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OMB Control No: 0648-0816	ICR Reference No: 202603-0648-001
Status: Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 202405-0648-005
Agency/Subagency: DOC/NOAA	Agency Tracking No: 0648-EMST
Title: Electronic Monitoring and Vessel Monitoring Systems for Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fisheries Temporary Data Collection
Type of Information Collection: New collection (Request for a new OMB Control Number)	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved without change	Conclusion Date: 03/04/2026
	Date Received in OIRA: 03/04/2026
Terms of Clearance: The collection is pre-approved, contingent upon no substantive changes being made to this collection after adoption of the final rule. Otherwise, this collection should be re-submitted to OMB for review.

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	03/31/2029	36 Months From Approved
Responses	899	0	0
Time Burden (Hours)	891	0	0
Cost Burden (Dollars)	101,746	0	0

Abstract: This is a new, temporary collection of information pursuant to Amendment 15 to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) (Amendment 15) and associated rulemaking, or RIN 0648-BI10. This temporary collection, OMB Control Number 0648-0816, was created due to timing conflicts with OMB Control Number 0648-0372, which came up for renewal before publication of the final rule for Amendment 15. Once 0648-0372 is renewed and the Amendment 15 final rule information collection is approved, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will submit a request to merge this temporary collection into 0648-0372. Amendment 15 will establish two pelagic longline (PLL) monitoring areas, in which PLL vessels that are approved to fish will be required to report interactions with select bycatch species by set via their vessel monitoring system (VMS) units. Several changes were made to this information collection (ICR) from the proposed to the final rule that resulted in changes to the burden and cost estimates for this collection. Previously, NMFS had proposed to make the pelagic longline fleet responsible for covering their EM monitoring costs consistent with the NOAA Cost Allocation Policy (Procedure 04-115-02). Based in part on public comment, NMFS has decided to maintain the status quo, and continue to cover these costs, for now, for vessels fishing outside of the proposed monitoring areas. However, vessel owners would still need to pay for and arrange for video review of sets from trips that occur wholly or in part in monitoring areas. Under the proposed rule, 100 percent of sets for trips that occurred within the monitoring areas were to be reviewed, but under the final rule that sampling rate has been lowered to 50 percent. To mitigate the economic impact of this added cost to the PLL fleet, NMFS is still establishing a vendor certification process to encourage additional EM vendors to enter the market, and decrease costs through competition and by leveraging the existing infrastructure of vendors already providing video services to other fisheries. However, vessel owners would only be allowed to employ these vendors for EM monitoring and video review for trips within the monitoring areas. For trips outside of monitoring areas, where NMFS will still pay for EM monitoring, vessel owners must continue to use the government contracted EM vendor. Additionally, NMFS has increased the effort caps for pelagic longline sets conducted within the monitoring areas, based on public comments expressing concerns that the proposed caps were too low to provide the needed data to evaluate the effectiveness of closed areas. This increase in the monitoring area effort caps will result in higher burden estimates as vessel owners will be required to submit effort and catch reports via their VMS units for each set within the monitoring areas.

Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 16 USC 971 Name of Law: Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975
US Code: 16 USC 1801 et seq. Name of Law: Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
0648-BI10	Final or interim final rulemaking	91 FR 10696	03/04/2026

Federal Register Notices & Comments
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate
Annual Number of Responses	899	108	791
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	891	570	321
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	101,746	9,108	92,638

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Increase Due to: Changing Regulations

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: Electronic video and gear monitoring requirement was included in the proposed rule but removed from the final rule. It is anticipated that one service provider application may be rejected over the course of the burden period which will cause a decrease. Burden estimates and costs were adjusted to reflect several program changes, including a shift in EM sampling costs from the agency to the PLL fleet when fishing voluntarily within the new monitoring areas, new VMS bycatch reports for vessels fishing within monitoring areas under an EFP, and new reporting requirements for EM service providers.

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $67,924

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Does this ICR request any personally identifiable information (see OMB Circular No. A-130 for an explanation of this term)? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. Yes

Does this ICR include a form that requires a Privacy Act Statement (see 5 U.S.C. §552a(e)(3))? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. Yes

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? No

Agency Contact: Clifford Hutt 301 427-8588

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