[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 126 (Thursday, June 30, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42666-42667]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-15522]


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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: Greater Atlantic Region Permit Family of Forms.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0202.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular (extension of a currently approved 
information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 135, 938.
    Average Hours per Response:

Vessel Permits

    Vessel permit application: 45 minutes; vessel permit renewal forms: 
30 minutes; initial dealer permit applications: 15 minutes; dealer 
permit renewal forms: 5 minutes; initial and renewal vessel operator 
permit applications: 1 hour; obtaining and submitting a dealer or 
vessel owner email address: 5 minutes; limited access vessel 
replacement applications: 1.5 hours; and applications for retention of 
limited access permit history: 1.5 hours.

VMS Requirements

    Installing a VMS unit: 1 hour; confirming VMS connectivity: 5 
minutes; VMS certification form: 5 minutes; VMS installation for 
Canadian herring transport vessels: 1 hour and 20 minutes; email to 
declare their entrance and departure from U.S. waters: 15 minutes; 
automatic polling of vessel position using the VMS unit: 0 minutes; 
area and DAS declarations: 5 minutes; declaration of days-out of the 
gillnet fishery for monkfish and NE multispecies vessels: 5 minutes; 
Good Samaritan DAS credit request: 30 minutes; entangled whale DAS 
credit request: 30 minutes; DAS credit for a canceled trip due to 
unforeseen circumstances, but have not yet begun fishing: 5 minutes to 
request via the VMS unit and 10 minutes to request via the paper form; 
VMS catch reports: 5 minutes; VMS power down exemption: 30 minutes.

Observer Program Call-In Requirements

    Requests for observer coverage are estimated to require either 2 or 
10 minutes per request, depending on the program for which observers 
are requested.

Exempted Fisheries Programs

    Letter of Authorization (LOA) to participate in any of the 
exemption programs: 5 minutes; Charter/Party Exemption Certificate for 
GOM Closed Areas: 5 minutes; limited access sea scallop vessels state 
waters DAS exemption program or state waters gear exemption program: 2 
minutes; withdraw from either state waters exemption program prior to 
the end of the 7-day designated exemption period requirement: 2 
minutes; request for change in permit category designation: 5 minutes; 
request for transit to another port by a vessel required to remain 
within the GOM cod trip limit: 2 minutes; gillnet category designation, 
including initial requests for gillnet tags: 10 minutes; requests for 
additional tags: 2 minutes; notification of lost tags and requests for 
replacement tag numbers: 2

[[Page 42667]]

minutes; attachment of gillnet tags: 1 minute; initial lobster area 
designations: 5 minutes; requests for additional tags: 2 minutes; and 
notification of lost tags: 3 minutes; requests for state quota 
transfers in the bluefish, summer flounder and scup fisheries: 1 hour; 
GOM cod trip limit exemption: 5 minutes; vessel owner single letter 
option: 5 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 18,125.
    Needs and Uses: This request is for 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. Much of this responsibility 
has been delegated to NOAA's National 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 
resources.
    The Secretary has enacted rules to issue permits to individuals and 
organizations participating in federally controlled fisheries. Permits 
are necessary 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) 
maintain contact lists 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 fishery participants, their gear types, vessels, and 
expected activity levels is an effective and necessary tool in the 
enforcement of fishery regulations.
    This collection also includes the requirement for participants in 
certain fisheries to use onboard vessel monitoring systems (VMS) and to 
notify NMFS before fishing trips for the purpose of observer placement. 
Other permitting in this collection includes the written request to 
participate in any of the various exemption programs offered in the 
Greater Atlantic 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. This collection 
also contains paperwork required for vessel owners to request gillnet 
and lobster trap tags through the Greater Atlantic region permit 
office.
    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.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations; 
individuals or households; state, local or tribal governments.
    Frequency: On occasion, weekly, monthly, annual and every three 
years.
    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: June 27, 2016.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016-15522 Filed 6-29-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P