2023-04199. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; NOAA Teacher at Sea Program

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 November 4, 2022 (87 FR 66658) during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.

Agency: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.

Title: NOAA Teacher at Sea Program Application.

OMB Control Number: 0648-0283.

Form Number(s): None.

Type of Request: Regular submission (extension of a currently approved collection).

Number of Respondents: 375.

Average Hours per Response: Application: 1 hr. 15 min; Recommendations: 15 minutes; NOAA Health Services Questionnaire and Tuberculosis Screening Document: 45 minutes; Follow-up Report: 2 hours.

Total Annual Burden Hours: 781.

Needs and Uses: This request is for extension of a currently approved information collection.

NOAA provides educators an opportunity to gain first-hand experience with field research activities through the Teacher at Sea Program. Through this program, educators spend up to 3 weeks at sea on a NOAA research vessel, participating in an ongoing research project with NOAA scientists. The application solicits information from interested educators including: basic personal information, teaching experience, and ideas for applying program experience in their classrooms, plus two recommendations and a NOAA Health Services Questionnaire required of anyone selected to participate in the program.

Once educators are selected and participate on a cruise, they write a report detailing the events of the cruise and ideas for classroom activities based on what they learned while at sea. These materials are then made available to other educators so they may benefit from the experience, without actually going to sea by themselves. This collection supports NOAA's mission by providing educators an opportunity to gain first-hand experience with field research activities through the Teacher at Sea Program.

NOAA does not collect information from this universe of respondents for any other purpose than to determine which educators will participate in the NOAA Teacher at Sea Program.

Affected Public: Individuals—Educators.

Frequency: Once a year.

Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.

Legal Authority: National Marine Sanctuaries Act.

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 0648-0283.

Sheleen Dumas,

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Commerce Department.