[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 181 (Wednesday, September 22, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52642-52643]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20486]


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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; Questionnaire for National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration Federal Financial Assistance Applicants

    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 June 8, 2021 (86 FR 30445) 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: Questionnaire for National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration Federal Financial Assistance Applicants.

[[Page 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 OMB-
approved 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]
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