Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Alaska Crab Arbitration, 5142-5143 [2021-01068]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 19, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5142-5143]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01068]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Alaska Crab Arbitration

    The Department of Commerce will submit the following information 
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite 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 public's 
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the 
Federal Register on September 14, 2020 (85 FR 56583) during a 60-day 
comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public 
comments.
    Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
    Title: Alaska Crab Arbitration.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0516.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (extension of a current 
information collection).

[[Page 5143]]

    Number of Respondents: 2.
    Average Hours per Response: Annual Arbitration Organization Report, 
6 hours; Cost Allocation Agreement, 16 hours.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 28.
    Needs and Uses: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), 
Alaska Regional Office, is requesting renewal of a currently approved 
information collection. This information collection contains the 
reports for the Crab Rationalization Program Arbitration System.
    The Crab Rationalization Program allocates Bering Sea and Aleutian 
Islands (BSAI) crab resources among harvesters, processors, and coastal 
communities through a limited access system that balances the interests 
of these groups who depend on these fisheries. Under the CR Program, 
eligible License Limitation Program license holders were issued crab 
quota shares (QS), which are long term shares, based on their 
qualifying harvest histories. The QS yield annual individual fishing 
quota (IFQ), which represent a privilege to receive a certain amount of 
crab harvested with IFQ. Processor quota shares (PQS) are long term 
shares issued to processors. The PQS yield annual individual processor 
quota (IPQ), which represent a privilege to receive a certain amount of 
crab harvested with Class A IFQ.
    The Crab Rationalization Program Arbitration System is a series of 
steps that harvesters and processors can use to negotiate delivery and 
price contracts. The Arbitration System allows unaffiliated Class A IFQ 
holders to initiate an arbitration proceeding in the event of a dispute 
to allow an independent third party to provide a review of harvester 
and processor negotiation positions and provide an independent and 
binding resolution to issues under dispute. To use the Arbitration 
System, a harvester must commit deliveries to a processor and initiate 
a binding arbitration proceeding in advance of the season opening. The 
Arbitration System is designed to minimize antitrust risks for crab 
harvesters and processors and is intended to ensure that a reasonable 
price is paid for all landings.
    The Arbitration System requires several information collections 
that are submitted annually in accordance with the regulations at 50 
CFR 680.20. The Annual Arbitration Organization Report, the Market 
Report, and the Non-binding Price Formula Report are the primary 
reports submitted to NMFS each year. Also submitted are the Contract 
Arbitrator Report and the Cost Allocation Agreement.
    An Annual Arbitration Organization Report is compiled by each of 
the two arbitration organizations; one represents the processors, and 
the second represents the harvesters. This report includes information 
on the arbitration organization and its management personnel, the crab 
QS fisheries to which the report applies, the ownership interest and 
the QS/IFQ or PQS/IPQ held by each member; and the arbitration process.
    The Cost Allocation Agreement provides combined shared arbitration 
accounting costs. Federal regulations for the CR Program require that 
the crab arbitration costs are shared equally between IPQ holders and 
Class A IFQ holders--processors pay half and fishermen pay half.
    The arbitration organizations use contracted parties to meet the 
requirements of the Market Report, Non-binding Price Formula Report, 
and Contractor Arbitrator Report.
    The Non-binding Price Formula Report is a pre-season report that is 
designed to serve as a starting point for negotiations between 
fishermen and processors, or as a starting point for an arbitrator in 
evaluating offers in an arbitration process. This report documents how 
each formula was developed.
    The Market Report provides an analysis of the market for products 
of a specific crab fishery and reports on activities occurring within 
three months prior to its generation. The purpose of this report is to 
provide background information on each crab fishery, the products 
generated by each fishery, and position of those products in the 
marketplace; discuss the historical division of wholesale revenue; and 
provide the methods for predicting wholesale prices before the fishery 
occurs.
    The Contract Arbitrator Report documents arbitration proceedings if 
they occur within a fishery.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit organizations.
    Frequency: Annually; On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.).
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view the Department of 
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of 
this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently 
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search 
function and entering either the title of the collection or the OMB 
Control Number 0648-0516.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-01068 Filed 1-15-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P