[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]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P