Notice of Intent To Develop a Policy for Determining Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) and Hypoxia Events of National Significance in Marine or Coastal Waters; Opportunity To Provide Information, 35854-35855 [2019-15820]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 143 (Thursday, July 25, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35854-35855]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-15820]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Notice of Intent To Develop a Policy for Determining Harmful 
Algal Bloom (HAB) and Hypoxia Events of National Significance in Marine 
or Coastal Waters; Opportunity To Provide Information

AGENCY: National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control 
Amendments Act of 2017 (HABHRCA) provides NOAA with authority to 
determine that a harmful algal bloom (HAB) or hypoxia event in marine 
or coastal waters is an event of national significance. NOAA may make 
this determination on its own initiative or upon the request of the 
Governor of an affected state. Following an event of national 
significance determination, NOAA is further authorized to make sums 
available to the affected state or local government for the purposes of 
assessing and mitigating the detrimental environmental, economic, 
subsistence use, and public health effects of the event of national 
significance. Funds would be subject to the availability of 
appropriations. The Federal share of the cost of any activity carried 
out for the purposes described above may not exceed 50 percent of the 
cost of that activity. NOAA is soliciting comments to inform the 
development of agency policy for determining HAB and hypoxia events of 
national significance in marine and coastal waters. NOAA will 
subsequently issue, in the Federal Register, notice of availability of 
the draft policy and provide an opportunity for formal public comment 
on the draft policy after it is prepared. Note that HABHRCA provides 
the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with comparable 
authority for determining freshwater hypoxia or HAB events of national 
significance. The EPA will issue a separate notice to solicit comments 
on freshwater hypoxia or HAB events.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before Monday, September 9, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit information by any of the following methods:
     Electronic Submission: Public comments can be submitted 
electronically either through the National Centers for Coastal Ocean 
Science web page (https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/).
     Email: You may submit comments via email to 
[email protected]. Please indicate ``HAB and hypoxia 
event of national significance'' in the email subject line.
     Mail: Submit all written comments to Caitlin Gould at 
NOAA, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, SSMC-4, Rm. #8237, 
1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Please mark the 
outside of the envelope ``HAB and hypoxia event of national 
significance.''
     Instructions: Comments must be submitted by one of the 
above methods to ensure that the information is received, documented, 
and considered by NOAA. Comments sent by any other method, or received 
after the comment period, may not be considered by NOAA. Do not submit 
confidential business information or otherwise sensitive or protected 
information. NOAA will accept anonymous comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maggie Broadwater at (843) 460-9684.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: HAB and hypoxic events are some of the most 
scientifically complex and economically damaging coastal issues 
challenging our ability to safeguard the health of our

[[Page 35855]]

nation's coastal ecosystems. Almost every state now experiences some 
kind of HAB event, and the number of hypoxic water bodies in the United 
States has increased over the last century. Recent economic analyses 
show effects costing hundreds of millions of dollars. Even just one 
major HAB or hypoxia event can incur tens of millions of dollars to 
local coastal economies, indicating that the nationwide economic 
impacts are likely much larger.
    In 1998, Congress recognized the severity of these threats and 
passed the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act 
(HABHRCA 1998; Pub. L. 105-383). The Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia 
Research and Control Amendments Act of 2004 (HABHRCA 2004, Pub. L. 108-
456) and 2014 (HABHRCA 2014, Pub. L. 113-124) reaffirmed and expanded 
the mandate for NOAA to advance the scientific understanding and 
ability to detect, monitor, assess, and predict HAB and hypoxia events. 
Congress most recently reauthorized and amended HABHRCA through the 
National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 
2018 (Pub. L. 115-423). Section 9 of this Act, cited as the Harmful 
Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2017, 
provides NOAA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with 
independent authority to make a determination of ``HABs and hypoxia 
events of national significance.'' Following such a determination, 
federal officials may ``make sums available to the affected State or 
local government for the purposes of assessing and mitigating the 
detrimental environmental, economic, subsistence use, and public health 
effects of the event of national significance.'' Funds would be subject 
to the availability of appropriations. This notice focuses only on the 
authority granted to NOAA and provides interested parties with an 
opportunity to provide information early in the policy development 
process for determining HAB and hypoxia events of national significance 
in marine or coastal waters.
    Factors to be considered in making a determination include the 
toxicity of the HAB, severity of hypoxia, potential for spread, 
economic impact, relative size in relation to the past five 
occurrences, and the geographic scope. NOAA is accepting comments to 
inform the development of guidance for assessing these considerations 
and whether additional factors should be considered. The determination 
process optimally will include quantitative and qualitative means of 
assessment. In particular, NOAA is interested in the following topics:
     The approach that NOAA should use to quantify and qualify 
the factors identified in the reauthorization of HABHRCA to determine 
an event of national significance.
    [cir] How NOAA should define and weigh the following statutory 
parameters:
    [ssquf] Toxicity of the HAB and severity of hypoxia;
    [ssquf] Economic impact;
    [ssquf] Relative size in relation to the past five occurrences of 
HAB or hypoxia events; that occur on a recurrent or annual basis;
    [ssquf] Geographic scope, including the potential to spread and 
affect either a single jurisdiction or multiple municipalities, states, 
or countries.
    [cir] Based on the statutory parameters above, how should NOAA 
define significant detrimental environmental, economic, subsistence 
use, and public health effects and what thresholds should be considered 
in making a determination.
    [cir] Whether NOAA should consider developing additional criteria, 
and, if so, how NOAA should quantify or qualify these additional 
criteria. For example:
    [ssquf] How NOAA should define an hypoxia event, and whether 
hypoxia should be defined relative to a set value or specific to an 
organism, a place, or time;
    [ssquf] Whether NOAA should consider inclusion of the duration of 
an event;
    [ssquf] Whether NOAA should consider the level of public concern 
and, if so, how to measure that.
     For the parameters described above, the information that a 
state should provide when requesting a determination and/or funds.
     For the purposes of a determination, and possible 
assessments and/or mitigation funds, how NOAA should define (A) the 
start and end of an event; and (B) the geographic extent of the event. 
Relative to these definitions, whether and how NOAA should establish 
the point at which states can/may make a funding request for assessment 
and mitigation assistance.
     For an event that has affected more than one state or 
shows the potential to do so in the case of an on-going event, whether 
NOAA should:
    [cir] Make a single determination for an event applicable to all 
states affected at the time of a determination and any future states 
affected by the event via geographic expansion, movement, or 
intensification of the event, or;
    [cir] limit determinations to the area requested by a State based 
on the then-current location and geographic extent of the event. This 
alternative could result in multiple state-by-state determinations for 
a single event.
     How to define subsistence use.
     The definition of the 50% federal/state match, and what 
contributions may be considered.
    To ensure clarity, NOAA requests separate comments for HAB and 
hypoxia events as it is likely that the factors for each will be 
considered differently. For more details and background, please refer 
to this site: https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/.

    Authority: 33 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.

Steven Thur,
Director, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean 
Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2019-15820 Filed 7-24-19; 8:45 am]
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