National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (noaa) – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda for a meeting of the Ocean Exploration Advisory Board (OEAB). OEAB members will discuss and provide advice on the Federal ocean exploration program, with a particular emphasis on the topics identified in the section on Matters To Be Considered.

This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda for a meeting of the Ocean Exploration Advisory Board (OEAB). OEAB members will discuss and provide advice on Federal ocean exploration programs, with a particular emphasis on the topics identified in the section on Matters to Be Considered.

This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda for a meeting of the Ocean Exploration Advisory Board (OEAB). OEAB members will discuss and provide advice on Federal ocean exploration programs, with a particular emphasis on the topics identified in the section on Matters to Be Considered.

This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of a meeting of the NOAA Science Advisory Board (SAB). The members will discuss issues outlined in the section on matters to be considered.

NOAA OER announces the availability of biologic and geologic samples that were collected during NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer expeditions in 2015 and 2016. Biologic specimens from all 2015 and 2016 expeditions are now available for loan through the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. Rock samples collected during the three legs of EX-15-05 are now available through Oregon State University's Marine Geology Repository. Information about individual samples as well as all imagery and oceanographic data collected during these expeditions can be found in the digital record for each cruise on the OER Digital Atlas, (https:// explore.noaa.gov/digitalatlas). The biologic and geologic samples described in this notice are available immediately from the designated repositories.

This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of a forthcoming meeting of the Ocean Exploration Advisory Board (OEAB). OEAB members will discuss and provide advice on Federal ocean exploration programs, with a particular emphasis on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) activities; federal ocean exploration partners, including the Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research, and Technology, the Office of Naval Research, and NOAA's Integrated Ocean Observing System program; advising NOAA on out-year budget development with respect to ocean exploration; and other matters as described in the agenda found on the OEAB Web site at https:// oeab.noaa.gov.

The Science Advisory Board (SAB) was established by a Decision Memorandum dated September 25, 1997, and is the only Federal Advisory Committee with responsibility to advise the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere on strategies for research, education, and application of science to operations and information services. SAB activities and advice provide necessary input to ensure that National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) science programs are of the highest quality and provide optimal support to resource management. Time and Date: The meeting will be held Thursday April 28 from 9:45 a.m. EDT to 5:45 p.m. EDT and on Friday April 29, from 9:00 a.m. EDT to 1:00 p.m. EDT. These times and the agenda topics described below are subject to change. Please refer to the Web page https:// www.sab.noaa.gov/Meetings/meetings.html for the most up-to-date meeting times and agenda. Place: The meeting will be held at Sheraton Silver Spring Magnolia Ballroom, 8777 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland. Please check the SAB Web site https://www.sab.noaa.gov/Meetings/meetings.html for directions to the meeting location. Status: The meeting will be open to public participation with a 15- minute public comment period on April 28 from 5:30-5:45 p.m. EDT (check Web site to confirm time). The SAB expects that public statements presented at its meetings will not be repetitive of previously submitted verbal or written statements. In general, each individual or group making a verbal presentation will be limited to a total time of two (2) minutes. Individuals or groups planning to make a verbal presentation should contact the SAB Acting Executive Director by April 21, 2016 to schedule their presentation. Written comments should be received in the SAB Executive Director's Office by April 21, 2016, to provide sufficient time for SAB review. Written comments received by the SAB Executive Director after April 21, 2016, will be distributed to the SAB, but may not be reviewed prior to the meeting date. Seating at the meeting will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Special Accommodations: These meetings are physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for special accommodations may be directed no later than 12:00 p.m. on April 21, 2016, to Dr. Elizabeth Turner, Acting SAB Executive Director, Room 146, Gregg Hall, 35 Colovos Road, Durham, NH 03824; Email: Elizabeth.Turner@noaa.gov. Matters To Be Considered: The meeting will include the following topics: (1) Report on Ecosystem Services Valuation from the Ecosystem Sciences and Management Working Group; (2) Updates from the NOAA Administrator, Chief Scientist and the Chief Economist; (3)SAB Strategy Discussion and Implications for NOAA; and (4) Discussion of Working Group Issues and Working Group Concept of Operations.

Notice is hereby given of a meeting of the Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee (Committee) in Santa Cruz, California.

This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of a forthcoming meeting of the NOAA Science Advisory Board. The members will discuss and provide advice on issues outlined in the section on Matters to be Considered. Time and Date: The meeting is scheduled for: Tuesday, January 31, 2012, from 3-5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

The National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee (NCADAC) was established by the Secretary of Commerce under the authority of the Global Change Research Act of 1990 to synthesize and summarize the science and information pertaining to current and future impacts of climate. Time and Date: The meeting will be held November 16 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and November 17, 2011, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. These times are subject to change. Please refer to the Web page https:// www.nesdis.noaa.gov/NCADAC/ for changes and for the most up- to-date meeting agenda.

This notice announces that OAR's draft Strategic Plan (FY12- 18) is available for public review and comment. The draft incorporates OAR's mission and vision, and characterizes its goals and objectives over the next six years. These goals and objectives will provide guidance and strategic direction for program and laboratory planning.

The National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory

NOAA'S Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) is electronically publishing the OER Strategic Plan for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011-2015. The strategic plan is published to meet the requirement for program direction under Public Law 111-11, Section 12104(b). The OER Strategic Plan describes the vision, mission, goals, core activities, and organization of the Office of Ocean Exploration and Research.

This notice: (1) Announces the addition of four MPAs managed by the National Marine Fisheries Service in consultation with the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council to the National System of MPAs (national system), thereby updating the List of National System MPAs; and (2) corrects a Federal Register notice published on December 27, 2010 announcing the nomination of 38 existing marine protected areas to the national system. In August 2010, NOAA and the Department of the Interior (DOI) invited Federal, State, commonwealth, and territorial marine protected area (MPA) programs with potentially eligible existing MPAs to nominate their sites to the national system. The national system and the nomination process are described in the Framework for the National System of Marine Protected Areas of the United States (Framework), developed in response to Executive Order 13158 on Marine Protected Areas. The final Framework was published on November 19, 2008, (73 FR 69608) and provides guidance for collaborative efforts among Federal, State, commonwealth, territorial, Tribal and local governments and stakeholders to develop an effective and well coordinated national system of MPAs that includes existing MPAs meeting national system criteria as well as new sites that may be established by managing agencies to fill key conservation gaps in important ocean areas.

Notice is hereby given of a meeting of the Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee (Committee) in Charleston, South Carolina.

OER is seeking pre-proposals and full proposals to support its mission, consistent with NOAA's Strategic Plan to search, investigate, and document poorly-known and unknown areas of the ocean and Great Lakes through interdisciplinary exploration, and to advance and disseminate knowledge of the ocean environment and its physical, chemical, and biological resources.

NOAA B-WET is an environmental education program that promotes locally relevant, experiential learning in the K-12 environment. Funded projects provide meaningful watershed educational experiences for students, related professional development for teachers, and helps to support regional education and environmental priorities in the Pacific Northwest, the northern Gulf of Mexico and New England.

NOAA Office of Oceans and Atmospheric Research (OAR) invites applications for a Cooperative Institute (CI) that will collaborate with NOAA scientists to improve weather forecast and warning accuracy; contribute to improvements in water resource forecasting capabilities; provide integrated weather information to meet future aviation and surface transportation needs; advance satellite sensor technology; develop high-performance computing, visualization, and scientific workstation technologies; and enhance environmental literacy to improve understanding. The CI would also conduct research needed to develop multiscale (global to local) data assimilation techniques with a strong satellite data emphasis, and provide the scientific expertise and the necessary computing infrastructure to help NOAA move forward on these issues. Through this competition, NOAA intends to establish competitively a new CI according to the policy and procedures described in NOAA Administrative Order 216-107 and the Cooperative Institute Interim Handbook both available at https://www.nrc.noaa.gov/ ci/. The proposed CI should be within daily commuting distance of NOAA facilities in Boulder and Fort Collins, Colorado. NOAA has identified five research themes that will address identified needs within the NOAA Weather and Water Goal that would benefit from collaborations with the CI. I. Satellite algorithm development, training and education. Research conducted under this theme is associated with development of satellite-based algorithms for weather forecasting, with emphasis on regional and mesoscale meteorological phenomenon. This work includes applications of basic satellite products such as feature track winds, thermodynamic retrievals, sea surface temperature, etc., in combination with model analyses and forecasts, as well as in situ and other remote sensing observations. Applications can be for current or future satellites. Also under this theme, satellite and related training material will be developed and delivered to a wide variety of users, with emphasis on operational forecasters. A variety of techniques can be used, including distance learning methods, Web-based demonstration projects and instructor-led training. II. Regional to Global Scale Modeling Systems. Research conducted under this theme is associated with the improvement of weather/climate models (minutes to months) that simulate and predict changes in the Earth system. Topics include atmospheric and ocean dynamics, radiative forcing, clouds and moist convection, land surface modeling, hydrology, and coupled modeling of the earth system. III. Data Assimilation. Research conducted under this theme will develop and improve techniques to assimilate environmental observations, including satellite, terrestrial, oceanic, and biological observations, to produce the best estimate of the environmental state at the time of the observations for use in analysis, modeling, and prediction activities associated with weather/climate predications (minutes to months) and analysis. IV. Climate-Weather Processes. Research conducted under this theme will focus on using numerical models and environmental data, including satellite observations, to understand processes that are important to creating environmental changes on weather and short-term climate timescales (minutes to months) and the two-way interactions between weather systems and regional climate. V. Data Distribution. Research conducted under this theme will focus on identifying effective and efficient methods of quickly distributing and displaying very large sets of environmental and model data using data networks, using web map services, data compression algorithms, and other techniques. This announcement provides requirements for the proposed CI and includes details for the technical program, evaluation criteria, and competitive selection procedures. Applicants should review CI Interim Handbook (available at https://www.nrc.noaa.gov/ci) prior to preparing a proposal for this announcement.

The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) invites applications for the establishment of a cooperative institute (CI) that will: Explore and research continental shelf frontier ecosystems; advance the state of knowledge of both shallow and deep coral ecosystems under U.S. jurisdiction; and develop, test and evaluate advanced ocean technologies and tools. This CI will facilitate a long- term collaborative environment between NOAA and the recipient(s) within which broad-based exploration, research, technology development, and education and outreach capabilities that focus on NOAA's priorities for the living and non-living marine resources within and beyond the eastern U.S. Continental Shelf can be developed and sustained. The CI may consist of one or more research institutions with expertise and capabilities in the NOAA priority areas that contribute to the areas of research described as research themes listed below. The CI should possess outstanding capabilities to conduct ocean exploration, research and technology development in the three research themes summarized below. Additionally, the CI should possess the ability to conduct outreach and education activities in support of these three research themes. i. Develop advanced underwater technologies. The CI will expand the scope and efficiency of exploration and research by developing, testing, and applying new and/or innovative uses of existing technologies to ocean exploration and research activities. ii. Explore and research the frontier regions of the eastern U.S. Continental Shelf and beyond. The CI will focus on the exploration and research of ecosystems and habitats of economic, hazardous, scientific or cultural importance within and beyond the eastern U.S. Continental Shelf as defined by the NOAA Ocean Exploration and Research program. iii. Vulnerable Deep and Shallow Coral Ecosystems. Priority activities will include supporting ocean exploration and research using advanced underwater technologies and techniques to improve the understanding of coral and sponge ecosystems. This announcement provides requirements for the proposed CI and includes details for the technical program, evaluation criteria, and competitive selection procedures. Applicants should review NOAA's CI Policy and CI Interim Handbook (both available at https:// www.nrc.noaa.gov/ci) prior to preparing a proposal for this announcement.

This notice announces the Department of Commerce's (Department's) proposal for a new system of records under the Privacy Act. NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is creating a new system of records for permits and non-permit registrations for use with a variety of fisheries management programs. Information will be collected from individuals under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the High Seas Fishing Compliance Act, the American Fisheries Act, the Tuna Conventions Act of 1950, the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act, the Atlantic Tunas Convention Authorization Act, the Northern Pacific Halibut Act, the Antarctic Marine Living Resources Convention Act, International Fisheries Regulations regarding U.S. Vessels Fishing in Colombian Treaty Waters, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. This new record system is necessary to identify participants in the fisheries and to evaluate the qualifications of the applicants.

NOAA and the Department of the Interior (DOI) jointly propose the Revised Draft Framework for Developing the National System of Marine Protected Areas (Revised Draft Framework), as required by Executive Order 13158 on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). This Revised Draft Framework provides overarching guidance for collaborative efforts among federal, state, tribal and local governments and stakeholders to develop an effective National System of MPAs (National System) from existing sites, build coordination and collaborative efforts, and identify ecosystem-based gaps in the protection of significant natural and cultural resources for possible future action by the nation's MPA authorities. The document further provides the guiding principles, key definitions, goals, and objectives for the National System, based on the breadth of input received from MPA stakeholders and governmental partners around the nation over the past several years. The intent of this document is to summarize and respond to comments received on the initial draft document during the September 2006 through February 2007 public comment period, and solicit additional public input on the proposed Revised Draft Framework in order to develop a final document that meets the nation's interests in the National System. The Revised Draft Framework incorporates significant modifications based on due consideration of all comments and recommendations received on the initial draft document. At the end of the comment period on this Revised Draft Framework, NOAA will publish the final Framework, again with consideration of input received.

NMFS issues a final rule to establish catch accounting requirements for persons who receive, buy, or accept Pacific whiting deliveries of 4,000 pounds (lb) (1.18 mt) or more from vessels using midwater trawl gear during the Pacific whiting primary season for the shore-based sector. This action is intended to improve NMFS's ability to effectively monitor the Pacific whiting shoreside fishery such that catch of Pacific whiting and incidentally caught species, including overfished groundfish species, do not result in a species' optimum yield (OY), harvest guideline, allocations, or bycatch limits being exceeded. This action is also intended to provide for timely reporting of Chinook salmon take as specified in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 Biological Opinion for Chinook salmon catch in the Pacific groundfish fishery. This action is consistent with the conservation goals and objectives of the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP).

Notice is hereby given of a meeting via web conference call of the Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee (Committee). The web conference call is open to the public, and participants can dial in to the call. Participants who choose to use the web conferencing feature in addition to the audio will be able to view the presentation as it is being given. Members of the public wishing to listen should contact Lauren Wenzel at the email or telephone number below for the call-in number and passcode.

Notice is hereby given of a public meeting concerning the development of a national system of marine protected areas (MPAs) pursuant to Executive Order 13158 (May 26, 2000). The Gulf of Mexico Region Public Dialogue will be held July 18, 2005, 6:30-9 p.m. in New Orleans, Louisiana. This is the third in a series of regional dialogues to be held around the United States to solicit input from the public concerning their views on a national system of MPAs. Additional meetings will be announced and scheduled pending available resources. Refer to the Web page listed below for background information concerning the development of the national system of MPAs. Meeting room capacity is limited to 75 people, and as such interested participants are required to RSVP via the e-mail address (preferable), fax number, or phone number listed below, by no later than 5 p.m. e.d.t. on July 8, 2005. Attendance will be available to the first 75 people who respond. Those who wish to attend but cannot due to space or schedule limitations can find background materials at the Web page listed below and may submit written statements to the e-mail, fax, or mailing address below. A written summary of the meeting will be posted on the Web site within one month of its occurrence.