[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 157 (Monday, August 15, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50453-50454]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-20655]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 
U.S.C. Chapter 35).
    Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
    Title: Marianas Trench Marine National (MTMN) Monument Knowledge 
and Attitudes Survey.
    OMB Control Number: None.
    Form Number(s): NA.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (request for a new information 
collection).
    Number of Respondents: 1,000.
    Average Hours per Response: 20 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 333.
    Needs and Uses: President George W. Bush established the Marianas 
Trench Marine National Monument (Monument) on January 6, 2009, by 
Presidential Proclamation 8335. The Islands Unit of the Monument 
includes only the waters and submerged lands of the three northernmost 
Mariana Islands: Farallon de Pajaros or Uracas; Maug; and Asuncion, 
below the mean low water line. Within the Islands Unit, commercial 
fishing is prohibited but sustenance, recreational, and traditional 
indigenous fishing can be allowed on a sustainable basis.
    Management activities under the Department of the Interior are 
anticipated to include public education programs and public outreach 
regarding the coral reef ecosystem and related marine resources and 
species of the Monument and efforts to conserve them; traditional 
access by indigenous persons, for culturally significant subsistence, 
cultural and religious uses within the Monument; a program to assess 
and promote Monument-related scientific exploration and research, 
tourism, and recreational and economic activities and opportunities in 
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI); a process to 
consider

[[Page 50454]]

requests for recreational fishing permits in certain areas of the 
Islands Unit, based on an analysis of the likely effects of such 
fishing on the marine ecosystems of these areas, sound professional 
judgment that such fishing will not materially interfere with or 
detract from the fulfillment of the purposes of this proclamation, and 
the extent to which such recreational fishing shall be managed as a 
sustainable activity; programs for monitoring and enforcement necessary 
to ensure that scientific exploration and research, tourism, and 
recreational and commercial activities do not degrade the Monument's 
coral reef ecosystem or related marine resources or species or diminish 
the Monument's natural character.
    The Human Dimensions Research Program at NOAA Fisheries Pacific 
Islands Fisheries Science Center is initiating a survey to support 
development of a management plan for the Monument. Designation of the 
Monument was accompanied by social debate over the merits of 
designation, the economic benefits, increased federal management in the 
archipelago, the impacts to fishermen and fishing communities, and 
other effects. Now that the Monument has been established and 
management planning is beginning, there is a need for research to 
define CNMI and Guam residents' management preferences and perceptions 
of effects so this information is available to managers as they develop 
and begin to implement the plan. The survey contains questions on 
awareness, knowledge, and attitudes regarding the Monument, preferences 
for management and scientific research, and level of interest in 
becoming involved in Monument management and outreach activities. 
Additional questions include experiences with and attitudes toward 
existing uses of coastal and marine resources, to provide a context for 
interpreting responses regarding the Monument.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Frequency: One time.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    OMB Desk Officer: [email protected].
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Diana Hynek, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0266, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 
[email protected]).
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to [email protected].

    Dated: August 10, 2011.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-20655 Filed 8-12-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P