04-21778. Information Collection Available for Public Comments and Recommendations

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Maritime Administration's (MARAD's) intention to request extension of approval for three years of a currently approved information collection.

DATES:

Comments should be submitted on or before November 29, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Christopher Krusa, Maritime Administration, 400 Seventh St., SW., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: [phone], FAX: [phone]; or e-mail: [e-mail]. Copies of this collection also can be obtained from that office.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title of Collection: Supplementary Training Course Application.

Type of Request: Extension of currently approved information collection.

OMB Control Number: 2133-0030.

Form Numbers: MA-823.

Expiration Date of Approval: Three years from date of approval by the Office of Management and Budget.

Summary of Collection of Information: Section 1305(a) of the Maritime Education and Training Act of 1980 indicates that the Secretary of Transportation may provide maritime-related training to merchant mariners of the United States and to individuals preparing for a career in the merchant marine of the United States. Also, the U.S. Coast Guard requires a fire-fighting certificate for U.S. merchant marine officers. This collection provides the information necessary for the maritime schools to plan their course offerings and for applicants to complete their certificate requirements.

Need and Use of the Information: This information collection is necessary for eligibility assessment, enrollment, attendance verification and recordation. Without this information, the courses would not be documented for future reference by the program or individual student.

Description of Respondents: U.S. Merchant Marine Seamen, both officers and unlicensed personnel, and other U.S. citizens employed in other areas of waterborne commerce.

Annual Responses: 500.

Annual Burden: 25 hours.

Comments: Comments should refer to the docket number that appears at the top of this document. Written comments may be submitted to the Docket Clerk, U.S. DOT Dockets, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Comments also may be submitted by electronic means via the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov/​submit. Specifically address whether this information collection is necessary for proper performance of the functions of the agency and will have practical utility, accuracy of the burden estimates, ways to minimize this burden, and ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected. All comments received will be available for examination at the above address between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. EDT (or EST), Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays. An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide Web at http://dms.dot.gov.

Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78) or you may visit http://dms.dot.gov.

(Authority: 49 CFR 1.66.)

By order of the Maritime Administrator,

Dated: September 23, 2004.

Joel C. Richard,

Secretary, Maritime Administration.