60-day FRN

60058

Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 216 / Thursday, November 7, 2019 / Notices

process Aleutian Islands Pacific cod
from either the City of Adak or the City
of Atka by October 31, NMFS
establishes an Aleutian Islands catcher
vessel Pacific cod harvest set-aside,
along with other Pacific cod allocations
by area, sector, and gear type. These
harvest limits will be in effect in the
following year.
NMFS implemented this collection of
information in 2016 under Amendment
113 to the Fishery Management Plan for
Groundfish of the Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands Management Area.
Amendment 113 modified management
of the BSAI Pacific cod fishery to set
aside a portion of the Aleutian Islands
Pacific cod total allowable catch for
harvest by vessels directed fishing for
Aleutian Islands Pacific cod and
delivering their catch for processing to
a shoreside processor located on land
west of 170° W longitude in the
Aleutian Islands (‘‘Aleutian Islands
shoreplant’’). This harvest set-aside
applies only if specific notification and
performance requirements are met, and
only during the first few months of the
fishing year. This harvest set-aside
provides the opportunity for vessels,
Aleutian Islands shoreplants, and the
communities where Aleutian Islands
shoreplants are located to receive
benefits from a portion of the Aleutian
Islands Pacific cod fishery. The
notification and performance
requirements preserve an opportunity
for the complete harvest of the BSAI
Pacific cod resource if the set-aside is
not fully harvested.
In March 2019, the U.S. District Court
for the District of Columbia vacated the
rule implementing Amendment 113 and
remanded Amendment 113 to NMFS for
reconsideration. In May 2019, the U.S.
Department of Justice filed a notice of
appeal.
As the notification of intent is based
on the vacated regulations that
implemented Amendment 113, this
information will not be collected unless
the regulations are reinstated on appeal.
NMFS is requesting renewal of this
collection of information in the event of
a successful appeal.
Affected Public: Local government.
Frequency: Annually; on occasion.
Respondent’s Obligation: Required to
obtain or retain benefits.
This information collection request
may be viewed at reginfo.gov. Follow
the instructions to view Department of
Commerce collections currently under
review by OMB.
Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this

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notice to OIRA_Submission@
omb.eop.gov or fax to (202) 395–5806.
Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the
Chief Information Officer, Commerce
Department.
[FR Doc. 2019–24305 Filed 11–6–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Proposed Information Collection;
Comment Request; Wage Mariner
Hiring Portal
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 January 6, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments
to Adrienne Thomas, Government
Information Specialist, NOAA, 151
Patton Avenue, Room 159, Asheville,
NC 28801 (or via the internet at
PRAcomments@doc.gov). All comments
received are part of the public record.
Comments will generally be posted
without change. All Personally
Identifiable Information (for example,
name and address) voluntarily
submitted by the commenter may be
publicly accessible. Do not submit
Confidential Business Information or
otherwise sensitive or protected
information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information
should be directed to: CAPT Joseph P
Baczkowski, Office of Marine and
Aviation Operations, 8403 Colesville
Rd, RM500, Silver Spring, MD 20910,
telephone number ((301) 713–7673),
email address: joseph.baczkowski@
noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:

I. Abstract
Type of Review: Regular Submission
(New Collection)
The Wage Mariner Hiring Portal
(WMHP) is an internet-based system
(website) that is designed to allow an

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applicant to apply for a ‘‘wage mariner’’
position within the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) fleet of maritime vessels. The
WMHP system collects basic user
information, wage mariner licensing,
certifications, and relevant current and
or past work history. The Department of
Commerce (DOC), through NOAA,
Office of Marine and Aviation
Operations (OMAO) has special hiring
authority under Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR), Title 5, Chapter 1,
Subchapter A, Part 3, § 3.2 and under
the DOC Department Administrative
Order (DAO) 202–302 Section 2,
Subsection .02a. specific to the hiring of
federal wage mariner employees. The
regulations allow OMAO to hire wage
mariners into excepted service positions
within the NOAA fleet of ocean going
vessels in order to maintain adequate
operations, maintenance, and safe
staffing of the maritime ships.
No physical forms are used in this
collection, it is all online. Applicants
fill out basic personal, licensure, and
work history information into a profile
resume. Once their basic profile is
complete, applicants can submit this
resume to available wage mariner
positions as shown on the WMHP
website. The application information
received is used to determine if the
applicant meets the basic job
qualification. The applicant’s
information is then passed on to the
hiring official or it is placed in a pool
of prospective candidates for future
openings. Application information
includes: First and last name, contact
number and email address, wage
mariner licenses and certifications,
relevant work history.
II. Method of Collection
Information will be collected
electronically through an online web
based interactive system.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0648-xxxx.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Review: Regular submission
of a new information collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
1000.
Estimated Time per Response: 60
minutes. 5 minutes to fill our
applicant’s first and last name and
contact mobile and or home number and
email address. 5 minutes to fill out wage
mariner license specific information. 40
minutes to enter wage mariner
certifications and relevant past work
history. 10 minutes to fill out relevant
educational history.

