60 Day Federal Register Notice

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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 250 / Monday, December 30, 2013 / Notices

TABLE 1—POPULATION ABUNDANCE ESTIMATES, TOTAL AUTHORIZED LEVEL B TAKE, AND PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION
THAT MAY BE TAKEN FOR THE POTENTIALLY AFFECTED SPECIES DURING THE PROPOSED ROCKY INTERTIDAL MONITORING PROGRAM
Species

Abundance*

Total authorized
level b take

1 30,196

Harbor Seal ................................................................................................................

Percentage of
stock or population

337

1.1–2.1

60
36

0.02
0.03

2 16,165

California Sea Lion ....................................................................................................
Northern Elephant Seal .............................................................................................

296,750
124,000

* Abundance estimates are taken from the 2012 U.S. Pacific Marine Mammal Stock Assessments (Carretta et al., 2013).
1 California stock abundance estimate.
2 Oregon/Washington stock abundance estimate.

Impact on Availability of Affected
Species or Stock for Taking for
Subsistence Uses
There are no relevant subsistence uses
of marine mammals 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 (ESA)
None of the marine mammals for
which incidental take is authorized are
listed as threatened or endangered
under the ESA. NMFS’ Permits and
Conservation Division worked with the
NMFS Southwest Regional Office to
ensure that Steller sea lions would be
avoided and incidental take would not
occur. Therefore, NMFS has determined
that issuance of the IHA to PISCO under
section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA will
have no effect on species listed as
threatened or endangered under the
ESA.

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National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA)

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Dated: December 23, 2013.
Perry Gayaldo,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013–31196 Filed 12–27–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING
COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Notice of Intent To Renew
Collection: Procedural Requirements
for Requests for Interpretative, NoAction, and Exemptive Letters
Commodity Futures Trading
Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

The Commodity Futures
Trading Commission (CFTC) seeks
public comment on the proposed
renewal of a collection of information
by the agency. Under the Paperwork
Reduction Act (PRA), Federal agencies
are required to publish notice in the
Federal Register concerning each
proposed collection of information,
including each proposed extension of an
existing collection of information, and
to allow 60 days for public comment in
response to the notice. This notice
solicits comments on requirements
relating to requests for and issuance of
exemptive, no-action, and interpretative
letters.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on
or before February 28, 2014.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by ‘‘Collection 3038–0049–
Renewal,’’ by any of the following
methods:
SUMMARY:

In 2012, we prepared an EA analyzing
the potential effects to the human
environment from conducting rocky
intertidal surveys along the California
and Oregon coasts and issued a FONSI
on the issuance of an IHA for PISCO’s
rocky intertidal surveys in accordance
with section 6.01 of the NOAA
Administrative Order 216–6
(Environmental Review Procedures for
Implementing the National
Environmental Policy Act, May 20,
1999). PISCO’s proposed activities and
impacts for 2013–2014 are within the
scope of our 2012 EA and FONSI. We
have reviewed the 2012 EA and
determined that there are no new direct,
indirect, or cumulative impacts to the
human and natural environment
associated with the IHA requiring
evaluation in a supplemental EA and
we, therefore, reaffirm the 2012 FONSI.

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Authorization
As a result of these determinations,
NMFS has authorized the take of marine
mammals incidental to PISCO’s rocky
intertidal monitoring research activities,
provided the previously mentioned
mitigation, monitoring, and reporting
requirements are incorporated.

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• The Agency’s Web site, at http://
comments.cftc.gov/. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments
through the Web site.
• Mail: Melissa D. Jurgens, Secretary
of the Commission, Commodity Futures
Trading Commission, Three Lafayette
Centre, 1155 21st Street NW.,
Washington, DC 20581.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as
mail, above.
Please submit your comments using
only one method. All comments must be
submitted in English, or if not,
accompanied by an English translation.
Comments will be posted as received to
www.cftc.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Christopher W. Cummings, Special
Counsel, Division of Swap Dealer and
Intermediary Oversight, (202) 418–5228,
email: [email protected]; Jocelyn
Partridge, Special Counsel, Division of
Clearing and Risk, (202) 418–5926,
email: [email protected]; Riva Spear
Adriance, Senior Special Counsel,
Division of Market Oversight, (202) 418–
5494, email: [email protected]; or
Beverly E. Loew, Assistant General
Counsel, Office of General Counsel,
(202) 418–5648, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the
PRA, Federal agencies must obtain
approval from the Office of Management
and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for each collection
of information they conduct or sponsor.
‘‘Collection of Information’’ is defined
in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3.
The definition includes agency requests
or requirements that members of the
public submit reports, keep records, or
provide information to a third party. An
agency may not conduct or sponsor, and
a person is not required to respond to,
a collection of information unless it
displays a valid OMB control number.
Sections 3506(c)(2)(A) and 3507(h) of
the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A) and
3507(h), require a Federal agency to
provide a 60-day notice in the Federal
Register whenever it seeks to renew a
collection of information previously

