[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 76 (Tuesday, April 20, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 21089]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-884]



[[Page 21089]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 121803D]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Recordkeeping and 
Reporting Requirements; Regulatory Amendment to Modify Seafood Dealer 
Reporting Requirements

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

ACTION: Notification of clearance of collection-of-information 
requirements.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the clearance by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) of collection-of-information requirements for a regulatory 
amendment to modify the reporting and recordkeeping regulations for 
federally permitted seafood dealers participating in the summer 
flounder, scup, black sea bass, Atlantic sea scallop, Northeast (NE) 
multispecies, monkfish, Atlantic mackerel, squid, butterfish, Atlantic 
surfclam, ocean quahog, Atlantic herring, Atlantic deep-sea red crab, 
tilefish, Atlantic bluefish, skates, and/or spiny dogfish fisheries in 
the NE Region, whereby permitted dealers must report all purchases of 
fish via electronic means. The purpose of this notification is to 
announce to the public that OMB has cleared the collection-of-
information requirements for that action.

ADDRESSES: Any comments regarding burden-hour estimates for collection-
of-information requirements contained in this final rule should be sent 
to Patricia Kurkul, Regional Administrator, Northeast Regional Office, 
NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930, and by e-mail to 
[email protected], or by fax to (202) 395-7285.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Pentony, Senior Fishery Policy 
Analyst, (978)281-9283, fax (978)281-9135, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 23, 2004 (69 FR 13482), NMFS 
published a final rule to implement measures contained in a regulatory 
amendment to modify the reporting and recordkeeping regulations for 
federally permitted seafood dealers. Section 648.7(a), (d), (e), and 
(f) of that final rule contains collection-of-information requirements 
that apply to any seafood dealer that is permitted under Sec.  648.6. 
The March 23, 2004, final rule, which becomes effective on May 1, 2004, 
requires daily electronic reporting of all fish purchased (including 
fish received) by federally permitted dealers who are determined to be 
large dealers, while delaying the daily reporting requirement for all 
small dealers who initially will be required to report electronically 
on a weekly basis. Also, it eliminates dealer reporting via the 
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system; implements a trip identifier 
requirement for dealers; requires dealers to report the disposition of 
purchased fish; and modifies the dealer reporting requirements for the 
surfclam and ocean quahog fisheries to make them consistent with the 
requirements of other fisheries. Details concerning the justification 
for and development of the regulatory amendment and the implementing 
regulations were provided in the preambles to the proposed rule (69 FR 
2870, January 21, 2004) and the final rule (69 FR 13482, March 23, 
2004) and are not repeated here.
    In the March 23, 2004, final rule, NMFS indicated that it would 
inform the affected public through a follow-up notification announcing 
OMB's clearance of the collection-of-information requirements related 
to Sec.  648.7(a), (d), (e), and (f) of that rule. On April 14, 2004, 
OMB cleared the collection-of-information requirements under OMB 
control numbers 0648-0018 and 0648-0229. The intent of the notification 
is to inform the public of the OMB clearance of these requirements that 
become effective on May 1, 2004.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: April 14, 2004.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E4-884 Filed 4-19-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S