Notice of Availability of Community-Based Restoration Program Guidelines, 56442-56444 [2015-23503]
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56442
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 181 / Friday, September 18, 2015 / Notices
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
diamond sawblades, including diamond
sawblade cores and diamond sawblade
segments. Diamond sawblade cores are
circular steel plates, whether or not
attached to non-steel plates, with slots.
Diamond sawblade cores are
manufactured principally, but not
exclusively, from alloy steel. A diamond
sawblade segment consists of a mixture
of diamonds (whether natural or
synthetic, and regardless of the quantity
of diamonds) and metal powders
(including, but not limited to, iron,
cobalt, nickel, tungsten carbide) that are
formed together into a solid shape (from
generally, but not limited to, a heating
and pressing process).
Sawblades with diamonds directly
attached to the core with a resin or
electroplated bond, which thereby do
not contain a diamond segment, are not
included within the scope of the order.
Diamond sawblades and/or sawblade
cores with a thickness of less than 0.025
inches, or with a thickness greater than
1.1 inches, are excluded from the scope
of the order. Circular steel plates that
have a cutting edge of non-diamond
material, such as external teeth that
protrude from the outer diameter of the
plate, whether or not finished, are
excluded from the scope of the order.
Diamond sawblade cores with a
Rockwell C hardness of less than 25 are
excluded from the scope of the order.
Diamond sawblades and/or diamond
segment(s) with diamonds that
predominantly have a mesh size number
greater than 240 (such as 250 or 260) are
excluded from the scope of the order.
Merchandise subject to the order is
typically imported under heading
8202.39.00.00 of the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
When packaged together as a set for
retail sale with an item that is separately
classified under headings 8202 to 8205
of the HTSUS, diamond sawblades or
parts thereof may be imported under
heading 8206.00.00.00 of the HTSUS.
On October 11, 2011, the Department
included the 6804.21.00.00 HTSUS
classification number to the customs
case reference file, pursuant to a request
by U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(CBP).5
The tariff classification is provided for
convenience and customs purposes;
however, the written description of the
scope of the order is dispositive.
Continuation of the Order
As a result of the determinations by
the Department and the ITC that
5 See Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof
From the Republic of Korea: Preliminary Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 76 FR
76128 (December 6, 2011).
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:47 Sep 17, 2015
Jkt 235001
revocation of the AD order would likely
lead to a continuation or recurrence of
dumping and material injury to an
industry in the United States, pursuant
to section 75l(d)(2) of the Act and 19
CFR 351.218(a), the Department hereby
orders the continuation of the AD order
on diamond sawblades from the PRC.
We will instruct CBP to continue to
collect AD cash deposits at the rates in
effect at the time of entry for all imports
of subject merchandise.
The effective date of the continuation
of the AD order will be the date of
publication in the Federal Register of
this notice of continuation. Pursuant to
section 751(c)(2) of the Act and 19 CFR
351.218(c)(2), the Department intends to
initiate the next five-year review of this
order not later than 30 days prior to the
fifth anniversary of the effective date of
this continuation notice.
This five-year sunset review and this
notice are in accordance with section
751(c) of the Act and published
pursuant to section 777(i)(1) of the Act
and 19 CFR 351.218(f)(4).
Dated: September 14, 2015.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Enforcement
and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2015–23468 Filed 9–17–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XE173
Notice of Availability of CommunityBased Restoration Program Guidelines
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of
Community-based Restoration Program
Guidelines; request for comments.
AGENCY:
NOAA’s National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) is seeking
comment on revised guidelines for the
Community-based Restoration Program
(Program). Since guidelines were first
issued in 2000, the Program has not
only evolved alongside the field of
habitat restoration but has been
designed to more effectively support
sustainable fisheries and contribute to
the recovery and conservation of
protected resources. These goals are
aligned with NMFS’ core mandates, the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act and
Endangered Species Act. The Program
has built a strong foundation of
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
technical and financial assistance
capabilities that enables NOAA to
proactively identify and develop
priority habitat restoration projects,
build community-based partnerships to
leverage resources, and implement
technically sound restoration actions
that have maximum impact on coastal
and marine species and the ecosystems
on which they depend. This document
replaces previous guidelines and
describes the Program’s goals and scope
of implementation for FY 2016 and
beyond. This is not a solicitation of
project proposals.
DATES: Comments are due October 19,
2015.
ADDRESSES: Additional information
about the Program is available at:
https://www.habitat.noaa.gov/
restoration/programs/crp.html.
Interested parties that wish to send
comments may send an email to
tisa.shostik@noaa.gov. Interested parties
that wish to send comments through
regular mail may use the following
mailing address: NOAA Restoration
Center (F/HC3), ATTN: CRP Guidelines,
1315 East West Highway, RM 14853,
Silver Spring, MD 20910.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tisa
Shostik at tisa.shostik@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
NMFS started the Community-based
Restoration Program (Program) in 1996
to provide technical and financial
assistance to support the
implementation of community-driven
habitat restoration. The Program
collaborates with partners to restore
coastal wetlands, coral reef, shellfish,
estuarine, and riverine habitat to benefit
coastal and marine species under NMFS
jurisdiction. Restoration implemented
under the Program include projects such
as dam removal and fish passage
projects, hydrologic reconnection
projects, shellfish and coral reef
restoration projects. To date, the
Program has implemented more than
1,700 habitat restoration projects in 37
states. It has restored more than 55,000
acres of habitat and opened 2,500 miles
of rivers and streams.
The Program is housed within the
NMFS Office of Habitat Conservation’s
Restoration Center and was authorized
in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management
Reauthorization Act of 2006. Prior
guidelines for the Program were
provided at 65 FR 16890, March 30,
2000, and then revised at 73 FR 55816,
September 26, 2008. Since the
guidelines were last updated in 2008,
base funding for the Program has
E:\FR\FM\18SEN1.SGM
18SEN1
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 181 / Friday, September 18, 2015 / Notices
remained relatively level, with the
exception of several specific initiatives
such as the Coastal and Marine Habitat
Restoration Grants funded by the
American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009 and the Open Rivers
Initiative (2007–2010).
Program Guidelines
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
a. Purpose of These Guidelines
These guidelines provide information
to the public and partnering
organizations regarding the Program’s
scope and focus. The guidelines
describe the broad range of the
Program’s activities and influence
including, but not limited to, technical
and financial assistance capabilities that
are managed in a manner to most
effectively advance the goals established
under NMFS’ core mandates. Previous
published guidelines included more
information on financial assistance
mechanisms and procedures. These
discussions have been removed from
these updated guidelines in order to
focus on the Program’s goals, scope, and
capabilities, rather than administrative
process.
b. Program Overview
NMFS’ primary goals under its core
mandates include ensuring the
productivity and sustainability of
fisheries and recovering and conserving
protected resources. Healthy ecosystems
and the availability of habitat are critical
to these resources and therefore
restoring coastal, marine, and riverine
habitat is an essential element of NMFS’
strategy to achieve its primary goals. To
support this strategy, the Program
provides technical and financial
assistance to identify, develop,
implement, and evaluate communitydriven habitat restoration projects that
yield the greatest benefit to the
resources under NMFS’ jurisdiction.
Program staff leads coordination efforts
across NOAA and other Federal and
non-Federal partners to identify shared
habitat priorities and focus resource
investments to increase the impact of
habitat conservation and restoration
actions. The Program’s restoration
specialists, including fish biologists,
ecologists, and engineers, located
throughout the country, provide
comprehensive expertise to facilitate
effective habitat restoration. To support
project implementation through
financial assistance, the Program
primarily establishes cooperative
agreement funding awards with nonFederal partners. Competitive
solicitations are issued as Federal
funding announcements on Grants.gov.
