Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 8, 2021 / Notices 30445 

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. 2021–11928 Filed 6–7–21; 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; Questionnaire for National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration Federal Financial 

Assistance Applicants 

AGENCY: National Oceanic & 

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 the 

collection to OMB. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, 

comments regarding this proposed 

information collection must be received 

on or before August 9, 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– 

0538 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 Frank M. 

Sprtel, (301) 628–1641 or frank.sprtel@

noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

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) update specific questions to use 

plain language, and (2) add questions 

that would be helpful to a wider range 

of NOAA programs. 

II. Method of Collection 

The information may be submitted 

electronically or on paper (faxed or 

mailed). 

III. Data 

OMB Control Number: 0648–0538. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Review: Regular submission. 

Revision and extension of a current 

information collection. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

households; Business or other for-profit 

organizations; Not-for-profit 

institutions; State, Local, or Tribal 

government. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

736. 

Estimated Time per Response: 3.375 

hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 1,030. 

Estimated Total Annual Cost to 

Public: $0 in recordkeeping/reporting 

costs. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Required to 

obtain or retain benefits. 

Legal Authority: National 

Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 

4321–4370). 

IV. Request for Comments 

We are soliciting public comments to 

permit the Department/Bureau 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 ICR. 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. 2021–12000 Filed 6–7–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–12–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB144] 

New England Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
30446 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 8, 2021 / Notices 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery 

Management Council (Council, NEFMC) 

will hold a three-day meeting to 

consider actions affecting New England 

fisheries in the exclusive economic zone 

(EEZ). Due to ongoing public safety 

considerations related to COVID–19, 

this meeting will be conducted entirely 

by webinar. 

DATES: The webinar meeting will be 

held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and 

Thursday, June 22–24, 2021, beginning 

at 9 a.m. each day. 

ADDRESSES: All meeting participants 

and interested parties can register to 

join the webinar at https://

attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/ 

575795962545827087. 

Council address: New England 

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 

Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; 

telephone: (978) 465–0492; 

www.nefmc.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, 

New England Fishery Management 

Council; telephone: (978) 465–0492, ext. 

113. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Agenda 

Tuesday, June 22, 2021 

After introductions and brief 

announcements, the Council will 

receive reports on recent activities from 

its Chairman and Executive Director, 

NMFS’s Greater Atlantic Regional 

Fisheries Office (GARFO) Regional 

Administrator, the Northeast Fisheries 

Science Center (NEFSC) Director, the 

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council liaison, staff from the Atlantic 

States Marine Fisheries Commission 

(ASMFC), and representatives from 

NOAA General Counsel, the U.S. Coast 

Guard, NOAA’s Office of Law 

Enforcement, the Stellwagen Bank 

National Marine Sanctuary, and the 

Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel. Next, 

members of the public will have the 

opportunity to speak during an open 

comment period on issues that relate to 

Council business but are not included 

on the published agenda for this 

meeting. The Council asks the public to 

limit remarks to 3–5 minutes. These 

comments will be received through the 

webinar. A guide for how to publicly 

comment through the webinar is 

available on the Council website at 

https://s3.amazonaws.com/nefmc.org/ 

NEFMC-meeting-remote-participation_

generic.pdf. Following the public 

comment period, the Council will: (1) 

Receive a briefing from the Acting 

NOAA Fisheries Assistant 

Administrator on a draft White House 

report titled ‘‘Conserving and Restoring 

America the Beautiful’’; and (2) discuss 

how it applies to fisheries. Related to 

this report, the Council also will discuss 

the Council Coordination Committee’s 

(CCC) decision to form a CCC 

subcommittee on area-based 

management to address items in the 

draft White House report related to 

increasing fisheries conservation 

through expanded usage of area-based 

management. Next, the Council will 

receive a presentation on a draft NMFS 

procedural directive on applying 

information law to electronic 

monitoring (EM) data in U.S. fisheries. 

The Council will approve comments on 

the draft directive. 

Following the lunch break, the 

Council will receive the Habitat 

Committee Report, which will include: 

(1) Updates from GARFO, NEFSC, and 

the Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM) on offshore windrelated projects and activities; and (2) 

updates on the Council’s habitat-related 

work, including efforts to revise the 

Council’s Wind Energy Policy. The 

Scallop Committee Report will be next. 

