[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 199 (Monday, October 15, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62493-62494]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-25224]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Modification 
Northeast Multispecies Amendment 16

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on 
proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before December 14, 
2012.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th 
and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet 
at [email protected]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument and instructions should 
be directed to Allison Murphy, (978) 281-9122 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    This request is for revision and extension of a current information 
collection. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act, the Secretary of Commerce has the responsibility for 
the conservation and management of marine fishery resources. We, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National 
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and the Regional Fishery Management 
Councils are delegated the majority of this responsibility. The New 
England Fishery Management Council (Council) develops management plans 
for fishery resources in New England.
    In 2010, we implemented a new suite of regulations for the 
Northeast (NE) multispecies fishery through Amendment 16 to the 
Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (Amendment 16). This action 
updated status determination criteria for all regulated NE multispecies 
or ocean pout stocks; adopted rebuilding programs for NE multispecies 
stocks newly classified as being overfished and subject to overfishing; 
revised management measures, including significant revisions to the 
sector management measures, necessary to end overfishing, rebuild 
overfished regulated NE multispecies and ocean pout stocks, and 
mitigate the adverse economic impacts of increased effort controls. It 
also implemented new requirements under Amendment 16 for establishing 
acceptable biological catch (ABC), annual catch limits (ACLs), and 
accountability measures (AMs) for each stock managed under the FMP, 
pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).
    Revisions:
    Not all measures that were included in Amendment 16 were ultimately 
approved, including the Gulf of Maine Sink Gillnet Pilot Program, which 
would have necessitated a Letter of Authorization (LOA) had it been 
approved. Therefore, we propose to remove this requirement from the 
information collection. In addition, Framework 47 to the Multispecies 
FMP removed Restricted Gear Requirements from the regulations. 
Therefore the requirement to declare into these areas via vessel 
monitoring system (VMS), or to receive an LOA are also proposed to be 
removed from this information collection.
    In an attempt to consolidate reporting requirements that are 
mandated by the NE multispecies regulation, we propose moving some 
requirements out of OMB Control No. 0648-0202, Northeast Region Permit 
Family of Forms, and into this collection, including: The Days-at-Sea 
(DAS) Transfer Program, Expedited Submission of Proposed Special Access 
Programs (SAPs), and North Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) 
Reporting Requirements.

II. Method of Collection

    Respondents must submit either paper forms via postal service, or 
electronic forms submitted via the internet or vessels' vessel 
monitoring system (VMS).

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0648-0605.
    Form Number: None.

[[Page 62494]]

    Type of Review: Regular submission (revision and extension of a 
current information collection).
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,482.
    Estimated Time per Response: Sector operations plan and associated 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis, 640 hours; 
monitoring service provider response to application disapproval, 10 
hours; Data entry for sector discard monitoring system, 3 minutes; 
Sector weekly catch report, 4 hours; Sector annual report, 12 hours; 
Notification of expulsion from a sector, 30 min; Request to transfer 
Annual Catch Entitlement (ACE), 5 minutes; VMS certification form, 10 
minutes; VMS confirmation call, 5 minutes; VMS area and DAS 
declaration, 5 minutes; VMS trip-level catch reports and Daily VMS 
catch reports, 15 minutes; Pre-trip hail report to a dockside 
monitoring (DSM) service provider, 2 minutes; Trip-end hail report to a 
DSM service provider, 15 minutes; Confirmation of DSM trip-end hail 
report, 2 minutes; Forward trip start/end hails to NMFS, 2 minutes; 
Notification to vessel/sector/NMFS of monitor emergency, 5 minutes; 
DSM/roving service provider data entry, 3 minutes; Dockside/roving or 
at-sea monitor deployment report, 10 minutes; DSM/roving or at-sea 
monitoring (ASM) service provider catch report to NMFS upon request, 
minutes; Dockside/roving or at-sea monitor report of harassment and 
other issues, 30 minutes; Copy of DSM/roving or ASM service provider 
contract or information materials upon request, 30 minutes; OLE 
debriefing of dockside/roving or at-sea monitors, 2 hours; ASM Pre-Trip 
Notification and Vessel notification of selection for at-sea monitoring 
coverage, 5 minutes each; NMFS ASM Database and Data Entry, 30 minutes 
n; Observer program pre-trip notification, 2 minutes; Copy of the 
dealer weigh-out slip or dealer signature of the dockside monitor 
report, 2 minutes; DAS Transfer Program, 5 min; Expedited Submission of 
Proposed SAPs, 20 hr; NAFO Reporting Requirements, 10 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 78,719.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $3,486,168.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

    Dated: October 9, 2012.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-25224 Filed 10-12-12; 8:45 am]
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