Notice2025-23767
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Alaska Community Quota Entity (CQE) Program
Primary source
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Published
December 23, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 244 (Tuesday, December 23, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 23, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60066-60067]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-23767]
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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; Alaska Community Quota Entity (CQE) Program
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 July 15, 2025 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: Alaska Community Quota (CQE) Program.
OMB Control Number: 0648-0665.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular submission [revision and extension of a
current information collection].
Number of Respondents: 62.
Average Hours per Response: Application for a Non-profit
Corporation to be Designated as a CQE: 200 hours; Transfer
applications: 2 hours; Application for a CQE to Receive a Non-trawl
Groundfish LLP License: 20 hours; Application for Community Charter
Halibut Permit: 1 hour; CQE Annual Report: 40 hours; CQE LLP
Authorization Letter: 1 hour.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,355 hours.
Needs and Uses: This is a request for revision and extension of an
approved information collection. The National
[[Page 60067]]
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Alaska Regional Office (AKR), is the
sponsor of this information collection. This information collection
contains applications, permits, and reports required under the
Community Quota Entity (CQE) Program. The revision to this collection
incorporates minor updates for clarity and regulatory accuracy. These
changes to the forms include updating the Public Reporting Burden
Statement to include the form's specific purpose and updating website
links. Additionally, the ``Application for Transfer of Quota Share to
or from a Community Quota Entity'' form was updated to include the
correct the language from ``The party to whom a CQE is seeking to
transfer the IFQ must hold a Transfer Eligibility Certificate (TEC)
unless they are a resident of the Aleutian Islands (Adak) for at least
12 months'' to ``The party to whom a CQE is seeking to transfer the IFQ
must hold a Transfer Eligibility Certificate (TEC) unless they hold an
Aleutian Islands (Adak) TEC.'' This change accurately reflects current
regulations and requirements. No other changes were made to the
collection other than adjustments to reflect the most current available
data.
NMFS AKR manages the groundfish fisheries in the exclusive economic
zone of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area under the
Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian
Islands Management Area. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) authorizes the North Pacific
Fishery Management Council to prepare and amend fishery management
plans for any fishery in waters under its jurisdiction. The
International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) and NMFS AKR manage
fishing for Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) through
regulations established under the authority of the Northern Pacific
Halibut Act of 1982, 16 U.S.C. 773c (Halibut Act).
The CQE Program is a Federal program administered by NMFS. The CQE
Program allocates to eligible communities in Alaska a portion of the
harvest quotas for groundfish, halibut, crab, and prohibited species.
The allocations provide these communities the means for starting or
supporting commercial fisheries activities that will result in an
ongoing, regionally based, fisheries-related economy. Participating
communities are represented by a CQE, which is a NMFS-approved non-
profit organization.
Under the Pacific Halibut and Sablefish Individual Fishing Quota
(IFQ) Program, a CQE may purchase commercial Halibut and sablefish
quota share (QS) for lease to residents of the eligible community.
Under the Charter Halibut Limited Access Program, a CQE may request
community charter halibut permits for use in southeast Alaska and the
central Gulf of Alaska by charter vessel operators designated by the
CQE. Under the License Limitation Program (LLP), a CQE may request non-
trawl groundfish LLP licenses endorsed for Pacific cod in the central
or western Gulf of Alaska for use on vessels designated by the CQE.
More information on the CQEs and the CQE Program is provided on the
NMFS Alaska Region website at <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/sustainable-fisheries/community-quota-and-license-programs-community-quota-entities">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/sustainable-fisheries/community-quota-and-license-programs-community-quota-entities</a>.
This information collection is required in Federal regulations at
50 CFR 300 Subpart E and Part 679. The eligible communities and the
community governing body that recommends the CQE are listed in Table 21
to 50 CFR part 679.
This collection contains applications used by a nonprofit
corporation to become a CQE; by CQEs to receive non-trawl groundfish
LLP licenses and Charter Halibut Permits (CHPs); by CQEs to transfer or
receive IFQ QS; by CQEs to transfer IFQ to an eligible community
resident or non-resident; and by CQEs to transfer between commercial
halibut IFQ and halibut guided angler fish (GAF). In addition, this
collection contains two reporting requirements: an annual report and an
authorization letter. Annually each CQE must submit a report describing
its business operations and fishing activities for each eligible
community it represents. CQEs requesting LLP groundfish licenses must
annually submit an authorization letter that assigns each community LLP
license to a user and vessel.
The type of information collected includes information on the
applicants, transferors, transferees, authorized representatives, and
communities represented, as well as information on the procedures,
criteria, administrative activities, business operations, community
fishing activities, sweep-up information, certificate and licensing
information, and fishing activities pertaining to the application.
NMFS requires this information for fisheries management and to
evaluate the ability of a specific CQE to represent an eligible
community. NMFS uses the information collected to establish eligibility
of the CQEs; review each CQE's business operations and fishing
activity; monitor participation of the eligible communities in the CQE
Program and associated limited access programs; and gather information
on distribution and use among these communities of LLP groundfish
licenses, CHPs, and halibut and sablefish QS and IFQ.
All of the forms, except for the Application for Community Charter
Halibut Permit at Sec. 300.67(k), can now be submitted electronically
via email. These forms will be updated accordingly to clarify that
electronic submission is allowed.
Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions; Individuals or
households.
Frequency: Annually and occasionally.
Respondent's Obligation: Required to Obtain or Retain Benefits.
Legal Authority: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.); The Northern Pacific Halibut
Act of 1982 (16 U.S.C. 773c).
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 0648-0665.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Compliance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2025-23767 Filed 12-22-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 23, 2025.
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