60-day FRN

73382

Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 206 / Tuesday, October 25, 2016 / Notices

Notice is hereby given that
Heather E. Liwanag, Ph.D. (California
Polytechnic State University, San Luis
Obispo, CA 93407–0401) has withdrawn
an application for a permit to conduct
research on Weddell seals
(Leptonychotes weddellii) near
McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
ADDRESSES: The application and related
documents are available for review
upon written request or by appointment
in the Permits and Conservation
Division, Office of Protected Resources,
NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room
13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone
(301) 427–8401; fax (301) 713–0376.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sara
Young or Amy Sloan, (301) 427–8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August
3, 2016, notice was published in the
Federal Register (81 FR 51189) that a
request for a permit to conduct research
on Weddell seals had been submitted by
the above-named applicant.
The applicant has withdrawn the
application from further consideration.
SUMMARY:

Dated: October 20, 2016.
Julia Harrison,
Chief, Permits and Conservation Division,
Office of Protected Resources, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016–25764 Filed 10–24–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Proposed Information Collection;
Comment Request; Atlantic Herring
Amendment 5 Data Collection
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

The Department of
Commerce, as part of its continuing
effort to reduce paperwork and
respondent burden, invites the general
public and other Federal agencies to
take this opportunity to comment on
proposed and/or continuing information
collections, as required by the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
DATES: Written comments must be
submitted on or before December 27,
2016.

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SUMMARY:

Direct all written comments
to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental
Paperwork Clearance Officer,
Department of Commerce, Room 6616,
14th and Constitution Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20230 (or via the
Internet at [email protected]).

ADDRESSES:

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or
copies of the information collection
instrument and instructions should be
directed to Daniel Luers, Greater
Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55
Great Republic Dr., Gloucester, MA
01930, (978) 282–8457, Daniel.luers@
noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract
This request is for extension of a
current information collection. Under
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the
Secretary of Commerce has the
responsibility for the conservation and
management of marine fishery
resources. Much of this responsibility
has been delegated to NOAA’s National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
Under this stewardship role, the
Secretary was given certain regulatory
authorities to ensure the most beneficial
uses of these resources. One of the
regulatory steps taken to carry out the
conservation and management
objectives is to collect information from
users of the resources.
Data collection for Amendment 5 to
the Atlantic Herring Fishery
Management Plan requires renewal of
Category E permits for limited access
herring permit holders. This collection
also requires herring carrier vessels that
sell herring (rather than deliver those
fish on behalf of a dealer for purchase)
to obtain or maintain an At-Sea Atlantic
Herring Dealer Permit. Vessels that have
both an At-Sea Atlantic Herring Dealer
Permit and a Federal fishing permit are
required to fulfill the reporting
requirements of both permits as
appropriate.
This collection has several vessel
monitoring system (VMS) and vessel
trip reporting (VTR) components.
Category E vessels must submit daily
VMS reports, weekly VTRs, and
maintain a VMS unit on their vessels
and declare intent to target Atlantic
herring via VMS. This collection allows
a vessel that opts to enroll as a herring
carrier to do so via VMS rather than
obtaining a letter of authorization
(LOA). By declaring a herring trip via
VMS, a vessel is exempt from daily
VMS catch reporting, and is not bound
by the 7-day enrollment period required
by the herring carrier LOA. Vessels with
limited access herring permits, Category
E permits, and vessels declaring herring
carrier trips via VMS also must give a
pre-landing notification to the NMFS
Office of Law Enforcement via VMS. In
addition, vessels are prohibited from
turning off VMS units while in port. A

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vessel representative must request a
letter of exemption (LOE) from NMFS to
turn off its VMS if that vessel will be out
of the water for more than 72 hours. A
vessel owner is able to sign a herring
vessel out of the VMS program for a
minimum of 30 days by requesting and
obtaining an LOE from NMFS. A vessel
is not able to leave the dock unless the
VMS unit is turned back on.
This collection also requires that
vessels with limited access herring
permits, vessels with open access
Category D permits that are fishing with
midwater trawl gear in Areas 1A, 1B,
and/or 3, vessels with open access
category E permits, and herring carrier
vessels contact NMFS at least 48 hours
in advance of fishing to request an
observer. Vessels currently contact
NMFS via phone, and selection notices
or waivers are issued by NMFS via
VMS. Vessels with limited access
herring permits, Category E permits, and
vessels declaring herring carrier trips
via VMS must notify NMFS via VMS of
their intent to participate in the herring
fishery prior to leaving port on each trip
by entering the appropriate activity and
gear codes in order to harvest, possess,
or land herring on that trip.
Additionally, this collection requires
vessels issued limited access permits
working cooperatively in the herring
fishery to provide NMFS-approved
observers with the estimated weight of
each species brought on board or
released on each tow.
Finally, this collection requires that
all herring vessels (i.e. any area
throughout the EEZ, any gear type) bring
all catch aboard the vessel and make it
available for sampling by an observer. If
catch is not made available to an
observer before discard, that catch is
defined as slippage, and the vessel
operator must complete a ‘‘Released
Catch Affidavit’’ form within 48 hours
of the end of the fishing trip which
details why catch was slipped, estimates
the quantity and species composition of
the slipped catch, and records the time
and location of the slipped catch.
II. Method of Collection
Information is collection on paper
forms, by telephone, or electronically.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0648–0674.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Review: Regular (extension of
a current information collection).
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations; individual or
households, state, local, or tribal
government.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
16,065.

