[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 83 (Friday, April 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25564-25565]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09180]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[Docket Number MARAD-2022-0093]


Request for Comments on the Renewal of a Previously Approved 
Information Collection: Mariner Cadet Training-Agreements, Compliance 
Reporting, and Audits

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration (MARAD) invites public comments on 
our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
approval for a currently approved emergency information collection. 
Before a Federal agency can collect certain information from the 
public, it must receive approval from OMB. Under procedures established 
by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, 
Federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collection of 
information, including extensions and reinstatements of previously 
approved collections. This document described a collection of 
information for which MARAD intends to seek OMB approval.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket Number 
MARAD-2022-0093 by any one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Search MARAD-2022-0093 and follow the instructions 
for submitting comments.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail or Hand Delivery: The Docket Management Facility is 
in the West Building, Ground Floor of the U.S. Department of 
Transportation. The Docket Management Facility location address is U.S. 
Department of Transportation, MARAD-2022-0093, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 
SE, West Building, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. 
and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except on Federal holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number for this rulemaking.

    Note:  All comments received will be posted without change to 
www.regulations.gov including any personal information provided.

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the Department's performance; (b) the 
accuracy of the estimated burden; (c) ways for the Department to 
enhance the quality,

[[Page 25565]]

utility and clarity of the information collection; and (d) ways that 
the burden could be minimized without reducing the quality of the 
collected information. The agency will summarize and/or include your 
comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this information 
collection.

Electronic Access and Filing

    A copy of the notice may be viewed online at www.regulations.gov 
using the docket number listed above. A copy of this notice will be 
placed in the docket. Electronic retrieval help and guidelines are 
available on the website. It is available 24 hours each day, 365 days 
each year. An electronic copy of this document may also be downloaded 
from the Office of the Federal Register's website at 
www.FederalRegister.gov and the Government Publishing Office's website 
at www.GovInfo.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris Wahler, Director of Maritime 
Labor and Training, (202) 366-5469 or via email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Mariner Cadet Training-Agreements, Compliance Reporting, and 
Audits.
    OMB Control Number: 2133-0553.
    Type of Request: Renewal of a Previously Approved Information 
Collection.
    Abstract: In accordance with its delegation of authority at 49 CFR 
1.93(a), and pursuant to 46 U.S.C. 50101(a)(4), the Maritime 
Administration (MARAD) is charged with ensuring that the United States 
Merchant Marine is manned with trained and efficient citizen personnel. 
Furthermore, 46 U.S.C. 51322 requires MARAD to protect cadet mariners 
from sexual assault onboard vessels and in so doing, to set sexual 
assault policy and to conduct random and targeted unannounced checks of 
commercial vessels.
    MARAD needs to obtain information from commercial vessel operators 
in order to meet its statutory objective of setting sexual assault 
policy and monitoring compliance that is essential to meeting its 
mission of ensuring a well-trained U.S. Merchant Marine.
    The Maritime Administration (MARAD) requests comment on MARAD's 
intention to seek approval from OMB to reinstate without modification a 
previously approved collection of information concerning vessel 
operator acceptance of MARAD safety and security tenets, compliance 
reporting and compliance assessment requirements. MARAD, in 
consultation with operators of commercial vessels of the United States, 
established criteria that vessel operators must meet in order to 
participate in the Sea Year program of the United States Merchant 
Marine Academy (USMMA) that address sexual harassment, sexual assault, 
and other inappropriate conduct; and a process for verifying compliance 
with the criteria. Accordingly, on December 15, 2021, MARAD published 
on its website agency guidance entitled Every Mariner Builds a 
Respectful Culture (EMBARC). Embedded within EMBARC is a process that 
MARAD will use to verify compliance. The EMBARC Standards enumerate new 
sexual assault and sexual harassment (SASH) prevention and response 
safety measures that MARAD requires commercial vessel operators to meet 
before they are approved to carry cadets from the USMMA for training 
purposes. Along with the EMBARC Standards, MARAD also published a self-
assessment checklist, and a statement of compliance that vessel 
operators are required to submit prior to Sea Year participation. The 
EMBARC Standards include immediate, intermediate and long-term action 
items that all vessel operators providing training platforms for cadet 
mariners should implement. The totality of these efforts will help 
strengthen the maritime industry's efforts to prevent and respond to 
incidents of sexual violence and sexual harassment and other forms of 
misconduct and help ensure a safer training environment for all cadets.
    The information to be collected will be used by MARAD to confirm 
the acceptance of MARAD sexual assault policies by commercial vessel 
operators and it will help establish a process to oversee and monitor 
continued compliance through reporting and auditing of commercial 
vessel operators in this initial enrollment and subsequent Sea Years.
    Respondents: Vessel Owners and Operators.
    Affected Public: Captains, Mates, Chief Operating Officers, Chief 
Executive Officers, Operations Managers, Clerical and typists.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 35 per collection.*
    Estimated Number of Responses: 428.
    Estimated Hours per Response: 2-6.
    Annual Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,615.
    Frequency of Response: 2 per year.

    * Some respondents will have to respond more than once.

(Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 
35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.93.)

    By Order of the Acting Maritime Administrator.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2022-09180 Filed 4-28-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P