30-day notice

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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 31 / Thursday, February 16, 2017 / Notices

following proposal for collection of
information under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35).
Agency: National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Title: Statement of Financial Interests,
Regional Fishery Management Councils.
OMB Control Number: 0648–0192.
Form Number(s): NOAA88–195.
Type of Request: Regular (revision
and extension of a currently approved
information collection).
Number of Respondents: 330.
Average Hours per Response: 45
minutes.
Burden Hours: 247 hours.
Needs and Uses: This request is for
revision and extension of a current
information collection. The MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (Magnuson Stevens
Act) authorizes the establishment of
Regional Fishery Management Councils
to exercise sound judgment in the
stewardship of fishery resources
through the preparation, monitoring,
and revision of such fishery
management plans under circumstances
(a) which will enable the States, the
fishing industry, consumers,
environmental organizations, and other
interested persons to participate in the
development of such plans, and (b)
which take into account the social and
economic needs of fishermen and
dependent communities.
Section 302(j) of the MagnusonStevens Act requires that Council
members appointed by the Secretary,
Scientific and Statistical Committee
(SSC) members appointed by a Council
under Section 302(g)(1), or individuals
nominated by the Governor of a State for
possible appointment as a Council
member, disclose their financial interest
in any Council fishery. These interests
include harvesting, processing,
lobbying, advocacy, or marketing
activity that is being, or will be,
undertaken within any fishery over
which the Council concerned has
jurisdiction, or with respect to an
individual or organization with a
financial interest in such activity. The
authority to require this information and
reporting and filing requirements has
not changed. Revision: NOAA Fisheries
is in the process of conducting minor
revisions to the form by adding clearer
instructions and clarifying some of the
questions asked to ensure the questions
are consistent with the regulatory
requirements. Revisions will also
include a specific check box to indicate
that a Council nominee, and not a
member, is completing the form.
The Secretary is required to submit an
annual report to Congress on action

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taken by the Secretary and the Councils
to implement the disclosure of financial
interest and recusal requirements,
including identification of any conflict
of interest problems with respect to the
Councils and SSCs and
recommendations for addressing any
such problems.
The Act further provides that a
member shall not vote on a Council
decision that would have a significant
and predictable effect on a financial
interest if there is a close causal link
between the Council decision and an
expected and substantially
disproportionate benefit to the financial
interest of the affected individual
relative to the financial interest of other
participants in the same gear type or
sector of the fishery. However, an
affected individual who is declared
ineligible to vote on a Council action
may participate in Council deliberations
relating to the decision after notifying
the Council of his/her recusal and
identifying the financial interest that
would be affected.
The form has been revised to increase
clarity for the respondents. No new
information is being requested.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households.
Frequency: Annually or updated as
needed.
Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory.
This information collection request
may be viewed at reginfo.gov. Follow
the instructions to view Department of
Commerce collections currently under
review by OMB.
Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this
notice to OIRA_Submission@
omb.eop.gov or fax to (202) 395–5806.
Dated: February 10, 2017.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017–03085 Filed 2–15–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
The Department of Commerce will
submit to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for clearance the
following proposal for collection of
information under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35).

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Agency: National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Title: Alaska Region Gear
Identification.
OMB Control Number: 0648–0353.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular (extension of
a currently approved information
collection).
Number of Respondents: 988.
Average Hours per Response: Tag
requests and replacements, 15 minutes;
buoy marking, 15 minutes per buoy.
Burden Hours: 1,841.
Needs and Uses: Regulations specify
that all hook-and-line, longline pot, and
pot-and-line marker buoys carried on
board or used by any vessel must be
marked with Federal Fisheries Permit
number or State of Alaska Department
of Fish and Game vessel registration
number. Regulations that marker buoys
be marked with identification
information are essential to facilitate
fisheries enforcement and actions
concerning damage, loss, and civil
proceedings. The ability to link fishing
gear to the vessel owner or operator is
crucial to enforcement of regulations.
This collection also provides a
voluntary opportunity for Gulf of Alaska
(GOA) individual fishing quota (IFQ)
sablefish fishermen to use a gear that
physically protects caught sablefish
from depredation by whales. That
option, the use of pot longline gear,
currently exists in sablefish IFQ
fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian
Islands management areas. Potential
benefits of pot longline gear for sablefish
fishing include: Mitigation of whale
interaction with fishing gear, reduced
mortality of seabirds, reduced bycatch
of non-target fish species, reduced
overall halibut mortality when targeting
sablefish, and better accounting of total
sablefish fishing mortality.
Whales are able to strip hooked fish
from hook-and-line gear, which reduces
the amount of sablefish caught by
fishermen. As such, whale depredation
represents undocumented fishing
mortality.
Many seabird species are attracted to
fishing vessels in order to forage on bait,
offal, discards, and other prey made
available by fishing operations. These
interactions can result in direct
mortality for seabirds if they become
entangled in fishing gear or strike the
vessel or fishing gear while flying.
Each vessel must use mandatory
logbooks (see OMB Control No. 0648–
0213 and 0648–0515) when
participating in a longline pot fishery.
When the number of pots deployed by
a vessel is self-reported through
logbooks, the use of pot tags provides an
additional enforcement tool to ensure

