60-day FRN REVISED

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 181 / Wednesday, September 22, 2021 / Notices
respect to potential impacts on the
human environment.
The current action is consistent with
categories of activities identified in
Categorical Exclusion B4 (incidental
harassment authorizations with no
anticipated serious injury or mortality)
of the Companion Manual for NOAA
Administrative Order 216–6A, which do
not individually or cumulatively have
the potential for significant impacts on
the quality of the human environment
and for which we have not identified
any extraordinary circumstances that
would preclude this categorical
exclusion. Accordingly, NMFS has
determined that the issuance of the IHA
qualifies to be categorically excluded
from further NEPA review just as
previous phases of the project did.
We have reviewed all comments
submitted in response to the proposed
IHA notice to conclude our NEPA
process and make a final decision on the
IHA request.
Endangered Species Act (ESA)
Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973 (ESA: 16. U.S.C.
1531 et seq.) requires that each Federal
agency insure that any action it
authorizes, funds, or carries out is not
likely to jeopardize the continued
existence of any endangered or
threatened species or result in the
destruction or adverse modification of
designated critical habitat. To ensure
ESA compliance for the issuance of
IHAs, NMFS consults internally
whenever we propose to authorize take
for endangered or threatened species.
No incidental take of ESA-listed
species is for authorization or expected
to result from this activity in the
Elkhorn Slough Reserve. Therefore,
NMFS has determined that formal
consultation under section 7 of the ESA
is not required for this action.
Authorization
As a result of these determinations,
NMFS has issued an IHA to CDFW for
the potential harassment of small
numbers of harbor seals incidental to
conducting restoration activities at the
Seal Bend Restoration Area in Elkhorn
Slough (Monterey County, CA),
provided the previously mentioned
mitigation, monitoring, and reporting
requirements are incorporated.
Dated: September 16, 2021.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021–20466 Filed 9–21–21; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Weather and Society Survey,
and Using Quick Response Surveys To
Build a Public Perception and
Response Database
National Oceanic &
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of information collection,
revised request for comment.
AGENCY:

The Department of
Commerce, in accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA), invites the general public and
other Federal agencies to comment on
proposed, and continuing information
collections, which helps us assess the
impact of our information collection
requirements and minimize the public’s
reporting burden. The purpose of this
notice is to allow for 60 days of public
comment preceding submission of the
collection to OMB.
DATES: To ensure consideration,
comments regarding this proposed
information collection must be received
on or before November 22, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit written comments to
Adrienne Thomas, NOAA PRA Officer,
at Adrienne.thomas@noaa.gov. Please
reference OMB Control Number 0648xxxx in the subject line of your
comments. Do not submit Confidential
Business Information or otherwise
sensitive or protected information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or
specific questions related to collection
activities should be directed to Nicole
Kurkowski, R2O Team Lead, DOC/
NOAA/NWS/OSTI, 1325 East-West
Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910,
301.427.9104, nicole.kurkowski@
noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:

I. Abstract
A notice of request for a new
information collection was previously
published in the Federal Register on
August 19, 2021 (86 FR 46681)
regarding this collection. This revised
notice incorporates an additional
collection of information and this notice
will allow for an additional 60 days for
public comment.
In alignment with the Weather
Forecasting and Innovation Act of 2017

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(Pub. L. 115–25), two data collections
are proposed under this request. There
are no other collections for which these
can be merged.
The first proposed information
collection request is sponsored by DOC/
NOAA/National Weather Service
(NWS)/Office of Science and
Technology Integration (OSTI).
Currently, NOAA lacks data and data
collection instruments that articulate
and explicate how individuals receive,
interpret, and respond to NOAA
information, forecasts, and warnings for
severe, winter, and tropical weather
hazards. Furthermore, NOAA lacks this
type of data longitudinally (i.e.,
collected over time). Without this type
of longitudinal data, NOAA, and the
NWS specifically, cannot determine if it
has met its mission of saving lives and
property, propose societal impact
performance metrics, nor demonstrate if
progress or improvements have been
made, as outlined in the Weather
Research and Forecasting Innovation
Act of 2017. This effort aims to advance
the Tornado Warning Improvement and
Extension Program (TWIEP)’s goal to
‘‘reduce the loss of life and economic
losses from tornadoes through the
development and extension of accurate,
effective, and timely tornado forecasts,
predictions, and warnings, including
the prediction of tornadoes beyond one
hour in advance (Pub. L. 115–25)’’. This
work addresses NOAA’s 5-year Research
and Development Vision Areas (2020–
2026) Section 1.4 (FACETs). The
Weather and Society Survey also
advances the findings of the National
Academy of Science 2012 report,
‘‘Assessment of the NWS Modernization
Program’’, in reference to NWS’ ‘‘chain
of events associated with a tornado
warning’’ (p52). This effort also
advances the NWS Strategic Plan (2019–
2022) ‘‘Transformative Impact-Based
Decision Support Services (IDSS) and
Research to Operations and Operations
to Research (R2O/O2R). Furthermore,
the Survey furthers the NWS Weather
Ready Nation (WRN) Roadmap (2013)
Sections 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3, 1.1.8, and
3.1.4.
This information would be collected
at the Cooperative Institute for
Mesoscale Meteorological Studies
(CIMMS) and the University of
Oklahoma’s Center for Risk and Crisis
Management (CRCM), who has
developed data collection instruments
that would allow for more routine and
longitudinal data collection, as the data
will be collected on an annual basis.
Furthermore, this team has developed
interactive ‘‘dashboards’’, or tools, to
visualize the aggregated data.

