[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 215 (Wednesday, November 8, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 51802]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-24347]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

National Institute of Food and Agriculture


Notice of Availability of Draft Scientific Assessment for Public 
Comment

AGENCY: National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability of draft scientific assessment for 
public comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute 
of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is publishing this notice on behalf of 
the Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group (CCIWG)/U.S. Carbon Cycle 
Science Program and the United States Global Change Research Program 
(USGCRP) to announce the availability of a draft assessment, the 2nd 
State of the Carbon Cycle Science Report (SOCCR-2), for a 60-day public 
review. Collected comments will be carefully reviewed by the relevant 
chapter author teams. Following revision and further review, a revised 
draft will undergo final Federal interagency clearance.

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by 11:59 p.m. 
on January 8, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Once released, the draft USGCRP 2nd State of the Carbon 
Cycle Report 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 can 
be found on a dedicated special report page where comments from the 
public will be accepted electronically. 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. 
Information submitted by a commenter as part of the registration 
process (such as an email address) will not be disclosed publicly.
    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. USDA 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: U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program/
CCIWG/USGCRP Contact: Dr. Gyami Shrestha; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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, anticipate, and 
respond to risks and potential impacts brought about by global 
environmental change. As part of the ongoing NCA process, the 2nd State 
of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR-2) is being developed to inform the 
assessment. The last (3rd) NCA (2014) (NCA3: http://nca2014.globalchange.gov) and the process to develop it provided a 
foundation for subsequent activities and reports. The SOCCR-2 
assessment provides an update to the carbon cycle science information 
presented in the 2014 NCA and the 2007 State of the Carbon Cycle 
Report, a Scientific Assessment Product (SAP 2.2) that directly 
informed the 2nd NCA. The SOCCR-2 assessment provides updated carbon 
cycle science findings and projections, and is an important input to 
the authors of the next quadrennial NCA, expected in 2018.
    The 2nd State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR-2) is a product of 
the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), and is organized and 
led by an interagency team, the Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group. 
The draft assessment was written by Federal and non-Federal authors 
identified via an Open Call for nominations (www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/02/12/2016-02927/request-for-public-engagement-in-the-interagency-special-report-2nd-state-of-the-carbon-cycle-report). An 
interagency Federal Steering Committee selected authors based on their 
demonstrated subject matter expertise, relevant publications, and 
knowledge of specific topics designated in an outline included in the 
SOCCR-2 prospectus that can be found through a link on the SOCCR-2 
(https://www.carboncyclescience.us/state-carbon-cycle-report-soccr. 
This assessment responds to the 1990 Congressional mandate to 
periodically produce National Climate Assessments and to assist the 
nation in understanding, assessing, predicting, and responding to 
global change. 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).

    Done at Washington, DC, on November 3, 2017.
Sonny Ramaswamy,
Director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 2017-24347 Filed 11-7-17; 8:45 am]
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