Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 2, 2022 / Notices 11691 

hours; Closing EM trips in ODDS: 5 

minutes; Submit EM Data to NMFS: 1 

hour; Observer Provider Permit 

Application: 60 hours; Candidate 

College Transcripts: 8 hours; Observer 

Training Registration: 1 hour; Observer 

Briefing Registration: 7 minutes; 

Projected Observer Assignments: 7 

minutes; Physical Examination 

Verification: 5 minutes; Observer 

Deployment/Logistics Report: 7 

minutes; Observer Debriefing 

Registration: 30 minutes; Certificates of 

Insurance: 12 minutes; Observer 

Provider Contracts: 30 minutes; Other 

Reports: 2 hours; Update to Provider 

Information: 5 minutes; Observer 

Provider Invoices: 30 minutes. 

Total Annual Burden Hours: 16,030 

hours. 

Needs and Uses: The National Marine 

Fisheries Service (NMFS), Alaska 

Regional Office, is requesting renewal of 

a currently approved information 

collection that contains requirements for 

the North Pacific Observer Program 

(Observer Program). A slight revision is 

requested to change the title of the 

collection from ‘‘Alaska Observer 

Program’’ to ‘‘North Pacific Observer 

Program.’’ 

Section 313 of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act (16 U.S.C. 1862) authorizes the 

North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council (Council), in consultation with 

NMFS, to prepare a fishery research 

plan for the purpose of stationing 

observers and electronic monitoring 

(EM) systems to collect data necessary 

for the conservation, management, and 

scientific understanding of the 

commercial groundfish and Pacific 

halibut fisheries of the Bering Sea and 

Aleutian Islands (BSAI) and Gulf of 

Alaska (GOA) management areas. The 

Observer Program is implemented by 

regulations at subpart E of 50 CFR part 

679, which authorize the deployment of 

observers and EM to collect information 

necessary for the conservation and 

management of the BSAI and GOA 

groundfish and halibut fisheries. Under 

the Observer Program, observers and EM 

systems collect fishery-dependent 

information used to estimate total catch 

and interactions with protected species. 

Managers use this data to manage 

groundfish and prohibited species catch 

within established limits and to 

document and reduce fishery 

interactions with protected species. 

Scientists use this data to assess fish 

stocks, provide data for fisheries and 

ecosystem research and fishing fleet 

behavior, assess marine mammal 

interactions with fishing gear, and 

characterize fishing impacts on habitat. 

All vessels and processors that 

participate in federally managed or 

parallel groundfish and halibut fisheries 

off Alaska (except catcher vessels 

delivering unsorted codends to a 

mothership) are subject to Observer 

Program requirements and assigned to 

one of two categories: (1) The full 

observer coverage category, where 

vessels and processors obtain observer 

coverage by contracting directly with 

observer providers; or (2) the partial 

coverage category, where NMFS, in 

consultation with the Council 

determines when and where observer 

coverage is needed. Some vessels and 

processors may be in full coverage for 

part of the year and partial coverage at 

other times of the year depending on the 

observer coverage requirements for 

specific fisheries. Funds for deploying 

observers on vessels in the partial 

coverage category are provided through 

a system of fees based on the gross exvessel value of retained groundfish and 

halibut. This observer fee is assessed on 

all landings by vessels that are not 

otherwise in full coverage. The observer 

fee is approved under OMB Control 

Number 0648–0711. 

Information in this collection is 

submitted by observer provider 

companies and owners and operators of 

vessels and processors subject to 

Observer Program requirements. 

Information submitted by owners and 

operators includes information on 

owner identification, vessels, observer 

coverage category, deck safety, the EM 

system, fishing trips, and fishing 

operations. Information submitted by 

observer provider companies includes 

information on ownership and 

operations; observers and observer 

candidates; observer deployment; 

insurance coverage; contracts with 

observers, vessels, and processors; costs 

for observer services; and other 

information including possible observer 

harassment, prohibited actions, safety 

concerns, observer illness or injury 

preventing the observer from 

completing duties, and any information, 

allegation, or reports regarding observer 

conflict of interest or breach of the 

standards of behavior. Observers, 

observer provider companies, and 

industry may submit information on 

improving observer data quality and 

resolving observer sampling issues. 

More information on the Observer 

Program is provided on the NMFS 

Alaska Region website at https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/ 

fisheries-observers/north-pacificobserver-program. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

households; Business or other for-profit 

organizations. 

Frequency: On Occasion; Weekly; 

Annually. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary; 

Required to Obtain or Retain Benefits; 

Mandatory. 

Legal Authority: Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act. 

This information collection request 

may be viewed at 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 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 0648–0318. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Chief Information Officer, Commerce 

Department. 

