[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 161 (Tuesday, August 20, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51177-51181]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-20331]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE


Department of the Navy

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of Meeting Minutes for publication and public comment in 
the Federal Register.

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SUMMARY: Minutes of the last Ocean Research Advisory Panel (ORAP) 
meeting will be open for public comment until September 16, 2013.

DATES: Comments will be taken until September 16, 2013.

ADDRESSES: The meeting was held at Marine Acoustics Inc, 4100 Fairfax 
Drive, Suite 730, Arlington, VA 22203.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Joan S. Cleveland, Office of Naval 
Research, 875 North Randolph Street, Suite 1425, Arlington, VA 22203-
1995, telephone 703-696-4532.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Dr. Cleveland, Designated Federal Officer, 
(DFO) called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. on May 21, 2013.
    Introductions were made around the room and on the phone. Dr. 
Leinen reviewed the agenda. The minutes from the January 2013 meeting 
were approved.

National Ocean Council (NOC) Update--Given By M. Weiss (NOC)

     The National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan was released 
on April 16, 2013--the final looks very different from the Draft 
Implementation Plan. Public comments were taken into account. The final 
plan focuses on the importance of incremental change and emphasizes 
local and regional capacity. Action items are identified by federal 
agency; many are related to the topics ORAP is working on. The Ocean 
Science and Technology and the Ocean Resource Management interagency 
committees are tracking progress and will provide reports annually. The 
final version clarifies what marine planning means and emphasizes the 
need for flexibility. States/regions are encouraged, but not required, 
to establish regional planning bodies. Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic, the 
Pacific Islands and the Caribbean have established regional planning 
bodies; the Great Lakes region is discussing options; California 
expects to form a

[[Page 51178]]

regional planning body by the end of the year.
     The NOC received the February memo from ORAP suggesting 
future topics for ORAP to report on and will consider those ideas while 
working with the NOC Steering Committee to identify new tasks for ORAP.
     Michael Weiss' term at the NOC ends in June.
    Q&A:
     Ecosystem-Based Management
    [cir] Now that the Implementation Plan has been released, are there 
any changes to the NOC request for the Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) 
Report? Reply: No, all the things requested originally are still on 
point.
     Education
    [cir] The ORAP Education working group needs information from the 
Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on the recommendations 
of the Committee on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math 
Education (CoSTEM) and requests a teleconference with the OSTP to 
obtain updated information to better inform what will be included in 
the report to the NOC.
     Infrastructure--Agencies have no procedure for 
decommissioning infrastructure.
     Implementation Plan
    [cir] Alaska is pleased to see some of the things that appear in 
the Implementation Plan.
    [cir] Will regions that have moved forward pass on information to 
other Regions and the ORAP?
    [cir] It is important to continue working with the states on marine 
planning.
     ORAP membership, meetings
    [cir] The ORAP needs members that have multiple skill sets which 
will help ORAP with calling subject matter experts on the various 
topics that ORAP is asked to report on; the NOC should consider these 
when selecting nominees.
    [cir] ORAP would like to connect with the Government Coordinating 
Committee.
     Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
    [cir] Silos in the OMB negatively impact the ability of the 
agencies to conduct interagency activities once they have been planned.
    [cir] Comments on this impact should be included in the report(s).

Briefing: Balancing Ocean Infrastructure With Ocean Research--R. Weller 
Provided the Briefing Over the Phone

    Highlights from the brief included:
     The task from the NOC was to report on how best to balance 
infrastructure and research if there is no new funding.
     The report will:
    [cir] Adopt the National Research Council (NRC) report view of what 
the elements of the infrastructure are.
    [cir] Review evolution of ocean sciences
     Diversity
     Multidisciplinary
     Capabilities to field infrastructure
     Report Outline--Introduction; Summary & Review of the 
Portfolio and Processes; Problems, Challenges & Opportunities; 
Recommendations; and Summary of Recommendations
     Completed portions--Introduction; Summary & Review of the 
Portfolio and Processes; Problems, Challenges and Opportunities
    [cir] Introduction--contains a review of the tasking and changes 
that have happened in the field.
    [cir] Summary of the Portfolio--contains a review of the current 
infrastructure using the NRC definition, current agency funding (later 
discussion led to decision to not include funding), processes by which 
agencies make decisions, mechanisms that influence each agency's 
decision, external influences on agencies that change/modify/shape 
their decisions (e.g., OMB), role of the community in setting the 
balance; and the time horizons of processes and procedures (i.e., some 
decisions like fleet replacement have very long time horizons).
    [cir] Problems, Challenges & Opportunities--there are no multi-year 
budgets for agencies; how do you coordinate things that you can't 
share?
    [cir] Mechanisms--still working on this section.
     Some of the former NRC committees that advised on 
expenditures don't exist any longer.
    Highlights from the discussion included:
     Issues include inadequate funding to support both 
infrastructure and research using the data collected by the 
infrastructure; lack of agency coordination which leads to both 
duplication of infrastructure and not considering that one agency's 
infrastructure is used by other agencies; and absence of mechanisms for 
sun-setting infrastructure.
     National Science Foundation (NSF) has asked the NRC to 
undertake a Decadal Survey which will include discussion of the issue 
of facilities and infrastructure vs. research. Study members are being 
sought and the chairs of the committee have not yet been selected.
     Initially, the working group bounded the report to cover 
only federal elements of research vs. infrastructure, but a discussion 
of public/private partnerships led to the decision to expand.
     OMB budget examination process seems to disfavor multiple 
agencies supporting similar topics, which discourages interagency or 
international collaboration and sharing of infrastructure. Should OMB 
establish a budget examiner for ocean infrastructure?
     The informal Great Lakes Association of Science Vessels 
has had some success with public/private partnerships after some 
initial problems. The National Center for Atmospheric Research is a 
successful example of focusing the community's infrastructure in a 
single location.
     There are multiple interagency working groups but the 
agency representatives need to be people who can actually make 
decisions; this should be highlighted in the infrastructure report.
     The National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP) is a good 
example of successful interagency interaction. It allows agencies to 
plan and collaborate. But ORAP needs to recognize the difficulty of 
accountability and oversight in collaborative environments.
     Three questions that should be considered in the report 
are:
    [cir] Is there sufficient research funding to take advantage of the 
infrastructure?
    [cir] How does research infrastructure transition to operational 
infrastructure?
     e.g., NOAA's Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere's Tropical 
Atmosphere Ocean (TOGA-TAO) deep ocean moorings.
     What mechanisms can be proposed to allow a transition from 
research to operations without erosion of maintenance?
    [cir] How can we sunset infrastructure or transfer it to another 
agency?
     Based on the discussion, modifications to the content and 
structure of the report will include:
    [cir] Discussion of private sector opportunities.
    [cir] Examples: Great Lakes Association of Science Vessels; TOGA-
TOA; Repeat hydrographic carbon lines; NOPP; Ships; Global Ocean 
Observing System; US Global Change Research Program.
    [cir] High level cross-agency discussion rather than analysis of 
individual agency processes.
    Timeline:
     Draft to be provided to full ORAP for consideration at the 
August meeting.
     If slight revisions required, plan to approve during an 
October teleconference. If major revision required, discuss again at 
winter ORAP meeting.

[[Page 51179]]

Briefing: Leveraging Ocean Education Opportunities--Given By S. Ramberg 
and G. Scowcroft

    Highlights from the Brief include:
     A full draft should be ready after this meeting--executive 
summary, introduction/background, and NOC goals for education.
     3 events related to education have transpired since ORAP 
started working on this report and need to be considered as the report 
is developed.
    [cir] The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have been 
released.
    [cir] There is an OSTP FY14 budget proposal to restructure federal 
STEM Education programs.
    [ssquf] CoSTEM has recommended that STEM education funds be taken 
from mission agencies and given to Department of Education but 
Education doesn't have a mandate to support ocean literacy or 
education.
    [cir] The NOP Implementation Plan has been released.

Draft Recommendations--Current Themes

     NOC formally endorses NGSS.
     Ocean literacy is prime leverage for all STEM literacy--
motivates learners.
    [cir] Content support to teachers in formal education.
    [cir] Content support to ``free choice'' providers.
    [cir] Target audiences must feature under-represented STEM groups 
at K-16 levels.
    [cir] Directly involve relevant private institutions and industry.
     Forge NOC connections to Department of Education.

Potential Programmatic Advice

     Be explicit on specific program goals within a larger 
context and clearly identify the target audiences for each program 
(suggest a framework for these with examples).
     Use uniform measures of success for all programs (provide 
examples).
    [cir] Federal STEM/Education portfolio should contain sufficient 
``overlays'' to foster overall coherency, best practices and innovation 
while mitigating risk and avoiding fragmentation.
    [ssquf] Improve interagency partnerships (suggestions for best 
practices).
    [ssquf] Mitigate impediments to collaboration (described).
     Clarify whether OSTP FY14 plan focuses on STEM pipeline or 
STEM literacy or both.

Federal Agency Comments

     National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 
Education (M. Kaplan, invited discussant)
    NOAA has a small amount of money for education but it leverages the 
entire NOAA investment in science. The education funds connect the 
agency infrastructure to the education community. The proposed changes 
in federal education spending could sever the connections between 
education and science investments. Can ORAP highlight this to the 
Department of Education and start discussions on how not to lose the 
benefits of leveraging? The NGSS includes ``Earth and Space Science'' 
but not ocean science; what can be done to ensure that earth science 
includes ocean science?
     NSF Education (L. Rom, invited discussant)
    NSF has already reorganized their education funding. Geoscience 
Education and Diversity funds were moved into the Directorate for 
Education and Human Resources. NSF expects an increase in funding for 
the graduate research fellowship program; perhaps applicants will 
include education-related efforts as broader impact. The Research 
Education for Undergraduates program continues but it is a narrow 
program. One concern is that if mission agency connections between 
education and research programs are broken, there is a serious threat 
to the ability to leverage infrastructure and science capabilities and 
make them available to educators.
    Highlights from the discussion included:
     There was discussion about ORAP meeting with the 
Department of Education or suggesting that Education meet with the NOC 
to discuss the impact of the CoSTEM recommendations on ocean education 
and potential ocean-related science standards content.
    [cir] Even though mission-specific agency funding for STEM 
Education has been small, it has been effective; moving mission agency 
responsibilities to Education may result in ocean education being 
overlooked at the K-12 level.
     The proposed changes in federal education funding give 
funding and responsibility for informal education efforts to the 
Smithsonian. How can federal agencies leverage these investments?
     There was discussion about bringing technology-oriented 
corporations or educational foundations into the conversation about 
ocean education and science standards content and a suggestion to 
convene a panel composed of representatives from the private and 
foundation sectors.
     The ORAP education working group would like to meet (in 
person or teleconference) with an education representative from OSTP to 
discuss the CoSTEM recommendations and OSTP's strategy for informal and 
formal ocean education.
     For informal education, the report may recommend creating 
education teams composed of 3 members, one each with expertise in 
learning science, ocean science and delivery of educational content to 
the public. The report will include examples of successful informal 
learning programs.

Timeline

     Expect to have a reasonably polished draft ready to share 
with the full ORAP before the August meeting.

Review of Draft Report: Implementing EBM--Given By A. Rosenberg

    EBM Report Summary:
     The draft report was written before the Implementation 
Plan was released.
    [cir] Need to highlight the local/state lead.
     Had a set of case studies and examples.
    [cir] Need to do more in this section.
    [cir] Things are moving fast and some of the examples/case studies 
are out of date.
     Possible steps--
    [cir] Following May meeting, make additions based on discussions.
    [cir] Add examples.
    [cir] Emphasize importance of state/regional pull as criteria for 
pilot projects.
    [cir] Clean up text; review; share with full ORAP; incorporate 
feedback.
    [cir] Send draft to NOC for comment.
    Action Item--Rosenberg, as lead for EBM report, will talk to Deerin 
Babb-Brott or another NOC EBM expert to find out if the release of the 
Implementation Plan changes the direction of the original tasking.
    Highlights of the discussion:
     The report needs to recommend consistent talking points 
about EBM to put forward to the community.
     A description of ``best practices'' was the original focus 
of the report but ``best practices'' is a moving target. The report 
will be reorganized to emphasize case studies, including examples of 
regional cooperation and lessons learned, and to define criteria for 
pilot studies. There was a request to create a mechanism for regions 
who conduct pilot projects to report what was done and what did or did 
not work. It was suggested that the NOC facilitate communication 
between regions and encourage the creation of ``best practices''.
     Commercial enterprise prefers the federal agencies to be 
more aligned and to have a common way to react. Offshore wind and 
aquaculture

[[Page 51180]]

industries are advancing quickly because they are new and there is not 
a federal structure in place that they have to fit.
     The report will be reorganized to emphasize the case 
studies, including examples of regional cooperation and lessons 
learned. The description of criteria for pilot projects will be 
expanded and will including geographic and sectoral criteria. The 
effort in the Chesapeake Bay would make a good example; they could be 
asked to provide information that assists other regions. It was 
emphasized that the federal agencies remember that EBM and pilot 
studies should be led by the regions.
    Timeline:
     Intention is to provide a draft to the full ORAP by mid-
June.
     Send draft to NOC by early August (the NOC Guidance Memo 
specifically calls for NOC review of a draft version of the EBM 
report).
     Approval at August meeting.
    The meeting was adjourned for Day 1 at 2:00 p.m.
    The meeting was reconvened at 9:00 a.m. on May 22, 2013.

Overview of Progress From Working Groups

Ocean Education Report--Summary--S. Ramberg

     The report will focus on what is needed with respect to 
ocean education instead of on which agency should do which task. The 
working group will update the draft then provide it to the full ORAP 
for review and comment. The working group would like to meet or 
conference call with an education expert at OSTP to discuss the CoSTEM 
recommendations.
     The report will suggest approaches to applying the 
education standards to informal education.
    [cir] Team of 3 experts: Learning scientist/ocean scientist/content 
delivery expert.
    [cir] Neither the Smithsonian nor the Department of Education can 
deliver those 3 experts.
    [cir] Identify gaps in the existing strategy or portfolio; then 
make recommendations to fill those holes.
    [cir] Need to make the case that the full breadth of ocean research 
and education be leveraged.
    [cir] Expect 2/3 of the Smithsonian funds will be spent on distance 
learning.
     Since the new NGSS recommend that K-12 formal education 
institutions cover Earth and Space Science in class, the report might 
suggest a) that Ocean Science be considered part of Earth and Space 
Science (the broad range of ocean science topics means much STEM 
content can be taught using the ocean as an example) and b) the skills 
of the teachers may need to be upgraded.
     It was suggested that the ORAP ask the World Ocean Council 
for information on workplace or education initiatives that they are 
organizing.

EBM Report--Summary--A. Rosenberg

     The report will describe examples of regional cooperation 
and suggest measures of impact.
     Sector criteria for pilot studies or regional cooperation 
will be added. The draft report will be reviewed with respect to the 
NOP Implementation Plan since the Plan had not yet been publically 
released when the draft was written.
     When the draft report is sent to the NOC, a cover letter 
will point out that this version is the requested draft, not a final 
report.

New Topics That the ORAP Might Suggest to the NOC (Discussion)

Diversity

     The February memo from the ORAP to the NOC suggesting 
future report topics included diversity; it has been recognized as a 
big issue for several decades but it is a difficult problem to get a 
handle on it; funding is a big issue to how this is handled; what are 
contributing factors to this issue?
     Many education programs have been targeted to training 
researchers but 70% of STEM jobs are not in academia; is the system 
providing the right set of skills for non-research jobs--government, 
private sector, etc?
     Diversity is not separated from the other topics that were 
proposed to the NOC in February. For example, extreme events often have 
their greatest impact on disadvantaged neighborhoods and those 
neighborhoods are more diverse.
     What can the ocean education community learn from the 
military's progress in increasing diversity?
     Previous efforts to increase diversity in the ocean 
sciences community have taken place but progress has not been made; is 
there a study that explains why this is intractable in ocean sciences? 
Could an ORAP report suggest solutions, identify barriers?
     Resources providing data on diversity exist, e.g., Society 
for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.
    Action Item--provide previous ORAP education report to current 
ORAP.

Public/Private Partnerships

     Economic realities will force changes in the way of doing 
business by federal and private institutions. Increased sharing and 
cooperation will be required as financial resources are restricted. The 
ORAP could examine the needs for and benefits of increased public/
private partnerships for providing data and predictions about the 
ocean.
    Action Item--provide report on public/private partnerships that 
Peter Betzer assisted in writing.

International Cooperation/Collaboration

     Given limited fiscal and infrastructure resources, 
international cooperation in ocean research and operations may become 
necessary in order to collect sufficient data to understand and predict 
the ocean. One example of international cooperation is the Arctic 
observing network but, in general, the federal agencies and scientific 
community do not undertake much international cooperation. The World 
Ocean Assessment, with members from all regions of the world, will be 
considering the overall state of the world's ocean; their report could 
be relevant. Australia's requirement that large research programs fit 
into an international planning framework may be a useful example. The 
ORAP could examine the existing condition of international 
collaboration and suggest approaches for increasing collaboration.

Uncertainty

     Public policy decisions require decision-making but ocean 
data sets are always incomplete and predictions include uncertainty. 
How can uncertainty be assessed and conveyed to the public? The ORAP 
could examine uncertainty in decision making, how to improve estimates 
of uncertainty, and how to improve communication of uncertainty in 
prediction of ocean-related events.

Ocean Research Enterprise

     What are the emerging ocean research questions? What ocean 
skill sets are needed to address 21st century issues? Will public/
private partnerships provide new approaches? The NRC's Polar Research 
Board is looking at the broad perspective and emerging issues. The 
NRC's Ocean Studies Board is beginning a Decadal Study that will 
address these questions.

Technology Transfer From the Military

     Many ocean sensors and platforms used for research were 
first developed by the military. Early development of military ocean 
technology is carried out in an unclassified environment so that 
information is available in the literature.

[[Page 51181]]

    Action Item--Co-chairs author a second memo to the NOC revisiting 
ideas for future topics for ORAP to report on
     Why diversity is important in ocean sciences.
     It is imperative to have international cooperation in the 
ocean enterprise.
     Uncertainty in data and model output.

Future Meetings

     ONR has sufficient travel money to hold an August meeting, 
including travel support for invited speakers.
     It costs about the same to bring ORAP to DC or California 
but if the ORAP wants federal experts to attend, the meeting must be in 
DC.
     Cancel the August 1 teleconference; the next meeting will 
be held in DC or Monterey on August 21-22, 2013.
     Possible virtual meeting (must be open to the public) in 
October to approve the education report and discuss new tasks from the 
NOC.
     ONR will initiate doodle polls to schedule teleconference 
in September or October; next in-person meeting perhaps between 
December 2 and 6 or in January? Last week of March or first half of 
April?

Overview of Progress From Working Groups--Continued

Ocean Infrastructure Report--Summary--B. Weller by Phone

     The report is on track. The writing team will add a piece 
on public/private partnerships; offer examples of approaches on 
infrastructure; provide demographics of proposals submitted to NSF and 
discuss evolving mechanism(s) of infrastructure funding from research 
use to operational use.
     Expect to have a draft ready by the August meeting with 
possible ORAP review either in October or December/January.

Public Comment Period

Susan Roberts, Director of the Ocean Studies Board (OSB), National 
Research Council Regarding the Upcoming NRC Study on Ocean Priorities

    The OSB has been tasked to perform a Decadal Survey; the objective 
is to establish priorities for NSF ocean research and infrastructure 
with recognition that resources are limited. The OSB is planning a 20 
member panel and is presently seeking recommendations for panel 
members. It is expected to take 2 years and up to 7 meetings to 
complete the report. Community outreach will be important. The NSF is 
sponsoring the report but the panel will consider strategies of other 
federal ocean agencies. The committee will be very interested in the 
ORAP reports that are currently being written. Note the ``ocean'' in 
this context includes the Great Lakes. The members of ORAP can assist 
the OSB in populating the committee by telling their colleagues of the 
search.
    There were no further comments from the public.
    The DFO adjourned the meeting at 12:10pm.

Signed,
Margaret Leinen, Ph.D.,

Chair, Ocean Research Advisory Panel.

Attendees: Margaret Leinen, Molly McCammon, Bob Duce, Gail Scowcroft, 
Joan Cleveland (DFO), Steve Martin (ADFO), Steve Ramberg, John Gannon, 
Andy Rosenberg, Bruce Tackett, Kelton Clark, Mike Bruno, Bob Weller (by 
phone), Michael Weiss, John Andrechik, Heather Mannix, Orlando Florez, 
Dana Belden

    Dated: August 14, 2013.
D. G. Zimmerman,
Lieutenant Commander, Office of the Judge Advocate General, U.S. Navy, 
Alternate Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-20331 Filed 8-19-13; 8:45 am]
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