Notices. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

435 words·~2 min read·/register/2018/12/28/2018-28211

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BILLING CODE 3510-22-P 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:* Economic Value of the Reduction in the Risk of Whale Strikes in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. *OMB Control Number:* 0648-0729. *Form Number(s):* None. *Type of Request:* Regular (extension of a currently approved information collection). *Number of Respondents:* 500. *Average Hours per Response:* 20 minutes per on-site interview of passengers, 20 minutes per importance-satisfaction mail back and 20 minutes for the expenditure mail back. *Burden Hours:* 367. *Needs and Uses:* This request is for extension of a currently approved information collection. NOAA is sponsoring a class project at the Bren School of Management & Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara to estimate the market and non-market economic values associated with the reduction in risk of whale strikes by different scenarios of changes in traffic lanes and/or vessel speeds for major commercial vessels operating in the region of southern California where the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is located. The required information is to conduct surveys of the for hire operations that take people out for non-consumptive recreation to watch whales or other wildlife to obtain total use by type of activity ( *e.g.* whale watching, and other wildlife observation) and the spatial use by type of activity. Information will also be obtained on costs-and-earnings of the operations and demographic information on owner/captains and crews. Surveys will also be conducted of the passengers aboard the for hire operation boats to obtain their market and non-market economic use values for the reduction in the risk of whale strikes. Additional information will be obtained on importance-satisfaction ratings of key natural resource attributes, facilities and services along with demographic profiles of passengers. *Note:* We have completed the for-hire operations survey and one season of the Passenger Survey. We need to complete the second season of the Passenger Survey. *Affected Public:* Individuals or households. *Frequency:* One time. *Respondent's Obligation:* Voluntary. 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: December 21, 2018. Sarah Brabson, NOAA PRA Clearance Officer. [FR Doc. 2018-28211 Filed 12-27-18; 8:45 am]