Notice2024-02141
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Assessing Public Preferences and Values To Support Coastal and Marine Management
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
February 2, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 23 (Friday, February 2, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 23 (Friday, February 2, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7377-7378]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02141]
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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; Assessing Public Preferences and Values To Support Coastal and
Marine Management
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 August 25, 2023 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: Assessing Public Preferences and Values to Support Coastal
and Marine Management.
OMB Control Number: 0648-XXXX.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: New information collection.
Number of Respondents: Focus groups: 96; Surveys: 6,282.
Average Hours per Response: Focus groups: 1 hour; Surveys: 12
minutes.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 3,528.48.
Needs and Uses: This request is for a new information collection,
which will include focus groups and pre-test to help guide revisions
necessary to the survey instrument, to directly support decision-makers
with the National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR). The proposed data
collection involves surveying randomly selected residents (aged 18
years and older) from households in counties surrounding the NERRs. The
purpose of this information collection is to obtain data on the
opinions, values, attitudes, and behaviors of visitors to NOS-special
places, as well as residents from surrounding areas. The initial
surveys will be conducted for the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine
Research Reserve in Virginia (CBNERR-VA), Weeks Bay NERR (WBNERR), and
Grand Bay NERR (GNDNERR), and the survey will be repeated regularly in
other NERRs based on information needs and budget.
The NERRS is a Federal-State partnership program for the
stewardship, education, and research of unique estuarine sites. This
data collection supports the NERRS' vision of establishing healthy
estuaries and coastal watersheds where human and ecological communities
thrive. The NERRS has identified five priority research areas,
including a focus on social science and economic processes within each
NERR site. However, limited data exist characterizing stakeholder
activities, attitudes, knowledge, and preferences, including their
spatial aspects. Gathering such data is essential for effective
management of stakeholder groups, regulatory proposals, and resource
management decisions.
Designated in 1986, WBNERR is located along the eastern shore of
Mobile Bay in Baldwin County, Alabama. CBNERR-VA, designated in 1991,
comprises four reserve sites within the York River in the southern
Chesapeake Bay subregion. Finally, GNDNERR was established in 1999 and
is located in the Grand Bay Savannah Complex along the Mississippi-
Alabama state line in Jackson County, Mississippi. All three NERRS
prioritize public access and responsible use to protect ecosystems,
identifying public sites, minimizing conflicts, and evaluating visitor
use. Therefore, information is needed on who uses these NERR sites,
their motivations, management preferences, and why some do not visit.
This data supports conservation and management goals, strengthens
decision-making, increases capacity, and extends education and
outreach. It is also required by NOAA to meet objectives related to
ocean and coastal planning and management. The data benefits state and
local officials as well.
NOAA's mission is to provide science, service and stewardship for,
among other activities, management of the nation's oceans and coasts.
NOAA supports ``comprehensive ocean and coastal planning and
management'' in order to facilitate use of oceans and coasts, while
also ensuring ``continued access to coastal areas, sustained
ecosystems, maintained cultural heritage, and limited cumulative
impacts.'' NOAA is subject to and supports mandates of the Coastal Zone
Management Act (CZMA) (16 U.S.C. 1452 (303)(2)(D)), which encourages
the wise use of coastal resources, including energy activity. The CZMA
also encourages the inclusion and participation of the public in
carrying out the tenets of the act (16 U.S.C. 1452 (303)(4)). The
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (40 CFR 1502.6) mandates
federal agencies to use social science data to assess the impacts of
federal actions on the human environment. Consequently, up-to-date
sociological data is needed to support federal agency obligations under
each of these acts.
Finally, NOAA is responding to Executive Orders 13707 and 13985.
Executive Order 13707, Using Behavioral Science Insights to Better
Serve the American People, requests federal agencies to, among other
actions: ``identify policies, programs, and operations where applying
behavioral science insights may yield substantial improvements in
public welfare, program outcomes, and program cost effectiveness'' and
``develop strategies for applying behavioral science insights to
programs and, where possible, rigorously test and evaluate the impact
of these insights.'' Executive Order 13985, On Advancing Racial Equity
and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government,
requires the federal government to allocate resources ``in a manner
that
[[Page 7378]]
increases investment in underserved communities, as well as individuals
from those communities.''
Affected Public: Individuals or households.
Frequency: This is a one-time information collection for this
region, although the collection may be deployed to other regions in the
future.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) (16 U.S.C. 1452
(303)(2)(D)), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (40 CFR 1502.6).
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.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2024-02141 Filed 2-1-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-JS-P
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