[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 214 (Tuesday, November 7, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51614-51615]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-24221]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) To Announce 
the Availability of a Draft Fourth National Climate Assessment Report 
for Public Comment

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

ACTION: Notice of availability for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is 
publishing this notice on behalf of the United States Global Change 
Research Program (USGCRP) to announce the availability of a draft 
Fourth National Climate Assessment report for public comment. Following 
revision and further review (including by the National Academy of 
Sciences), a revised draft will undergo final Federal interagency 
clearance.

DATES: Comments on this draft scientific assessment must be received by 
January 31, 2018.

ADDRESSES: The draft Fourth National Climate Assessment can be accessed 
via the USGCRP Open Notices page (http://www.globalchange.gov/notices) 
or directly at the USGCRP Review and Comment System (https://review.globalchange.gov/). Registration details can be found on the 
review site home page, and review instructions are located on the 
dedicated report page. Comments may be submitted only via this online 
mechanism.
    All comments received through this process will be considered by 
the relevant chapter authors without knowledge of the commenters' 
identities. When the final assessment is issued, the comments and the 
commenters' names, along with the authors' responses, will become part 
of the public record and made available on http://www.globalchange.gov. 
No information submitted by a commenter as part of the registration 
process (such as an email address) will be disclosed publicly.
    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: David Dokken, (202) 419-3473, 
[email protected], U.S. Global Change Research Program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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) to 
evaluate scientific findings and uncertainties related to global 
change, analyze the effects of global change, and analyze the current 
and projected trends in global change, both human-induced and natural.
    The Fourth NCA fulfills this mandate by synthesizing and assessing 
the science and impacts of climate change across 15 sectors and 10 
regions of the United States, and considers options to reduce present 
and future risk, in a policy-relevant, but not policy-prescriptive 
manner. The Fourth NCA is a product of the USGCRP, and is overseen by 
an interagency Federal

[[Page 51615]]

Steering Committee. Non-Federal Regional Chapter Leads were identified 
via an Open Call for nominations (https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2016-20982). The draft assessment was written by teams of Federal and 
non-Federal authors selected for their demonstrated subject matter 
expertise and publications relevant to the chapter topics outlined in 
the prospectus (https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2016-15807) and was 
informed by an array of technical inputs, many gathered through an Open 
Call (https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2016-20982).
    The report adheres 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).

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

    Dated: October 10, 2017.
David Holst,
Chief Financial Officer/CAO, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[FR Doc. 2017-24221 Filed 11-6-17; 8:45 am]
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