Information Collection Renewal To Be Sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Approval Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; OMB Control Number 1018-0067; Approval Procedures for Nontoxic Shot and Shot Coatings (50 CFR 20.134)

AGENCY:

Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice; request for comments.

SUMMARY:

We (Fish and Wildlife Service) will ask OMB to renew approval for our information collection associated with applications for designation of shot material as nontoxic for hunting waterfowl and coots. The current OMB control number for this information collection is 1018-0067, which expires on December 31, 2006. We will request that OMB renew approval of this information collection for a 3-year term. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on this information collection.

DATES:

You must submit comments on or before August 22, 2006.

ADDRESSES:

Send your comments on the information collection to Hope Grey, Information Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service, MS 222-ARLSQ, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 (mail); hope_grey@fws.gov (e-mail); or (703) 358-2269 (fax).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request additional information about this information collection request, contact Hope Grey at one of the addresses above or by telephone at (703) 358-2482.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

OMB regulations at 5 CFR part 1320, which implement provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), require that interested members of the public and affected agencies have an opportunity to comment on information collection and recordkeeping activities (see 5 CFR 1320.8(d)). Federal agencies 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.

This information collection is associated with regulations implementing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) (16 U.S.C. 703 et seq.). The MBTA prohibits the unauthorized take of migratory birds and authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to regulate take of migratory birds in the United States. Under this authority, we control the hunting of migratory game birds through regulations in 50 CFR part 20. On January 1, 1991, lead shot was banned for hunting waterfowl and coots in the United States. At that time, only steel shot was available as a nontoxic alternative to lead shot. Over the years, we have encouraged manufacturers to develop types of shot for waterfowl hunting that are not toxic to migratory birds or other wildlife when ingested and are not harmful to the environment.

The regulations at 50 CFR 20.134 outline the application and approval process for new types of nontoxic shot. When considering approval of a candidate material as nontoxic, we must ensure that it is not hazardous in the environment and that secondary exposure (ingestion of spent shot or its components) is not a hazard to migratory birds. To make that decision, we require each applicant to collect information about the solubility and toxicity of the candidate material. Additionally, for law enforcement purposes, a noninvasive field detection device must be available to distinguish candidate shot from lead shot. This information constitutes the bulk of an application for approval of nontoxic shot.

Title: Approval Procedures for Nontoxic Shot and Shot Coatings (50 CFR 20.134).

OMB Control Number: 1018-0067.

Service Form Number: None.

Frequency of Collection: On occasion.

Description of Respondents: Businesses that produce and/or market shot or shot coatings.

We invite comments concerning this information collection on: (1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary, including whether or not the information will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection of information; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents. Comments submitted in response to this notice are a matter of public record. We will include and/or summarize each comment in our request to OMB to renew approval for this information collection.