79408 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 250 / Monday, December 30, 2013 / Notices 

TABLE 1—POPULATION ABUNDANCE ESTIMATES, TOTAL AUTHORIZED LEVEL B TAKE, AND PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION

THAT MAY BE TAKEN FOR THE POTENTIALLY AFFECTED SPECIES DURING THE PROPOSED ROCKY INTERTIDAL MONITORING PROGRAM

Species Abundance* Total authorized 

level b take 

Percentage of 

stock or population 

Harbor Seal ................................................................................................................ 1 30,196 

2 16,165 

337 1.1–2.1 

California Sea Lion .................................................................................................... 296,750 60 0.02 

Northern Elephant Seal ............................................................................................. 124,000 36 0.03 

* Abundance estimates are taken from the 2012 U.S. Pacific Marine Mammal Stock Assessments (Carretta et al., 2013). 1 California stock abundance estimate. 

2Oregon/Washington stock abundance estimate. 

Impact on Availability of Affected 

Species or Stock for Taking for 

Subsistence Uses 

There are no relevant subsistence uses 

of marine mammals implicated by this 

action. Therefore, NMFS has 

determined that the total taking of 

affected species or stocks would not 

have an unmitigable adverse impact on 

the availability of such species or stocks 

for taking for subsistence purposes. 

Endangered Species Act (ESA) 

None of the marine mammals for 

which incidental take is authorized are 

listed as threatened or endangered 

under the ESA. NMFS’ Permits and 

Conservation Division worked with the 

NMFS Southwest Regional Office to 

ensure that Steller sea lions would be 

avoided and incidental take would not 

occur. Therefore, NMFS has determined 

that issuance of the IHA to PISCO under 

section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA will 

have no effect on species listed as 

threatened or endangered under the 

ESA. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) 

In 2012, we prepared an EA analyzing 

the potential effects to the human 

environment from conducting rocky 

intertidal surveys along the California 

and Oregon coasts and issued a FONSI 

on the issuance of an IHA for PISCO’s 

rocky intertidal surveys in accordance 

with section 6.01 of the NOAA 

Administrative Order 216–6 

(Environmental Review Procedures for 

Implementing the National 

Environmental Policy Act, May 20, 

1999). PISCO’s proposed activities and 

impacts for 2013–2014 are within the 

scope of our 2012 EA and FONSI. We 

have reviewed the 2012 EA and 

determined that there are no new direct, 

indirect, or cumulative impacts to the 

human and natural environment 

associated with the IHA requiring 

evaluation in a supplemental EA and 

we, therefore, reaffirm the 2012 FONSI. 

Authorization 

As a result of these determinations, 

NMFS has authorized the take of marine 

mammals incidental to PISCO’s rocky 

intertidal monitoring research activities, 

provided the previously mentioned 

mitigation, monitoring, and reporting 

requirements are incorporated. 

Dated: December 23, 2013. 

Perry Gayaldo, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Protected 

Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–31196 Filed 12–27–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING 

COMMISSION 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Notice of Intent To Renew 

Collection: Procedural Requirements 

for Requests for Interpretative, NoAction, and Exemptive Letters 

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission (CFTC) seeks 

public comment on the proposed 

renewal of a collection of information 

by the agency. Under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (PRA), Federal agencies 

are required to publish notice in the 

Federal Register concerning each 

proposed collection of information, 

including each proposed extension of an 

existing collection of information, and 

to allow 60 days for public comment in 

response to the notice. This notice 

solicits comments on requirements 

relating to requests for and issuance of 

exemptive, no-action, and interpretative 

letters. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before February 28, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by ‘‘Collection 3038–0049– 

Renewal,’’ by any of the following 

methods: 

• The Agency’s Web site, at http://

comments.cftc.gov/. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments 

through the Web site. 

• Mail: Melissa D. Jurgens, Secretary 

of the Commission, Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission, Three Lafayette 

Centre, 1155 21st Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20581. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as 

mail, above. 

Please submit your comments using 

only one method. All comments must be 

submitted in English, or if not, 

accompanied by an English translation. 