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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 250 / Monday, December 30, 2013 / Notices
approved by OMB, seeking public
comment before submitting the
collection to OMB for renewal. To
comply with this requirement, the CFTC
is publishing notice of the proposed
collection of information listed below.
Abstract: This collection covers the
procedural requirements for requests
for, and issuance of, interpretative, noaction, and exemptive letters according
to the provisions of section 140.99 of the
Commission’s regulations.1 The current
collection, for which a three-year
extension is being sought, has been
assigned OMB control number 3038–
0049. The collection requirements
contained herein are voluntary. The
requirements are observed by parties
that wish to apply most frequently for
a benefit from agency staff in the form
of regulatory relief described in section
140.99. Relief sought often relieves the
persons obtaining it from some or all of
the burdens associated with other
collections of information.
Burden Statement: There has been an
increase in requests for no-action and
interpretive letters in particular,
following the implementation of the
Wall Street Reform and Consumer
Protection Act (‘‘Dodd-Frank Act’’) by
the Commission. Accordingly, as
elaborated below, the burden hours for
this collection are being increased from
the last renewal of this collection.
The burden increase is related to
several factors. First, there have been an
increased number of respondents for
this collection in the form of requestors
that must comply with the collection
requirements contained in section
140.99 in order for the request to be
considered by staff.
Second, burden increase is
attributable to collection requirements
contained within issued exemptive and
no-action letters providing regulatory
relief. Historically, most exemptive, noaction, and interpretive letters were
sought by and issued to an individual
party (or fewer than ten persons) that
may have been subject to discrete
collections of information in a letter in
order to obtain the benefit of it, which
collections were excepted from the
application of the PRA. Since the
implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act,
however, these letters more frequently
have been sought by and issued to large
groups of similarly situated persons,
typically to entire industries or industry
subgroups. Because of the increase in
respondents, the PRA exception is not
applicable to this proposed renewal.
1 17 CFR 140.99. An archive containing CFTC
staff letters may be found at http://www.cftc.gov/
LawRegulation/CFTCStaffLetters/index.htm.

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Thus, the proposed renewal accounts
for relief issued by staff under
regulation 140.99 that contain
information collections, which often
involves providing notice and
certifications to the division or office
staff issuing the letter. The proposed
renewal also accounts for relief from
compliance with an existing collection
of information, and occasionally from a
regulatory obligation that does not
contain a collection of information, with
substituted compliance obligations in
the form of an information collection in
the letter providing the relief.
Third, there has been an increase in
burden attributable to adding collection
requirements into this collection that
are related to this collection, such as
compliance with requirements for
requesting confidential treatment of
letters that may be granted under
section 140.98 of the Commission’s
regulations, but could be effected
through separate collections. It was
determined not to establish separate
collections for the related matters in
order to streamline the analysis,
compliance, and renewal processes for
the Commission and all entities that
may submit requests for exemptive, noaction, and interpretive letters that
include burden associated with the
related matters.
Therefore, in order to establish
estimates with respect to no-action and
exemptive letters that may be issued
during the 3-year renewal period for
which the Commission is applying, a
sampling was taken of exemptive and
no-action letters over a six month period
from December 4, 2012, through June 4,
2013. This time period was chosen
because it is believed that it reasonably
represents the shift in the manner in
which these letters are sought and
issued since the last renewal of this
collection of information.
During this period, encompassing noaction letters 12–40 through 13–22, 58
no-action letters were issued. Thirty
contained no collections of information,
or collections that do not require an
OMB control number, for example
because they involved the submission of
information by fewer than 10 persons,2
or they involved notice filings solely
requiring a respondent to identify itself
as relying on the relief, which notice is
not considered to be an information
collection under the PRA.3 Twentyeight contained collections of
information, a number of which require
certification requirements that will
permit monitoring for compliance with
2 See,
3 See,

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e.g., 44 U.S.C. 3502(3)(A)(1).
e.g., 5 CFR 1320.3(h)(1).

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statutory or regulatory requirements not
subject to the relief issued.4
Other contained substituted
compliance obligations in the form of
collections that were intended to be no
more burdensome than the collection
requirements provided for in the
regulations, from which the no-action
letters provided relief. Of the few letters
that contained conditions allowing for
substituted compliance that included a
collection of information but relieved
regulatory burden not associated with a
collection of information, the increased
collection burden was offset by the
overall decrease in collection burden
resulting from other letters issued
pursuant to section 140.99. Nonetheless,
to ensure flexibility over the next three
years, burden hours were estimated to
cover circumstances in which a
collection contained in a no-action or
exemptive letter may add to, rather than
offset or decrease, regulatory burdens
containing collections of information.
Finally, although there has been an
increase in requests for no-action relief
and interpretive letters, Commission
staff does not anticipate that this
increase will be permanent. Thus,
burden estimates have been bifurcated.
Burden hours have been estimated at an
increased level for the first year
following the renewal of this collection,
and then pared for the second and third
years, so as not to artificially inflate the
Commission’s burden budget, or the
burden budget that is maintained
government-wide by OMB.
Past experience was used to estimate
the number of no-action, interpretive,
and exemptive letters that may be
received over the three-years for which
this renewal is being sought. The
number of letters received over the past
five years are as follows:
Letters
Issued
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009

................
................
................
................
................

