[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 29 (Tuesday, February 12, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9987-9988]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-03251]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 8185]


Call for Expert Reviewers to the U.S. Government Review of the 
2013 Supplement to the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 
(IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Wetlands.

    Summary: The United States Global Change Research Program, in 
cooperation with the Department of State, request expert review of the 
Second Order Draft of the 2013 Supplement to the 2006 Intergovernmental 
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas 
Inventories: Wetlands.
    The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World 
Meteorological Organization (WMO) established the IPCC in 1988. In 
accordance with its mandate and as reaffirmed in various decisions by 
the Panel, the major activity of the IPCC is to prepare comprehensive 
and up-to-date assessments of policy-relevant scientific, technical, 
and socio-economic information for understanding the scientific basis 
of climate change, potential impacts, and options for mitigation and 
adaptation. Among the IPCC's products is a series of guidance documents 
for the preparation of national greenhouse gas inventories, which 
provide guidance to periodic submissions by Parties to the U.N. 
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These reports are 
developed in accordance with procedures for preparation and review of 
IPCC documents, which can be found at the following Web sites:

http://www.ipcc.ch/organization/organization_review.shtml#.UEY0LqSe7x8
http://ipcc.ch/organization/organization_procedures.shtml.

    Following an invitation from the UNFCCC to ``undertake further 
methodological work on wetlands, focusing on the rewetting and 
restoration of peatland, with a view to filling in the gaps in the 2006 
IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories'' (FCCC/SBSTA/
2010/13, paragraph 72), an IPCC Expert Meeting on Scoping Additional 
Guidance on Wetlands was held, on 30 March-1 April 2011 and its 
proposal was presented to the 33rd session of the IPCC held in Abu 
Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 10-13 May 2011. In response to the outcome 
of the meeting, the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories 
(TFI) is developing additional national-level inventory methodological 
guidance on wetlands, including default emission factor values, with 
the aim to fill gaps in the coverage of wetlands and organic soils in 
the 2006 IPCC Guidelines.
    The 2013 Supplement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National 
Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Wetlands (the Wetlands Supplement) provides 
methods for estimating anthropogenic emissions and removals of 
greenhouse gases from wetlands (lands that are saturated by water for 
all or part of the year), lands with organic soils, and other drained 
lands. Specifically, the guidance in the Wetlands Supplement covers 
inland peatlands and other wetlands on mineral soils; coastal wetlands 
including mangroves, coastal marshes and sea grass; as well as 
constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment. It does not include 
methodologies for flooded lands. It supplements the guidance contained 
in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories 
(the 2006 IPCC Guidelines) which provides methodologies for estimating 
national anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of 
greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol. While the 
2006 IPCC Guidelines include a chapter on wetlands, this chapter is 
incomplete and does not cover all wetlands types. It does not 
characterize all of the significant activities occurring on these 
wetlands e.g., rewetting of peatlands. The 2006 IPCC Guidelines only 
provide guidance on peatlands drained and managed for peat extraction 
and some guidance for drained organic soils.
    As part of the U.S. Government Review of the Second Order Draft of 
the 2013 Supplement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse 
Gas Inventories: Wetlands, the U.S. Government is soliciting comments 
from experts in relevant fields of expertise (The Table of Contents for 
the

[[Page 9988]]

TFI contribution can be viewed here: http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/home/docs/1105_WetlandsToC.pdf ).
    Beginning on 11 February 2013, experts may register and access the 
Second Order Draft of the report to contribute to the U.S. Government 
review at: review.globalchange.gov. To be considered for inclusion in 
the U.S. Government submission, comments must be received by 22 March 
2013. The United States Global Change Research Program will coordinate 
collection and compilation of U.S. expert comments to develop a 
consolidated U.S. Government submission, which will be provided to the 
IPCC by 7 April 2013. Instructions for review and submission of 
comments are available at: review.globalchange.gov.
    Experts may choose to provide comments directly through the IPCC's 
Expert Review process, which occurs in parallel with the U.S. 
Government Review. More information on the IPCC's comment process can 
be found at http://www.ipcc.ch/activities/activities.shtml and http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/forms/wetlandsreview_registration.html. To 
avoid duplication, comments submitted for consideration as part of the 
U.S. Government Review should not also be sent to the IPCC Secretariat 
through the Expert Review process (and vice versa). Comments to the 
U.S. government review should be submitted using the web-based system 
at: review.globalchange.gov.
    This certification will be published in the Federal Register.

     Dated: February 6, 2013.
Trigg Talley,
Director, Office of Global Change, Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2013-03251 Filed 2-11-13; 8:45 am]
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