[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 240 (Friday, December 17, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71626-71627]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27381]



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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; West Coast Region Permit Family of Forms

    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 October 15, 2021 during a 60-day comment period. 
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.
    Title: West Coast Region Permit Family of Forms.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0204.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (Revision and extension of a 
current information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 1,459.
    Average Hours per Response: Highly Migratory Species (Paper), New--
20 minutes; Highly Migratory Species (Online), New--15 minutes; HMS 
Paper; Renew--10 minutes; HMS Online, Renew--5 minutes; CPS Renewal--10 
minutes; CPS Transfer--30 minutes; LE DGN Renew--10 minutes; LE DGN 
Transfer--30 minutes; LE DGN Designation Request--30 minutes; LE DGN 
Exemption Request--30 minutes; Appeals--240 minutes; exempted fishing 
permit requests; 60 minutes; letters of acknowledgement--420 minutes; 
exempted educational activity authorization--420 minutes.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 198 hours.
    Needs and Uses: This is a request for a revision and extension to 
the existing reporting requirements of the collection of information 
West Coast Region Family of Forms (0648-0204). In addition to the 
extension of West Coast Region Family of Forms (0648-0204) this request 
includes a revision to this collection. The revision will include the 
addition of Letters of Authorization (LOA) and Exempted Educational 
Activity Authorizations (EEAA). Currently, LOAs and EEAAs are part of 
ICR Scientific Research, Exempted Fishing, and Exempted Educational 
Activity Submissions (0648-0309).
    Originally this information was collected under information 
collection 0648-0309 which included all the Exempted Fishing Permit's 
(EFPs), EEAAs, and LOAs for all NOAA regions. Beginning in November 
2021, these collections will be maintained by each regional office. 
Therefore, this notice proposes to combine the relevant collection 
information from 0648-0309 with the West Coast Region's (WCR) 
information collection 0648-0204.
    The WCR Permits Office administers permits required for persons 
participating in Federally-managed fisheries off the West Coast under 
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management act, 16 U.S.C. 
1801 et seq. Section 303(b)(1) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act specifically 
authorizes the establishment of permit requirements. Almost all 
international, federal, state, and local fishery management authorities 
use permits as part of their management systems.
    The Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) established regional fishery 
management councils, including the Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Pacific Council), to develop fishery management plans (FMP) for 
fisheries in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ). These plans, if 
approved by the Secretary of Commerce, are implemented by Federal 
regulations, which are enforced by the National Marine Fisheries 
Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), in cooperation with 
State agencies to the extent possible. FMPs are intended to regulate 
fishing for stocks to prevent overfishing and achieve the optimum yield 
from the fisheries for the benefit of the U.S. The Pacific Council has 
prepared FMPs for the coastal pelagic species (CPS) fishery and Pacific 
Highly Migratory Species (HMS) off the U.S. West Coast. Each of these 
FMPs created permit programs which are administered by the WCR, NMFS.
    There are two types of regulatory permits: Open access fishery 
permits and limited entry permits for selected fisheries. Open access 
permits are used in all fisheries where there are no specific 
limitations or eligibility criteria for entry to the fishery. Limited 
entry permits are used to prevent overcapitalization or address other 
management goals in the fishery and are issued to applicants for 
fishing activities that would otherwise be prohibited under a fisheries 
management plan. Applicants for both open access and limited entry 
permits are required to submit applications to obtain these permits but 
are not required to submit reports on their fishing activities under 
these permits.
    Applicants for an EFP must submit written information that allows 
NOAA Fisheries and the Pacific Council to evaluate the proposed 
exempted fishing project activities and weigh the benefits and costs of 
the proposed activities. The Pacific Council makes a recommendation on 
each EFP application and for successful applicants, NOAA Fisheries 
issues the EFP which contains terms and conditions for the project 
including various reporting requirements. The information included in 
an application is specified at 50 CFR 600.745(b)(2) and the Pacific 
Council Operating Procedure #19. Permit holders are required to file 
preseason harvest plans, interim and/or final summary reports on the 
results of the project, and in some cases individual vessels and other 
permit holders are required to provide data reports (i.e., logbooks 
and/or catch reports). The results of EFPs are commonly used to explore 
ways to reduce effort on depressed stocks, encourage innovation and 
efficiency in the fishery, and provide access to constrained stocks by 
directly measuring the bycatch associated with current and proposed 
management measures. LOAs and EEAAs were historically collected under 
OMB control number 0648-0309. To reduce burden estimates, NMFS 
Headquarters proposes to move LOAs and EEAAs to their respective 
region's permit family-of-forms collections. NMFS may grant exemptions 
from fishery regulations for educational or other activities (e.g., 
using nonregulation gear). An EEAA is a permit issued by the Regional 
Office to accredited educational institutions that authorize, for 
educational purposes, the target or incidental harvest of species 
managed under a fisheries management plan or fishery regulations that 
would otherwise be prohibited. EEAAs are generally of limited scope and 
duration and authorize the take of the amount of fish necessary to 
demonstrate the lesson. Researchers are requested to submit reports of 
their scientific research activity after its completion. LOAs are 
required under Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act 
(MMPA) of 1972 for the incidental take of marine mammals during 
fisheries surveys and related research activities conducted by the 
Northwest Fisheries Science Center

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(NWFSC), NMFS. Management of certain marine mammals falls under the 
jurisdiction of the NMFS under the MMPA and Endangered Species Act 
(ESA) and mechanisms exist under both the MMPA and ESA to assess the 
effect of incidental takings and to authorize appropriate levels of 
take.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: HMS permits--biennial; CPS--biennial; DGN LE--annual; 
EFP--biennial; DGN LE Designation Request--annual; DGN LE Exemption 
Request--annual; Appeals--annual; LOA--annual; EEAA--annual.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain a permit. Keep a valid 
vessel permit while fishing and provide accurate data on forms.
    Legal Authority: MSA, MMPA, ESA.
    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 0648-0204.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-27381 Filed 12-16-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P