80 FR 54553 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Southeast Region Permit Family of Forms

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 175 (September 10, 2015)

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 175 (Thursday, September 10, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54553-54554]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-22720]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Southeast 
Region Permit Family of Forms

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on 
proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before November 9, 
2015.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th 
and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet 
at [email protected]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument and instructions should 
be directed to Adam Bailey, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), 
Southeast Regional Office (SERO), 263 13th Avenue S., St. Petersburg, 
FL 33701, (727) 824-5305, or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    This request is for a revision to the existing reporting 
requirements that are currently approved under OMB Control No. 0648-
0205, Southeast Region Permit Family of Forms, in association with the 
upcoming final rule, Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) 0648-BB02, 
Amendment 9 to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species 
(HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) (Amendment 9), developed under the 
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801.
    The final rule, RIN 0648-BB02, would implement a number of Atlantic 
shark and smoothhound shark management measures and would establish an 
effective date for previously-adopted smoothhound shark management 
measures finalized in Amendment 3 to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS 
FMP (Amendment 3) and the 2011 Final Rule to Modify the Retention of 
Incidentally-Caught Highly Migratory Species in Atlantic Trawl 
Fisheries. Among these previously-adopted smoothhound shark management 
measures is a commercial smoothhound shark permit requirement. The 
commercial smoothhound shark permitting requirement contained in this 
rule would become effective at a date specified after approval of this 
revision request.
    In April 2011, NMFS submitted a PRA change request to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) to add the commercial smoothhound shark 
permit to the existing HMS permit PRA package (OMB Control No. 0648-
0327). OMB subsequently approved the change request to add the Federal 
commercial smoothhound shark permit to the HMS permit PRA package in 
May 2011. In July 2015, the commercial smoothhound shark permit was 
removed from the HMS permit PRA package (OMB Control No. 0648-0327) 
with the intention of transferring it to the Southeast Region Permit 
Family of Forms. This revision seeks to add this permit to OMB Control 
No. 0648-0205, because the SERO Permits Office will administer the 
smoothhound shark permit. The revision also addresses a new permit fee 
of $25 ($10 if issued in conjunction with another SERO-administered 
permit) related to SERO's administration of the permit and a more 
accurate estimate of the number of respondents, reducing the estimated 
number of respondents from 4,000, to 500 based on recent landings data.
    Specifically for the smoothhound shark commercial permit, NMFS 
estimates 500 respondents to apply. If a respondent already holds a 
SERO-administered permit, applying for a smoothhound shark permit would 
only require checking an additional box on the permits application 
form, which would take approximately 10 seconds. If the respondent does 
not hold a SERO-administered permit, a new application must be filled 
out, which would take approximately 30 minutes. Thus, the total annual 
burden estimate is between 1.4 hours and 250 hours. It is likely that 
many respondents already hold a permit issued through the SERO Permits 
Office due to participation in other SERO fisheries (including other 
shark fisheries), thus, they would simply need to check a box on their 
existing form. However, at this time, NMFS does not have an estimate of 
the number of respondents who would apply for this permit and that 
already hold a permit administered through the SERO Permits Office, and 
therefore, for the purpose of this revision request, NMFS assumes the 
high estimate of 250 burden hours annually for the commercial 
smoothhound shark permit.
    There is a $25 fee for a stand-alone commercial smoothhound shark 
permit or a $10 fee if issued in conjunction with another SERO-
administered permit. Thus, the total annual cost to the public for the 
permit is between $12,500 if none of the 500 respondents hold another 
SERO-administered permit and $5,000 if all the respondents hold another 
SERO-administered permit. For the purpose of this revision request, 
NMFS assumes the high estimate of $12,500 in total annual costs for the 
commercial smoothhound shark permit.
    The commercial smoothhound shark permit would add a maximum of 500 
respondents, 250 burden hours, and $12,500 total annual costs to this 
information collection.

II. Method of Collection

    Respondents have a choice of either electronic or paper forms. 
Methods of submittal include email of electronic forms, and mail and 
facsimile transmission of paper forms.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0648-0205.
    Form Number(s): None.

[[Page 54554]]

    Type of Review: Regular submission (revision of current information 
collection).
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 13,909.
    Estimated Time per Response: 30 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 6,086 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $457,378 in recordkeeping/
reporting costs.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

    Dated: September 3, 2015.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015-22720 Filed 9-9-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P