[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 34 (Friday, February 20, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 7876-7877]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-3752]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 030819206-4051-02; I.D. 020204A]
RIN 0648 AR42


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Provisions 
of the American Fisheries Act

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule; effectiveness of collection-of-information 
requirements.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces approval by the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) of collection-of-information requirements contained in the 
following American Fisheries Act (AFA)-related amendments: Amendment 61 
to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Groundfish Fishery of the 
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Area, Amendment 61 to the FMP 
for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, Amendment 13 to the FMP for BSAI 
King and Tanner Crab, and Amendment 8 to the FMP for the Scallop 
Fishery off Alaska (collectively referred to as Amendments 61/61/13/8), 
and issues a final rule to make effective the collections of 
information contained in those amendments. The intent of this final 
rule is to inform the public of the effective date of the collection of 
information requirements.

DATES: Sections 679.28(c)(3), 679.28(c)(4)(iii), 679.28(g), 679.61(b), 
and 679.63(c)(2) published at 67 FR 79692 (December 30, 2002) are 
effective on March 22, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Any comments regarding burden-hour estimates for collection-
of-information requirements contained in this final rule should be sent 
to Lori Durall, NMFS, Alaska Region, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802, 
phone: (907)586-7247, e-mail: [email protected], and to David 
Rostker, OMB, e-mail: [email protected], or fax: (202)395-7285.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patsy A. Bearden, NMFS, (907)586-7228 
or e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A final rule implementing the measures 
contained in Amendments 61/61/13/8 was published in the Federal 
Register on December 30, 2002 (67 FR 79692), and most of the measures 
were effective

[[Page 7877]]

January 29, 2003. However, because OMB approval of the reporting 
requirements contained in these amendments had not yet been received as 
of the effective date of the rule, the effective date of the collection 
of information requirements contained in the amendments was delayed.
    OMB approval for some of the collection of information requirements 
was received on July 14, 2003, and NMFS announced their effective date 
in the Federal Register on August 25, 2003 (68 FR 51146). OMB approval 
for the remaining reporting requirements was received on December 29, 
2003. Consequently, this rule makes the following requirements 
effective: OMB 0648-0330, Scale and Catch Weighing Requirements. 
Approval of this collection included: Sec.  679.28(c)(3) printed scale 
weights, Sec.  679.28(c)(4)(iii) certified test weights, Sec.  
679.28(g) catch monitoring and control plan requirements, and Sec.  
679.63(c)(2) notification of observer of offloading schedule. OMB 0648-
0393, American Fisheries Act (AFA) Vessel and Processor Permit 
Applications. Approval of this collection included: Sec.  679.61(b) 
fishery cooperative responsibility.
    A complete explanation of the requirements imposed by these 
regulations and the rationale for them was provided in the proposed 
rule for Amendment 61/61/13/8 (66 FR 65028, December 17, 2001) and the 
final rule for Amendment 61/61/13/8 ( 67 FR 79692, December 30, 2002).

Classification

    This rule has been determined to be not significant for the 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is 
required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty 
for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the 
requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), unless that 
collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control 
number.
    This rule contains collection-of-information requirements subject 
to the PRA that have been approved by OMB under control number 0648-
0330. The estimated time per response to print scale weights is 45 
minutes. A requirement to maintain certified test weights for use by 
NMFS when approving a scale is incorporated into the at-sea scale 
approval, which is estimated at 6 minutes. The estimated time per 
response to create an Inshore Processors Catch Monitoring and Control 
Plan (CMCP) is 40 hours. The requirement for the plant manager or plant 
liaison to notify the observer of the offloading schedule for each 
delivery of BSAI pollock is estimated to be 5 minutes.
    This rule contains collection-of-information requirements subject 
to the PRA that have been approved by OMB under control number 0648-
0393. The responsibility of the cooperative and individual members of 
the cooperative to comply with regulations at 50 CFR part 679 is 
included in the annual AFA inshore catcher vessel cooperative permit 
application, estimated at 20 hours.
    The estimated response time includes the time needed for reviewing 
instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and 
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the 
collection of information. Send comments regarding these reporting 
burden estimates or any other aspect of the collection-of-information, 
including suggestions for reducing the burden, to NMFS and OMB (see 
ADDRESSES).

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., 1801 et seq., and 3631 et 
seq.; Title II of Division C, Pub. L. 105 277; Sec. 3027, Pub. L. 
106 31, 113 Stat. 57.

    Dated: February 13, 2004.
John Oliver,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 04-3752 Filed 2-19-04; 8:45 am]
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