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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 77 / Friday, April 21, 2023 / Notices

appropriate estimation of abundance of
the relevant species or stock in our
determination of whether an
authorization is limited to small
numbers of marine mammals. When the
predicted number of individuals to be
taken is fewer than one-third of the
species or stock abundance, the take is
considered to be of small numbers.
Additionally, other qualitative factors
may be considered in the analysis, such
as the temporal or spatial scale of the
activities.
NMFS proposes to authorize
incidental take by Level B harassment
only of 15 marine mammal species with
16 managed stocks. The total amount of
takes proposed for authorization relative
to the best available population
abundance is less than 7 percent for any
of the 16 managed stocks (Table 4). The
take numbers proposed for
authorization are considered
conservative estimates for purposes of
the small numbers determination as
they assume all takes represent different
individual animals, which is unlikely to
be the case.
Based on the analysis contained
herein of the proposed activity
(including the proposed mitigation and
monitoring measures) and the
anticipated take of marine mammals,
NMFS preliminarily finds that small
numbers of marine mammals would be
taken relative to the population size of
the affected species or stocks.

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Unmitigable Adverse Impact Analysis
and Determination
There are no relevant subsistence uses
of the affected marine mammal stocks or
species implicated by this action.
Therefore, NMFS has determined that
the total taking of affected species or
stocks would not have an unmitigable
adverse impact on the availability of
such species or stocks for taking for
subsistence purposes.
Endangered Species Act
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.
NMFS Office of Protected Resources
(OPR) is proposing to authorize take of
four species of marine mammals which
are listed under the ESA, including

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NARW, fin whale, sei whale, and sperm
whale, and has determined these
activities fall within the scope of
activities analyzed in the NMFS GARFO
programmatic consultation regarding
geophysical surveys along the U.S.
Atlantic coast in the three Atlantic
Renewable Energy Regions (completed
June 29, 2021; revised September 2021).
Proposed Authorization
As a result of these preliminary
determinations, NMFS proposes to issue
an IHA to COSW for conducting marine
site characterization surveys in coastal
waters off of New Jersey and New York
in the New York Bight for a period of
1 year, provided the previously
mentioned mitigation, monitoring, and
reporting requirements are incorporated.
A draft of the proposed IHA can be
found at: https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/
marine-mammal-protection/incidentaltake-authorizations-other-energyactivities-renewable.
Request for Public Comments
We request comment on our analyses,
the proposed authorization, and any
other aspect of this notice of proposed
IHA for marine site characterization
surveys. We also request comment on
the potential renewal of this proposed
IHA as described in the paragraph
below. Please include with your
comments any supporting data or
literature citations to help inform
decisions on the request for this IHA or
a subsequent renewal IHA.
On a case-by-case basis, NMFS may
issue a one-time, one-year renewal IHA
following notice to the public providing
an additional 15 days for public
comments when (1) up to another year
of identical or nearly identical activities
as described in the Description of
Proposed Activity section of this notice
is planned or (2) the activities as
described in the Description of
Proposed Activity section of this notice
would not be completed by the time the
IHA expires and a renewal would allow
for completion of the activities beyond
that described in the Dates and Duration
section of this notice, provided all of the
following conditions are met:
• A request for renewal is received no
later than 60 days prior to the needed
renewal IHA effective date (recognizing
that the renewal IHA expiration date
cannot extend beyond one year from
expiration of the initial IHA).
• The request for renewal must
include the following:
Æ An explanation that the activities to
be conducted under the requested
renewal IHA are identical to the
activities analyzed under the initial

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IHA, are a subset of the activities, or
include changes so minor (e.g.,
reduction in pile size) that the changes
do not affect the previous analyses,
mitigation and monitoring
requirements, or take estimates (with
the exception of reducing the type or
amount of take).
Æ A preliminary monitoring report
showing the results of the required
monitoring to date and an explanation
showing that the monitoring results do
not indicate impacts of a scale or nature
not previously analyzed or authorized.
Upon review of the request for
renewal, the status of the affected
species or stocks, and any other
pertinent information, NMFS
determines that there are no more than
minor changes in the activities, the
mitigation and monitoring measures
will remain the same and appropriate,
and the findings in the initial IHA
remain valid.
Dated: April 18, 2023.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023–08506 Filed 4–20–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

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; Finance Program
Requirements
The Department of Commerce will
submit the following information
collection request to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and clearance in accordance
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, on or after the date of publication
of this notice. We invite 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. Public
comments were previously requested
via the Federal Register on January 19,
2023 during a 60-day comment period.
This notice allows for an additional 30
days for public comments.
Agency: National Oceanic &
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
Title: Finance Program Requirements.
OMB Control Number: 0648–0012.
Form Number(s): 88–1.

