2017-23057. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).

Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Title: Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program.

OMB Control Number: 0648-0432.

Form Number(s): None.

Type of Request: Regular (revision and extension of a currently approved information collection).

Number of Respondents: 600.

Average Hours per Response: Dr. Nancy Foster application form: 8 hours; Letter of Recommendation: 45 minutes; Bio/Photograph Submission: 1 hour; Annual Report: 1 hour, 30 minutes; and Evaluation: 15 minutes.

Burden Hours: 1,917.

Needs and Uses: This request is for a revision and extension of a current information collection. The evaluation form has been completely redesigned.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) collects, evaluates and assesses student data and information for the purpose of selecting successful scholarship candidates, generating internal NOAA reports and articles to demonstrate the success of its program. The Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program is available to graduate students pursuing masters and doctoral degrees in the areas of marine biology, oceanography and maritime archaeology. The ONMS requires applicants to the Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program to complete an application and to supply references (e.g., from academic professors and advisors) in support of the scholarship application. Scholarship recipients are required to conduct a pre- and post-evaluation of their studies through the scholarship program to gather information about the level of knowledge, skills and behavioral changes that take place with the students before and after their program participation. The evaluation results support ONMS performance measures.

Affected Public: Individuals or households.

Frequency: Annually and on occasion.

Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.

This information collection request may be viewed at reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to [e-mail] or fax to [phone].

Dated: October 19, 2017.

Sarah Brabson,

NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.