24102 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 78 / Friday, April 22, 2022 / Notices 

Wednesday, May 11, 2022; 9 a.m.–5 

p.m., EDT 

The Committees will receive a 

presentation of an update on the 

Number of Active Gulf Shrimp Permits, 

Economic Estimates, and Royal Red 

Shrimp Landings. The Committees will 

review the SEFSC Analysis of Red 

Grouper Stock Assessments using 

Alternative Marine Recreational 

Information Program Landings Data, 

followed by a review of Additional 

Sector Allocation-informed Projections 

for Gulf of Mexico Greater Amberjack. 

The Committees will then hold a 

discussion of the Council’s April 2022 

motion about Goliath Grouper and 

review available data and background 

material for SSC discussion. 

The Committees will review the 

Terms of Reference for the State Reef 

Fish Survey Run of the Southeast Data, 

Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) 72 

base model for Gulf Gag Grouper. Lastly, 

the Committees will receive public 

comment before addressing any items 

under Other Business. 

—Meeting Adjourns 

The meeting will also be broadcast via 

webinar. You may register for the 

webinar by visiting www.gulfcouncil.org 

and clicking on the SSC meeting on the 

calendar. 

The Agenda is subject to change, and 

the latest version along with other 

meeting materials will be posted on 

www.gulfcouncil.org as they become 

available. 

Although other non-emergency issues 

not on the agenda may come before the 

Scientific and Statistical Committees for 

discussion, in accordance with the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, 

those issues may not be the subject of 

formal action during this meeting. 

Actions of the Scientific and Statistical 

Committee will be restricted to those 

issues specifically identified in the 

agenda and any issues arising after 

publication of this notice that require 

emergency action under section 305(c) 

of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, 

provided the public has been notified of 

the Council’s intent to take-action to 

address the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aid 

should be directed to Kathy Pereira, 

(813) 348–1630, at least 5 days prior to 

the meeting date. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: April 19, 2022. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–08609 Filed 4–21–22; 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; Surfclam/Ocean Quahog 

Individual Transferable Quota 

Administration 

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 January 20, 

2022, 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: Surfclam/Ocean Quahog 

Individual Transferable Quota 

Administration. 

OMB Control Number: 0648–0240. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Request: Regular submission 

[extension of a current information 

collection]. 

Number of Respondents: 180. 

Average Hours Per Response: ITQ 

permit application form, review of a 

pre-filled form for renewing entities, 

ITQ transfer form, 5 minutes each; 1 

hour to complete the ITQ ownership 

form for new applicants and 30 minutes 

for the application to shuck surfclams 

and ocean quahogs at sea. The 

requirements under the PSP protocol are 

based on the number of vessels that land 

surfclams or ocean quahogs and the 

number of trips taken into the area, with 

a total estimated annual burden of 2,400 

hours. 

Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,642. 

Needs and Uses: This request is for an 

extension of a currently approved 

collection associated with the Atlantic 

surfclam and ocean quahog fisheries. 

National Marine Fisheries Service 

(NMFS) Greater Atlantic Region 

manages these fisheries in the Exclusive 

Economic Zone (EEZ) of the 

Northeastern United States through the 

Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The 

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council prepared the FMP pursuant to 

the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act). The 

regulations implementing the FMP are 

specified at 50 CFR part 648. 

The recordkeeping and reporting 

requirements at §§ 648.74, 648.75, and 

648.76 form the basis for this collection 

of information. We request information 

from surfclam and ocean quahog 

individual transferable quota (ITQ) 

permit holders to issue ITQ permits and 

to process and track requests from 

permit holders to transfer quota share or 

cage tags. We also request information 

from surfclam and ocean quahog ITQ 

permit holders to track and properly 

account for surfclam and ocean quahog 

harvest shucked at sea. Because there is 

not a standard conversion factor for 

estimating unshucked product from 

shucked product, NMFS requires 

vessels that shuck product at sea to 

carry on board the vessel a NMFSapproved observer to certify the amount 

of these clams harvested. This 

information, upon receipt, results in an 

efficient and accurate database for 

management and monitoring of fisheries 

of the Northeastern U.S. EEZ. 

Georges Bank has been closed to the 

harvest of surfclams and ocean quahogs 

since 1990 due to red tide blooms that 

cause paralytic shellfish poisoning 

(PSP). We reopened a portion of the 

Georges Bank Closed Area starting in 

2012 under certain conditions. We 

request information from surfclam and 

ocean quahog ITQ permit holders who 

fish in the reopened area to ensure 

compliance with the Protocol for 

Onboard Screening and Dockside 

Testing in Molluscan Shellfish. The U.S. 

