Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 181 / Wednesday, September 22, 2021 / Notices 52643 

OMB Control Number: 0648–0538. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Request: Regular [Revision 

and extension of a current information 

collection.]. 

Number of Respondents: 736. 

Average Hours per Response: 3 hours. 

Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,208 

hours. 

Needs and Uses: This request is for a 

revision and extension of a currently 

approved information collection 

through the Environmental Compliance 

Questionnaire for National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration Federal 

Financial Assistance Applicants 

(Questionnaire). This Questionnaire is 

used by the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to 

collect information about proposed 

activities for the purpose of complying 

with the National Environmental Policy 

Act (‘‘NEPA,’’ 42 U.S.C. 4321–4370) and 

other environmental compliance 

requirements associated with proposed 

activities. NEPA requires federal 

agencies to complete an environmental 

analysis for all major federal actions, 

including funding non-federal activities 

through federal financial assistance 

awards where federal participation in 

the funded activity is expected to be 

significant. The Questionnaire is used in 

conjunction with NOAA Notices of 

Funding Opportunity (NOFO). 

The NOFO will indicate the specific 

questions to which an applicant must 

respond in one of three ways: (1) The 

applicable questions are inserted 

directly into the NOFO with reference to 

the OMB Approval Number (0648–0538) 

for this form; (2) the NOFO will specify 

which questions (e.g., 1, 2) an applicant 

must answer, with the entire OMBapproved Questionnaire attached to the 

NOFO; or (3) applicants to be 

recommended for funding will be 

required to answer relevant questions 

from the Questionnaire. The federal 

program officer will determine which 

questions are relevant to each specific 

applicant. Answers must be provided 

before the application can be submitted 

for final funding approval. This 

Questionnaire has been revised to (1) 

remove repetitive questions; (2) revise 

specific questions to use plain language; 

and (3) add 18 new questions that 

would be helpful to a wider range of 

NOAA programs. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

households; Business or other for-profit 

organizations; Not-for-profit 

institutions; State, Local, or Tribal 

government. 

Frequency: Required when 

responding to a NOFO. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Required to 

Obtain or Retain Benefits. 

Legal Authority: National 

Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 

4321–4370). 

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 0648–0538. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Chief Information Officer, Commerce 

Department. 

[FR Doc. 2021–20486 Filed 9–21–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–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; Submission of Conservation 

Efforts To Make Listings Unnecessary 

Under the Endangered Species Act 

AGENCY: National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of Information 

Collection, request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The Department of 

Commerce, in accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(PRA), invites 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. The purpose of this 

notice is to allow for 60 days of public 

comment preceding submission of a 

request for extension of a currently 

approved information collection to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB). 

DATES: To ensure consideration, 

comments regarding this proposed 

extension of an information collection 

must be received on or before November 

22, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments to 

Adrienne Thomas, NOAA PRA Officer, 

at Adrienne.thomas@noaa.gov. Please 

reference OMB Control Number 0648– 

0466 in the subject line of your 

comments. Do not submit Confidential 

Business Information or otherwise 

sensitive or protected information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

specific questions related to collection 

activities should be directed to Lisa 

Manning, National Marine Fisheries 

Service at 301–427–8466 or 

Lisa.Manning@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

The National Marine Fisheries Service 

(NMFS), Office of Protected Resources, 

is sponsoring a request for extension of 

a currently approved information 

collection. 

Under the Endangered Species Act 

(ESA), determinations whether to list 

species as endangered or threatened 

must be based on the best scientific and 

commercial data available, including 

consideration of those efforts, if any, 

being made by any state or foreign 

nation (or any of their political 

subdivisions) to protect the particular 

species. On March 28, 2003, NMFS and 

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the 

‘‘Services’’) announced a final policy on 

the criteria the Services will use to 

evaluate certain conservation efforts by 

states, tribes, and other non-federal 

entities when making listing 

determinations under the ESA (68 FR 

15100). The conservation efforts usually 

involve the development of a 

conservation plan or agreement, 

procedures for monitoring the 

effectiveness of the plan or agreement, 

and an annual report. 

The development of conservation 

plans could prevent some species from 

becoming so imperiled that the only 

recourse is to add them to the list of 

threatened and endangered species 

under the Endangered Species Act. The 

purpose of this policy is to encourage 

such plans and to give applicants 

guidance about how NMFSs will 

evaluate such plans. This policy 

identifies criteria for evaluating the 

certainty of implementation and 

effectiveness of a conservation effort. 

NMFS developed this policy to ensure 

consistent and adequate evaluation of 

agreements and plans in making listing 

decisions and to help States and other 

entities develop agreements and plans 

that will be adequate to make listing 

species unnecessary. 

52644 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 181 / Wednesday, September 22, 2021 / Notices 

II. Method of Collection 

NMFS does not require, but does 

accept, conservation plans and reports 

electronically. NMFS has not developed 

a form to be used for submission of 

plans or reports. In the past, NMFS has 

made plans and annual reports from 

states available through the internet and 

plans to continue this practice. 

III. Data 

OMB Control Number: 0648–0466. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Review: Regular submission 

(extension of a currently approved 

information collection). 