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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 77 / Friday, April 21, 2023 / Notices
Type of Request: Regular submission
[extension of a current information
collection].
Number of Respondents: 336.
Average Hours per Response: Program
Application, 10 hours; Annual Financial
Statement, 2 hours; Guarantor Consent,
5 minutes.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,194.
Needs and Uses: This request is for an
extension of a currently approved
information collection. The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) operates a
direct loan program to assist in
financing certain actions relating to
commercial fishing vessels, shoreside
fishery facilities, aquaculture
operations, and individual fishing
quotas. Application information is
required to determine loan eligibility
pursuant to 50 CFR part 253 and to
determine the type and amount of
financial assistance available to the
applicant. Applicants are required to
submit NOAA FORM 88–1, and
supporting financial documents. An
annual financial statement is required
from the recipients to monitor the
financial status of the loan. Small
stylistic changes have been made to the
NOAA FORM 88–1 to make the form
easier for the applicant to understand
and to fill electronically.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households; business or other for-profit
organizations.
Frequency: At application, annually
thereafter.
Respondent’s Obligation: Required to
Obtain or Retain Benefits.
Legal Authority: 50 CFR part 253.
This information collection request
may be viewed at www.reginfo.gov.
Follow the instructions to view the
Department of Commerce collections
currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be
submitted within 30 days of the
publication of this notice on the
following website www.reginfo.gov/
public/do/PRAMain. Find this
particular information collection by
selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day
Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or
by using the search function and
entering either the title of the collection
or the OMB Control Number 0648–0012.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of
the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs,
Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2023–08472 Filed 4–20–23; 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; American Lobster—Annual
Trap Transfer Program
National Oceanic &
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of information collection,
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 June 20, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit written comments to
Adrienne Thomas, NOAA PRA Officer,
at NOAA.PRA@noaa.gov. Please
reference OMB Control Number 0648–
0673 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 Douglas
Potts, Fishery Policy Analyst, 978–281–
9341 or Douglas.Potts@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:

I. Abstract
This request is for an extension of a
currently approved information
collection.
The American lobster resource and
fishery are cooperatively managed by
the states and NMFS under the
authority of the Atlantic Coastal
Fisheries Cooperative Management Act,
according to the framework established
by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission (ASMFC) in Amendment 3
of its Interstate Fishery Management
Plan (ISFMP). This collection of
information is in response to several
addenda to Amendment 3 of the ISFMP
that work to reduce trap fishing effort

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through limited entry fishing and trap
allocation limit reductions. The Trap
Transfer Program is intended to foster
economic flexibility for the lobster
industry while reducing fishing effort
on the American lobster resource. The
regulations implementing the FMP in
the EEZ are specified at 50 CFR part
697.
This collection of information is being
conducted to help mitigate the
economic burden of scheduled trap
allocation reductions in Lobster
Conservation Management Areas 2 and
3 on Federal lobster permit holders
through the Annual Lobster Trap
Transfer Program, which allows all
qualified Federal lobster permit holders
to buy and sell trap allocation from
Areas 2, 3, or Outer Cape Cod. NMFS
collects application forms from Lobster
permit holders who wish to transfer trap
allocation from these areas during a 2month period (from August 1 through
September 30) each year; and the
revised allocations resulting from the
transfers become effective for each
participating lobster permit at the start
of the following Federal lobster fishing
year, on May 1. Both the seller and
buyer of the traps are required to sign
the application form, date the
document, and clearly show that the
seller has sufficient allocation to
transfer and that the buyer has sufficient
room under the applicable trap cap.
There were no modifications to this
collection.
II. Method of Collection
Applications for the Trap Transfer
Program are accepted annually from
August 1 through September 30 by mail
or email.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0648–0673.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Review: Regular submission
(extension of a current information
collection).
Affected Public: Individuals or
households; business or other for-profit
organizations; State, local, or Tribal
government; Federal Government.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
204.
Estimated Time per Response: 10
minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 17.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to
Public: $492.
Respondent’s Obligation: Required to
obtain or retain benefits.
Legal Authority: Atlantic Coastal
Fisheries Cooperative Management Act
(16 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.).

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