Comments will be posted as received to 

www.cftc.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christopher W. Cummings, Special 

Counsel, Division of Swap Dealer and 

Intermediary Oversight, (202) 418–5228, 

email: ccummings@cftc.gov; Jocelyn 

Partridge, Special Counsel, Division of 

Clearing and Risk, (202) 418–5926, 

email: jpartridge@cftc.gov; Riva Spear 

Adriance, Senior Special Counsel, 

Division of Market Oversight, (202) 418– 

5494, email: radriance@cftc.gov; or 

Beverly E. Loew, Assistant General 

Counsel, Office of General Counsel, 

(202) 418–5648, email: bloew@cftc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

PRA, Federal agencies must obtain 

approval from the Office of Management 

and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for each collection 

of information they conduct or sponsor. 

‘‘Collection of Information’’ is defined 

in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3. 

The definition includes agency requests 

or requirements that members of the 

public submit reports, keep records, or 

provide information to a third party. An 

agency may not conduct or sponsor, and 

a person is not required to respond to, 

a collection of information unless it 

displays a valid OMB control number. 

Sections 3506(c)(2)(A) and 3507(h) of 

the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A) and 

3507(h), require a Federal agency to 

provide a 60-day notice in the Federal 

Register whenever it seeks to renew a 

collection of information previously 

maindgalligan on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 250 / Monday, December 30, 2013 / Notices 79409 

1 17 CFR 140.99. An archive containing CFTC 

staff letters may be found at http://www.cftc.gov/

LawRegulation/CFTCStaffLetters/index.htm. 

2See, e.g., 44 U.S.C. 3502(3)(A)(1). 

3See, e.g., 5 CFR 1320.3(h)(1). 4 Id. 

approved by OMB, seeking public 

comment before submitting the 

collection to OMB for renewal. To 

comply with this requirement, the CFTC 

is publishing notice of the proposed 

collection of information listed below. 

Abstract: This collection covers the 

procedural requirements for requests 

for, and issuance of, interpretative, noaction, and exemptive letters according 

to the provisions of section 140.99 of the 

Commission’s regulations.1 The current 

collection, for which a three-year 

extension is being sought, has been 

assigned OMB control number 3038– 

0049. The collection requirements 

contained herein are voluntary. The 

requirements are observed by parties 

that wish to apply most frequently for 

a benefit from agency staff in the form 

of regulatory relief described in section 

140.99. Relief sought often relieves the 

persons obtaining it from some or all of 

the burdens associated with other 

collections of information. 

Burden Statement: There has been an 

increase in requests for no-action and 

interpretive letters in particular, 

following the implementation of the 

Wall Street Reform and Consumer 

Protection Act (‘‘Dodd-Frank Act’’) by 

the Commission. Accordingly, as 

elaborated below, the burden hours for 

this collection are being increased from 

the last renewal of this collection. 

The burden increase is related to 

several factors. First, there have been an 

increased number of respondents for 

this collection in the form of requestors 

that must comply with the collection 

requirements contained in section 

140.99 in order for the request to be 

considered by staff. 

Second, burden increase is 

attributable to collection requirements 

contained within issued exemptive and 

no-action letters providing regulatory 

relief. Historically, most exemptive, noaction, and interpretive letters were 

sought by and issued to an individual 

party (or fewer than ten persons) that 

may have been subject to discrete 

collections of information in a letter in 

order to obtain the benefit of it, which 

collections were excepted from the 

application of the PRA. Since the 

implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act, 

however, these letters more frequently 

have been sought by and issued to large 

groups of similarly situated persons, 

typically to entire industries or industry 

subgroups. Because of the increase in 

respondents, the PRA exception is not 

applicable to this proposed renewal. 

Thus, the proposed renewal accounts 

for relief issued by staff under 

regulation 140.99 that contain 

information collections, which often 

involves providing notice and 

certifications to the division or office 

staff issuing the letter. The proposed 

renewal also accounts for relief from 

compliance with an existing collection 

of information, and occasionally from a 

regulatory obligation that does not 

contain a collection of information, with 

substituted compliance obligations in 

the form of an information collection in 

the letter providing the relief. 

