[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 12, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2384-2385]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-29176]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Review of Nomination for Lake Erie Quadrangle National Marine 
Sanctuary

AGENCY: Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS), National Ocean 
Service (NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Department of Commerce (DOC).

ACTION: Notice; request for written comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries of the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is requesting written comments 
to facilitate ONMS' five year review of the nomination for the Lake 
Erie Quadrangle National Marine Sanctuary (NMS). In particular, NOAA is 
requesting relevant information as it pertains to its evaluation 
criteria for inclusion in the inventory (these criteria are detailed at 
https://nominate.noaa.gov/guide.html). In this five year review, NOAA 
will pay particular attention to any new information about the 
nomination's resources, changes to any threats towards these resources, 
and any updates to the management framework of the area. NOAA will also 
assess the continuity and breadth of community-based support for the 
nomination. NOAA has provided the original nominating party an 
opportunity to share its views on these same questions. Following this 
information gathering and internal analysis, NOAA will make a final 
determination on whether or not the Lake Erie Quadrangle NMS nomination 
will remain in the inventory for another five year period.

DATES: Written comments must be received by February 11, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by the following method:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Submit 
electronic comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal with Docket 
Number NOAA-NOS-2020-0167.
    Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public 
record. All personal identifying information (for example, name and 
address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly 
accessible. Do not submit confidential business information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information. NOAA will accept 
anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required fields to remain 
anonymous).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brody, Great Lakes Regional

[[Page 2385]]

Coordinator, 4840 South State Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48108 or at 
[email protected], 734-741-2270.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background Information

    In 2014, NOAA issued a final rule establishing the sanctuary 
nomination process (SNP), which details how communities may submit 
nominations to NOAA for consideration of national marine sanctuary 
designation (79 FR 33851). NOAA moves successful nominations to an 
inventory of areas that could be considered for national marine 
sanctuary designation. The final rule establishing the SNP included a 
five-year limit on any nomination added to the inventory that NOAA does 
not advance for designation.
    In November 2019, NOAA issued a notice (84 FR 61546) to clarify 
procedures for evaluating and updating a nomination as it approaches 
the five-year mark on the inventory of areas that could be considered 
for national marine sanctuary designation. The nomination for Lake Erie 
Quadrangle NMS was accepted to the national inventory on February 22, 
2016, and is therefore scheduled to expire on February 22, 2021. The 
full nomination can be found at https://nominate.noaa.gov/nominations/.
    NOAA is not proposing to designate the Lake Erie Quadrangle NMS or 
any other new national marine sanctuary with this action. Instead, NOAA 
is seeking public comment on ONMS' five year review of the nomination 
for the Lake Erie Quadrangle NMS. Accordingly, written comments 
submitted as part of this request should not focus on whether NOAA 
should initiate the designation process for the Lake Erie Quadrangle. 
Rather, comments should address the relevance of the nomination towards 
NOAA's evaluation criteria and any new information NOAA should consider 
about the nominated area. Comments that do not pertain to the 
evaluation criteria, or present new information on the Lake Erie 
Quadrangle NMS nomination, will not be considered as part of this five 
year review.
    Whether removing or maintaining the nomination for Lake Erie 
Quadrangle NMS, NOAA would follow the same procedure for notifying the 
public as was followed when the nomination was submitted, including a 
letter to the nominator, a notice in the Federal Register, and posting 
information on ``nominate.noaa.gov''.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.

John Armor,
Director, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, National Ocean 
Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2020-29176 Filed 1-11-21; 8:45 am]
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