[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 238 (Monday, December 13, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 72181]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-27264]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 120304E]


Guidelines for Producing the Climate Change Science Program 
Synthesis and Assessment Products

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The United States Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) is 
announcing the Guidelines for Producing the CCSP Synthesis and 
Assessment Products, which are described in the Strategic Plan for the 
U.S. Climate Change Science Program. The synthesis and assessment 
products are intended to provide useful information for a variety of 
users about key climate change topics. The products include reports, 
data sets, and evaluations of the uses and limits of climate 
information for decisionmaking.

ADDRESSES: The CCSP website is at:
http://www.climatescience.gov. The finalized guidelines areavailable on 
the CCSP web site at:
http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/sap/sap-guidelines.htm.The draft 
guidelines and a collation of comments submitted are available on the 
CCSP web site at:
http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/sap/sap-guidelines-29mar2004.pdf 
and
http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/sap/guidelines-comments/
default.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Sandy MacCracken, U.S. Climate 
Change Science Program, Suite 250, 1717 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., 
Washington, DC 20006, 1-202-419-3483 (voice), 1-202-223-3065 (fax), 
[email protected] (e-mail).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Climate Change Science Program is an 
interagency endeavor, with 13 participating Federal agencies and 
departments. One or more of the agencies that comprise CCSP will have 
the lead responsibility for preparing each product. The national and 
international research community is anticipated to play a major role in 
preparation of many of the products. See Chapter 2 of the Strategic 
Plan for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program for a detailed 
description of the products.
    To ensure consistency and transparency in the processes that will 
be used by the lead and supporting CCSP agencies in preparing the 
products, the guidelines describe the roles of different parties and 
the steps to be followed in each of three phases of the preparation 
process--developing the prospectus, drafting and revising the document, 
and final approval and publication of each product. This process of 
product development will facilitate involvement of the research 
community and the public in ensuring that the products meet the highest 
standards of scientific excellence. The guidelines also encourage 
transparency by ensuring that public information about the status of 
the products will be provided on the CCSP web site (see ADDRESSES).
    Comments on the draft guidelines were solicited during a public 
comment period from 29 March 2004 to 7 May 2004. The guidelines have 
been revised extensively in response to these comments and input from 
the National Research Council (NRC) provided during a meeting of the 
NRC's Coordinating Committee on Global Change held in Washington, DC on 
8-9 April 2004.

    Dated: December 6, 2004.
James R. Mahoney,
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Director, 
U.S. Climate Change Science Program.
[FR Doc. 04-27264 Filed 12-10-04; 8:45am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S