30-day FRN

Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 242 / Tuesday, December 19, 2023 / Notices
and associated equipment and gear.
NMFS collects no other information.

cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.

III. Data

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of
the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs,
Commerce Department.

OMB Control Number: 0648–0360.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Review: Regular submission,
extension of a current information
collection.
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations; Individuals or
households.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
324.
Estimated Time per Response: 1.25
hours per purse seine vessel and 0.75
hours per other fishery vessel for vessel
ID marking. 0.083 hours per gear
marking.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 2,337.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to
Public: $89,473.
Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory.
Legal Authority: 50 CFR 665, 50 CFR
300.

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IV. Request for Comments
We are soliciting public comments to
permit the Department/Bureau to: (a)
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 Information
Collection Request. 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

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[FR Doc. 2023–27861 Filed 12–18–23; 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; National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) Observer Programs’
Information That Can Be Gathered
Only Through Questions
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 August 31,
2023 (88 FR 60184) during a 60-day
comment period. This notice allows for
an additional 30 days for public
comments.
Agency: National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration,
Commerce.
Title: NMFS Observer Programs’
Information That Can Be Gathered Only
Through Questions.
OMB Control Number: 0648–0593.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular submission.
Revision and extension of a current
information collection.
Number of Respondents: 2,155.
Average Hours per Response:
Northeast Fisheries Observer Program
and At-Sea Monitors, 117 minutes;
North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut
Observer Program and Processing
Plants, 56 minutes; Alaska Marine
Mammal Observer Program, 15 minutes;
West Coast Groundfish Observer
Program, 31 minutes; Pacific Islands
Region Observer Program, 86 minutes;
Southeast Fishery Observer Program, 55
minutes; West Coast Region Observer
Program, 62 minutes. Information will

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be collected for observed fishing trips
and deployments to fish processing
plants; therefore, there will be multiple
responses for some respondents, but
counted as one response per trip or
plant visit.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 15,728.
Needs and Uses: This is a request for
revision and extension of an existing
information collection.
The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) deploys fishery observers on
United States (U.S.) commercial fishing
vessels and to fish processing plants in
order to collect biological and economic
data. NMFS has at least one observer
program in each of its five Regions.
These observer programs provide the
most reliable and effective method for
obtaining information that is critical for
the conservation and management of
living marine resources. Observer
programs primarily obtain information
through direct observations by
employees or agents of NMFS; and such
observations are not subject to the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA).
However, observer programs also collect
the following information that requires
clearance under the PRA: (1)
Standardized questions of fishing vessel
captains/crew or fish processing plant
managers/staff, which include gear and
performance questions, safety questions,
and trip costs, crew size and other
economic questions; (2) questions asked
by observer program staff/contractors to
plan observer deployments; (3) forms
that are completed by observers and that
fishing vessel captains are asked to
review and sign; (4) questionnaires to
evaluate observer performance; and (5)
a form to certify that a fisherman is the
permit holder when requesting observer
data from the observer on the vessel.
The information collected will be
used to: (1) Monitor catch and bycatch
in federally managed commercial
fisheries; (2) understand the population
status and trends of fish stocks and
protected species, as well as the
interactions between them; (3)
determine the quantity and distribution
of net benefits derived from living
marine resources; (4) predict the
biological, ecological, and economic
impacts of existing management action
and proposed management options; and
(5) ensure that the observer programs
can safely and efficiently collect the
information required for the previous
four uses. In particular, these biological
and economic data collection programs
contribute to legally mandated analyses
required under the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act (MSA), the Endangered Species Act

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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 242 / Tuesday, December 19, 2023 / Notices

