[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 121 (Tuesday, June 23, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37632-37633]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-13422]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Greater Atlantic Region Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery 
Management Plan

    The Department of Commerce will submit the following information 
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite the 
general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and 
continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of 
our information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the 
Federal Register on March 6, 2020, during a 60-day comment period. This 
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
    Title: Greater Atlantic Region, Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery 
Management Plan Data Collection.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0491.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular (extension of a currently approved 
information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 802.
    Average Hours per Response: Trip exchange request (full & part-
time)--15 minutes; Quote transfer application (temporary & permanent)--
5 minutes; Cost Recovery--2 hours; Sector Proposals & Operation Plans--
125 hours.
    Burden Hours: 980.
    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). NMFS manages the Atlantic sea scallop 
(scallop) fishery through a set of regulations that limit catch of 
scallops and fishing vessel activity. In addition, regulations limit 
catch of certain other species of fish in order to minimize bycatch and 
bycatch mortality (bycatch is the catch and discard of species that

[[Page 37633]]

are not targeted in the scallop fishery). Finally, the regulations 
control vessel permitting and the exchange of effort and quota 
allocations between vessels.
    In order to effectively manage these resources, track fishing 
effort and catch, and to allow vessel owners to exchange fishing trips 
and quota, NMFS must collect information through the reporting 
requirements included in this renewal: Access area trip exchange 
application procedures; Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) transfers; Cost 
recovery; and IFQ sector program. The collection is being revised to 
remove Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) requirements to eliminate 
duplication as these VMS requirements are now collected under the 
approved OMB Control No. 0648-0202.

Access Area Trip Exchange Application

    The one-for-one access area trip exchange program provides 
flexibility to scallop vessels about where they may fish. Participants 
need to send an access area trip exchange application to NMFS with the 
following information: Vessel name and permit number, owner name and 
signature, specification of the areas involved in the exchange. Both 
vessels involved in the exchange are required to submit forms for cross 
verification. This measure is expected to provide flexibility to 
vessels regarding which areas to fish, thereby reducing the possibility 
of revenue loss to those vessels that are unable to access some distant 
areas due to vessel capacity constraints.

IFQ Transfers

    IFQ permit holders can temporarily and/or permanently transfer 
individual fishing quota from one IFQ vessel to another. Quota 
transfers are requested through the submission of transfer 
applications. Required information includes vessel information, quota 
transfer information, and authorizing signatures from both parties. The 
IFQ transfer program is entirely optional, and provides greater 
flexibility for IFQ permit holders by enabling them to increase their 
vessel's IFQ or for individuals to lease or sell IFQ if they choose not 
to fish the allocation.

Cost Recovery

    Section 304(d)(2) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) requires an IFQ 
cost recovery plan to recover management and enforcement costs for IFQ 
fisheries. The FMP includes an IFQ cost recovery program, whereby NMFS 
will collect up to 3% of ex-vessel value of landed product to cover 
actual costs directly related to enforcement and management of the IFQ 
program. IFQ permit holders are required to submit a cost recovery 
payment annually via a pre-existing Federal payment system called 
www.pay.gov, which is also currently used by the Alaska Region and the 
Southeast Region. Information submitted via the internet would require 
the user to establish an online account, including personal and 
financial information. This requirement is necessary in order to comply 
with the provisions of the MSA and to collect payments from individuals 
that have been granted an allocation to a public resource.

IFQ Sector Program

    The FMP contains provisions that authorize allocation of a portion 
of the overall IFQ fishery total allowable catch (TAC) to a self-
selected group of IFQ permit holders (sector), provided the sector 
provides adequate information describing the formation of the sector 
and its intended plan of operations. Individuals or other entities 
(corporations, cooperatives, etc.) proposing a sector are required to 
submit a Sector Allocation Proposal and Operations Plan. Any person may 
submit a Sector Allocation Proposal for a group of limited access 
general category scallop vessels to the Council, at least 1 year in 
advance of the start of a sector, and request that the Sector be 
implemented through a framework procedure specified at Sec.  648.55. A 
group that wants to form a Sector and receive an allocation is required 
to submit a legally binding Operations Plan to the Council and the 
Regional Administrator. The operations plan must be agreed upon and 
signed by all members of the sector and, if approved, would constitute 
a contract. This information is necessary to describe the proposed 
sector and the proposed rules under which the sector would operate. 
This information is used to determine whether this sector would 
maintain consistency with the goals and objectives of the FMP.

VMS Requirements

    Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) requirements are now collected under 
the approved OMB Control No. 0648-0202 and will not be collected in 
this renewal.
    The collection requirements under OMB Control No. 0648-0491 enable 
successful implementation and administration of components of the 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP).
    Affected Public: Businesses and other for-profit organizations are 
primarily affected.
    Frequency: On occasion, monthly, annually, every three years.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority:
    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 0648-0491.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-13422 Filed 6-22-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P