The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration’s (NOAA’s) National Ocean Service (NOS) requests
extension and revision of this currently approved information
collection that contains requirements under the Deep Seabed Hard
Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA). This collection is being revised
pursuant to a proposed rule (RIN 0648-BN96) which would, if
finalized, revise the DSHMRA regulations for exploration license
and commercial recovery permits to add a new, alternative procedure
whereby interested and qualified U.S. citizens may submit a
consolidated application to concurrently apply for a license and
permit under DSHMRA. Further, the information collection is being
revised due to the likely future need to begin collecting permit
applications, as well as annual reports related to permit
compliance. This information collection is for the purpose of the
receipt and maintenance of exploration licenses and commercial
recovery permits required by the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources
Act (DSHMRA) (30 U.S.C. §§ 1401-1473). NOAA’s regulations at 15 CFR
Part 970 (exploration licenses) and 15 CFR Part 971 (commercial
recovery permits) govern the issuance and maintenance of DSHMRA
licenses and permits. The NOAA Administrator approves or denies
DSHMRA licenses and permits. The NOAA Administrator has delegated
to the NOS Assistant Administrator and the NOS’ Office for Coastal
Management responsibility for processing DSHMRA licenses and
permits for the NOAA Administrator’s consideration and decisions.
License and permit applicants must submit information to ensure
that the applicant meets the DSHMRA licensing and permitting
standards. Licensees and permittees are required to conduct
monitoring and make reports, including annual reports regarding the
licensee’s or permittee’s conformance to the schedule of activities
and expenditures contained in the license or permit, and may
request revisions, transfers, or extensions of licenses and
permits. Information required for the issuance, revision, transfer,
and extension of licenses and permits ensures that the
Administrator is able to make determinations on the findings set
forth in 30 U.S.C. 1413(c) and 30 U.S.C. 1415(a) and the factors
set forth in the DSHMRA regulations. These findings and factors
include that license and permit applicants have identified areas of
interest for deep seabed hard mineral exploration and production;
developed plans for those activities; have the financial resources
available to conduct proposed activities; and have considered the
effects of the activities on the natural and human environment.
This information is used to determine whether licenses and permits
should be issued, revised, transferred, or extended. Exploration
licenses and commercial recovery permits under DSHMRA are only for
activities by U.S. citizens in waters beyond national jurisdiction.
NOAA has received several applications recently and anticipates
receiving additional applications. The licenses and permits are
subject to annual reporting requirements and may be subject to
extension requests (every five years for exploration licenses, or
every twenty years for commercial recovery permits).
Regulations are being updated
to include a new consolidated exploration license and commercial
recovery permit. A deep dive into this information collection found
that many of the regulatory requirements were not previously
captured in ROCIS, partially because so few licenses/permits have
been requested and because extension and transfer requests only
occur once every 5, 10, or 20 years. The numbers in ROCIS for
extensions and transfer requests have been annualized to better
reflect the actual annual burden. Additionally, the costs to the
federal government greatly increased due to a better understanding
of the requirements for this collection.
$2,276,249
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Kerry Kehoe 301 713-3155 ext.
151
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
0648-0145 Supporting Statement Part A.docx
NOAA0900 PIA_SAOP_Approved.pdf
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