the public, resulting in the approval or denial of the 
application. The total review time (initial receipt of 
application until final Departmental action) depends on many 
factors including: the sufficiency of the information 
provided by the applicant; special actions, such as in- 
specting an applicant's marine mammal holding facilities, 
that may be warranted before reaching a decision; and the 
efficiency and thoroughness of those responsible for review. 
During 1980, the Commission made recommendations on 33 
applications submitted to the Department of Commerce and 5 
applications submitted to the Department of the Interior. 
The Commission's average review time for complete applications 
was 32 days (median, 30.5 days). Not included in the preceding 
statistics are recommendations on six applications which 
were still awaiting final action by the Department of Commerce 
at the end of 1980 and four applications which were under 
Commission review at year's end. 
The Commission, in consultation with its Committee of 
Scientific Advisors, also made recommendations on three 
requests to modify permits and two requests to modify and 
proceed with the next phase of authorized activities after 
review of the permittee's progress reports by the Department, 
in consultation with the Commission. The average time 
required for Commission review of these matters was 16 days. 
Based upon applications on which the Commission and the 
Departments took final action in 1980, the 33 applications 
submitted to the Department of Commerce were processed in an 
average of 117 days (median, 82 days) from the date received 
at the Department until final action was taken. The five 
permit applications submitted to the Department of the 
Interior were processed in an average of 112 days (median 
Hel tdays )r. These figures, when compared to the 1979 figures 
of 73 days for the Department of Commerce and 89 days for 
the Department of the Interior, represent increases in 
processing time of 60 percent and 26 percent (difference 
between 1980 and 1979 figures divided by 1979 figures), 
respectively. These increases were, in most cases, the 
result of the comparatively greater complexity of the applications 
considered in 1980 and the lengthy delays required while 
awaiting receipt of necessary additional information and 
clarification from certain permit applicants, both foreign 
and domestic. 
If calculated from the date of receipt of a complete 
application, the average processing times for the Departments 
of Commerce and the Interior were 87 and 65 days, respectively, 
compared to 62 and 55 days, respectively in 1979. 
(ay co 
