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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 167 / Wednesday, September 1, 2021 / Notices
consultation under section 7 of the ESA
is not required for this action.
National Environmental Policy Act NEPA
To comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. and NOAA Administrative Order NAO
2166A, NMFS must review our action i.e., the issuance of an IHA with respect to potential impacts on the human environment.
This action is consistent with categories of activities identified in Categorical Exclusion B4 IHAs with no anticipated serious injury or mortality of the Companion Manual for NOAA
Administrative Order 2166A, which do not individually or cumulatively have the potential for significant impacts on the quality of the human environment and for which we have not identified any extraordinary circumstances that will preclude this categorical exclusion.
Accordingly, NMFS has determined that the issuance of the IHA qualifies to be categorically excluded from further NEPA review.
Authorization NMFS has issued an IHA to the Navy for the potential harassment of small numbers of six marine mammal species incidental to the pile removal activities at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego Bay, California from January 15, 2022
through January 14, 2023, provided the previously mentioned mitigation, monitoring, and reporting requirements are incorporated.
Dated: August 27, 2021.
Catherine Marzin, Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
FR Doc. 202118877 Filed 83121; 8:45 am BILLING CODE 351022P

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; Scientific Research, Exempted Fishing, and Exempted Activity Submissions National Oceanic &
Atmospheric Administration NOAA, Commerce.

AGENCY:

Notice of Information Collection, request for comment.

ACTION:

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The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites 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 publics reporting burden. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment preceding submission of the collection to the Office of Management and Budget.
DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed information collection must be received on or before November 1, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments to Adrienne Thomas, NOAA PRA Officer, at Adrienne.thomas@noaa.gov. Please reference Office of Management and Budget OMB Control Number 0648
0309 in the subject line of your comments. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or specific questions related to collection activities should be directed to Karen Abrams, Supervisory Fishery Management Specialist, NOAA
Fisheries, 1315 East West Highway Silver Spring MD 20910, 3014278508, and Karen.abrams@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:

I. Abstract This request is for an extension of a currently approved information collection. Under section 318 d of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery and Conservation and Management Act Magnuson-Stevens Act 16 U.S.C. 1801
et seq., as amended by the Sustainable Fisheries Act Pub. L. 104297, the Secretary of Commerce Secretary is required to promulgate regulations that create an expedited, uniform, and regionally-based process to promote issuance, where practicable, of experimental fishing permits.
Regulations under 50 CFR 648.12 and 50 CFR 600.745 establish processes for scientific research plans as well as exempted fishing and exempted educational activities that are exempted from applicable fishing regulations.
Fishing regulations do not generally affect scientific research activities conducted by a scientific research vessel. Persons planning to conduct such research are encouraged to submit a scientific research plan to ensure that the activities are considered research and not fishing. NMFS reviews each
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scientific research plan submitted to establish that the sponsoring organization and personnel involved are recognized scientific investigators, that the specific project contemplated appears to be scientific research and not fishing, and that the vessel or vessels to be used are or will be used exclusively for research for the duration of the scientific research cruise. The researchers are also requested to submit reports of their scientific research activity after its completion. NMFS
Regions, Fishery Science Centers, and NMFS and Coast Guard enforcement personnel use information obtained from voluntarily submitted research plans and subsequent reports in monitoring such activities to ensure they are bona fide scientific research activities.
The National Marine Fisheries Service NMFS may also grant exemptions from fishery regulations for educational or other activities e.g., using nonregulation gear. Exempted fishing, by definition, is fishing outside of the standard regulations. To control this fishing and determine the extent of this fishing, NMFS needs information to determine the justification of granting an exempted fishing permit EFP or exempted educational activity authorization EEAA, and documentation of catches landed as a result of granting the permit/
authorization. A NMFS Regional Administrator or Director may authorize, for limited testing, public display, data collection, exploratory fishing, compensation fishing, conservation engineering, health and safety surveys, environmental cleanup, and/or hazard removal purposes, the target or incidental harvest of species managed under a Fishery Management Plan FMP or fishery regulations that would otherwise be prohibited. The applications for these exemptions must be submitted, as well as reports on activities. NMFS Regions, Regional Fishery Management Councils, Fishery Science Centers, and NMFS and USCG
enforcement personnel use the EFP
application statement of purpose and goals in evaluating proposals to determine their usefulness to the overall goals of the applicable fishery management plan and for issuance of permits, and evaluate them comparatively with other applicants for the same fishery. NMFS evaluates EEAA
applications to confirm their educational value and determine their usefulness to the overall goals of the applicable fishery management plan and for issuance of permits. NMFS Regions, Centers, and enforcement personnel use
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