The Council will discuss and approve 

research priorities for the 2022–23 

Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) 

Program. It also will initiate Framework 

Adjustment 34 to the Atlantic Sea 

Scallop Fishery Management Plan 

(FMP), which will include 2022 fishery 

specifications, 2023 default 

specifications, and other measures. 

Additionally, the Council will receive a 

short update on work being done to 

evaluate the scallop fishery’s rotational 

area management program. Finally, the 

Council will review a letter from the 

Scallopers Campaign that was sent to 

NMFS requesting secretarial action to 

implement a scallop leasing program. At 

the request of GARFO, the Council will 

approve a response to this letter. As the 

final order of business for the day, the 

Council will receive an update from 

GARFO on the 2021 Atlantic Sea 

Scallop Biological Opinion to address 

turtle interactions in the fishery. 

Wednesday, June 23, 2021 

The Council will start off the day with 

a progress report from its Atlantic 

Herring Committee, which will begin 

with a discussion of Framework 

Adjustment 9 to the Atlantic Herring 

FMP. First, the Council will: (1) Receive 

the Scientific and Statistical 

Committee’s (SSC) recommendations on 

herring rebuilding plan alternatives to 

address the overfished status of Atlantic 

herring; and (2) receive an update on the 

framework’s rebuilding plan 

alternatives, as well as measures to 

potentially adjust herring accountability 

measures. Second, the Council will 

receive an update on Framework 

Adjustment 7, which is an action to 

protect adult spawning herring on 

Georges Bank. Next, the Council will 

take up 2021–25 Council Research 

Priorities by first hearing the SSC’s 

recommendations on research priorities 

and then discussing and approving the 

final list. 

Following the lunch break, the 

Council will receive the Groundfish 

Report, which will cover three items. 

The first item relates to acceptable 

biological catch (ABC) control rules. 

The Council will receive a presentation 

on a draft report titled ‘‘Evaluation of 

Alternative Harvest Control Rules for 

New England Groundfish,’’ which will 

be followed by the SSC’s comments on 

the ABC control rule presentation and 

report. The Council then will discuss 

the draft report, as well as the SSC’s 

comments, and provide further 

guidance as needed on the work being 

done to evaluate an alternative ABC 

control rule for groundfish. Next, the 

Council will receive a progress report on 

the Atlantic Cod Stock Structure 

Working Groups’ public workshops and 

other activities. Then, the Council will 

initiate Framework Adjustment 62 to 

the Groundfish FMP, which will 

include (1) 2022 total allowable catches 

(TACs) for U.S./Canada shared 

resources on Georges Bank (GB), (2) 

2022–24 specifications for GB cod, Gulf 

of Maine (GOM) cod, GB haddock, and 

GOM haddock, (3) 2022–23 

specifications for GB yellowtail and 

2022 specifications for white hake, and 

(4) other measures. The Council then 

will adjourn for the day. 

Thursday, June 24, 2021 

The Council will begin the third day 

of its meeting with the Skate Committee 

Report, which will include three items: 

(1) An update on 2022–23 

specifications; (2) an update on 

Amendment 5 to the Northeast Skate 

Complex FMP; and (3) consideration of 

updating the existing control dates for 

both the skate wing and skate bait 

fisheries. Then, the Council will discuss 

and approve comments on a draft NMFS 

policy directive and procedural 

guidance for financial disclosures and 

recusals for regional fishery 

management councils. Next, the Council 

will hear from its Ecosystem-Based 

Fishery Management (EBFM) 

Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) 

Steering Committee. The Council will 

review and approve the Steering 

Committee’s plan for informational 

workshops using public outreach 

materials and focusing on potential 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 8, 2021 / Notices 30447 

application to a Georges Bank example 

Fishery Ecosystem Plan (eFEP). 

Following the lunch break, the 

Council will be briefed on the NOAA 

Fisheries Southeast Region’s for-hire 

electronic reporting requirements and 

their application to New England 

recreational party/charter vessels that 

possess permits for South Atlantic 

species. Next, the Council will receive 

a presentation from the NMFS Highly 

Migratory Species (HMS) Management 

Division on Amendment 13 to the 

Consolidated HMS Fishery Management 

Plan, which focuses on bluefin tuna 

issues. The Council will discuss and 

approve comments on this proposed 

rule. Immediately following, the 

Council will receive reports on recent 

meetings of NMFS’s HMS Advisory 

Panel and the Advisory Committee to 

the U.S. Section of the International 

Commission for the Conservation of 

Atlantic Tunas. The Council then will 

close out the meeting with other 

business. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained on this agenda may come 

before the Council for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during this meeting. Council 

action will be restricted to those issues 

specifically listed in this notice and any 

issues arising after publication of this 

notice that require emergency action 

under section 305(c) of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act, provided the public 

has been notified of the Council’s intent 

to take final action to address the 

emergency. The public also should be 

aware that the meeting will be recorded. 

