Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Limits of Application of Take Prohibitions

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 June 3, 2026, during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.

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

Title: Limits of Application of the Take Prohibitions.

OMB Control Number: 0648-0399.

Form Number(s): None.

Type of Request: Regular submission (Revision and Extension of an approved information collection).

Number of Respondents: 706

Average Hours per Response: Limit 3: Fish Rescue, 4 hours. Limit 4: CA—FMEP Annual Reporting, 4 hours; CA—FMEP Development/Submission, 1,230 hours; ID—FMEP Development/In season Reporting/Submission of Annual Reports, 120 hours; OR—FMEP Development/Submission of Annual Reports, 120 hours; WA—FMEP Development/Submission of Annual Reports, 100 hours. Limit 4, 6 and 14—Puget Sound/Klamath Basins: Annual Reporting, 104 hours; Development of RMP, 624 hours; Submittal of RMP, 150 hours; Litigation Assistance, 416 hours. Limit 5: CA—HGMP Annual Reporting, 8 hours; CA—HGMP Development/Submission, 2,080 hours. Limit 5 and 6: ID—RMP/HGMP Development/Submission of Annual Reports, 120 hours; OR—RMP/HGMP Development/Submission of Annual Reports, 120 hours; WA—RMP/HGMP Development/Submission of Annual Reports, 120 hours. Limit 6—Fisheries—Columbia River Basin, 120 hours. Limit 7—State Research Programs: Applications, 5 hours; Modifications, 2 hours; Reports, 3 hours. Limit 10: OR—5-year plan submission, 160 hours; OR—Annual Reporting, 40 hours; CA—Annual Reporting, 4 hours.

Total Annual Burden Hours: 167,864 hours.

Needs and Uses: This is a request for revision and extension.

This collection is being revised to remove the burden for Limit 14 and all references to Limit 14 in the tables for Questions 12 and 13, as there are only 13 Limits. NOAA reviewed the regulations and reporting requirements and determined this was an administrative error from the previous renewal. A merger of the Southwest and Northwest Regions prompted a comprehensive reassessment of how the 4(d) rules were used. The Northwest Region maintains this collection and did not previously include the Southwest Region in the assessment. Initially, only three ICs were listed: 1) research and other applications, 2) annual reports, and 3) reports of aided/rescued salmon. However, these ICs were not aggregated correctly and excluded the Southwest Region. Consequently, in 2023 the three initial ICs were removed and replaced with more comprehensive ICs, which resulted in the erroneous mentions of Limit 14.

Section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et. seq.) requires the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to adopt such regulations as it “deems necessary and advisable to provide for the conservation of threatened species. Those regulations may include any or all of the prohibitions provided in section 9(a)(1) of the ESA, which specifically prohibits “take” of any endangered species (“take” includes actions that harass, harm, pursue, kill, or capture). On July 10, 2000, NMFS adopted rules prohibiting the take of 14 groups of salmon and steelhead listed as threatened under the ESA (65 FR 42422, 50 CFR 223.203). On June 28, 2005, January 5, 2006, February 11, 2008, and September 25, 2008, NMFS issued final listing determinations and protective regulations for 26 threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead species (70 FR 37160, 71 FR 834, 73 FR 7816, 73 FR 55451). The protective regulations extended the 4(d) rule to all 23 threatened salmonid species.

Affected Public: Federal government; State, local, or tribal government; business or other for-profit organizations.

Frequency: Annual.

Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.

Legal Authority: Section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et. seq.).

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 0648-0399.