Non-Federal partners may include non-
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:47 Sep 17, 2015
Jkt 235001
governmental organizations, tribes,
states, and local government agencies
and communities.
Habitat restoration projects
implemented through the Program are
developed in partnership with the
communities in which they are based
and reflect the needs and interests of
local stakeholders. As restoration is
conducted using a collaborative,
ecosystem approach, projects such as
dam removal, floodplain reconnection,
and coastal wetland restoration often
result in multiple benefits beyond the
Program’s primary goals. These benefits
may include increased coastal
resiliency, improved infrastructure,
enhanced public safety, increased
recreational opportunities, and
strengthened coastal economies. The
Program also fosters natural resource
stewardship and local community
engagement by supporting outreach,
education, or volunteer opportunities as
restoration project components.
c. Program Activities and Priorities
The Program will continue to support
projects featuring all aspects of coastal
habitat restoration, conservation, and
protection that recover threatened and
endangered species listed under the
Endangered Species Act, sustain or help
rebuild fish stocks managed under the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, or
benefit other coastal and marine species
with a connection to NMFS
management. Within this broad
authority, the Program is focusing its
efforts to more effectively achieve
NMFS’ species recovery and fisheries
sustainability goals, as well as
demonstrate the results and multiple
benefits of the Program’s investments.
Focused and coordinated approaches
are critical because funding for coastal
habitat restoration remains insufficient
to fully address the needs of all habitatlimited coastal and marine species. To
help set priorities and inform strategic
decisions on where and how the
Program targets its efforts, Program staff
coordinates across NOAA and develops
key partnerships with other Federal
agencies, tribes, states, counties, local
communities, and other nongovernmental organizations. This
leadership and collaboration helps set
shared priorities and goals, and
increases the impact of the Program’s
coastal restoration funding by leveraging
resources and coordinating investments
from multiple habitat restoration and
conservation organizations and
programs involved in habitat
conservation and restoration.
To execute the Program’s targeted
habitat restoration goals, the Program
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
56443
may focus its technical assistance and
funding on specific geographic areas,
habitats, restoration techniques, actions
identified in protected species recovery
plans or fishery management plans, or
where NOAA and partner resources are
aligned to yield a greater collective
impact. The Program will provide
restoration project funding to nonFederal partners through open,
competitive solicitations announced
through Federal Funding Opportunities
(FFOs). The Program’s targeted goals
and priorities will be explicitly outlined
within each FFO and applications will
be evaluated on how well the proposed
activity meets those priorities. Funding
may be provided through cooperative
agreements for restoration planning and
feasibility studies, engineering and
design, implementation and
construction, and monitoring and
evaluation efforts.
In addition to providing funds for
restoration projects, the Program
provides leadership and technical
expertise to foster the development and
implementation of habitat restoration
actions that support the recovery of
protected species and sustainability of
fisheries. To most effectively meet these
core mandate goals, Program staff
proactively identifies restoration
opportunities, coordinates with other
entities to help drive investments
towards the highest priorities, and
develops solutions to overcome
obstacles to restoration success. Program
staff provides technical expertise to
ensure that restoration partners have the
necessary support to successfully carry
out complex habitat restoration
activities such as dam removals and
large-scale hydrologic reconnection
projects. The technical assistance that
Program staff provides to restoration
project partners includes guidance on
project feasibility assessments,
engineering and design, project
implementation oversight, regulatory
compliance, and monitoring planning.
The Program also accelerates the
delivery of resources and
implementation of restoration by
streamlining permitting and
environmental compliance processes
when possible through the development
and use of programmatic approaches.
These core technical and financial
assistance capabilities enable the
Program to efficiently support the
implementation of other targeted habitat
conservation and restoration initiatives
within NOAA.
