Emergency Justification Letter

o

u.s. Department
Of Transportation
Maritime
Administration

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20590

September 9, 2009

Mr. Kevin Neyland
Acting Administrator,
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Office of Management and Budget
Washington, DC
Dear Mr. Neyland:
The Department of Transportation requests, on behalf of the Maritime Administration
(MARAD), emergency processing of a request for approval of a collection of information
concerning applications for self-designation for the service category of vessels for purposes of
compliance with the Cargo Preference Act (CPA).
The purpose of this collection of information is to allow MARAD to implement the terms of an
interagency memorandum of understanding (MOU). The MOU requires all concerned vessel
owners to send self-designation requests to MARAD by October 1,2009, if they decide to do so.
This is necessary so that MARAD can publish a list of all self-designations for public comment
by October 7, 2009. Comments must be received by October 17,2009, after which MARAD
would have 15 days to disagree with a vessel owner's self-designation. This brief time frame is
necessary to MARAD's mission in implementing the CPA in the context of long-standing
litigation and -interagency disagreements about interpretation of the CPA, which the MOU acts
to resolve.
It is clear that the normal Paperwork Reduction Act (PRO) process set forth in 5 CFR Part 1320
is incompatible with this time frame, and application of the normal PRA process would create
public harm by preventing the timely implementation of the MOU, which provides a clear
process through which vessel owners can determine the status of their vessels for CPA purposes.

We request immediate consideration of this request by the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) on the day that it is received. The MOU itself was the product of interagency
negotiation, and the comment process established by a Federal Register notice that we will be

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publishing upon OMB's approval of this emergency request will provide an opportunity for
public input concerning the burden placed on respondents.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,

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2

A.

Murral{ Bloom
Acting Secretary,
Maritime Administration