Third, there has been an increase in 

burden attributable to adding collection 

requirements into this collection that 

are related to this collection, such as 

compliance with requirements for 

requesting confidential treatment of 

letters that may be granted under 

section 140.98 of the Commission’s 

regulations, but could be effected 

through separate collections. It was 

determined not to establish separate 

collections for the related matters in 

order to streamline the analysis, 

compliance, and renewal processes for 

the Commission and all entities that 

may submit requests for exemptive, noaction, and interpretive letters that 

include burden associated with the 

related matters. 

Therefore, in order to establish 

estimates with respect to no-action and 

exemptive letters that may be issued 

during the 3-year renewal period for 

which the Commission is applying, a 

sampling was taken of exemptive and 

no-action letters over a six month period 

from December 4, 2012, through June 4, 

2013. This time period was chosen 

because it is believed that it reasonably 

represents the shift in the manner in 

which these letters are sought and 

issued since the last renewal of this 

collection of information. 

During this period, encompassing noaction letters 12–40 through 13–22, 58 

no-action letters were issued. Thirty 

contained no collections of information, 

or collections that do not require an 

OMB control number, for example 

because they involved the submission of 

information by fewer than 10 persons,2

or they involved notice filings solely 

requiring a respondent to identify itself 

as relying on the relief, which notice is 

not considered to be an information 

collection under the PRA.3 Twentyeight contained collections of 

information, a number of which require 

certification requirements that will 

permit monitoring for compliance with 

statutory or regulatory requirements not 

subject to the relief issued.4

Other contained substituted 

compliance obligations in the form of 

collections that were intended to be no 

more burdensome than the collection 

requirements provided for in the 

regulations, from which the no-action 

letters provided relief. Of the few letters 

that contained conditions allowing for 

substituted compliance that included a 

collection of information but relieved 

regulatory burden not associated with a 

collection of information, the increased 

collection burden was offset by the 

overall decrease in collection burden 

resulting from other letters issued 

pursuant to section 140.99. Nonetheless, 

to ensure flexibility over the next three 

years, burden hours were estimated to 

cover circumstances in which a 

collection contained in a no-action or 

exemptive letter may add to, rather than 

offset or decrease, regulatory burdens 

containing collections of information. 

Finally, although there has been an 

increase in requests for no-action relief 

and interpretive letters, Commission 

staff does not anticipate that this 

increase will be permanent. Thus, 

burden estimates have been bifurcated. 

Burden hours have been estimated at an 

increased level for the first year 

following the renewal of this collection, 

and then pared for the second and third 

years, so as not to artificially inflate the 

Commission’s burden budget, or the 

burden budget that is maintained 

government-wide by OMB. 

Past experience was used to estimate 

the number of no-action, interpretive, 

and exemptive letters that may be 

received over the three-years for which 

this renewal is being sought. The 

number of letters received over the past 

five years are as follows: 

Letters 

Issued 

Noaction Interpretive Exemptive 

2013 ................ 64 0 0 

2012 ................ 70 1 11 

2011 ................ 8 0 1 

2010 ................ 9 23 4 

2009 ................ 11 35 3 

Burden Estimates. For the proposed 

renewal period, the respondent burden 

calculated with consideration to past 

experience is estimated to be 28,478 

hours. These estimates include burden 

hours for complying with the 

information requirements for exemptive, 

no-action, and interpretative letters 

contained in section 140.99(c) of the 

Commission’s regulations, effecting 

filing as provided in section 140.99(d), 

providing notice of material change in 

maindgalligan on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

79410 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 250 / Monday, December 30, 2013 / Notices 

circumstances that may affect any relief 

granted pursuant to section 140.99(e), 

and complying with notice and other 

conditions that may be contained in 

grant of exemptive or no-action relief 

issued by staff; and preparing and 

submitting withdrawals of requests for 

exemptive, no-action, and interpretative 

letters pursuant to section 140.99(f). The 

estimates also include burden hours for 

preparing a confidential treatment 

request pursuant to and responding to 

any process contained in associated 

section 140.98(b) of the Commission’s 

regulations, and complying with the 

documentation requirements contained 

in section 41.3(b), related to exemption 

requests from certain intermediaries. 

