[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 82 (Monday, April 29, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25058-25059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-10003]


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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: Northeast Region Permit Family of Forms.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0202.
    Form Number(s): NA.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (revision and extension of a 
current information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 14,852.
    Average Hours per Response: Vessel permits, 45 minutes for initial 
and 30 for renewal; dealer permits, 15 minutes for initial and 5 
minutes for renewal; operator permits, 1 hour; request for vessel 
replacement or upgrade, 3 hours; permit history retention, 30 minutes; 
vessel monitoring system (VMS) installation, 1 hour; activation 
notification and certification form, 5 minutes; non-automated reports 
through VMS, 5 minutes; Good Samaritan Days at Sea (DAS) credits, 1 
hour; standing by entangled whale notification, 2 hours and request for 
DAS credit, 30 minutes; DAS credit for canceled trip: Email to 
coordinate monitored landing, 5 minutes and request for credit, 10 
minutes; VMS power down exemption requests, 30 minutes; requests for 
regulated exemptions for specific fisheries, gear and areas, 5 minutes; 
gillnet designation and requests for tags: designation 10 minutes, 
requests for tags, 2 minutes; lobster area waiver, 20 minutes and 
request for tags, 2 minutes; state quota transfers, 1 hour; vessel 
owner single letter request, 5 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 16,421.
    Needs and Uses: 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 (Secretary) has the responsibility for the 
conservation and management of marine fishery resources. Much of this 
responsibility has been delegated to the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National

[[Page 25059]]

Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Under this stewardship role, the 
Secretary was given certain regulatory authorities to ensure the most 
beneficial uses of these resources. One of the regulatory steps taken 
to carry out the conservation and management objectives is to collect 
information from users of the resource.
    As regional Fishery Management Councils develop specific Fishery 
Management Plans (FMP), the Secretary has promulgated rules for the 
issuance of permits to individuals and organizations participating in 
Federally controlled fisheries in order to: (1) Register fishermen, 
fishing vessels, fish dealers and processors, (2) List the 
characteristics of fishing vessels and/or dealer/processor operations, 
(3) Exercise influence over compliance (e.g. withhold issuance pending 
collection of unpaid penalties), (4) Provide a mailing list and email 
list for the dissemination of important information to the industry, 
(5) Register participants to be considered for limited entry, and (6) 
Provide a universe for data collection samples. Identification of the 
participants, their gear types, vessels, and expected activity levels 
is an effective tool in the enforcement of fishery regulations.
    Limited access fishing permits, where entry is reviewed during a 
one-time application period, place size, tonnage, and horsepower 
restrictions on the ability of a vessel owner to upgrade or replace 
their vessel. If a vessel owner wishes to upgrade any of the 
specifications of his/her vessel such as length overall, net tonnage, 
gross tonnage, horsepower, or vessel fish hold capacity, he/she must 
submit, in writing, a request for a vessel upgrade. A request, in 
writing, also must be made in order to replace one limited access 
permitted vessel with another as vessel size restrictions are limited 
to 10-percent above the baseline length overall, gross, and net 
tonnage, 20-percent above the baseline horsepower, and 10-percent above 
the vessel hold capacity measurement for limited access vessels with 
Tier 1 or 2 Atlantic mackerel permits.
    Vessels with particular permits are also required to use an 
electronic vessel monitoring system (VMS) to declare their intent to 
fish before starting a particular trip, change their intent to fish 
during a trip, and to report real-time catch and discard information. 
While vessels are also required to report catch information weekly or 
monthly depending on their permit through vessel trip reports (VTRs) 
(VTR collection approved in OMB Control No. 0648-0212), it is often 
necessary to have daily catch reporting in order to have a real-time 
understanding of the operation of the fishery. Real time catch 
reporting is especially important for high volume fisheries, where 
large amounts of fish are landed in short periods of time, so that the 
fishery can be shut down when approaching the annual, regional, or 
seasonal quota.
    Vessels are also required to request, in writing, participation in 
any of the various exemption programs offered in the Northeast region. 
Exemption programs may allow a vessel to fish in an area that is 
limited to vessels of a particular size, using a certain gear type, or 
fishing for a particular species. Vessels are also required to request 
gillnet and lobster tags through the Northeast region permit office 
when using gillnet gear or lobster traps. Lastly, vessel owners that 
own multiple vessels, but would like to request communication from NMFS 
be consolidated into one mailing (and not separate mailings for each 
vessel), may request the single letter vessel owner option to improve 
efficiency of their business practice.
    This revision/extension removes several requirements from this 
collection, either because they are no longer valid, or because they 
have been moved to other information collections.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: Annually, every three years, daily and on occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    OMB Desk Officer: [email protected].
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Jennifer Jessup, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0336, 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: April 24, 2013.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-10003 Filed 4-26-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P