60d FRN

Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 153 / Wednesday, August 8, 2018 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Proposed Information Collection;
Comment Request; International
Fisheries Trade To Include Shrimp and
Abalone
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

The Department of
Commerce, as part of its continuing
effort to reduce paperwork and
respondent burden, invites the general
public and other Federal agencies to
take this opportunity to comment on
proposed and/or continuing information
collections, as required by the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
DATES: Written comments must be
submitted on or before October 9, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments
to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental
Paperwork Clearance Officer,
Department of Commerce, Room 6616,
14th and Constitution Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20230 (or via the
internet at pracomments@doc.gov).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or
copies of the information collection
instrument and instructions should be
directed to: Celeste Leroux at (301) 427–
8372 or Celeste.Leroux@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES

SUMMARY:

I. Abstract
The Seafood Traceability Program (see
50 CFR 300.320–300.325) is the first
phase of a risk-based traceability
program, which establishes permit,
reporting and recordkeeping
requirements needed to prevent illegally
harvested and misrepresented seafood
from entering into U.S. Commerce. In
the development of the Seafood
Traceability Program rule, 13 ‘‘priority’’
species were identified as being most at
risk for Illegal, Unreported, and
Unregulated (IUU) fishing and
misrepresentation, and are the only
species currently subject to this
program. For two of those species
(abalone and shrimp), NMFS stayed
program requirements indefinitely (50
CFR 300.324(a)(3)). See 81 FR 88975
(December 9, 2016). A final rule was
published on April 24, 2018 (83 FR
17762) which lifted the stay and
established a compliance date of
December 31, 2018 for shrimp and
abalone.
NMFS had stayed requirements for
abalone and shrimp because gaps

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existed in the collection of traceability
information for domestic aquacultureraised shrimp and abalone, which is
currently largely regulated at the state
level. During development of the
Seafood Traceability Program, NMFS
explored the possibility of working with
its state partners to establish reporting
and recordkeeping requirements for
aquaculture traceability information that
could be shared with NMFS. However,
this did not prove to be a viable
approach. See 81 FR at 88977–78. In the
Seafood Import Monitoring Program
final rule, NMFS explained that ‘‘[A]t
such time that the domestic reporting
and recordkeeping gaps have been
closed, NMFS will then publish an
action in the Federal Register to lift the
stay of the effective date for
§ 300.324(a)(3) of the rule pertaining to
shrimp and abalone. Adequate advance
notice to the trade community would be
provided’’ to ensure all affected parties
have sufficient time to come into
compliance.
On March 23, 2018, the Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2018 (Pub. L.
115–141) was signed by the President
and became law. Section 539 of Division
B of the Act directed the Secretary of
Commerce to, within 30 days, ‘‘lift the
stay on the effective date of the final
rule for the Seafood Traceability
Program published by the Secretary on
December 9, 2016, (81 FR 88975 et seq.)
for the species described in
§ 300.324(a)(3) of title 50, Code of
Federal Regulations: Provided that the
compliance date for the species
described in § 300.324(a)(3) of title 50,
Code of Federal Regulations, shall occur
not later than December 31, 2018.’’ A
final rule was issued to implement the
Act (83 FR 17762, April 24, 2018) and
provides that shrimp and abalone will
be subject to the requirements of the
Seafood Traceability Program under 50
CFR 300.324(a)(3), with a compliance
date December 31, 2018.
The Program consists of two
components: (1) Reporting of harvest
events at the time of entry; and (2)
permitting and recordkeeping
requirements with respect to both
harvest events and chain of custody
information. See 50 CFR 300.324 and id.
§§ 300.320–300.323 and 300.325.
Application of the program’s reporting
and recordkeeping requirements to
shrimp and abalone will enable audits
of imports to be conducted to determine
the origin of the products and confirm
that they were lawfully acquired.
The final rule to lift the stay on
shrimp and abalone contains a
collection-of-information requirement
subject to review and approval by OMB

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39077

under the Paperwork Reduction Act
(PRA).
OMB had previously approved the
information collection requirements for
the Seafood Traceability Program under
Control Number 0648–0739, but the
burden estimates did not include the
requirements for shrimp and abalone
given the stay. The requirements for
permitting, reporting and recordkeeping
for imports of shrimp and abalone will
be submitted to OMB for approval.
II. Method of Collection
As of the December 31, 2018
compliance date established by the final
rule to lift the stay, importers of shrimp
and abalone species will be required to
obtain an International Fisheries Trade
Permit as specified at 50 CFR 300.322,
submit harvest and landing information
on those products into the U.S. Customs
and Border Protection International
Trade Data System (ITDS) through the
Automated Commercial Environment
(ACE) portal prior to entry into U.S.
Commerce, and maintain supply chain
records from the point of harvest to the
point of entry into U.S Commerce for a
period of two years after entry.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0648–xxxx.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Review: Regular submission
(request for a new information
collection).
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
2,000.
Estimated Time per Response:
International Fisheries Trade Permit, 5
minutes; data entry, 1 hour.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 215,167.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to
Public: $805,000 in recordkeeping/
reporting costs.
IV. Request for Comments
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether
the proposed collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance
of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information shall have
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden
(including hours and cost) of the
proposed collection of information; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on respondents, including through the
use of automated collection techniques
or other forms of information
technology.
Comments submitted in response to
this notice will be summarized and/or

