Justification for Change Request

NON-SUBSTANTIVE CHANGE REQUEST

U.S. Department of Commerce

National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration

Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Scientific Research Permits, Exempted Fishing Permits, Letters of Acknowledgement, Display Permits, and Shark Research Fishery Permits

OMB Control No. 0648-0471

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) recently reviewed the application form and annual reporting form for the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Exempted Fishing Permit Program. As part of that review, NMFS identified several areas that could be revised to improve clarity, reduce redundancies, and remove outdated information. These revisions will streamline the application and reporting form, and will not impact the number of individuals who are required to complete and submit these forms nor the burden on the individuals to do so. A description of the non-substantive changes to the application and annual report form are described below.

In the application, NMFS: 1) updated the format for consistency with NMFS branding guidelines, 2) updated the format to better account for electronic (rather than print) fill and submission, 3) reorganized content for a more logical flow, 4) removed redundant or otherwise unnecessary questions and information, 5) updated outdated information, and 6) clarified vague questions. No additional information will be collected as a result of the changes; however, some questions were removed from the application. The burden estimate for completing the application would likely remain the same or decrease because there would be fewer questions for the applicant to answer and the questions would be grouped by topic to streamline information entry.

In the annual reporting form, NMFS: 1) updated the format for consistency with NMFS branding guidelines, 2) updated the format to better account for electronic (rather than print) fill and submission, 3) streamlined the instructions on how to complete the form, and 4) created a separate row for each HMS-managed species to facilitate reporting.