[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 216 (Friday, November 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71057-71058]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24721]


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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; NMFS Alaska Region Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) Program

    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 June 24, 2020, during a 60-day comment period. This 
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
    Title: NMFS Alaska Region Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) Program.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0445.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (extension of a current 
information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 550.
    Average Hours per Response: VMS installation, maintenance, and 
troubleshooting, 12 hours.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,476 hours.
    Needs and Uses: This request is for an extension of a currently 
approved information collection. There are no proposed changes to this 
information collection.
    NMFS requires the owners and operators of selected vessels 
participating in federally managed groundfish and crab fisheries off 
Alaska to obtain, install, and maintain an operational, NMFS-approved 
Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). VMS units automatically transmit the 
location of a vessel several times per hour using a Global Positioning 
System satellite. The VMS unit is passive and automatic, requiring no 
reporting effort by the vessel operator. A communications service 
provider receives the transmission and relays it to NMFS Office for Law 
Enforcement (OLE).
    Tracking vessel location using VMS is required to monitor 
compliance with area-specific catch allocations, to monitor compliance 
with requirements to redeploy or remove fishing gear from commercial 
fishing grounds, and to monitor compliance with complicated time and 
area closures in the GOA and BSAI designed to protect Steller sea lion 
or essential fish habitat.
    VMS is an essential component of monitoring and management for 
complicated, geographically widespread fishing closures. NMFS uses 
information from VMS to identify where vessels are operating, to 
organize patrols so as to increase the number of fishing vessels 
visually examined, or to focus examination of vessels of greatest 
concern, and as evidence in prosecutions.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit organizations.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to Obtain or Retain Benefit.
    Legal Authority: 16 U.S.C.1801 et. seq.; 16 U.S.C. 773-773k.
    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

[[Page 71058]]

entering either the title of the collection or the OMB Control Number 
0648-0445.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-24721 Filed 11-5-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P