[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 34 (Monday, February 22, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Page 8686]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-03574]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


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: Limits on Application of ESA Take Prohibitions.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0399.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular (extension of a currently approved 
information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 301.
    Average Hours per Response: 20 hours for a road maintenance 
agreement or for a tribal plan; 5 hours for a diversion screening limit 
project or for a report of aided, salvaged, or disposed-of salmonids. 
30 hours for an urban development package; 10 hours for an urban 
development report.
    Burden Hours: 935.
    Needs and Uses: This request is for extension of a currently 
approved information collection.
    Section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 
1531 et. seq.) requires the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to 
adopt such regulations as it ``deems necessary and advisable to provide 
for the conservation of'' threatened species. Those regulations may 
include any or all of the prohibitions provided in section 9(a)(1) of 
the ESA, which specifically prohibits ``take'' of any endangered 
species (``take'' includes actions that harass, harm, pursue, kill, or 
capture). The first salmonid species listed by NMFS as threatened were 
protected by virtually blanket application of the section 9 take 
prohibitions. There are now 22 separate Distinct Population Segments 
(DPS) of west coast salmonids listed as threatened, covering a large 
percentage of the land base in California, Oregon, Washington and 
Idaho. NMFS is obligated to enact necessary and advisable protective 
regulations. NMFS makes section 9 prohibitions generally applicable to 
many of those threatened DPS, but also seeks to respond to requests 
from states and others to both provide more guidance on how to protect 
threatened salmonids and avoid take, and to limit the application of 
take prohibitions wherever warranted (see 70 FR 37160, June 28, 2005, 
71 FR 834, January 5, 2006, and 73 FR 55451, September 25, 2008). The 
regulations describe programs or circumstances that contribute to the 
conservation of, or are being conducted in a way that limits impacts 
on, listed salmonids. Because we have determined that such programs/
circumstances adequately protect listed salmonids, the regulations do 
not apply the ``take'' prohibitions to them. Some of these limits on 
the take prohibitions entail voluntary submission of a plan to NMFS 
and/or annual or occasional reports by entities wishing to take 
advantage of these limits, or continue within them.
    The currently approved application and reporting requirements apply 
to Pacific marine and anadromous fish species, as requirements 
regarding other species are being addressed in a separate information 
collection.
    Affected Public: State, local and tribal governments; business or 
other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: Annually or on occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    This information collection request may be viewed at reginfo.gov. 
Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce collections 
currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to [email protected] or fax to (202) 395-5806.

    Dated: February 17, 2016.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016-03574 Filed 2-19-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P