As the practice of habitat restoration
has developed, the Program has
contributed to its advancement through
targeted implementation and
effectiveness monitoring and technology
E:\FR\FM\18SEN1.SGM
18SEN1
56444
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 181 / Friday, September 18, 2015 / Notices
transfer. Monitoring carried out by the
Program has supported science-based
decision making and led to
improvements in the design and
implementation of habitat restoration
projects. To evaluate the effectiveness of
restoration actions in a cost-effective
way, the Program is establishing
consistent processes for monitoring and
evaluating the performance of
individual and collective restoration
actions. The Program collects and
reports this information in a manner
that will inform future projects and
investments, and ultimately improve the
performance of the Program. The
Program also facilitates increased public
access to monitoring and evaluation
data by implementing NOAA’s Data
Sharing Policy for Grants and
Cooperative Agreements issued in 2012
which requires that all NOAA grantees
share data produced under NOAA
grants and cooperative agreements.
Program staff works with cooperative
agreement recipients to develop a data
sharing plan as part of their cooperative
agreement award narrative.
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
d. Funding Sources, Mechanisms, and
Eligible Participants
As described in the prior sections,
providing financial assistance is a tool
that the Program uses to accomplish
habitat restoration, complemented by
the Program’s leadership, coordination,
and technical assistance capabilities.
Financial assistance is provided
competitively through FFO
announcements and awarded and
managed following the Department of
Commerce Grants and Cooperative
Agreements Manual and 2 CFR part 200.
The Program primarily establishes
cooperative agreement awards with
selected applicants based on a
competitive, technical review process to
maximize opportunities for public
access to Program resources. In limited
circumstances, contracts may also be
awarded. All domestic applicants other
than individuals may apply for financial
assistance. Activities that constitute
legally required mitigation or are
required by federal, state, or local law or
court order are not part of the Program.
e. Reporting
The Program uses a specific reporting
format that has received Paperwork
Reduction Act clearance. The progress
report format assists recipients of
Program funding in tracking their
progress towards self-defined
milestones and performance measures.
Progress reports may also include
monitoring and evaluation results. The
Program-specific form also helps the
Program populate a project tracking
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18:47 Sep 17, 2015
Jkt 235001
database, which supports agency-wide
performance measure reporting and
provides public information through the
Restoration Atlas at
www.habitat.noaa.gov/restoration/
restorationatlas.
f. Regulatory Compliance
The Program assists its restoration
partners and financial assistance
recipients in completing their regulatory
compliance responsibilities when
possible, and may serve as lead agency
for consultation and analysis under the
National Environmental Policy Act,
Endangered Species Act, National
Historic Preservation Act, and other
applicable federal laws and regulations.
The Program takes a programmatic
approach to regulatory compliance
when available. A current list of
programmatic compliance documents
that may be used to fulfill regulatory
compliance responsibilities can be
found at https://www.habitat.noaa.gov/
funding/applicantresources.html.
Dated: September 14, 2015.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015–23503 Filed 9–17–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
The Department of Commerce will
submit to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for clearance the
following proposal for collection of
information under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35).
Agency: National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Title: Coastal and Estuarine Land
Conservation, Planning, Protection, or
Restoration.
OMB Control Number: 0648–0459.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular (extension of
a currently approved information
collection).
Number of Respondents: 51.
Average Hours per Response: Plans,
120 hours to develop, 35 hours to revise
or update; project application and
checklist, 20 hours; semi-annual and
annual reporting, 5 hours each.
Burden Hours: 1,410.
Needs and Uses: This request is for
extension of a currently approved
information collection.