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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 31 / Thursday, February 16, 2017 / Notices
that the pot limits are not exceeded. The
use of pot tags requires a uniquely
identified tag to be securely affixed to
each pot. This allows at-sea enforcement
and post-trip verification of the number
of pots fished.
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations; individuals or
households.
Frequency: On occasion.
Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory.
This information collection request
may be viewed at reginfo.gov. Follow
the instructions to view Department of
Commerce collections currently under
review by OMB.
Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this
notice to OIRA_Submission@
omb.eop.gov or fax to (202) 395–5806.
Dated: February 10, 2017.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017–03076 Filed 2–15–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
XRIN 0648–XE941

Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to
Specified Activities; Taking Marine
Mammals Incidental to the Kodiak
Transient Float Replacement Project
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; issuance of an Incidental
Harassment Authorization.
AGENCY:

In accordance with the
regulations implementing the Marine
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as
amended, notification is hereby given
that NMFS has issued an incidental
harassment authorization (IHA) to the
City of Kodiak (the City) to incidentally
harass, by Level B harassment only,
marine mammals during construction
activities associated with pile driving
and removal and down hole drilling
activities in Kodiak, Alaska.
DATES: This Authorization is effective
from January 1, 2017 through December
31, 2017.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Laura McCue, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427–8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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SUMMARY:

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Background
Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the
MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) direct
the Secretary of Commerce to allow,
upon request, the incidental, but not
intentional, taking of small numbers of
marine mammals by U.S. citizens who
engage in a specified activity (other than
commercial fishing) within a specified
geographical region if certain findings
are made and either regulations are
issued or, if the taking is limited to
harassment, a notice of a proposed
authorization is provided to the public
for review.
An authorization for incidental
takings shall be granted if NMFS finds
that the taking will have a negligible
impact on the species or stock(s), will
not have an unmitigable adverse impact
on the availability of the species or
stock(s) for subsistence uses (where
relevant), and if the permissible
methods of taking and requirements
pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring
and reporting of such takings are set
forth. NMFS has defined ‘‘negligible
impact’’ in 50 CFR 216.103 as ‘‘an
impact resulting from the specified
activity that cannot be reasonably
expected to, and is not reasonably likely
to, adversely affect the species or stock
through effects on annual rates of
recruitment or survival.’’
Except with respect to certain
activities not pertinent here, the MMPA
defines ‘‘harassment’’ as: Any act of
pursuit, torment, or annoyance which (i)
has the potential to injure a marine
mammal or marine mammal stock in the
wild (Level A harassment); or (ii) has
the potential to disturb a marine
mammal or marine mammal stock in the
wild by causing disruption of behavioral
patterns, including, but not limited to,
migration, breathing, nursing, breeding,
feeding, or sheltering (Level B
harassment).
Summary of Request
On August 15, 2016, NMFS received
an application from the City for the
taking of marine mammals incidental to
the Kodiak transient float replacement
project (Project) in Kodiak, Alaska. On
October 17, 2016 NMFS received a
revised application with updated take
numbers. NMFS determined that the
application was adequate and complete
on October 21, 2016. Subsequent to
NMFS accepting the application,
changes were made to the injury zones,
take numbers, and shutdown zones. The
City provided a memo to NMFS on
November 1, 2016 noting these changes.
This memo, along with the City’s
application, and other supporting
documents can be found on our Web

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site at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/
permits/incidental/construction.htm.
The City will conduct in-water
construction work (i.e., pile driving and
removal) that may incidentally harass
marine mammals. The activity may
occur between January 1, 2017 and
December 31, 2017, with restrictions on
impact driving between May 1, 2017
and June 30, 2017.
Activities included as part of the
Project with the potential to take marine
mammals include vibratory and impact
pile-driving operations and use of a
down-hole drill/hammer to install piles
in bedrock. Take by Level B harassment
of individuals of six species is
anticipated to result from the specified
activity.
On August 4, 2016, NMFS released its
Technical Guidance for Assessing the
Effects of Anthropogenic Sound on
Marine Mammal Hearing (Guidance).
This new guidance established new
thresholds for predicting auditory
injury, which equates to Level A
harassment under the MMPA. The
transient float project used this new
guidance when determining the injury
(Level A) zones.
Description of the Specified Activity
Overview
The City plans to replace its existing
transient float located in Kodiak’s Near
Island Channel. The purpose of this
project is to replace the transient float
with one that meets modern standards
for vessel mooring and public safety for
the next 50 years. The existing float has
structural issues due to failing walers,
stringers, and bullrails. Due to these
structural problems, the float’s capacity
has been reduced. The existing float
needs to be replaced due to its poor
condition and reduced capacity. The
planned action includes in-water
construction, including the removal of
the existing timber float and its
associated timber and steel piles, and
installation of the replacement float and
steel piles. The replacement float will be
located within nearly the same footprint
as the existing facility; however, the
overall float length will be shortened to
improve all around accessibility within
City right-of-way limits. A detailed
description of the planned Project is
provided in the Federal Register notice
for the proposed IHA (81 FR 79350;
November 10, 2016). Since that time, no
changes have been made to the planned
Project activities. Therefore, a detailed
description is not provided here. Please
refer to that Federal Register notice for
the description of the specific activity.

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