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The Paperwork Reduction Act requires that an agency publish a Federal Register Notice to provide the public with 60 days to comment on any plans to request OMB clearance for an information collection. The agency cannot submit a clearance request until that 60-day period has passed. (In the case of the publication of a proposed rule, a separate Notice is not required and the clearance request is submitted by the publication date of the proposed rule). The Department actually arranges for the publication of the Notice, but the sponsor of the collection must provide certain information for the Notice to the NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.

You can download the format for the notice through the link below. The format should not be changed, even if you are very familiar with other types of notices. The information should be sent to your line office PRA coordinator.

To write the notice using the template below:

1. Substitute your PRA collection title for the example after "comment request" in the first line.

2. Summary and addresses: leave as they are.

3. For further information contact: insert your contact information.

4. Under "Abstract", insert what you have, or will have, under the same heading on your 83-I form: a four - or five-line summary of the background/purpose of (and statutory authority for, if applicable), the collection, and what type(s) of information you will collect.

5. Under "Method of collection", simply state in what form the information will be submitted: on paper (faxed or mailed), by telephone, or electronically: if there is more than one method of submission, state it and what type of response it applies to: e.g. "landing reports are made by telephone, and permit requests are completed online".

6. Under "Data": insert your OMB number, or if a new collection, put "0648-xxxx". Type of review is always "regular submission". For "affected public", choose from the options on the 83-I, #11.

For the remaining questions, insert information according to the instructions posted on this site, for the 83-I:Instructions.

Note: The number of respondents and the burden hours are annualized over the 3-year approval period. That is, if each respondent responds at least once per year, do not divide by 3 – your annual respondent total is the same as your overall total. If each respondent responds less often than annually in the three-year period, divide the total number of respondents expected in the 3-year period by 3. If your numbers of responses and related burden hours are consistent year by year, just state the annual burden hours. If not, divide your total estimated burden hours by 3.

Length of time per response would be your burden hours divided by your responses - if there is more than one type of response -- which you know from your previous collection or your plans for a new one -- list each one and the time in hours and/or minutes.

"Cost to the public" means the recordkeeping/reporting costs from the 83-I, #14, NOT labor costs of the burden hours. These costs include the costs of mailing, faxing or calling in information, making paper copies, notary costs, and electronic transmission from vessel monitoring systems. Paint and brushes for vessel and gear marking would also fall under this category. Regular maintenance of any equipment whose initial costs fall under “capital and start-up” would also belong here. Again, this is the average over the 3-year period. NOTE: since readers will not know that this question refers specifically to recordkeeping/reporting costs, please keep the answer language you see in the template " $__ in (capital costs, if applicable) (and) reporting/recordkeeping costs".

7. The rest of the notice, leave as is!

Download Word Template for a FR Notice.

Use the following Federal Register Billing Codes on Notices: