[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 54 (Monday, March 21, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15921-15922]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05946]


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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 Cost Recovery and Fee Programs

    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 October 29, 2021, during a 60-day comment period. 
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.
    Title: Alaska Cost Recovery and Fee Programs.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0711.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (Revision and extension of a 
current information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 1,722.
    Average Hours per Response: Fee payments: 1 minute; volume and 
value reports (electronic submission): 1 minute; IFQ Registered Buyer 
Ex-vessel Volume and Value Report (non-electronic submission): 2 hours; 
fee calculation forms: 30 minutes; administrative appeals: 4 hours.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 82 hours.
    Needs and Uses: The National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska 
Regional Office (NMFS AKR), is requesting renewal and revision of a 
currently approved information collection that contains requirements 
for the NMFS AKR cost recovery fee programs and the observer coverage 
fee program.
    Three revisions are requested for this collection. A slight 
revision is requested to change the title of the collection from 
``Alaska Quota Cost Recovery Programs'' to ``Alaska Cost Recovery and 
Fee Programs.'' Revisions are necessary to two forms because NMFS AKR 
has finished transitioning to online fee payments and these forms are 
no longer

[[Page 15922]]

used to submit payments by mail. The IFQ Permit Holder Fee Submission 
Form and the Registered Crab Receiver Fee Submission Form have been 
revised and renamed the IFQ Permit Holder Fee Calculation Form and the 
Registered Crab Receiver Fee Calculation Form, respectively.
    This information collection is necessary under the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), which 
authorizes observer deployment fees and cost recovery fees. Section 
304(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act authorizes and requires the 
collection of cost recovery fees for limited access privilege programs 
and community development quota programs. Section 313 of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act authorizes a system of fees to support a fisheries research 
plan and deploy observers in the North Pacific fisheries. The fee 
documentation forms and volume and value reports that are included in 
this collection are necessary to track, verify, and enforce the fee 
collection systems.
    This information collection is required in Federal regulations at 
50 CFR parts 679 and 680. Information on the observer coverage fee and 
cost recovery fee programs is provided on the NMFS Alaska Region 
website at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/commercial-fishing/cost-recovery-programs-fee-collection-and-fee-payment-alaska.
    Cost recovery fees may not exceed 3 percent of the ex-vessel value 
of the fishery, and must recover the incremental (program) costs 
associated with management, data collection, and enforcement of these 
programs that are directly incurred by government agencies tasked with 
overseeing these fisheries. NMFS recovers program costs of seven cost 
recovery programs in this information collection: Pacific Halibut and 
Sablefish Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program; Bering Sea and 
Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Program; Central Gulf of Alaska 
Rockfish Program; Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program; 
American Fisheries Act Program; Aleutian Islands Pollock Program; and 
Amendment 80 Program. The party responsible for paying the cost 
recovery fee varies by program.
    The observer coverage fee funds deployment of observers and 
electronic monitoring in the partial coverage category of the North 
Pacific Observer Program (Observer Program). Unlike the cost recovery 
fees, this is a straight fee and does not recover incremental costs 
associated with the program. NMFS assesses a fee of 1.65 percent of the 
ex-vessel value of groundfish and halibut landed in the partial 
coverage category under the Observer Program. The information collected 
by observers provides scientific information for minimizing bycatch and 
managing the groundfish and halibut fisheries in the Bering Sea and 
Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska.
    Catcher vessel owners split the observer coverage fee with the 
registered buyers or owners of shoreside or stationary floating 
processors. While the owners of catcher vessels and processors in the 
partial coverage category are each responsible for paying their portion 
of the fee, the owners of shoreside or stationary floating processors 
and registered buyers are responsible for collecting the fees from 
catcher vessels, and remitting the full fee to NMFS. Owners of catcher/
processors in the partial coverage category are responsible for 
remitting the full fee to NMFS.
    Processors that receive and purchase landings of IFQ halibut or 
sablefish, rockfish, groundfish, and crab subject to observer and/or 
cost recovery fees must annually submit an ex-vessel volume and value 
report that provides information on the pounds purchased and value 
paid. NMFS uses this information to establish the total ex-vessel value 
of the fishery, calculate standard prices, and establish annual fee 
percentages in each fishery.
    IFQ permit holders and registered crab receivers that do not agree 
with their NMFS assessed fee liability summary and who are paying a 
revised fee, use the fee calculation forms to calculate and submit 
documentation supporting their revised fee.
    Any person who receives an initial administrative determination for 
incomplete payment of a cost recovery fee or observer coverage fee may 
appeal under the appeals procedures set out at 15 CFR part 906.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations; 
Individuals or households.
    Frequency: Annually; as needed.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory, Required to Obtain or Retain 
Benefits.
    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 0648-0711.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2022-05946 Filed 3-18-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P