[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 79 (Thursday, April 23, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 22721]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08657]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities; 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: NOAA Space-Based Data Collection System (DCS) Agreements.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0157.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (extension of an existing 
collection).
    Number of Respondents: 225.
    Average Hours per Response: 0.5 hours.
    Burden Hours: 113.
    Needs and Uses: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
(NOAA) operates two space-based data collection systems (DCS) per 15 
CFR part 911: The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 
(GOES) DCS and the Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite 
(POES) DCS, also known as the Argos system. Both the GOES DCS and the 
Argos DCS are operated to support environmental applications, e.g., 
meteorology, oceanography, hydrology, ecology, and remote sensing of 
Earth resources. In addition, the Argos DCS currently supports 
applications related to protection of the environment, e.g., hazardous 
material tracking, fishing vessel tracking for treaty enforcement, and 
animal tracking. Presently, the majority of users of these systems are 
government agencies and researchers and much of the data collected by 
both the GOES DCS and the Argos DCS are provided to the World 
Meteorological Organization via the Global Telecommunication System for 
inclusion in the World Weather Watch Program.
    Current loading on both of the systems does not use the entire 
capacity of that system, so NOAA is able to make its excess capacity 
available to other users who meet certain criteria. Applications are 
made in response to the requirements in 15 CFR 911 (under the authority 
of 15 U.S. C. 313, Duties of the Secretary of Commerce and others), 
using system use agreement (SUA) forms. The application information 
received is used to determine if the applicant meets the criteria for 
use of the system. The system use agreements contain the following 
information: (1) The period of time the agreement is valid and 
procedures for its termination, (2) the authorized use(s) of the DCS, 
and its priorities for use, (3) the extent of the availability of 
commercial services which met the user's requirements and the reasons 
for choosing the government system, (4) any applicable government 
interest in the data, (5) required equipment standards, (6) standards 
of operation, (7) conformance with applicable International 
Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Federal Communications Commission 
(FCC) agreements and regulations, (8) reporting time and frequencies, 
(9) data formats, (10) data delivery systems and schedules and (11) 
user-borne costs.
    Accepted applicants use the NOAA DCS to collect environmental data 
and in limited cases, non-environmental data via the Argos DCS, to 
support other governmental and non-governmental research or operational 
requirements, such as for law enforcement purposes. The applicants must 
submit information to ensure that they meet these criteria. NOAA does 
not approve agreements where there is a commercial service available to 
fulfill the user requirements (per 15 CFR part 911).
    Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions; Federal government; 
state, local, or tribal government; business or other for-profit 
organizations.
    Frequency: Annual, every 3 years, every 5 years (per regulations).
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or maintain benefits.
    Legal Authority: 15 CFR 911.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view the Department of 
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of 
this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently 
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search 
function and entering either the title of the collection or the OMB 
Control Number 0648-0157.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-08657 Filed 4-22-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-HR-P