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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 216 / Thursday, November 7, 2019 / Notices
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 6000 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to
Public: 0.
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
included in the request for OMB
approval of this information collection;
they also will become a matter of public
record.
Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the
Chief Information Officer, Commerce
Department.
[FR Doc. 2019–24306 Filed 11–6–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XR056]

Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to
Specified Activities; Taking Marine
Mammals Incidental to a Low-Energy
Geophysical Survey in the South
Atlantic Ocean
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; Issuance of an Incidental
Harassment Authorization.
AGENCY:

In accordance with the
regulations implementing the Marine
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as
amended, notification is hereby given
that NMFS has issued an incidental
harassment authorization (IHA) to the
Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO)
to incidentally harass, by Level B
harassment only, marine mammals
during a low-energy marine geophysical
survey in the South Atlantic Ocean.

SUMMARY:

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This Authorization is applicable
from November 3, 2019 through
November 2, 2020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Stephanie Egger, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427–8401.
Electronic copies of the application and
supporting documents, as well as a list
of the references cited in this document,
may be obtained online at: https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/
incidental-take-authorizations-undermarine-mammal-protection-act. In case
of problems accessing these documents,
please call the contact listed above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
DATES:

Background
The MMPA prohibits the ‘‘take’’ of
marine mammals, with certain
exceptions. Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and
(D) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et
seq.) direct the Secretary of Commerce
(as delegated to NMFS) to allow, upon
request, the incidental, but not
intentional, taking of small numbers of
marine mammals by U.S. citizens who
engage in a specified activity (other than
commercial fishing) within a specified
geographical region if certain findings
are made and either regulations are
issued or, if the taking is limited to
harassment, a notice of a proposed
incidental take authorization may be
provided to the public for review.
Authorization for incidental takings
shall be granted if NMFS finds that the
taking will have a negligible impact on
the species or stock(s) and will not have
an unmitigable adverse impact on the
availability of the species or stock(s) for
taking for subsistence uses (where
relevant). Further, NMFS must prescribe
the permissible methods of taking and
other ‘‘means of effecting the least
practicable adverse impact’’ on the
affected species or stocks and their
habitat, paying particular attention to
rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of
similar significance, and on the
availability of such species or stocks for
taking for certain subsistence uses
(referred to in shorthand as
‘‘mitigation’’); and requirements
pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring
and reporting of such takings are set
forth.
Summary of Request
On May 15, 2019, NMFS received a
request from SIO for an IHA to take
marine mammals incidental to
conducting a low-energy marine
geophysical survey in the South
Atlantic Ocean. The application was
deemed adequate and complete on
August 12, 2019. SIO’s request was for
take of a small number of 48 species of

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60059

marine mammals by Level B
harassment. Neither SIO nor NMFS
expects serious injury or mortality to
result from this activity and, therefore,
an IHA is appropriate.
Description of Planned Activity
SIO plans to conduct low-energy
marine seismic surveys in the South
Atlantic Ocean during NovemberDecember 2019. The seismic surveys
would be conducted to understand the
volcanic and tectonic development of
Walvis Ridge and Rio Grande Rise in the
South Atlantic Ocean. The seismic
surveys would be conducted in
International Waters with water depths
ranging from approximately 500 to 5700
m. The surveys would involve one
source vessel, R/V Thomas G.
Thompson (Thompson). The Thompson
would deploy up to two 45-in 3 GI
airguns at a depth of 2–4 m with a
maximum total volume of ∼90 in 3 along
predetermined tracklines. Seismic
surveys would occur in five survey
areas including Libra Massif in the
Southwest Atlantic and Valdivia Bank,
Gough, Tristan, and Central survey areas
in the Southeast Atlantic.
SIO proposes to conduct low-energy
seismic surveys low-energy seismic
surveys in five areas in the South
Atlantic Ocean. Reconnaissance Surveys
are planned for three survey areas
(Gough, Tristan, Central) and High
Quality Surveys are planned to take
place along the planned seismic transect
lines in the main survey area (Valdivia
Bank) and Libra Massif survey area
(Figure 1). However, High-Quality
Surveys may be replaced by
Reconnaissance Surveys depending on
weather conditions and timing (e.g., 10
percent of survey effort at Valdivia Bank
is expected to consist of Reconnaissance
Surveys). All data acquisition in the
Tristan survey area would occur in
water >1000 m deep; all other survey
areas have effort in intermediate (100–
1,000 m) and deep (≤1,000 m) water.
Most of the survey effort (97 percent)
would occur in water >1000 m deep.
The planned surveys would be in
support of a potential future
International Ocean Discovery Program
(IODP) project and to improve our
understanding of volcanic and tectonic
development of oceanic ridges and to
enable the selection and analysis of
potential future IODP drill sites. To
achieve the program’s goals, the
Principal Investigators propose to
collect low-energy, high-resolution
multi-channel seismic (MCS) profiles.
The planned cruise would consist of
digital bathymetric, echosounding, and
MCS surveys.

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