Justification for Change

JUSTIFICATION FOR CHANGE

U.S. Department of Commerce

National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration

Southeast Region Logbook Family of Forms

OMB Control No. 0648-0016

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) requests OMB merge the recently approved 0648-0770 information collection into the approved 0648-0016 information collection, Southeast Region Logbook Family of Forms.

NMFS manages numerous fisheries in the U.S. southeast region with regulations that require specific types of recordkeeping and data submissions from fishery participants, and several of those information collections are approved under 0648-0016. Currently, one data collection program within the Southeast Logbook Family of Forms, the Southeast Region Headboat Survey, also uses electronic data collection. The information collection recently approved under 0648-0770 also affects respondents that have been issued the same federal fishery permits. Therefore, NMFS requests this merge to streamline administration.

This change request would not result in any changes to the estimated time or cost burdens to any respondents under the information collections approved under 0648-0770 or 0648-0016. The estimated annual number of respondents, responses, and the time and cost burden estimates approved under 0648-0770 would be added to 0648-0016.

If OMB approves this merger request, the annual number of respondents, responses, and the time and cost burden estimates for 0648-0016 would change as follows:

-The estimated number of respondents increases from 5,603 to 6,971

-The estimated number of responses increases from 286,134 to 544,385

-The estimated burden hours increase from 42,533 to 68,877

-The estimated recordkeeping or reporting cost burden increases from $148,400 to $1,706,211