Respondents/Affected Entities: 

Registered entities, intermediaries, 

eligible contract participants, parties 

clarifying their status as such or seeking 

relief from registration or discrete 

regulatory burdens associated with their 

status. 

Estimated number of respondents: 

12,428. 

Estimated total annual burden on 

respondents: 28,478 hours. 

Frequency of collection: Occasionally. 

The Commission estimates the burden 

of this collection of information as 

follows: 

Estimated annual 

respondents or 

recordkeepers 

Reports or 

records 

annually— 

each 

respondent 

Total annual 

responses 

Estimated 

average number 

of hours per 

response 

Estimated 

annual burden 

hours 

REPORTING—RENEWAL YEAR ONE: 

§ 140.99(c)—information requirements for letters ........ 40 1 40 9.00 360 

§ 140.99(d)—filing requirements ................................... 40 1 40 0.38 15 

§ 140.99(e)—staff response: 

change of facts and circumstances ....................... 7 1 7 2.25 16 

notice and other conditions ................................... 4,500 1 4,500 1.50 6,750 

§ 140.99(f)—withdrawal of requests ............................. 6 1 6 0.75 5 

§ 140.98(b)—confidential treatment requests ............... 5 1 5 1.80 9 

§ 41.3(b)—securities brokers and dealers requesting 

exemptive orders; documentation requirement ........ 10 1 10 3.75 38 

REPORTING—YEARS TWO AND THREE: 

§ 140.99(c)—information requirements for letters ........ 25 1 25 9.00 225 

§ 140.99(d)—filing requirements ................................... 25 1 25 0.38 9 

§ 140.99(e)—staff response: 

change of facts and circumstances ....................... 4 1 4 2.25 9 

notice and other conditions ................................... 1,500 1 1,500 1.50 2,250 

§ 140.99(f)—withdrawal of requests ............................. 3 0 0 

§ 140.98(b)—confidential treatment requests ............... 3 1 3 1.80 5 

§ 41.3(b)—securities brokers and dealers requesting 

exemptive orders; documentation requirement ........ 10 1 10 3.75 38 

SUBTOTAL REPORTING .............................. 6,178 13 6,175 38 9,728 

RECORDKEEPING—RENEWAL YEAR ONE: 

§ 140.99(e)—staff response: 

notice and other conditions ................................... 4,500 4 18,000 0.75 13,500 

RECORDKEEPING—RENEWAL YEARS TWO AND 

THREE: 

§ 140.99(e)—staff response: 

notice and other conditions ................................... 1,750 4 7,000 0.75 5,250 

SUBTOTAL RECORDKEEPING .................... 6,250 8 25,000 2 18,750 

GRAND TOTAL .............................................. 12,428 21 31,175 40 28,478 

There are no capital costs or operating 

and maintenance costs associated with 

this collection. 

This estimate is based on the number 

of requests for such letters in the last 

three years. Although the burden varies 

with the type, size, and complexity of 

the request submitted, such request may 

involve analytical work and analysis, as 

well as the work of drafting the request 

itself. 

Comment Solicitation: With respect to 

this collection of information, the CFTC 

invites comments on: 

• Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

Commission, including whether the 

information will have a practical use; 

• The accuracy of the Commission’s 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection of information, including the 

validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; 

• Ways to enhance the quality, 

usefulness, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and 

• Ways to minimize the burden of 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including through the 

use of appropriate automated electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology; e.g., permitting 

electronic submission of responses. 

Dated: December 23, 2013. 

Christopher J. Kirkpatrick, 

Deputy Secretary of the Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2013–31106 Filed 12–27–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6351–01–P 

BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL 

PROTECTION 

Fair Credit Reporting Act Disclosures 

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection. 

ACTION: Notice regarding charges for 

certain disclosures under the Fair Credit 

Reporting Act. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer 

Financial Protection (Bureau) 

maindgalligan on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES