Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard Solicitation for Revisions, 29407 [2020-10469]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 95 (Friday, May 15, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 29407]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-10469]


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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; Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard 
Solicitation for Revisions

    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 February 27, 2020, during a 60-day comment period. 
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.
    Title: Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard 
Solicitation for Revisions.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-XXXX.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (new information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 100.
    Average Hours per Response: 1.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 100.
    Needs and Uses: NOAA's Office of Coastal Management (OCM) is 
proposing a new information collection that will allow interested 
parties to submit requests for revisions to update the Coastal and 
Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS). CMECS was approved 
by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) in August 2012 and 
provides a national standard for consistent descriptions of coastal and 
marine ecological features. The primary uses of CMECS are in mapping 
and classifying the geological, physical, biological, and chemical 
components of the environment. Among other applications, the CMECS 
framework can be used to integrate data from disparate sources, 
facilitate comparisons among sites, and organize data for regional 
assessment. Since its publication in 2012, the CMECS has been used to 
characterize habitats ranging from coastal wetlands and estuaries to 
the deep ocean and at local to global scales. Benefits of CMECS 
include: Data collected by different sensors and methods can be 
integrated into a single database; all the physical, biological, and 
chemical-forcing functions that collectively determine a habitat type 
can be captured; and the system has the flexibility to accommodate new 
units as additional information becomes available.
    The CMECS was developed as a dynamic standard to allow periodic 
revisions to continue to meet the needs of the user community and as 
such, the CMECS can be updated to accommodate the requirements of 
evolving scientific practices, technology, and coastal and marine 
resource management. The review process allows the CMECS to retain its 
consistency, credibility, and rigor through periodic reviews and an 
orderly, authoritative, and transparent updating process as required by 
the Federal Geographic Data Committee. Anyone can propose changes, 
which can include minor edits, such as grammatical or typographical 
corrections, clarifications of definitions and meaning, or more 
substantial changes to the hierarchy within components. The CMECS 
Implementation Group, through the Office for Coastal Management, has 
determined it is necessary to initiate the dynamic standard process to 
revise the CMECS. We are soliciting recommendations for revisions to 
the CMECS through a form to be posted on the CMECS website. All 
recommendations collected will be reviewed and revisions will be made 
to the CMECS to reflect those recommendations found to be valuable for 
implementation of the CMECS and supportive of the user community needs.
    Affected Public: Coastal scientists and managers throughout the 
United States responsible for characterization of coastal and marine 
habitats or ecosystems more broadly. This may include academia; non-
governmental organizations; State, Local or Tribal government; Federal 
government; and for profit environmental support businesses.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority:
    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 the title of the collection.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-10469 Filed 5-14-20; 8:45 am]
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