Food and Drug Administration, the 

commercial fishing industry, and NMFS 

developed the PSP protocol to test and 

verify that clams harvested from 

Georges Bank continue to be safe for 

human consumption. The National 

Shellfish Sanitation Program adopted 

the PSP protocol at the October 2011 

Interstate Shellfish Sanitation 

Conference. 

The Council has approved 

Amendment 20 to the Surfclam and 

Ocean Quahog FMP, which would 

implement an excessive shares cap in 

this fishery. If that action is approved 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 78 / Friday, April 22, 2022 / Notices 24103 

and implemented, some of the fields in 

the ITQ ownership form and the ITQ 

transfer form may change as a result. 

Any revisions to this collection will be 

specified in the proposed rule for the 

amendment. 

Affected Public: Individuals and 

Business or other for-profit 

organizations. 

Frequency: Frequency varies from 

collection to collection (e.g., annual, per 

trip, as requested by public). 

Respondent’s Obligation: Obligation 

varies from collection to collection (e.g., 

mandatory, voluntary, required to retain 

benefits). 

Legal Authority: Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq, Section 303). 

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 0648–0240. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Chief Information Officer, Commerce 

Department. 

[FR Doc. 2022–08661 Filed 4–21–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB775] 

Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to 

Specified Activities; Taking Marine 

Mammals Incidental to Marine Site 

Characterization Surveys Off New 

Jersey and New York for Atlantic 

Shores Offshore Wind, LLC 

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 IHA to 

Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, LLC to 

incidentally harass marine mammals 

during marine site characterization 

surveys off New Jersey and New York. 

DATES: This Authorization is effective 

from April 20, 2022 through April 19, 

2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kelsey Potlock, Office of Protected 

Resources, NMFS, (301) 427–8401. 

Electronic copies of the application and 

supporting documents, as well as a list 

of the references cited in this document, 

may be obtained online at: https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/ 

incidental-take-authorizations-undermarine-mammal-protection-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 the 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 the 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 August 16, 2021, NMFS received 

a request from Atlantic Shores for an 

IHA to take marine mammals incidental 

to marine site characterization surveys 

occurring in three locations (Lease Area 

and Export Cable Routes (ECR) North 

and South) off of New Jersey and New 

York in and around the area of 

Commercial Lease of Submerged Lands 

for Renewable Energy Development on 

the Outer Continental Shelf Lease Area 

(OCS)–A 0499. The application was 

deemed adequate and complete on 

December 13, 2021. Atlantic Shores’ 

request is for take of a small number of 

15 species of marine mammals 

(comprised of 16 stocks) by Level B 

harassment only. Neither Atlantic 

Shores nor NMFS expects serious injury 

or mortality to result from this activity; 

therefore, an IHA is appropriate. 

Description of Activities 

Overview 

As part of its overall marine site 

characterization survey operations, 

Atlantic Shores will conduct highresolution geophysical (HRG) surveys in 

and around the Lease Area (OCS)–A 

0499 and along potential submarine 

cable routes (ECRs North and South) to 

a landfall location in either New York 

or New Jersey. 

The purpose of these surveys are to 

support the site characterization, siting, 

and engineering design of offshore wind 

facilities including wind turbine 

generators, offshore substations, and 

submarine cables within the Lease Area 

and along export cable routes (ECRs). As 

many as three survey vessels may 

operate concurrently. 360 days of survey 

days are planned with vessels operating 

for 24-hours as part of the planned 

surveys (Table 1). Underwater sound 

resulting from Atlantic Shores’ planned 

site characterization survey activities, 

specifically certain acoustic sources 

operating at <180 kilohertz (kHz), has 

the potential to result in incidental take 

of marine mammals in the form of 

behavioral harassment (Table 2). 

TABLE 1—NUMBER OF SURVEY DAYS

THAT ATLANTIC SHORES PLANS TO

PERFORM THE DESCRIBED HRG 

SURVEY ACTIVITIES

Survey area 

Number 

of active 

survey days 

expected 1

Lease Area ............................... 120 

ECR North ................................ 180 

ECR South ................................ 60 

Total ................................... 360 

1Surveys in each area may temporally overlap; therefore, actual number of days of activity in a given year would be less than 360. 


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