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 9990
The FY 2002 Commerce, Justice, State
Appropriations Act directed the
Secretary of Commerce to establish a
Coastal and Estuarine Land
Conservation Program (CELCP) to
protect important coastal and estuarine
areas that have significant conservation,
recreation, ecological, historical, or
aesthetic values, or that are threatened
by conversion, and to issue guidelines
for this program delineating the criteria
for grant awards. The guidelines
establish procedures for eligible
applicants who choose to participate in
the program to use when developing
state conservation plans, proposing or
soliciting projects under this program,
applying for funds, and carrying out
projects under this program in a manner
that is consistent with the purposes of
the program. Guidelines for the CELCP
can be found on NOAA’s Web site at:
https://www.coast.noaa.gov/czm/
landconservation/ or may be obtained
upon request via the contact
information listed above. The CELCP
was reauthorized in under P.L. 111–111,
the Omnibus Public Lands Management
Act, as a component of the Coastal Zone
Management Act. NOAA also has, or is
given, additional authority under the
Coastal Zone Management Act, annual
appropriations or other authorities, to
issue funds to coastal states, localities or
other recipients for planning,
conservation, acquisition, protection,
restoration, or construction projects.
The required information enables
NOAA to implement the CELCP, under
its current or future authorization, and
facilitate the review of similar projects
under different, but related, authorities.
Affected Public: State, local or tribal
government; not-for-profit institutions.
Frequency: One time, semi-annually.
Respondent’s Obligation: Required to
obtain or retain benefits.
This information collection request
may be viewed at reginfo.gov. Follow
the instructions to view Department of
Commerce collections currently under
review by OMB.
Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this
notice to OIRA_Submission@
omb.eop.gov or fax to (202) 395–5806.
Dated: September 15, 2015.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015–23451 Filed 9–17–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–08–P
E:\FR\FM\18SEN1.SGM
18SEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 181 (Friday, September 18, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56442-56444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-23503]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XE173
Notice of Availability of Community-Based Restoration Program
Guidelines
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of Community-based Restoration Program
Guidelines; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is seeking
comment on revised guidelines for the Community-based Restoration
Program (Program). Since guidelines were first issued in 2000, the
Program has not only evolved alongside the field of habitat restoration
but has been designed to more effectively support sustainable fisheries
and contribute to the recovery and conservation of protected resources.
These goals are aligned with NMFS' core mandates, the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act and Endangered Species Act. The
Program has built a strong foundation of technical and financial
assistance capabilities that enables NOAA to proactively identify and
develop priority habitat restoration projects, build community-based
partnerships to leverage resources, and implement technically sound
restoration actions that have maximum impact on coastal and marine
species and the ecosystems on which they depend. This document replaces
previous guidelines and describes the Program's goals and scope of
implementation for FY 2016 and beyond. This is not a solicitation of
project proposals.
DATES: Comments are due October 19, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Additional information about the Program is available at:
https://www.habitat.noaa.gov/restoration/programs/crp.html. Interested
parties that wish to send comments may send an email to
tisa.shostik@noaa.gov. Interested parties that wish to send comments
through regular mail may use the following mailing address: NOAA
Restoration Center (F/HC3), ATTN: CRP Guidelines, 1315 East West
Highway, RM 14853, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tisa Shostik at tisa.shostik@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
NMFS started the Community-based Restoration Program (Program) in
1996 to provide technical and financial assistance to support the
implementation of community-driven habitat restoration. The Program
collaborates with partners to restore coastal wetlands, coral reef,
shellfish, estuarine, and riverine habitat to benefit coastal and
marine species under NMFS jurisdiction. Restoration implemented under
the Program include projects such as dam removal and fish passage
projects, hydrologic reconnection projects, shellfish and coral reef
restoration projects. To date, the Program has implemented more than
1,700 habitat restoration projects in 37 states. It has restored more
than 55,000 acres of habitat and opened 2,500 miles of rivers and
streams.
The Program is housed within the NMFS Office of Habitat
Conservation's Restoration Center and was authorized in the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of
2006. Prior guidelines for the Program were provided at 65 FR 16890,
March 30, 2000, and then revised at 73 FR 55816, September 26, 2008.
Since the guidelines were last updated in 2008, base funding for the
Program has
[[Page 56443]]
remained relatively level, with the exception of several specific
initiatives such as the Coastal and Marine Habitat Restoration Grants
funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the
Open Rivers Initiative (2007-2010).
