2024-20942. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Fishing Capacity Reduction Program/Buyback Requests

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Department of Commerce

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 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 May 14, 2024, during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.

Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.

Title: Fishing Capacity Reduction Program/Buyback Requests.

OMB Control Number: 0648-0376.

Form Number(s): None.

Type of Request: Regular submission (extension of a current information collection).

Number of Respondents: 200.

Average Hours Per Response: 0.5 hours for buyback fee collection reports; 4 hours for buyback annual reports.

Total Annual Burden Hours: 930 hours.

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

The Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA) amended the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) to provide for voluntary reduction of excess fishing capacity through fishing capacity reduction (buyback) programs. Excess fishing capacity decreases fisheries earnings, complicates fishery management, and imperils fishery conservation. The statutory objective of a program is “to obtain the maximum sustained reduction in fishing capacity at the least cost and in a minimum period of time.” Buybacks pay fishermen either to: (1) Surrender their fishing permits; or (2) both surrender their permits and either scrap their fishing vessels or restrict vessel title to prevent fishing. Buybacks ( print page 75533) can involve either a Federal or State fishery. Buybacks can be funded via a long-term loan from the Federal government to the fishery (industry-funded buybacks), to be repaid by the industry by post-buyback landing fees, or funded from appropriations (non-industry funded) or other non-loan sources of funds. Programs involving industry-financed loans are authorized by section 1111 of title XI of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936.

NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) established programs to reduce excess fishing capacity by paying fishermen to surrender their vessels/permits. The information collected by NMFS involves the submission of buyback requests by industry, submission of bids, referenda of fishery participants and reporting of collection of fees to repay buyback loans. For buybacks involving State-managed fisheries, the State may be involved in developing the buyback plan and complying with other information requirements. NMFS requests information from participating buyback participants to track repayments of the loans as well as ensure accurate management and monitoring of the loans. The fees for recordkeeping and reporting requirements at 50 CFR parts 600.1013 through 600.1017 form the basis for the collection of information.

Information collections associated with loan creation were removed from the 2021 renewal because no new loans are anticipated moving forward, but the Federal Register notice published on May 14, 2024 (89 FR 41947) included the burden for these removed activities. That error has been corrected in this notice.

Affected Public: Businesses.

Frequency: Monthly and annually.

Respondent's Obligation: Required to Obtain or Retain Benefits.

Legal Authority: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act, Public Law 104-297 section 312(b)-(e).

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 0648-0376.

Sheleen Dumas,

Departmental PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.