[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 169 (Wednesday, August 31, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59983-59985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-20982]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) United 
States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP).

ACTION: Request for public nominations.

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    Context: The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) is 
mandated under the Global Change Research Act (GCRA) of 1990 to conduct 
a quadrennial National Climate Assessment (NCA). Under its current 
decadal strategic plan (http://go.usa.gov/3qGU4) USGCRP is building 
sustained assessment capacity. The sustained assessment supports the 
Nation's ability to understand, anticipates, and responds to risks and

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potential impacts brought about by global environmental change, namely 
the human-caused buildup of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere that is 
causing climate change.
    The last NCA from 2014 (NCA3: http://nca2014.globalchange.gov) and 
the process to develop it provided a foundation for subsequent 
activities and reports.
    Comments have been received through a request for information on 
the draft, annotated outline for the Fourth National Climate Assessment 
(NCA4) https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/07/05/2016-15807/public-comment-on-an-annotated-outline-for-the-fourth-national-climate-assessment. Informed by these comments, a revised outline, including a 
chapter list, is provided below and available online https://www.globalchange.gov/notices. Sectoral and response chapters will be 
coordinated and led by federal agencies. Regional chapters will be 
coordinated and led by non-federal regional chapter leads, who in turn 
will collaborate with federal coordinating lead authors.
    For each regional chapter, a non-federal regional chapter lead must 
be nominated through this call for nominations and then selected by the 
Federal NCA4 Steering Committee. This non-federal regional chapter lead 
will then, with input and guidance from the Federal NCA4 Steering 
Committee, select federal and non-federal chapter authors and technical 
contributors to establish regional author teams. A federal coordinating 
lead author will also work with each regional chapter lead as a liaison 
between the regional chapter lead and federal agencies. Federal 
coordinating lead authors will provide technical editorial oversight of 
report content.
    The regions that NCA4 will cover are the Northeast, Southeast and 
the Caribbean, Midwest, Northern Plains, Southern Plains, Southwest, 
Northwest, Alaska, and Hawai'i and Pacific Islands. See below in the 
appendix for the sectors, responses, and cross-cutting topics that will 
be covered.
    In addition, this request presents an opportunity to submit 
scientific/technical information to inform the assessment. These 
technical inputs on sectoral, regional, and response information and 
cross-cutting topics will serve as part of the foundation for NCA4.
SUMMARY: NOAA, on behalf of USGCRP, is soliciting nominations for 
regional chapter leads, chapter authors, technical contributors and 
technical/scientific information for the Fourth National Climate 
Assessment (NCA4). Refer to the NCA4 Annotated Outline (accessible 
below in the Appendix and via www.globalchange.gov/notices) for further 
information on the scope, topics, and overarching themes for the 
report, as well as roles and responsibilities for nominated leads, 
authors, and contributors.
    The report will adhere to the Information Quality Act requirements 
(http://www.cio.noaa.gov/services_programs/info_quality.html) for 
quality, transparency, and accessibility as appropriate for a Highly 
Influential Scientific Assessment (HISA).

DATES: Nominations should be submitted via the web address specified 
below (See ADDRESSES) and must be received within 30 days of 
publication of this Notice.

ADDRESSES: Nominations for regional chapter leads, chapter authors, and 
technical contributors must be submitted electronically via a web form 
accessible via https://www.globalchange.gov/notices. Nominees will 
identify their areas of expertise based on NCA4's sectoral and response 
topics. A short CV/resume of no more than 4 pages must be included. 
Technical inputs should also be submitted electronically via web form 
accessible from https://www.globalchange.gov/notices.
    Instructions: Response to this notice is voluntary. Responses to 
this notice may be used by the government for program planning on a 
non-attribution basis. NOAA therefore requests that no business 
proprietary information or copyrighted information be submitted in 
response to this notice. Please note that the U.S. Government will not 
pay for response preparation, or for the use of any information 
contained in the response.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Therese Cloyd, (202) 223-6262, 
[email protected], U.S. Global Change Research Program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background information, additional details, 
and instructions for submitting nominations and technical inputs can be 
found at www.globalchange.gov/notices. For the responsibilities and 
expectations of different kinds of authors and contributors, please 
see: www.globalchange.gov/notices. For more information about the NCA 
and access to previous NCA reports and activities, please see http://assessment.globalchange.gov.
    Call for Nominations for Regional Chapter Leads, Chapter Authors 
and Technical Contributors, this notice seeks nominations for regional 
chapter leads, chapter authors, and technical contributors to NCA4 with 
pertinent subject matter expertise and scientific background. Potential 
nominees should be accomplished scholarly writers and have demonstrated 
scientific and technical expertise and academic proficiency in at least 
one of the regions, sectors, response, or climate science topics 
outlined in the NCA4 Annotated Outline, (described below in the 
Appendix and accessible via https://www.globalchange.gov/notices). 
Submissions must show that nominees have demonstrated technical 
backgrounds such that they could contribute to the development of a 
robust scientific, technical assessment as subject matter experts in 
one or more of the topics listed in the outline.
    Responses to this request for nominations for regional chapter 
leads, chapter authors, and technical contributors must be submitted 
within 30 days of the publication of this notice. Users can access the 
nominations form via www.globalchange.gov/notices. Interested persons 
may nominate themselves or third parties, and may nominate more than 
one person. Each nomination must include: (1) The nominee's full name, 
title, institutional affiliation, and contact information; (2) the 
nominee's area(s) of expertise; (3) a short description of his/her 
qualifications relative to contributing to the report; and (4) a 
current resume/CV [maximum length four (4) pages].
    Nominations will be reviewed and selected by the Federal NCA4 
Steering Committee. Non-federal nominees may be selected and requested 
to serve as regional chapter leads, and other federal and non-federal 
nominees may be invited to participate as chapter authors or technical 
contributors to NCA4. Those selected as regional chapter leads will be 
informed no later than six weeks after the close of the nominations 
window. Those not selected as non-federal chapter leads may have their 
information passed on to Federal agencies or non-federal chapter leads 
for further consideration as chapter authors or technical contributors.

Call for Relevant Scientific Information to Inform NCA4

    Interested parties are invited to assist in contributing, 
collecting, and refining the scientific information base for NCA4. To 
do so, parties are asked to submit recent, relevant scientific and/or 
technical research studies including observed, modeled and/or projected 
climate science information that have been peer reviewed and published 
or accepted for publication in scientific journals and/or government 
reports. For some elements of NCA4 (such as adaptation issues), 
relevant literature

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may not always be in the scientific peer-reviewed literature. These 
other types of literature (e.g., reports that are produced by the non-
profit and business communities) may still be submitted as input. All 
information used in the report is expected to comply with NOAA 
Information Quality Act standards.
    Please refer to the outline (See Appendix below for topics covered 
in NCA4) to target your submissions. We especially encourage 
submissions of regional information and information for such topics as 
case studies, economic valuation, and cross-cutting sectoral research. 
All scientific literature submitted in response to this call for 
information must be received by January 15, 2017. For best 
consideration, please submit by November 1, 2016.
    Submissions must be uploaded electronically via the link provided 
on http://www.globalchange.gov/notices.

Appendix: NCA4 Updated Outline

I: Overview
II: Our Changing Climate
III: National Analyses/Sectoral Chapters
    Water
    Energy
    Ecosystems, Ecosystem Services, and Biodiversity
    Oceans and Marine Resources
    Coastal Effects
    Agriculture and Food Production
    Forests
    Land Cover and Land Use Change
    Transportation
    Built Environment, Urban Systems, and Cities
    Human Health
    Air Quality
    Energy, Water, Land Nexus
    Tribal and Indigenous Communities
    North American and Other International Effects
IV: Regional Analyses
    Northeast
    Southeast and Caribbean
    Midwest
    Northern Plains
    Southern Plains
    Northwest
    Southwest
    Alaska
    Hawai'i and Pacific Islands
V: Response
    Near-Term Adaptation Needs and Increased Resiliency
    Mitigation: Avoiding and Reducing Long-Term Risks
    Dated: Thursday, August 18, 2016.

Dan Barrie, Program Manager, Assessments Program, NOAA Climate 
Program Office

    Published on TBD.

    Dated: August 25, 2016.
Jason Donaldson,
Chief Financial Officer, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

[FR Doc. 2016-20982 Filed 8-30-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P