[FR Doc. 2022–04354 Filed 3–1–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

Return Link Service Authorization in 

the United States Search and Rescue 

Region 

AGENCY: National Environmental 

Satellite, Data, and Information Service 

(NESDIS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Search and Rescue 

Satellite Aided Tracking (US SARSAT) 

Program, which is managed by NOAA 

and assisted by the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration, 

the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Coast 

Guard, is announcing the authorization 

of the coding and use of Return Link 

Service equipped 406 MHz Satellite 

Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) and 

406 MHz Satellite Emergency Position 

Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) 

within the United States Search and 

Rescue Region. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

SARSAT Program Analyst, Mr. Allan 

Knox, NOAA, allan.knox@noaa.gov, 

301–817–4144. 

Background: The US SARSAT 

Program requested input from all 

interested persons on the U.S. 


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11692 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 2, 2022 / Notices 

authorization of Return Link Service 

(RLS) acknowledgment Type 1 capable 

Cospas-Sarsat 406 MHz distress 

beacons. Specifically, through Request 

for Information (RFI) notices published 

in the Federal Register on February 8, 

2021 (86 FR 8598) and March 17, 2021 

(86 FR 14595), the SARSAT Program 

sought the public’s views on the 

inclusion of this optional RLS feature on 

U.S. country-coded beacons. The US 

SARSAT Program received 3 responses 

from the public to the RFI notices. 

Based on consideration of these 

responses, the addressing of several 

requirements requested by the U.S. 

Coast Guard and U.S. Air Force, and the 

update of the Standards for 406 MHz 

Satellite Personal Locator Beacons 

(PLBs) and 406 MHz Satellite 

Emergency Position Indicating Radio 

Beacons (EPIRBs), the US SARSAT 

Program is authorizing the coding and 

use of Return Link Service equipped 

PLBs and EPIRBS beacons within the 

United States Search and Rescue 

Region. These RLS enabled beacons will 

be legal for sale and use upon the 

publishing of Radio Technical 

Commission for Maritime services 

11010.4 Standard for 406 MHz Satellite 

Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs). Due to 

the nature of their installation, RLS is 

currently not authorized for use in 

aviation Emergency Locator 

Transmitters. 

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 883(d) and (e). 

Dated: February 25, 2022. 

Mark W. Turner, 

SARSAT Program Manager. 

[FR Doc. 2022–04369 Filed 3–1–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–HR–P 

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; Southwest Fisheries Science 

Center Sea Turtle Sightings 

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 during a 60-day 

comment period on December 6, 2021. 

This notice allows for an additional 30 

days for public comments. 

Agency: National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, National 

Marine Fisheries Service, Commerce. 

Title: Southwest Fisheries Science 

Center Sea Turtle Sightings. 

OMB Control Number: 0648–XXXX. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Request: Regular. New 

information collection. 

Number of Respondents: 132. 

Average Hours per Response: 5 

minutes. 

Total Annual Burden Hours: 11 

hours. 

Needs and Uses: NOAA’s Southwest 

Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) is 

sponsoring a new information collection 

under the Endangered Species Act for 

the purpose of collecting data on West 

Coast sea turtle sightings from members 

of the public. The data collected would 

include: Date of the sighting, time of the 

sighting, sea turtle species (if known), 

behavior, estimated size, geographic 

location, photos (if taken), and the 

public respondent’s email address (used 

to ask follow-up questions if necessary). 

This information would be used by the 

SWFSC’s Marine Turtle Ecology & 

Assessment Program to monitor the 

distribution and timing of sea turtle 

occurrence along the U.S. West Coast, 

which will accordingly support its 

mission to conserve and protect 

threatened and endangered sea turtle 

populations. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

households. 

Frequency: On occasion. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

Legal Authority: Endangered Species 

Act. 

This information collection request 

may be viewed at 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 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 the title of the collection. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Chief Information Officer, Commerce 

Department. 

[FR Doc. 2022–04353 Filed 3–1–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB836] 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

General Provisions for Domestic 

Fisheries; Application for Exempted 

Fishing Permits 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Assistant Regional 

Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, 

Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has 

made a preliminary determination that 

an Exempted Fishing Permit application 

contains all of the required information 

and warrants further consideration. The 

Exempted Fishing Permit would allow 

four commercial surfclam and ocean 

quahog vessels to conduct at-sea 

paralytic shellfish poisoning testing in 

the Closed Area II scallop access area in 

statistical area 562. Regulations under 

the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

require publication of this notification 

to provide interested parties the 

opportunity to comment on applications 

for proposed Exempted Fishing Permits. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before March 17, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit written 

comments by the following method: 

• Email: nmfs.gar.efp@noaa.gov. 

Include in the subject line ‘‘Sea Watch 

Surfclam EFP.’’ 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Laura Hansen, Fishery Management 

Specialist, 978–281–9225, 

Laura.Hansen@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Sea Watch 

is requesting exemption from the 

Georges Bank Closed Area specified at 

50 CFR 648.76(a)(4). The proposed 

project would conduct at-sea testing for 

paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) in 

the Georges Bank Closed Area II Scallop 

Access area. 

This Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) 

would allow two commercial surfclam 

and ocean quahog vessels, using 


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