Consistent with 16 U.S.C. 1852, a copy 

of the recording is available upon 

request. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is being conducted 

entirely by webinar. Requests for 

auxiliary aids should be directed to 

Thomas A. Nies (see ADDRESSES) at least 

5 days prior to the meeting date. 

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

Dated: June 3, 2021. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–11986 Filed 6–7–21; 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; Applications and Reporting 

Requirements for the Incidental Take 

of Marine Mammals by Specified 

Activities Under the Marine Mammal 

Protection Act 

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 29, 

2021 (86 FR 7544) during a 60-day 

comment period. This notice allows for 

an additional 30 days for public 

comments. 

Agency: National Oceanic & 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

Title: Applications and Reporting 

Requirements for the Incidental Take of 

Marine Mammals by Specified 

Activities Under the Marine Mammal 

Protection Act. 

OMB Control Number: 0648–0151. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Request: Regular submission 

(extension of a current information 

collection). 

Number of Respondents: 699. 

Average Hours per Response: 281 

hours for an Incidental Harassment 

Authorization (IHA) application; 30 

hours for an IHA Interim Draft Report; 

140 hours for an IHA draft annual 

report; 28 hours for an IHA final annual 

report (if applicable); 1,200 hours for the 

initial preparation of an application for 

new regulations; 70 hours for an annual 

Letter of Authorization (LOA) 

application; 225 hours for an LOA draft 

annual report; 70 hours for a LOA final 

annual report (if applicable); 640 hours 

for a LOA draft comprehensive report; 

300 hours for an LOA final 

comprehensive report; 140 hours for a 

Gulf of Mexico Rule (GOM) draft annual 

report; 28 hours for a GOM final annual 

report; and 1,540 hours for PAM/PSO 

Surveys. Response times will vary for 

the public based upon the complexity of 

the requested action. 

Total Annual Burden Hours: 259,743. 

Needs and Uses: This request is for an 

extension of a currently approved 

information collection, 0648–0151. 

The Marine Mammal Protection Act 

of 1972 (MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) 

prohibits the ‘‘take’’ of marine mammals 

unless otherwise authorized or 

exempted by law. Among the provisions 

that allow for lawful take of marine 

mammals, sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) 

of the MMPA direct the Secretary of 

Commerce 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, after notice and opportunity for 

public comment, we find that the taking 

will have a negligible impact on the 

affected species or stock(s) and will not 

have an unmitigable adverse impact on 

the availability of the species or stock(s) 

for subsistence uses (where relevant). 

NMFS also must set forth the 

permissible methods of taking; other 

means of effecting the least practicable 

adverse impact on the species or stock 

and its habitat (mitigation); and 

requirements pertaining to the 

monitoring and reporting of such taking. 

NMFS Office of Protected Resources 

leads the process for the agency. 

Issuance of an incidental take 

authorization (Authorization) under 

section 101(a)(5)(A) or 101(a)(5)(D) of 

the MMPA requires three sets of 

information collection: (1) A complete 

application for an Authorization, as set 

forth in our implementing regulations at 

50 CFR 216.104, which provides the 

information necessary for us to make the 

necessary statutory determinations, 

including estimates of take and an 

assessment of impacts on the affected 

species and stocks; (2) information 

relating to required monitoring; and (3) 

information related to required 

reporting. These collections of 

information enable us to: (1) Evaluate 

the proposed activity’s impact on 

marine mammals; (2) arrive at the 

appropriate determinations required by 

the MMPA and other applicable laws 

prior to issuing the authorization; and 

(3) monitor impacts of activities for 

which we have issued Authorizations to 

determine if our predictions regarding 

impacts on marine mammals remain 

valid. 

We do not propose any changes to the 

information collection beyond expecting 

an increased number of respondents and 

responses due to increases in the 

number of requests for incidental take 

authorizations and requests for Letters 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES