[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 229 (Friday, November 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70854-70855]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-28091]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Changes in Nautical Chart Catalog Format

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

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Coast Survey is transitioning its nautical 
products to a wide range of digital formats and web mapping services to 
enable more frequent updating and allow easier uptake by users. With 
the end of lithographic printing of NOAA paper nautical charts in April 
2014, we also stopped production of the five printed nautical chart 
catalogs which are created in the large paper format (35 inches by 55 
inches). We have now transformed the chart catalogs into letter-sized 
documents that users can print at home. Downloads of the ``print-at-
home'' chart catalog in PDF format are free from the Coast Survey Web 
site. An interactive chart catalog is also available on the Coast 
Survey Web site (nauticalcharts.noaa.gov) for users who prefer to 
point, click, and download their charts from online.
    Coast Survey will consider making the front page of the large-
format chart catalog. (We consider the reverse side, which lists chart 
agents, as obsolete and will not continue it.) Before making the 
decision, Coast Survey wants to know if demand remains for the large-
format chart catalogs, and if users are willing to purchase these from 
commercial providers, such as NOAA-certified printing companies.
    Coast Survey invites written comments about: (1) Maintaining the 
large-format paper catalog (with no reverse side) if they are available 
for purchase from commercial provider; (2) the new free ``print-at-
home'' PDF chart catalog; and (3) the online interactive chart catalog 
on the homepage of the nauticalcharts.noaa.gov Web site.

DATES: Written, faxed, or emailed comments are due by midnight, April 
30, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Email comments to [email protected], or fax to 301-713-
9312. Written comments may be mailed to Frank Powers, Office of Coast 
Survey, 1315 East-West Highway, #6254, Silver Spring MD 20906.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frank Powers, telephone 301-713-2750, 
ext. 173; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Background

    Until April 2014, the Federal Aviation Administration had printed 
NOAA's nautical chart catalogs on oversized paper sheets (35 inches by 
55 inches), folded them, and made them available to the public for 
free. Since the printing was done in bulk, and stored prior to 
distribution, the information on the reverse side of the catalogs was 
often out-of-date by the time catalogs reached customers. When the FAA 
ceased printing NOAA nautical charts in April, they also stopped 
printing the catalogs. Since then, NOAA's Office of Coast Survey has 
privatized paper chart production by expanding the number of

[[Page 70855]]

chart printing agents through the NOAA ``print-on-demand'' program. 
Questions remain on whether to transition the catalogs to a similar 
``print-on-demand'' system where customers would pay for the catalogs.

2. Current Status of the Chart Catalogs

    Coast Survey now makes letter-sized ``print-at-home'' PDF chart 
catalogs available for download, free, at www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/catalog. Produced with digital technology, the catalogs are easy-to-
see, easy-to-use, easy-to-print, and are updated as changes occur. The 
new format has a higher resolution and more geographic names than the 
large-format catalog, and heavily trafficked waterways covered by 
multiple charts have their own dedicated pages.
    If users prefer a Web-based search for charts, they can use the 
interactive catalog that Coast Survey established in early 2014. The 
interactive catalog is at www.charts.noaa.gov/InteractiveCatalog/nrnc.shtml, or it can be accessed from the Coast Survey home page at 
nauticalcharts.noaa.gov.
    Coast Survey has stopped updating and producing the large-format 
chart catalogs since the federal government is no longer printing them. 
We will archive the latest versions in Coast Survey's Historical Map & 
Chart Collection (nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/history). We could re-start 
the updating process if there is a market demand and if commercial 
printing firms decided to carry the catalogs as for-sale products. The 
updated chart catalogs would only have the front side showing the areas 
covered by the catalog, with chart outlines and their corresponding 
chart numbers. They would not show anything on the reverse side. (The 
Coast Survey Web site nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/staff/print_agents.html 
now carries regularly updated information about NOAA-certified chart 
printers.)

3. Public Comments

    The director of NOAA's Office of Coast Survey invites interested 
parties to submit comments to assist Coast Survey as it decides whether 
to maintain the one-sided large-format (35 inch by 55 inch) chart 
catalogs that could be made available for purchase from commercial 
providers, subject to their decision about whether to carry the 
product. Comments about the new letter-sized PDF catalogs and the 
interactive Web catalog are also welcome.

    Authority:  33 U.S.C. Chapter 17, Coast and Geodetic Survey Act 
of 1947.

    Dated: November 14, 2014.
Rear Admiral Gerd Glang,
Director, Office of Coast Survey, National Ocean Service, National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-28091 Filed 11-26-14; 8:45 am]
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