[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 13, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 9095]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-04541]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


National Estuarine Research Reserve System

AGENCY: Office for Coastal Management, National Ocean Service, National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public comment period for the Hudson River National 
Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan revision.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Office for Coastal Management, 
National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce is announcing a thirty-day 
public comment period for the Hudson River National Estuarine Research 
Reserve Management Plan revision. The revision of the existing 
management plan is necessitated by the applicable requirements of the 
National Estuarine Research Reserve System. The Hudson River Reserve 
revised plan will replace the plan approved in 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nina Garfield at (240) 533-0817, or 
Kim Texeira at (240) 533-0781, of NOAA's Office for Coastal Management, 
1305 East-West Highway, N/ORM5, 10th floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to 15 CFR 921.33(c), a state must 
periodically update its management plan for a National Estuarine 
Research Reserve. The Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve 
revised plan will replace the plan previously approved in 2009. NOAA 
issues this notice of a public comment period for the revised plan 
under 15 CFR 921.33(a).
    The revised management plan outlines the administrative structure; 
the research/monitoring, stewardship, education, and training programs 
and priorities of the reserve; plans for including inholdings within 
the existing boundary into state ownership; and facility development 
priorities to support reserve operations.
    The Hudson River Reserve takes an integrated approach to 
management, linking research and education, coastal training, and 
stewardship functions. The New York Department of Environmental 
Conservation has outlined how it will administer the reserve and its 
core programs by providing detailed actions that will enable it to 
accomplish specific goals and objectives. Since the last management 
plan, the reserve has: Provided technical expertise to coastal 
communities to reduce risks to natural hazards; expanded monitoring 
programs; installed a sentinel site for monitoring marsh ecosystem 
response to sea level rise; conducted training workshops; implemented 
K-12 and public education programs; installed a water level observation 
station that is compliant with NOAA's National Water Level Observation 
Network; restored hydrologic flows at Gay's Point in the Stockport 
Flats component; and established itself as a regional leader in the 
design and implementation of living shorelines. The total number of 
acres within the reserve boundary is 5,000 acres. The revised 
management plan will serve as the guiding document for the Hudson River 
Reserve for the next five years.
    NOAA's Office Coastal Management will be conducting an 
environmental analysis in accordance with the National Environmental 
Policy Act on the proposed approval of the Reserve's revised management 
plan. The public is invited to provide comment or information about any 
potential environmental impacts of the proposed action, and these 
comments will be used to inform the decision making process.
    The Hudson River Reserve Management Plan revision may be viewed at: 
https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/4915.html. Comments on the revision may be 
submitted to the Reserve's Manager, Heather Gierloff 
([email protected]) by April 12, 2019.

    Dated: March 5, 2019.
Paul M. Scholz,
Chief Financial Officer/Chief Administrative Officer, National Ocean 
Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2019-04541 Filed 3-12-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-08-P