[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 206 (Thursday, October 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84871-84872]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24702]


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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; National Marine Sanctuary Permits

    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

[[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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