Justification for Change

JUSTIFICATION FOR CHANGE
SOUTHEAST REGION PERMIT FAMILY OF FORMS
OMB CONTROL NO. 0648-0205

Changes are requested on two forms related to the harvest of aquacultured live rock.
1. Federal Permit Application Form for The Harvest of Aquacultured Live Rock:
The addition of a check box if applying for a renewal permit for an established deposition
site. The check box is to be marked if material was deposited on the site during the
period of time covered by the last permit for this site.
The United States (U.S.) Army Corps of Engineers requires the National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) to keep a record of all deposits to the site, and report them quarterly. This
requirement has always been in place, but heretofore we have not had a system to hold up permit
issuance/renewal for deposit report non-compliance. We are building functionality into our
Permit Information Management System (PIMS) to support the issuance and management of
aquaculture live rock permits, which will include validation of deposit report compliance.
The permit holder is supposed to submit a deposit report to NMFS within 7 days of making a
deposit, so in theory, the absence of a deposit report should mean that there were no deposits
made at the site. But it could also mean there was a deposit, but the report was not submitted. If
the box is checked, but we did not receive a deposit report for the site, then we will delay the
renewal until the report is received. Conversely, if they do not check the box, indicating that
they have not deposited rock on the site, then we will not delay the permit renewal, assuming all
else is in order.
2. Aquaculture Site Evaluation Form:
The removal of a checkbox indicating that Loran Coordinates is the method of
determining Latitude and Longitude.
Global Positioning Coordinates are now to be used to determine the Latitude and Longitude of
the aquaculture site.
There will be no change to burden or costs for this information collection as a result of these
changes.