[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 73 (Monday, April 15, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26134-26135]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07896]
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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; Marine Mammal Stranding Reports/Marine Mammal Rehabilitation
Disposition Report/Human Interaction Data Sheet
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 February 7, 2024 during a 60-day comment period.
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.
Title: Marine Mammal Stranding Reports/Marine Mammal Rehabilitation
Disposition Report/Human Interaction Data Sheet.
OMB Control Number: 0648-0178.
Form Number(s): NOAA Form 89-864.
Type of Request: Regular submission (1 year extension of a current
information collection).
Number of Respondents: 400.
Average Hours per Response: 1 hour.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 8,675.
Needs and Uses: This request is for a 1 year extension of this
previously approved data collection. An extension is requested in order
to provide time for the program office to address revisions to the
collection pursuant to a recent law. Under the Marine Mammal Protection
Act (MMPA), the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), who has delegated
responsibility under this Act
[[Page 26135]]
to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Assistant
Administrator for Fisheries, is charged with the protection and
management of marine mammals and is responsible for collecting
information on marine mammal strandings, which will be compiled and
analyzed, by region, to monitor species, numbers, conditions, and
causes of illnesses and deaths of stranded animals. The Secretary is
also responsible for collection of information on other life history
and reference level data, including marine mammal tissue analyses, that
would allow comparison of the causes of illness and deaths in stranded
marine mammals by physical, chemical, and biological environmental
parameters.
In addition, determinations must be made on the sustainability of
population stocks, on the impact of fisheries and other human
activities on marine mammals and endangered species, and on the health
of marine mammals and related environmental considerations. NOAA's
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has the responsibility to
carry out these mandates.
Section 402(b) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1421a) requires the Secretary
to collect and update information on strandings. It further provides
that the Secretary shall compile and analyze, by region, the species,
numbers, conditions, and causes of illnesses and deaths in stranded
marine mammals. Section 404 (a) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1421c) mandates
that the Secretary respond to unusual marine mammal mortality events.
Without a historical baseline provided by marine mammal information
collected from strandings, detection of such events could be difficult
and the investigation could be impeded. Section 401(b) of the MMPA (16
U.S.C. 1421) requires NMFS to facilitate the collection and
dissemination of reference data on the health of marine mammal
populations in the wild and to correlate health with physical,
chemical, and biological environmental parameters. In order to perform
this function, NMFS must standardize data collection protocols for
health and correlations. Data and samples collected from stranded
animals are a critical part of the implementation of this mandate of
the MMPA.
Specifically, the data from the Marine Mammal Stranding Report
(MMSR) forms provide NMFS with information on the morphology, life
history, biology, general health, health and stranding trends, causes
of mortality, and distribution of marine mammal species. These data
provide information which may help in making assessments on the status
of population stocks. Recording data on gross mortalities may serve as
an indicator that a particular population is impacted, threatened or at
increased risk, and when provided in a timely manner, aid in dynamic
management practices. Stranding data also provide an important baseline
for detecting and monitoring the impacts of environmental phenomena,
such as El Ni[ntilde]o and Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). Minor edits to
the current version of the form are proposed, including beginning to
collect live, entangled large whale data in this data collection and
streamlining the confidence codes.
The Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Disposition Report (MMRDR)
provides NMFS with information on the disposition of animals brought in
for rehabilitation, the success of medical treatment, and the number of
animals released. This information will assist the Agency in tracking
marine mammals that move into captive display and in the monitoring of
rehabilitation and release. The data will also be used to assess the
burden on stranding network centers. This form will be filled out only
in the case of live-stranded marine mammals. The form will be required
from rehabilitation centers in all five NMFS Regions. Each of the NMFS
regions approves and issues a Letter of Agreement (LOA) or other form
of agreement to marine mammal rehabilitation centers under Sec. 112(c)
of the MMPA, which allows the Secretary to enter into agreements in
order to fulfill the general purposes of the Act, and under Sec. 403
of the MMPA, which provides specific authority to enter into such
stranding response agreements. These data will be monitored as part of
the Rehabilitation Facilities Inspection (RFI) program. No changes are
proposed to this form.
The Human Interaction Data Sheet will provide NMFS with consistent
and detailed information on signs of human interaction in stranded
marine mammals. This form also includes a subjective section that
allows the examiner to evaluate the likelihood that human interaction
contributed to the stranding of the animal. This information will
assist the Agency in tracking resource conflicts and will provide a
solid scientific foundation for conservation and management of marine
mammals. With a better understanding of interactions, appropriate
measures can be taken to resolve conflicts and stranding data are the
best source of information regarding the occurrence of different types
of human interaction. No changes are proposed for this form.
Affected Public: State governments; not-for-profit institutions;
business or other for-profits organizations.
Frequency: On occasion.
Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
Legal Authority: Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).
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 0648-0178.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2024-07896 Filed 4-12-24; 8:45 am]
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