Program Guidelines
a. Purpose of These Guidelines
These guidelines provide information to the public and partnering
organizations regarding the Program's scope and focus. The guidelines
describe the broad range of the Program's activities and influence
including, but not limited to, technical and financial assistance
capabilities that are managed in a manner to most effectively advance
the goals established under NMFS' core mandates. Previous published
guidelines included more information on financial assistance mechanisms
and procedures. These discussions have been removed from these updated
guidelines in order to focus on the Program's goals, scope, and
capabilities, rather than administrative process.
b. Program Overview
NMFS' primary goals under its core mandates include ensuring the
productivity and sustainability of fisheries and recovering and
conserving protected resources. Healthy ecosystems and the availability
of habitat are critical to these resources and therefore restoring
coastal, marine, and riverine habitat is an essential element of NMFS'
strategy to achieve its primary goals. To support this strategy, the
Program provides technical and financial assistance to identify,
develop, implement, and evaluate community-driven habitat restoration
projects that yield the greatest benefit to the resources under NMFS'
jurisdiction. Program staff leads coordination efforts across NOAA and
other Federal and non-Federal partners to identify shared habitat
priorities and focus resource investments to increase the impact of
habitat conservation and restoration actions. The Program's restoration
specialists, including fish biologists, ecologists, and engineers,
located throughout the country, provide comprehensive expertise to
facilitate effective habitat restoration. To support project
implementation through financial assistance, the Program primarily
establishes cooperative agreement funding awards with non-Federal
partners. Competitive solicitations are issued as Federal funding
announcements on Grants.gov. Non-Federal partners may include non-
governmental organizations, tribes, states, and local government
agencies and communities.
Habitat restoration projects implemented through the Program are
developed in partnership with the communities in which they are based
and reflect the needs and interests of local stakeholders. As
restoration is conducted using a collaborative, ecosystem approach,
projects such as dam removal, floodplain reconnection, and coastal
wetland restoration often result in multiple benefits beyond the
Program's primary goals. These benefits may include increased coastal
resiliency, improved infrastructure, enhanced public safety, increased
recreational opportunities, and strengthened coastal economies. The
Program also fosters natural resource stewardship and local community
engagement by supporting outreach, education, or volunteer
opportunities as restoration project components.
c. Program Activities and Priorities
The Program will continue to support projects featuring all aspects
of coastal habitat restoration, conservation, and protection that
recover threatened and endangered species listed under the Endangered
Species Act, sustain or help rebuild fish stocks managed under the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, or benefit
other coastal and marine species with a connection to NMFS management.
Within this broad authority, the Program is focusing its efforts to
more effectively achieve NMFS' species recovery and fisheries
sustainability goals, as well as demonstrate the results and multiple
benefits of the Program's investments. Focused and coordinated
approaches are critical because funding for coastal habitat restoration
remains insufficient to fully address the needs of all habitat-limited
coastal and marine species. To help set priorities and inform strategic
decisions on where and how the Program targets its efforts, Program
staff coordinates across NOAA and develops key partnerships with other
Federal agencies, tribes, states, counties, local communities, and
other non-governmental organizations. This leadership and collaboration
helps set shared priorities and goals, and increases the impact of the
Program's coastal restoration funding by leveraging resources and
coordinating investments from multiple habitat restoration and
conservation organizations and programs involved in habitat
conservation and restoration.
To execute the Program's targeted habitat restoration goals, the
Program may focus its technical assistance and funding on specific
geographic areas, habitats, restoration techniques, actions identified
in protected species recovery plans or fishery management plans, or
where NOAA and partner resources are aligned to yield a greater
collective impact. The Program will provide restoration project funding
to non-Federal partners through open, competitive solicitations
announced through Federal Funding Opportunities (FFOs). The Program's
targeted goals and priorities will be explicitly outlined within each
FFO and applications will be evaluated on how well the proposed
activity meets those priorities. Funding may be provided through
cooperative agreements for restoration planning and feasibility
studies, engineering and design, implementation and construction, and
monitoring and evaluation efforts.
