); or by email to Info_
[email protected]. Please reference ‘‘10180124’’ 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_
[email protected], or by telephone at (703)
358–2503. Individuals in the United
States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of
hearing, or have a speech disability may
dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to
access telecommunications relay
services. Individuals outside the United
States should use the relay services
offered within their country to make
international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 and 5 CFR
1320.8(d)(1), 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.
On June 26, 2023, we published in the
Federal Register (88 FR 41415) a notice
of our intent to request that OMB
approve this information collection. In
that notice, we solicited comments for
60 days, ending on August 25, 2023. In
an effort to increase public awareness

PO 00000

Frm 00061

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

of, and participation in, our public
commenting processes associated with
information collection requests, the
Service also published the Federal
Register notice on Regulations.gov
(Docket No. FWS–R7–MB–2023–0081)
to provide the public with an additional
method to submit comments (in
addition to the typical Info_Coll@
fws.gov email and U.S. mail submission
methods). We received one comment in
response to that notice which did not
address the information collection
requirements. No response to that
comment is required.
As part of our continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we are again soliciting
comments from the public and other
Federal agencies on the proposed ICR
that is described below. We are
especially interested in public comment
addressing the following:
(1) Whether or not the collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether or not the
information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the
burden for this collection of
information, including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) How might the agency minimize
the burden of 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 response.
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

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19OCN1