[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 53 (Monday, March 19, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11967-11968]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-05509]


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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: Protocol for Access to Tissue Specimen Samples from the 
National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0468.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular (extension of a currently approved 
information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 25.
    Average Hours per Response: Request for tissue sample, 2 hours; 
specimen submission form, 45 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 85.
    Needs and Uses: This is a request for extension of a currently 
approved information collection.
    In 1989, the National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank (NMMTB) was 
established by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Office of 
Protected Resources (OPR) in collaboration with the National Institute 
of Standards and Technology (NIST), Minerals Management Service (MMS), 
and the US Geological Survey/Biological Resources Division (USGS/BRD). 
The NMMTB provides protocols, techniques, and physical facilities for 
the long-term storage of tissues from marine mammals. Scientists can 
request tissues from this repository for retrospective analyses to 
determine environmental trends of contaminants and other substances of 
interest. The NMMTB collects, processes, and stores tissues from 
specific indicator species (e.g., Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, 
Atlantic white sided dolphins, pilot whales, harbor porpoises), animals 
from mass strandings, animals that have been obtained incidental to 
commercial fisheries, animals taken for subsistence purposes, biopsies, 
and animals from unusual mortality events through two projects, the 
Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP) and the 
Alaska Marine Mammal Tissue Archival Project (AMMTAP).
    The purposes of this collection of information are: (1) To enable 
NOAA to allow the scientific community the opportunity to request 
tissue specimen samples from the NMMTB and, (2) to enable the Marine 
Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP) of NOAA to 
assemble information on all specimens submitted to the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology's Marine Environmental Specimen 
Bank (Marine ESB), which includes the NMMTB.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; business or other for-
profit organizations; not-for-profit institutions; state, local, or 
tribal government; federal government.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    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

[[Page 11968]]

notice to [email protected] or fax to (202) 395-5806.

    Dated: March 14, 2018.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-05509 Filed 3-16-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P