2018-04806. Request for Comments on the Renewal of a Previously Approved Information Collection: Procedures for Determining Vessel Services Categories for Purposes of the Cargo Preference Act

AGENCY:

Maritime Administration, DOT.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below is being forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comments. The Maritime Administration will use the data submitted by vessel operators to create a list of Vessel Self-Designations and determine whether the Agency agrees or disagrees with a vessel owner's designation of a vessel. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following information collection was published on December 5, 2017.

DATES:

Comments must be submitted on or before April 9, 2018.

ADDRESSES:

Send comments regarding the burden estimate, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to the Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the Office of the Secretary of Transportation, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the Department's performance; (b) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (c) ways for the Department to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information collection; and (d) ways that the burden could be minimized without reducing the quality of the collected information. The agency will summarize and/or include your comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this information collection.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jan Downing, 202-366-0783, Office of Cargo and Commercial Sealift, Maritime Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W23-308, Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Procedures for Determining Vessel Services Categories for Purposes of the Cargo Preference Act.

OMB Control Number: 2133-0540.

Type of Request: Renewal of a Previously Approved Information Collection.

Abstract: The purpose is to provide information to be used in the designation of service categories of individual vessels for purposes of compliance with the Cargo Preference Act under a Memorandum of Understanding entered into by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Maritime Administration. The Maritime Administration will use the data submitted by vessel operators to create a list of Vessel Self-Designations and determine whether the Agency agrees or disagrees with a vessel owner's designation of a vessel. It will use data submitted with re-designation requests to determine whether or not a vessel should be re-designated into a different service category.

Respondents: Owners or operators of U.S.-registered vessels and foreign-registered vessels.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 200.

Estimated Number of Responses: 200.

Estimated Hours per Response: 0.25.

Annual Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 50.

Frequency of Response: Annually.

(Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.93.)

* * * * *

By Order of the Maritime Administrator.

Dated: March 6, 2018.

T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.,

Secretary, Maritime Administration.