(ESA), the Marine Mammal Protection
Act (MMPA), the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the
Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), as well
as a variety of state statutes. The
confidentiality of the data will be
protected as required by the MSA,
Section 402(b).
This collection will be revised as
follows. First is the expansion of
observers to include an additional
fishery. The Southeast region will begin
sending observers out on Southeast reef
fish fishery trips and thus needs to add
this fishery to this collection. Second,
NOAA is combining the Southeast
observer efforts into one program. The
third change is the West Coast
Groundfish Observer Program (WCGOP)
would like to start collecting the names
of crew members within their observer
logbooks. The data will be recorded on
paper, scanned in, and stored according
to vessel name. This information will
only be accessed if there is an
enforcement issue. The final change is
also within the West Coast Groundfish
Observer Program. They have
introduced a new phone app that
captains are using to declare upcoming
fishing trips and NMFS is using to let
them know if they have been selected
for observer coverage. Other observer
programs are also working on
converting to smart phone apps, but
they have not yet been implemented.
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations.
Frequency: On occasion.
Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: The MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (MSA), the
Endangered Species Act (ESA),
Executive Order 12866 (E.O. 12866),
and the Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA).
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

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entering either the title of the collection
or the OMB Control Number 0648–0593.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of
the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs,
Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2023–27834 Filed 12–18–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
Review and Approval; Comment
Request; International Design
Applications (Hague Agreement)
United States Patent and
Trademark Office, Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of information collection;
request for comment.
AGENCY:

The United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO), as required
by the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, invites comments on the
extension and revision of an existing
information collection: 0651–0075
International Design Applications
(Hague Agreement). The purpose of this
notice is to allow 60 days for public
comment preceding submission of the
information collection to OMB.
DATES: To ensure consideration,
comments regarding this information
collection must be received on or before
February 20, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit written comments by
any of the following methods. Do not
submit Confidential Business
Information or otherwise sensitive or
protected information.
• Email: InformationCollection@
uspto.gov. Include ‘‘0651–0075
comment’’ in the subject line of the
message.
• Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://
www.regulations.gov.
• Mail: Justin Isaac, Office of the
Chief Administrative Officer, United
States Patent and Trademark Office,
P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313–
1450.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Request for additional information
should be directed to Rafael Bacares,
Senior Legal Advisor, Office of Patent
Legal Administration, United States
Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box
1450, Alexandria, VA 22313–1450; by
telephone at 571–272–3276; or by email
at Rafael.Bacares@uspto.gov with
‘‘0651–0075 comment’’ in the subject
SUMMARY:

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line. Additional information about this
information collection is also available
at http://www.reginfo.gov under
‘‘Information Collection Review.’’
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The Patent Law Treaties
Implementation Act of 2012 1 (PLTIA)
amends the patent laws to implement
the provisions of the Geneva Act of the
Hague Agreement Concerning
International Registration of Industrial
Designs (hereinafter ‘‘Hague
Agreement’’) in title 1, and the Patent
Law Treaty 2 (PLT) in title 2. The Hague
Agreement is an international agreement
that enables an applicant to file a single
international design application which
may have the effect of an application for
protection for the design(s) in countries
and/or intergovernmental organizations
that are Parties to the Hague Agreement
(the ‘‘Contracting Parties’’) designated in
the applications. The United States is a
Contracting Party to the Hague
Agreement, which took effect with
respect to the United States on May 13,
2015. The Hague Agreement is
administrated by the International
Bureau (IB) of the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO) located in
Geneva, Switzerland.
Under the Hague Agreement, U.S.
applicants can file international design
applications in English ‘‘indirectly’’
through the United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO), which will
forward the applications to the IB or
‘‘directly’’ with the IB. An international
design application is subject to the
payment of three types of fees: (1) a
basic fee, (2) a publication fee, and (3)
in respect of each Contracting Party
where protection is sought, either in a
standard or an individual designation
fee. All applications are subject to a
three-level structure of standard fees,
which reflects the level of examination
carried out by the Office of a
Contracting Party. Also, an additional
fee is required where the application
contains a description that exceeds 100
words. In addition, a transmittal fee is
required for international design
applications filed through an office of
indirect filing. Thus, international
design applications filed through the
USPTO as an Office of indirect filing are
subject to payment of a transmittal fee
for processing and forwarding the
international design applications to the
IB. The fees required by the IB may be
paid either directly to the IB or through
the USPTO as an office of indirect filing
1 https://www.congress.gov/112/plaws/publ211/
PLAW-112publ211.pdf.
2 https://wipolex.wipo.int/en/text/288773.

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