2020-14679. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; West Coast Region Vessel Monitoring System and Pre-Trip Reporting System Requirements

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 April 2, 2020 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.

Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Title: West Coast Region Vessel Monitoring System and Pre-Trip Reporting System Requirements.

OMB Control Number: 0648-0498.

Form Number(s): None.

Type of Request: Regular [extension of a current information collection].

Number of Respondents: 53.

Average Hours per Response: Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) installation—4hrs; Maintenance and repair of VMS units—1hr; VMS activation reports, on/off notifications, and pre-trip reports—5 minutes each.

Total Annual Burden Hours: 157.

Needs and Uses: This request is for extension of a current information collection. This collection applies to owners and operators of U.S. commercial fishing vessels that fish in the West Coast exclusive economic zone and the eastern Pacific Ocean waters of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) Convention Area for highly migratory species (HMS) as defined by the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the United States (U.S.) West Coast Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species, as well as a broader group of tuna and tuna-like species covered by the IATTC. These vessel owners and operators are required to submit information about their intended and actual fishing activities. These submissions would allow the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Pacific Fisheries Management Council to monitor the fisheries. Submissions include pre-trip reporting requirements and vessel monitoring systems (VMS). Pre-trip reporting requirements are essential for effectively and efficiently assigning available observer coverage to selected HMS vessels. Data collected by observers are critical to evaluate that the objectives of the HMS FMP are being achieved and for evaluating the impacts of potential changes in fishery management. VMS units facilitate enforcement of management measures associated with HMS fisheries, provide timely information on associated fleet activities and enable confirmation of reported vessel fishing activity locations, which help validate logbook record accuracy.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.

Frequency: One time, annually and on occasion.

Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.

Legal Authority: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006.

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 0648-0498.

Sheleen Dumas,

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