Noaction
64
70
8
9
11

Interpretive

Exemptive

0
1
0
23
35

0
11
1
4
3

Burden Estimates. For the proposed
renewal period, the respondent burden
calculated with consideration to past
experience is estimated to be 28,478
hours. These estimates include burden
hours for complying with the
information requirements for exemptive,
no-action, and interpretative letters
contained in section 140.99(c) of the
Commission’s regulations, effecting
filing as provided in section 140.99(d),
providing notice of material change in
4 Id.

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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 250 / Monday, December 30, 2013 / Notices

circumstances that may affect any relief
granted pursuant to section 140.99(e),
and complying with notice and other
conditions that may be contained in
grant of exemptive or no-action relief
issued by staff; and preparing and
submitting withdrawals of requests for
exemptive, no-action, and interpretative
letters pursuant to section 140.99(f). The
estimates also include burden hours for
preparing a confidential treatment

request pursuant to and responding to
any process contained in associated
section 140.98(b) of the Commission’s
regulations, and complying with the
documentation requirements contained
in section 41.3(b), related to exemption
requests from certain intermediaries.
Respondents/Affected Entities:
Registered entities, intermediaries,
eligible contract participants, parties
clarifying their status as such or seeking
Estimated annual
respondents or
recordkeepers

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REPORTING—RENEWAL YEAR ONE:
§ 140.99(c)—information requirements for letters ........
§ 140.99(d)—filing requirements ...................................
§ 140.99(e)—staff response:
change of facts and circumstances .......................
notice and other conditions ...................................
§ 140.99(f)—withdrawal of requests .............................
§ 140.98(b)—confidential treatment requests ...............
§ 41.3(b)—securities brokers and dealers requesting
exemptive orders; documentation requirement ........
REPORTING—YEARS TWO AND THREE:
§ 140.99(c)—information requirements for letters ........
§ 140.99(d)—filing requirements ...................................
§ 140.99(e)—staff response:
change of facts and circumstances .......................
notice and other conditions ...................................
§ 140.99(f)—withdrawal of requests .............................
§ 140.98(b)—confidential treatment requests ...............
§ 41.3(b)—securities brokers and dealers requesting
exemptive orders; documentation requirement ........

Reports or
records
annually—
each
respondent

relief from registration or discrete
regulatory burdens associated with their
status.
Estimated number of respondents:
12,428.
Estimated total annual burden on
respondents: 28,478 hours.
Frequency of collection: Occasionally.
The Commission estimates the burden
of this collection of information as
follows:

Total annual
responses

Estimated
average number
of hours per
response

Estimated
annual burden
hours

40
40

1
1

40
40

9.00
0.38

360
15

7
4,500
6
5

1
1
1
1

7
4,500
6
5

2.25
1.50
0.75
1.80

16
6,750
5
9

10

1

10

3.75

38

25
25

1
1

25
25

9.00
0.38

225
9

4
1,500
3
3

1
1

2.25
1.50

1

4
1,500
0
3

1.80

9
2,250
0
5

10

1

10

3.75

38

6,178

13

6,175

38

9,728

SUBTOTAL REPORTING ..............................
RECORDKEEPING—RENEWAL YEAR ONE:
§ 140.99(e)—staff response:
notice and other conditions ...................................
RECORDKEEPING—RENEWAL YEARS TWO AND
THREE:
§ 140.99(e)—staff response:
notice and other conditions ...................................

4,500

4

18,000

0.75

13,500

1,750

4

7,000

0.75

5,250

SUBTOTAL RECORDKEEPING ....................

6,250

8

25,000

2

18,750

GRAND TOTAL ..............................................

12,428

21

31,175

40

28,478

There are no capital costs or operating
and maintenance costs associated with
this collection.
This estimate is based on the number
of requests for such letters in the last
three years. Although the burden varies
with the type, size, and complexity of
the request submitted, such request may
involve analytical work and analysis, as
well as the work of drafting the request
itself.
Comment Solicitation: With respect to
this collection of information, the CFTC
invites comments on:
• Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
Commission, including whether the
information will have a practical use;

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• The accuracy of the Commission’s
estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and
assumptions used;
• Ways to enhance the quality,
usefulness, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
• Ways to minimize the burden of
collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the
use of appropriate automated electronic,
mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology; e.g., permitting
electronic submission of responses.

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Dated: December 23, 2013.
Christopher J. Kirkpatrick,
Deputy Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2013–31106 Filed 12–27–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6351–01–P

BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL
PROTECTION
Fair Credit Reporting Act Disclosures
Bureau of Consumer Financial
Protection.
ACTION: Notice regarding charges for
certain disclosures under the Fair Credit
Reporting Act.
AGENCY:

The Bureau of Consumer
Financial Protection (Bureau)

SUMMARY:

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