[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 22 (Monday, February 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6010-6011]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-01931]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice: 11011]


Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Department of State will hold an information session 
regarding upcoming United Nations negotiations concerning marine 
biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

DATES: The public meeting will be held on February 25, 2020, 2:00-3:00 
p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Harry S. Truman Main State 
Building, Room 3940, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20520.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you would like to participate in 
this meeting, please send your name, organization/affiliation, email 
address, and phone number, as well as any requests for reasonable 
accommodation, to Elana Mendelson at [email protected] or 202-647-
1073.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United Nations will convene the fourth, 
and possibly final, session of an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on

[[Page 6011]]

the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of 
areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) on March 23-April 4, 2020, in 
New York City. The UN General Assembly established the IGC to consider 
the recommendations of a two-year Preparatory Committee and to 
elaborate the text of an international legally binding instrument under 
the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea on BBNJ. The IGC met 
for its third session August 19-30, 2019. Additional information on the 
BBNJ process is available at www.un.org/bbnj.
    We would like to invite interested stakeholders to a public meeting 
to share views about the BBNJ IGC, in particular to provide information 
to assist the U.S. Government in developing its positions. Stakeholders 
are invited to provide comments on the IGC President's Draft text, 
available at https://www.un.org/bbnj/content/fourth-substantive-session. We will provide a brief overview of the discussions at and 
outcomes of the third session of the IGC and listen to the viewpoints 
of U.S. stakeholders. The information obtained from this session will 
help the U.S. delegation prepare for participation in the upcoming IGC 
session.
    Reasonable Accommodation: This meeting is physically accessible to 
people with disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or 
other reasonable accommodation should be directed to (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION) at least five days prior to the meeting date. Requests 
received after that date will be considered, but might not be possible 
to fulfill.
    Personal data for entry into the Harry S. Truman building is 
requested pursuant to Public Law 99-399 (Omnibus Diplomatic Security 
and Antiterrorism Act of 1986), as amended; Public Law 107-56 (USA 
PATRIOT Act); and Executive Order 13356. The purpose of the collection 
is to validate the identity of individuals who enter Department 
facilities. The data will be entered into the Visitor Access Control 
System (VACS-D) database. For further information, please see the 
Security Records System of Records Notice (State-36) (PDF file) at 
https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Security-Records-STATE-36.pdf.

Michael J. Layne,
 Acting Director, Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs, Bureau of Oceans 
and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Department of 
State.
[FR Doc. 2020-01931 Filed 1-31-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4710-09-P