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###### Department of Commerce

###### National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

                    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 May 14, 2024 during a 60-day comment period and no comments were received. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.                

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

*Title:*                     National Marine Sanctuary Permits.                

*OMB Control Number:*                     0648-0141.                

*Form Number(s):*                     None.                

*Type of Request:*                     Regular submission, revision and extension of a current information collection.                

*Number of Respondents:*                     567.                

*Average Hours per Response:*                     General permits and authorizations, 1 hour and 30 minutes; special use permits, 8 hours; archaeological research permits, 13 hours; baitfish permits, 25 minutes; permit amendments and certifications, 30 minutes; voluntary registrations, 15 minutes; appeals, 24 hours; Tortugas access permits, 5 minutes.                

*Total Annual Burden Hours:*                     2,307.75.                

*Needs and Uses:*                     This request is for revision and extension of a currently approved information collection by the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS). ONMS manages national marine sanctuaries pursuant to the purposes and policies of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (NMSA, 16 U.S.C. 1431*et seq.*). National marine sanctuary regulations at 15 CFR part 922 list specific activities that are prohibited in national marine sanctuaries. These regulations also state that otherwise prohibited activities may be conducted if a permit is issued by ONMS. For most types of permits, persons desiring a permit must submit an application (note that requests for baitfish permits and Tortugas Ecological Reserve North Access permits require contacting Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and do not require a completed ONMS permit application), and anyone obtaining a permit is generally required to submit one or more reports on the activity allowed under the permit. The recordkeeping and reporting requirements at 15 CFR part 922 form the basis for this collection of information.                

This information is required by ONMS to protect and manage sanctuary resources. The permit application collects information about the proposed activities, the methods proposed to be used, the potential effects to sanctuary resources, and information on the regulatory review criteria at 15 CFR part 922. ONMS uses this information to evaluate whether the proposed activities are consistent with the goals and objectives of the sanctuary and the purposes and policies of the NMSA.

                    Changes to this information collection include revisions to the permit application and instructions to collect information about small businesses to better assess the types of entities engaged in permitting activities. The estimated number of permits issued per year also changed from 424 to 567 to reflect the additional estimated permit numbers if the various proposed national marine sanctuary designations are finalized. In particular, this is based on adding an estimated fifteen additional permits and about 59 certifications for the recently designated Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary (89 FR 83554, Oct. 16, 2024), an estimated five additional permits for the proposed designation of the National Marine Sanctuary for the Pacific Remote Islands (88 FR 23624; April 18, 2023), an estimated five additional permits for the recently designated Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary (89 FR 48272, June 6, 2024), an estimated five additional permits for proposed Lake Erie Quadrangle National Marine Sanctuary (88 FR 32198, May 19, 2023), an estimated nine permits for the proposed sanctuary in the Hudson Canyon area (87 FR 38387, June 8, 2022), and increasing the numbers of amendments and Tortugas access permits to reflect more recent average permit numbers. The number of baitfish permits was diminished by 35 permits and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary has proposed phasing out the bait fishing permits over the next three years (87 FR 42800, July 18, 2022). Other revisions made to the application and applicant                           ( print page 84872)                        instructions were to improve the quality of information initially collected and to make the permit process more efficient.                

*Affected Public:*                     Individuals; Business or other for-profit organizations; Not-for-profit institutions; State, Local, or Tribal government; Federal Government.                

*Frequency:*                     On occasion.                

*Respondent's Obligation:*                     Required to Obtain or Retain Benefits.                

*Legal Authority:*                     National Marine Sanctuaries Act, 16 U.S.C. 1431*et seq.*

                    This information collection request may be viewed at                     *https://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                     *https://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 0648-0141.                

Sheleen Dumas,

Departmental PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.

[FR Doc. 2024-24702 Filed 10-23-24; 8:45 am]

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