Expression of Interest - Initial and Renewal

Status: Original and derived artifacts are available for this document.

Download: pdf

OMB Control No. 0648-0218
Expiration Date: 11/30/2026
Title: South Pacific Tuna Act
Information Collection: Expression of Interest
CFR Citation: 50 CFR 300.32(h)
Instructions
Application process for general licenses
1. A vessel operator who satisfies the requirements for licensing under the Act and
under this subpart may apply for a general license.
2. In order for a general license to be issued for a vessel, an applicant must submit
a complete application to, and obtain an application approval from, the Regional
Administrator.
3. Except for the 2011-2012 licensing period, prior to submitting a complete
application, an applicant may request pre-approval of an application by the
Regional Administrator by submitting an expression of interest. A pre-approval of
an application establishes that the applicant is eligible to be considered for one of
the available licenses following timely submission of a complete application.
Although submission of an expression of interest is entirely voluntary,
applications that have not been pre-approved might not be eligible for approval if
the number of applications exceeds the number of available licenses for a given
licensing period. A pre-approval will be deemed to be void if the applicant fails to
submit a complete application by the date established in paragraph (h)(6) of this
section.
4. Except as provided in paragraph (n) of this section, in order to obtain a preapproval for a given licensing period, either an expression of interest or a
complete application must be submitted to and received by the Regional
Administrator no later than June 1st of the year preceding the year in which the
licensing period begins.
5. An expression of interest must include the information listed below, which may be
submitted by electronic or hard-copy correspondence following instructions
provided by the Regional Administrator.
a. If the expression of interest is for a vessel for which, as of the June 1st
due date for submitting such expression of interest, NMFS has issued an
application approval for the licensing period that starts that year (i.e., a
renewal of the license is being sought), the expression of interest shall
include:
i. The licensing period for which the license is being sought.
ii. The current name, IRCS, and annual USCG Certificate of
Documentation number of the vessel.
b. For all other expressions of interest that do not meet the criteria in
paragraph (h)(5)(i) of this section, the expression of interest shall include:
i. The licensing period for which the license is being sought.

ii. The full name and address of each person who is, or who is
anticipated to be, an operator of the vessel for which a license is
sought, and for each such person, a statement of whether the
person is, or is anticipated to be, owner, charterer, and/or master of
the vessel.
iii. A statement of whether or not the vessel to be licensed is known,
and if it is known, the current name, IRCS, and annual USCG
Certificate of Documentation number, if any, of the vessel.
iv. A copy of the vessel's current USCG Certificate of Documentation.
If the vessel has not been issued such a document, then a
statement of whether application has been or will be made for a
USCG Certificate of Documentation, including identification of all
endorsements sought in such application
v. If the vessel is known, a list of the licensing periods, if any, during
which a license for the vessel was issued under this section.
vi. If the vessel is known, a statement of the total amount, in metric
tons, of any tuna species landed or transshipped from the vessel at
United States ports, including ports located in any of the States, for
each of the calendar years 1988 through the current year.
6. A complete application for a given licensing period may be submitted to the
Regional Administrator at any time up to May 15th within the licensing period, but
in order to be considered for approval in the event that more applications are
received by the Regional Administrator than there are licenses available, a
complete application must be received by the Regional Administrator as follows:
a. No later than February 5th of the year in which the licensing period begins;
or
b. If a pre-approval of the application was issued in accordance with
paragraphs (k)(8) or (k)(9) of this section, not later than the date specified
by NMFS in the notification of such pre-approval (which will be calculated
by NMFS to be no later than 194 days from the date of mailing of the
notification of the pre-approval).
7. License application forms, which include the “Schedule 1” form and the FFA
Vessel Register application form, are available from the Regional Administrator.
The complete application must be received by the Regional Administrator as
specified in paragraph (h)(6) of this section. An application shall not be complete,
and shall not be subject to processing, unless it contains all of the information
specified on the “Schedule 1” form and all the items listed in paragraphs (h)(7)(i)
through (h)(7)(x) of this section, as follows:
a. The licensing period for which the license is requested.
b. The name of an agent, located in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, who,
on behalf of the license holder, will receive and respond to any legal
process issued in accordance with the Treaty.

c. Documentation from an insurance company showing that the vessel will
be fully insured for the licensing period against all risks and liabilities
normally covered by maritime liability insurance.
d. If the owner or charterer is the subject of proceedings under the
bankruptcy laws of the United States, a statement that the owner or
charterer will be financially able to fulfill any and all responsibilities under
the Treaty, Act, and regulations, including the payment of any penalties or
fines.
e. A copy of the vessel's current annual USCG Certificate of Documentation.
f. Electronic versions of full color photographs of the vessel in its current
form and appearance, including a bow-to-stern side-view photograph of
the vessel that clearly and legibly shows the vessel markings, and a
photograph of every area of the vessel that is marked with the IRCS
assigned to the vessel.
g. A schematic stowage/well plan for the vessel.
h. A copy of the VMS unit installation certificate, issued by the Administratorauthorized person who installed the VMS unit, for the VMS unit installed
on the vessel in accordance with § 300.45.
i. An FFA Vessel Register application form that includes all the applicable
information specified in the form.
j. In the case of an application for a vessel that does not meet the criteria in
paragraph (h)(5)(i) of this section, any information under paragraph
(h)(5)(ii) of this section that has not already been provided or that has
changed since it was previously submitted.

PRA Public Burden Statement
A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, nor shall a person be
subject to a penalty for failure to comply with an information collection subject to the requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 unless the information collection has a currently valid OMB Control Number. The approved
OMB Control Number for this information collection is 0648-0218. Without this approval, we could not conduct this
information collection. Public reporting for this information collection is estimated to average 15 minutes (0.25 hours)
per response for license renewals and 2 hours per response for initial submissions, including the time for reviewing
instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and
reviewing the information collection. All responses to this information collection are voluntary, but required to obtain
pre-approval and eligibility consideration for a general license pursuant to the South Pacific Tuna Act of 1988 (16
U.S.C. 973g and 973j) and 50 CFR 300.32(h). The information supplied will be used by the National Marine Fisheries
Service to establish applicant eligibility and prioritize license issuance if the number of applications exceeds available
license allocations under the Treaty. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this
information collection, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to National Marine Fisheries Service at:
Regional Administrator, Pacific Islands Regional Office, 1845 Wasp Blvd., Building 176, Honolulu, HI 96818, or via
email to [email protected].