Notice2021-22096
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention Vessel Information Family of Forms
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
October 12, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 194 (Tuesday, October 12, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 194 (Tuesday, October 12, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56693-56694]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-22096]
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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; Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention Vessel
Information Family of Forms
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 April 21, 2021, during a 60-day comment period.
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
Agency: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
Title: Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention Vessel
Information Family of Forms.
OMB Control Number: 0648-0595.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular (extension of a currently approved
collection).
Number of Respondents: 225.
Average Hours per Response: Western and Central Pacific Fisheries
Commission Area Endorsement Application: 60 minutes; Foreign Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ) Form: 90 minutes; International Maritime
Organization (IMO) number application: 30 minutes.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 43.
Needs and Uses: The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries
Convention Implementation Act (WCPFCIA; 16 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) and
U.S. implementing regulations (50 CFR 300 Subpart O) authorize that all
member States maintain and provide to the Commission on the
Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the
Western and Central Pacific Ocean (Commission or WCPFC) a list of
vessels flagged by the member State and (1) authorized by the member
State to be used for fishing for highly migratory fish stocks (HMS) on
the high seas in the WCPFC Area, or (2) authorized by other States to
be used for fishing for HMS in their areas of jurisdiction in the WCPFC
Area, and to maintain and provide for each vessel on that list certain
information on its characteristics and its owner and operator.
Vessels in the first category already provide most of the required
information under existing laws and regulations. All such vessels must
be documented by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) or be state-
registered and must hold a valid High Seas Fishing Permit (issued under
the authority of the High Seas Fishing Compliance Act (HSFCA). Under
these existing documentation/registration and permitting requirements,
the vessel owner or operator must comply with information collection
requirements that fulfill most of the needs under the WCPFCIA. This
information collection requirement serves to collect the few pieces of
information required under the WCPFCIA that are not already collected
via existing mechanisms, and a form customized for this category of
vessels is used.
Vessels in the second category already provide information as part
of the USCG documentation or State registration processes, but such
vessels do not need to hold High Seas Fishing Permits (unless they also
fish on the high seas), so they will not necessarily be submitting the
information collected via that permitting process. This information
collection requirement serves to collect the pieces of information
required under the WCPFCIA that are not already collected via existing
mechanisms, and a form customized for this category of vessels is used.
Under a 2013 Commission decision, an additional piece of
information that the United States must provide to the Commission for
both categories of vessels (but only for those whose tonnage is at
least 100 gross register tons (GRT) or 100 gross tons (GT)) is the
vessel's IMO number. An IMO number, also known as an IMO ship
identification number, is a unique number issued for a ship or vessel
under the ship identification number scheme established by the
International Maritime Organization. Once issued, an IMO number will
remain with the vessel for its life, regardless of changes to the
vessel's name, flag, ownership, or other attributes. This information
collection requirement serves to collect information based on a
decision of the Commission made under Conservation and Management
Measure (CMM) 2013-10, which requires each member of the Commission to
ensure that IMO numbers are issued for the two above
[[Page 56694]]
listed categories of vessels. To satisfy this WCPFC requirement, NMFS
requires that the owner of each subject vessel request and obtain an
IMO number, which they can do by submitting certain information about
the vessel and its ownership and management to the administrator of the
IMO ship identification number scheme, which is a private third party
not associated with the United States government or any other
government. Although NMFS does not collect this information directly,
the requirement to submit the information to the third party is covered
by this information collection.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations;
individuals or households.
Frequency: The information included in both the WCPFC Area
Endorsement application and Foreign EEZ form is collected once every
five years. The information collected to obtain an IMO number is a one-
time collection.
Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
Legal Authority: WCPFCIA; 16 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.
This information collection request may be viewed at
<a href="http://www.reginfo.gov">www.reginfo.gov</a>. 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 <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>.
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 0648-0595.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-22096 Filed 10-8-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.