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39078

Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 153 / Wednesday, August 8, 2018 / Notices

included in the request for OMB
approval of this information collection;
they also will become a matter of public
record.
Dated: August 3, 2018.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018–16987 Filed 8–7–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XG348

Nominations for Advisory Committee
and Species Working Group Technical
Advisor Appointments to the U.S.
Section to the International
Commission for the Conservation of
Atlantic Tunas
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of request for
nominations.
AGENCY:

NMFS is soliciting
nominations to the Advisory Committee
to the U.S. Section to the International
Commission for the Conservation of
Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) as established
by the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act
(ATCA). NMFS is also soliciting
nominations for Technical Advisors to
the Advisory Committee’s species
working groups.
DATES: Nominations must be received
by October 1, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Nominations, including a
letter of interest and a resume or
curriculum vitae, should be sent via
email to Terra Lederhouse at
terra.lederhouse@noaa.gov with a copy
to Grace Ferrara at grace.ferrara@
noaa.gov. Include in the subject line
whether the nomination is for the
Advisory Committee or for a Technical
Advisor to a species working group.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Grace Ferrara, Office of International
Affairs and Seafood Inspection;
telephone: (301) 427–8371; email:
grace.ferrara@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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SUMMARY:

The Convention and the Commission
ICCAT was established to provide an
effective program of international
cooperation in research and
conservation in recognition of the
unique problems related to the highly
migratory nature of tunas and tuna-like
species. The International Convention

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for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
(Convention) entered into force in 1969
after receiving the required number of
ratifications. The Commission holds its
Annual Meeting, usually in November
of each year, and convenes meetings of
working groups and other ICCAT bodies
between annual meetings as needed.
Under Section 971a of ATCA (16 U.S.C.
971 et seq.), the United States is
represented on the Commission by not
more than three U.S. Commissioners.
Additional information is available at
www.iccat.int.
Advisory Committee and Species
Working Groups to the U.S. Section to
the ICCAT
Section 971b of ATCA (16 U.S.C. 971
et seq.) requires that an advisory
committee be established that shall be
comprised of: (1) Not less than 5 nor
more than 20 individuals appointed by
the U.S. Commissioners to ICCAT who
shall select such individuals from the
various groups concerned with the
fisheries covered by the ICCAT
Convention; and (2) the chairs (or their
designees) of the New England, MidAtlantic, South Atlantic, Caribbean, and
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management
Councils. Each member of the Advisory
Committee appointed under paragraph
(1) shall serve for a term of 2 years and
be eligible for reappointment. The
Committee meets at least twice a year
when members receive information and
provide advice on ICCAT-related
matters. All members of the Advisory
Committee are appointed in their
individual professional capacity and
undergo a background screening. Any
individual appointed to the Committee
who is unable to attend all or part of an
Advisory Committee meeting may not
appoint another person to attend such
meetings as his or her proxy. Members
of the Advisory Committee shall receive
no compensation for their services. The
Secretary of Commerce and the
Secretary of State may pay the necessary
travel expenses of members of the
Advisory Committee. The terms of all
currently appointed Advisory
Committee members expire on
December 31, 2018. NMFS is soliciting
nominees to serve as members of the
Advisory Committee for a term of 2
years that will expire December 31,
2020.
Section 971b–1 of ATCA specifies
that the U.S. Commissioners may
establish species working groups for the
purpose of providing advice and
recommendations to the U.S.
Commissioners and to the Advisory
Committee on matters relating to the
conservation and management of any
highly migratory species covered by the

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ICCAT Convention. Any species
working group shall consist of no more
than seven members of the Advisory
Committee and no more than four
Technical Advisors, as considered
necessary by the Commissioners.
Currently, there are four species
working groups advising the Committee
and the U.S. Commissioners: A Bluefin
Tuna Working Group, a Swordfish/
Sharks Working Group, a Billfish
Working Group, and a Bigeye, Albacore,
Yellowfin, and Skipjack (BAYS) Tunas
Working Group. Technical Advisors to
the species working groups serve at the
pleasure of the Commissioners;
therefore, the Commissioners can
choose to alter these appointments at
any time. As with Committee Members,
Technical Advisors may not be
represented by a proxy during meetings
of the Advisory Committee.
Procedure for Submitting Nominations
Nominations to the Advisory
Committee or to a species working
group should include a letter of interest
and a resume or curriculum vitae. Selfnominations are acceptable. Letters of
recommendation are useful but not
required. When making a nomination,
please specify which appointment
(Advisory Committee member or
Technical Advisor to a species working
group) is being sought. Nominees may
also indicate which of the species
working groups is preferred, although
placement on the requested group is not
guaranteed.
Dated: August 3, 2018.
John Henderschedt,
Director, Office of International Affairs and
Seafood Inspection, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018–16956 Filed 8–7–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
The Department of Commerce will
submit to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for clearance the
following proposal for collection of
information under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35).
Agency: National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Title: Report of Whaling Operations.
OMB Control Number: 0648–0311.
Form Number(s): None.

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