Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
Federal Register, Volume 81 Issue 34 (Monday, February 22, 2016)
Federal Register Volume 81, Number 34 (Monday, February 22, 2016)
Notices
Page 8686
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov
FR Doc No: 2016-03574
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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).
Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Title: Limits on Application of ESA Take Prohibitions.
OMB Control Number: 0648-0399.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular (extension of a currently approved information collection).
Number of Respondents: 301.
Average Hours per Response: 20 hours for a road maintenance agreement or for a tribal plan; 5 hours for a diversion screening limit project or for a report of aided, salvaged, or disposed-of salmonids. 30 hours for an urban development package; 10 hours for an urban development report.
Burden Hours: 935.
Needs and Uses: This request is for extension of a currently approved information collection.
Section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et. seq.) requires the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to adopt such regulations as it ``deems necessary and advisable to provide for the conservation of'' threatened species. Those regulations may include any or all of the prohibitions provided in section 9(a)(1) of the ESA, which specifically prohibits ``take'' of any endangered species (``take'' includes actions that harass, harm, pursue, kill, or capture). The first salmonid species listed by NMFS as threatened were protected by virtually blanket application of the section 9 take prohibitions. There are now 22 separate Distinct Population Segments (DPS) of west coast salmonids listed as threatened, covering a large percentage of the land base in California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. NMFS is obligated to enact necessary and advisable protective regulations. NMFS makes section 9 prohibitions generally applicable to many of those threatened DPS, but also seeks to respond to requests from states and others to both provide more guidance on how to protect threatened salmonids and avoid take, and to limit the application of take prohibitions wherever warranted (see 70 FR 37160, June 28, 2005, 71 FR 834, January 5, 2006, and 73 FR 55451, September 25, 2008). The regulations describe programs or circumstances that contribute to the conservation of, or are being conducted in a way that limits impacts on, listed salmonids. Because we have determined that such programs/
circumstances adequately protect listed salmonids, the regulations do not apply the ``take'' prohibitions to them. Some of these limits on the take prohibitions entail voluntary submission of a plan to NMFS and/or annual or occasional reports by entities wishing to take advantage of these limits, or continue within them.
The currently approved application and reporting requirements apply to Pacific marine and anadromous fish species, as requirements regarding other species are being addressed in a separate information collection.
Affected Public: State, local and tribal governments; business or other for-profit organizations.
Frequency: Annually or 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 17, 2016.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
FR Doc. 2016-03574 Filed 2-19-16; 8:45 am
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