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations; State, local or tribal 

governments. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 1. 

Estimated Time per Response: 2,500 

hours to complete each agreement or 

plan that has the intention of making 

listing unnecessary; 320 hours to 

conduct monitoring for successful 

agreements; and 80 hours to prepare a 

report for successful agreements. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 3,300. 

Estimated Total Annual Cost to 

Public: $150. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

Legal Authority: ESA (16 U.S.C. 1533). 

IV. Request for Comments 

We are soliciting public comments to 

permit NMFS to: (a) Evaluate whether 

the proposed information collection is 

necessary for the proper functions of the 

Department, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(b) Evaluate the accuracy of our estimate 

of the time and cost burden for this 

proposed collection, including the 

validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; (c) Evaluate ways to 

enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 

of the information to be collected; and 

(d) Minimize the reporting burden on 

those who are to respond, including the 

use of automated collection techniques 

or other forms of information 

technology. 

Comments that you submit in 

response to this notice are a matter of 

public record. We will include or 

summarize each comment in our request 

to OMB to approve this information 

collection request. Before including 

your address, phone number, email 

address, or other personal identifying 

information in your comment, you 

should be aware that your entire 

comment—including your personal 

identifying information—may be made 

publicly available at any time. While 

you may ask us in your comment to 

withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Chief Information Officer, Commerce 

Department. 

[FR Doc. 2021–20488 Filed 9–21–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB358] 

Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to 

Specified Activities; Taking Marine 

Mammals Incidental to Elkhorn Slough 

Tidal Marsh Restoration Project, Phase 

III in Monterey County, California 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of an incidental 

harassment authorization. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

regulations implementing the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as 

amended, notification is hereby given 

that NMFS has issued an incidental 

harassment authorization (IHA) to the 

California Department of Fish and 

Wildlife (CDFW) to incidentally harass, 

by Level B harassment only, marine 

mammals during restoration activity 

associated with the Elkhorn Slough 

Tidal Marsh Restoration Project, Phase 

III, in Monterey Bay, California. 

DATES: This authorization is effective 

from September 16, 2021 through 

September 15, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim 

Corcoran, Office of Protected Resources, 

NMFS, (301) 427–8401. Electronic 

copies of the original application and 

supporting documents (including NMFS 

FR notices of the prior authorizations), 

as well as a list of the references cited 

in this document, may be obtained 

online at: https://www.fisheries.

noaa.gov/permit/incidental-takeauthorizations-under-marine-mammalprotection-act. In case of problems 

accessing these documents, please call 

the contact listed above. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The MMPA prohibits the ‘‘take’’ of 

marine mammals, with certain 

exceptions. Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and 

(D) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et 

seq.) direct the Secretary of Commerce 

(as delegated to NMFS) to allow, upon 

request, the incidental, but not 

intentional, taking of small numbers of 

marine mammals by U.S. citizens who 

engage in a specified activity (other than 

commercial fishing) within a specified 

geographical region if certain findings 

are made and either regulations are 

issued or, if the taking is limited to 

harassment, a notice of a proposed 

incidental take authorization may be 

provided to the public for review. 

Authorization for incidental takings 

shall be granted if NMFS finds that the 

taking will have a negligible impact on 

the species or stock(s) and will not have 

an unmitigable adverse impact on the 

availability of the species or stock(s) for 

taking for subsistence uses (where 

relevant). Further, NMFS must prescribe 

the permissible methods of taking and 

other ‘‘means of effecting the least 

practicable adverse impact’’ on the 

affected species or stocks and their 

habitat, paying particular attention to 

rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of 

similar significance, and on the 

availability of such species or stocks for 

taking for certain subsistence uses 

(referred to in shorthand as 

‘‘mitigation’’); and requirements 

pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring 

and reporting of such takings are set 

forth. 

The definitions of all applicable 

MMPA statutory terms cited above are 

included in the relevant sections below. 

Summary of Request 

On June 14, 2021, NMFS received a 

request from CDFW for an IHA to take 

marine mammals incidental to the 

Elkhorn Slough Restoration Project, 

Phase III, at the Seal Bend Restoration 

Area in Monterey Country, CA. The 

application was deemed adequate and 

complete on July 27, 2021. CDFW’s 

request is for take of a small number of 

Pacific harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) by 

Level B harassment only. Neither CDFW 

nor NMFS expects serious injury or 

mortality to result from this activity 

and, therefore, an IHA is appropriate. 

NMFS previously issued an IHA to 

CDFW for Phase I (82 FR 16800; April 

6, 2017) and Phase II (85 FR 14640; 

March 13, 2020) of the Elkhorn Slough 

Restoration Project. Restoration work 

under the 2020 IHA at the MinhotoHester and Seal Bend restoration areas 

was expected to be completed within 

180 days within the 1-year timeframe of 

the IHA. However, on May 3, 2021 

CDFW informed NMFS that the 

estimated 180 days of construction for 

both the Minhoto-Hester and Seal Bend 

Restoration Areas would not be enough 

to complete the project. This 

preliminary estimate did not adequately