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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 206 / Tuesday, October 25, 2016 / Notices
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 1,231.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to
Public: $46,877 in recordkeeping/
reporting costs.
Estimated Time per Response:
Category E permit renewal, 1 minute;
At-Sea Herring Dealer Permit renewal, 5
minutes; weekly dealer reports, 15
minutes; VMS activity declarations, 5
minutes; VMS power-down exemption
letter, 5 minutes; VMS pre-landing
notification and gear declaration, 5
minutes; catch reports and vessel trip
reports, 5 minutes; request for an
observer prior to a trip, 5 minutes;
cancellation of trip, 1 minute; estimate
of catch/discard provision, 1 minute;
documentation of slippage, 5 minutes.
IV. Request for Comments
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether
the proposed collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance
of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information shall have
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden
(including hours and cost) of the
proposed collection of information; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on respondents, including through the
use of automated collection techniques
or other forms of information
technology.
Comments submitted in response to
this notice will be summarized and/or
included in the request for OMB
approval of this information collection;
they also will become a matter of public
record.
Dated: October 20, 2016.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016–25733 Filed 10–24–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
[Docket No. PTO–P–2016–0040]

Request for Comments on
Examination Time Goals
United States Patent and
Trademark Office, Commerce.
ACTION: Request for comments.

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AGENCY:

The United States Patent and
Trademark Office (Office or USPTO) is
soliciting public feedback as part of an
effort to reevaluate its examination time
goals. Examination time goals vary by
technology and represent the average

SUMMARY:

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amount of time that a patent examiner
is expected to spend examining a patent
application in a particular technology.
The Office plans to use the public
feedback as an input to help ensure that
the Office’s examination time goals
accurately reflect the amount of time
needed by examiners to conduct quality
examination in a manner that responds
to stakeholders’ interests. In addition to
accepting public feedback through the
submission of written comments, the
Office will provide the following
avenues for increased interactive
participation: IdeaScale®, a Web-based
collaboration tool that allows users to
post comments and interact with the
posted comments of others; and five
roundtables that the Office will be
conducting in: Alexandria, Virginia;
Detroit, Michigan; Denver, Colorado;
Dallas, Texas; and San Jose, California.
Written Comments Deadline: To
be ensured of consideration, written
comments must be received on or before
December 27, 2016.

DATES:

Written comments should
be sent by electronic mail addressed to
ExternalExaminationTimeStudy@
USPTO.gov. Comments also may be
submitted by postal mail addressed to:
Mail Stop Comments—Patents,
Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box
1450, Alexandria, VA 22313–1450,
marked to the attention of Raul Tamayo,
Senior Legal Advisor, Office of Patent
Legal Administration, Office of the
Deputy Commissioner for Patent
Examination Policy.
Although comments may be
submitted by postal mail, the Office
prefers to receive comments by
electronic mail in order to facilitate
posting on the USPTO’s Internet Web
site (http://www.uspto.gov). Electronic
comments may be submitted in plain
text, ADOBE® portable document
format, or MICROSOFT WORD® format.
Comments not submitted electronically
should be submitted on paper in a
format that facilitates digital scanning
into ADOBE® portable document
format.
The comments will be available for
viewing via the USPTO’s Internet Web
site (http://www.uspto.gov). The
comments also will be available for
public inspection at the Office of the
Commissioner for Patents, currently
located in Madison East, Tenth Floor,
600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia
22314. Because the comments will be
made publicly available, information
that the submitter does not desire to
make public, such as an address or
phone number, should not be included
in the comments.
ADDRESSES:

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73383

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Roundtable information, including
roundtable registration information:
Elizabeth Magargel, Strategic Planning
Project Manager, Office of the Assistant
Deputy Commissioner for Patent
Operations, by telephone at (571) 270–
7248.
Written comments: Raul Tamayo,
Senior Legal Advisor, Office of Patent
Legal Administration, Office of the
Deputy Commissioner for Patent
Examination Policy, by telephone at
(571) 272–7728.
Examination time goals: Daniel
Sullivan, Director Technology Center
1600, by telephone at (571) 272–0900.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office
has a staff of approximately 8,400 patent
examiners who examine patent
applications in hundreds of technology
areas. Each technology area is assigned
an examination time goal. The goals are
used by the Office for a variety of
purposes, including forecasting
pendency and staffing needs and
evaluating individual examiner
performance. The goals originally were
assigned over 40 years ago and have
been adjusted twice.
Since the examination time goals
were originally assigned, significant
changes to the examination process
have occurred, including increased use
of electronic tools, changes in law due
to court decisions, a growing volume of
prior art, and progress in technology,
which results in increasingly complex
subject matter in applications. In
addition, the Office recently
transitioned from the United States
Patent Classification (USPC) system to
the Cooperative Patent Classification
(CPC) system. Because the current
examination time goals were assigned
based on the USPC system,
implementation of the CPC system has
caused the Office to reconsider and
reassess the assignments of examination
time goals. Furthermore, the Office is (i)
implementing the Enhanced Patent
Quality Initiatives in order to provide a
higher quality examination to our
stakeholders and (ii) assessing the
relationship between examination time
and value-added examination activities,
such as best practices for enhancing the
clarity of the record with respect to
claim interpretation, interview
summaries, and reasons for allowance.
All of these factors warrant a
reevaluation of the Office’s examination
time goals.
To help inform public comments
responsive to this request for comments
(RFC), the Office has prepared
background material illustrating the use
of examination time goals in the context

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