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 181 / Wednesday, September 22, 2021 / Notices

Respondents include adults (age 18+)
who reside in the United States,
recruited by survey companies that
maintain large panels of people who
sign up to complete internet surveys,
such as Qualtrics and Survey Sampling
International. Respondents will be
asked questions about the ways they
have received, interpreted, and
responded to NWS information,
forecasts, and warnings for severe,
tropical, and winter weather hazards.
Questions about preparedness for
specific hazards such as heat waves,
tornadoes, and drought may also be
included. This data collection serves
many purposes, including gaining a
better understanding of how key factors
within a given population, or
organization, vary over time, location,
and across different groups; the ability
to detect gradual trends or abrupt
changes in those factors over time or in
response to particular events; and the
potential to explore possible
correlations and causal relationships
with other observed variables of
interest. These data will be used by the
OSTI in NWS to develop a baseline and
performance metrics to improve the
information and services it provides and
to help members of the weather
enterprise answer basic questions about
the people in the communities they
serve, which is a necessary step towards
customizing and improving risk
communication, education, and
decision support to meet the
characteristics of the community,
including those in vulnerable
populations. The information collected
will help identify differences and best
practices between communities and
assist NWS in developing new
education and risk communication
strategies. The survey data and its
associated dashboard will serve as
interactive tools to allow NWS
forecasters, partners, and policymakers
to access and explore data for training
and performance evaluation purposes.
The second proposed collection is
sponsored through NOAA’s FY2021
Weather Program Office’s Social Science
Program, and addresses the Social,
Behavioral, and Economic Sciences
(SBES) component of meeting NOAA’s
Research and Development (R&D)
Vision Areas (2020–2026) to integrate
SBES into products, tools, and services
that improve weather and air quality
forecasting and societal outcomes.
This proposal aims to create an online
survey system for collecting data on the
publics’ perception and response to four
different hazards: Tornados,
thunderstorm winds over 70 miles per
hour (mph), flash floods, and winter
weather. The online surveys will be the

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building blocks for a multi-year, crosssectional database on human perception
and response. The survey system will
enable individual National Weather
Service Weather Forecast Offices
(WFOs) to disseminate Quick Response
Surveys (QRS) soon after a hazardous
event occurs to collect perishable data
on the publics’ perceptions and
response. Select WFOs will distribute
the QRSs using web links on NWS
social media and core partners’ social
media or email lists. Surveys will ask
the public questions on timing, location,
weather information sources,
motivations and influences for taking
protective action to gain insights into
how NWS warning communications
interact with these factors to result in
protective action behaviors.
II. Method of Collection
For the first collection, the primary
method of data collection will be a webbased survey interface. Specific
questions in the surveys determine how
members of the U.S. public receive,
comprehend, and respond to severe,
tropical, and winter weather related
information. Furthermore, these survey
items will be translated to Spanish.
The second collection will include
online surveys to be implemented and
aggregated using Qualtrics survey
software. The surveys will be displayed
on a desktop, tablet or mobile device
allowing the public to take the survey
whenever they have internet access.
Select WFOs will distribute the QRSs
using web links on NWS social media
and core partners’ social media or email
lists.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0648–XXXX.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Review: Regular (New
information collection).
Affected Public: Individuals or
households.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
101,000.
Estimated Time per Response:
Response time varies depending on the
survey instrument, but the typical
response time is between 10 and 20
minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 7,667.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to
Public: None.
Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: 15 U.S.C. Ch. 111,
Weather Research and Forecasting
Information.
IV. Request for Comments
We are soliciting public comments to
permit the Department/Bureau to: (a)

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Evaluate whether the proposed
information collection is necessary for
the proper functions of the Department,
including whether the information will
have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the
accuracy of our estimate of the time and
cost burden for this proposed collection,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (c)
Evaluate ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and (d) Minimize the
reporting burden on those who are to
respond, including the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
Comments that you submit in
response to this notice are a matter of
public record. We will include or
summarize each comment in our request
to OMB to approve this ICR. Before
including your address, phone number,
email address, or other personal
identifying information in your
comment, you should be aware that
your entire comment—including your
personal identifying information—may
be made publicly available at any time.
While you may ask us in your comment
to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of
the Chief Information Officer, Commerce
Department.
[FR Doc. 2021–20513 Filed 9–21–21; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XB344]

2022 Annual Determination To
Implement the Sea Turtle Observer
Requirement
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notification of Annual
Determination of fisheries.
AGENCY:

National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) is providing
notification that the agency will not
identify additional fisheries to observe
on the 2022 Annual Determination
(AD), pursuant to its authority under the
Endangered Species Act (ESA). Through
the AD, NMFS identifies U.S. fisheries
operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of
Mexico, and Pacific Ocean that will be
required to take observers upon NMFS’

SUMMARY:

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