In addition to providing funds for restoration projects, the
Program provides leadership and technical expertise to foster the
development and implementation of habitat restoration actions that
support the recovery of protected species and sustainability of
fisheries. To most effectively meet these core mandate goals, Program
staff proactively identifies restoration opportunities, coordinates
with other entities to help drive investments towards the highest
priorities, and develops solutions to overcome obstacles to restoration
success. Program staff provides technical expertise to ensure that
restoration partners have the necessary support to successfully carry
out complex habitat restoration activities such as dam removals and
large-scale hydrologic reconnection projects. The technical assistance
that Program staff provides to restoration project partners includes
guidance on project feasibility assessments, engineering and design,
project implementation oversight, regulatory compliance, and monitoring
planning. The Program also accelerates the delivery of resources and
implementation of restoration by streamlining permitting and
environmental compliance processes when possible through the
development and use of programmatic approaches. These core technical
and financial assistance capabilities enable the Program to efficiently
support the implementation of other targeted habitat conservation and
restoration initiatives within NOAA.
As the practice of habitat restoration has developed, the Program
has contributed to its advancement through targeted implementation and
effectiveness monitoring and technology
[[Page 56444]]
transfer. Monitoring carried out by the Program has supported science-
based decision making and led to improvements in the design and
implementation of habitat restoration projects. To evaluate the
effectiveness of restoration actions in a cost-effective way, the
Program is establishing consistent processes for monitoring and
evaluating the performance of individual and collective restoration
actions. The Program collects and reports this information in a manner
that will inform future projects and investments, and ultimately
improve the performance of the Program. The Program also facilitates
increased public access to monitoring and evaluation data by
implementing NOAA's Data Sharing Policy for Grants and Cooperative
Agreements issued in 2012 which requires that all NOAA grantees share
data produced under NOAA grants and cooperative agreements. Program
staff works with cooperative agreement recipients to develop a data
sharing plan as part of their cooperative agreement award narrative.
d. Funding Sources, Mechanisms, and Eligible Participants
As described in the prior sections, providing financial assistance
is a tool that the Program uses to accomplish habitat restoration,
complemented by the Program's leadership, coordination, and technical
assistance capabilities. Financial assistance is provided competitively
through FFO announcements and awarded and managed following the
Department of Commerce Grants and Cooperative Agreements Manual and 2
CFR part 200. The Program primarily establishes cooperative agreement
awards with selected applicants based on a competitive, technical
review process to maximize opportunities for public access to Program
resources. In limited circumstances, contracts may also be awarded. All
domestic applicants other than individuals may apply for financial
assistance. Activities that constitute legally required mitigation or
are required by federal, state, or local law or court order are not
part of the Program.
e. Reporting
The Program uses a specific reporting format that has received
Paperwork Reduction Act clearance. The progress report format assists
recipients of Program funding in tracking their progress towards self-
defined milestones and performance measures. Progress reports may also
include monitoring and evaluation results. The Program-specific form
also helps the Program populate a project tracking database, which
supports agency-wide performance measure reporting and provides public
information through the Restoration Atlas at www.habitat.noaa.gov/restoration/restorationatlas.
f. Regulatory Compliance
The Program assists its restoration partners and financial
assistance recipients in completing their regulatory compliance
responsibilities when possible, and may serve as lead agency for
consultation and analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act,
Endangered Species Act, National Historic Preservation Act, and other
applicable federal laws and regulations. The Program takes a
programmatic approach to regulatory compliance when available. A
current list of programmatic compliance documents that may be used to
fulfill regulatory compliance responsibilities can be found at https://www.habitat.noaa.gov/funding/applicantresources.html.
Dated: September 14, 2015.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-23503 Filed 9-17-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
