30-day FRN

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 202 / Friday, October 18, 2024 / Notices
Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901;
telephone: (302) 674–2331; website:
https://www.mafmc.org.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Christopher M. Moore, Ph.D., Executive
Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council, telephone: (302)
526–5255.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During
this meeting, the EOP Committee and
AP will review a completed draft of the
Council’s Ecosystem Approach to
Fisheries Management (EAFM) risk
assessment report. In 2023, the Council
conducted a comprehensive review of
the risk assessment and recommended a
number of changes and updates to be
included in a revised EAFM risk
assessment. The draft report has been
updated to reflect the approved changes
to the risk assessment, incorporates the
latest data and scientific information,
and recent feedback from the EOP
Committee and AP on an earlier draft.
The EOP Committee and AP will
provide any additional feedback before
the 2024 EAFM risk assessment report
is finalized and presented to the Council
in December.
A detailed agenda and background
documents will be made available on
the Council’s website (https://
www.mafmc.org) prior to the meeting.
Special Accommodations
These meetings are physically
accessible to people with disabilities.
Requests for sign language
interpretation or other auxiliary aid
should be directed to Shelley Spedden,
(302) 526–5251, at least 5 days prior to
the meeting date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: October 15, 2024.
Alyssa Weigers,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024–24152 Filed 10–17–24; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES

National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Reporting of Sea Turtle
Incidental Takes in Virginia
Chesapeake Bay Pound Net
Operations
The Department of Commerce will
submit the following information
collection request to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for

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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 7,
2024 during a 60-day comment period.
This notice allows for an additional 30
days for public comments.
Agency: National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
Title: Reporting of Sea Turtle
Incidental Takes in Virginia Chesapeake
Bay Pound Net Operations.
OMB Control Number: 0648–0470.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular submission
(extension of a current information
collection).
Number of Respondents: 33.
Average Hours per Response: 10
minutes.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 167
hours.
Needs and Uses: This is a request for
renewal of an approved information
collection.
Since 2002, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA)
National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) has promulgated several rules
restricting the use of large mesh and
stringer pound net leaders in certain
Virginia Chesapeake Bay waters during
the late spring/early summer each year.
On June 17, 2002, an interim final rule
was published (67 FR 41196) restricting
leader use, which also required yearround reporting of sea turtle takes. In
2004, NMFS issued a final rule further
restricting pound net leader use in
Virginia (69 FR 24997). The 2004 rule
retained the reporting requirement from
the 2002 rule. These regulations
(modifications to 50 CFR parts 222 and
223) were implemented as a result of
high sea turtle strandings each spring in
Virginia and the documented take of sea
turtles in pound net leaders. On March
31, 2018, a revised Biological Opinion
on NMFS gear regulations in the
Virginia pound net fishery was
completed pursuant to section 7 of the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (ESA). An Incidental Take
Statement was included in this
Biological Opinion, exempting the
incidental take of a certain number of
loggerhead, Kemp’s ridley, green and
leatherback sea turtles in pound net
operations.

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A non-discretionary term and
condition of the Incidental Take
Statement involved the reporting to
NMFS of live or dead sea turtles taken
in pound net operations (reflected in 50
CFR 223.206). The collection of this
information on the incidental take of sea
turtles in the Virginia pound net fishery
is necessary to ensure sea turtles are
being conserved and protected, as
mandated by the ESA. Documenting the
accurate occurrence of sea turtle
incidental take in pound net operations
will help to determine if additional
regulatory actions or management
measures are necessary to protect sea
turtles caught in pound net operations.
This information will help NMFS better
assess the Virginia pound net fishery
and its impacts (or lack thereof) on sea
turtle populations in the Virginia
Chesapeake Bay. The collection of this
information is also imperative to ensure
that the Incidental Take Statement is not
being exceeded, the anticipated take
levels are appropriate, and the effects
analysis in the Biological Opinion is
accurate. Further, reporting the take of
live, injured sea turtles caught in pound
net gear will ensure these turtles are
transferred immediately to a stranding
and rehabilitation center for appropriate
medical treatment.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households.
Frequency: Reporting occurs when sea
turtles are encountered in Virginia
pound net gear, which could occur
occasionally from May through
November.
Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory.
Legal Authority: Endangered Species
Act.
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
entering either the title of the collection
or the OMB Control Number 0648–0470.
Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental PRA Clearance Officer, Office
of the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs,
Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2024–24162 Filed 10–17–24; 8:45 am]
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