[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 86 (Thursday, May 6, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24390-24391]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-09530]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XB060]


Establishment of the Space Weather Advisory Group and 
Solicitation of Nominations for Membership

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

ACTION: Notice of establishment of the Space Weather Advisory Group and 
solicitation of nominations for membership

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Promoting Research and Observations of Space 
Weather to Improve the Forecasting of Tomorrow (PROSWIFT) Act of 2020 
and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), the Administrator of 
NOAA, with the Space Weather Interagency Working Group (interagency 
working group), announces the establishment of the Space Weather 
Advisory Group (SWAG). The SWAG shall advise the interagency working 
group established by the National Science and Technology Council. This 
advice will inform the interests and work of the interagency working 
group. The SWAG charter shall terminate 4 years from the date of its 
filing with the appropriate U.S. Senate and House of Representatives 
Committees unless earlier terminated or renewed by proper authority. 
This notice also requests nominations for membership on the SWAG.

DATES: Nominations should be sent to the web address specified below 
and must be received on or before May 30, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Nominations and applications should be submitted 
electronically to the Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SWAG, NOAA, at 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Jennifer Meehan, DFO, SWAG, and 
National Space Weather Program Manager, National Weather Service, NOAA, 
at [email protected] or 301-427-9798, and William Murtagh, 
Program Coordinator, Space Weather Prediction Center, NOAA, at 
[email protected] or 303-497-7492.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background and Authority

    Establishment of the SWAG implements a statutory requirement of the 
PROSWIFT Act of 2020 (Pub. L. 116-181), 51 U.S.C. 60601 et seq. The 
SWAG is governed by the FACA, as amended, 5 U.S.C. App., which sets 
forth standards for the formation and use of advisory committees. The 
mission of the SWAG is to receive advice from the academic community, 
the commercial space weather sector, and nongovernmental space weather 
end users to advise the Space Weather Interagency Working Group 
(interagency working group) established by the National Science and 
Technology Council pursuant to 51 U.S.C. 60601(c). Duties include 
advising the interagency working group on the following: facilitating 
advances in the space weather enterprise of the United States; 
improving the ability of the United States to prepare for, mitigate, 
respond to, and recover from space weather phenomena; enabling the 
coordination and facilitation of research to operations and operations 
to research, as described in section 60604(d) of title 51, United

[[Page 24391]]

States Code; and developing and implementing the integrated strategy 
under 51 U.S.C. 60601(c), including subsequent updates and 
reevaluations. The SWAG shall also conduct a comprehensive survey of 
the needs of space weather products users to identify the space weather 
research, observations, forecasting, prediction, and modeling advances 
required to improve space weather products, as required by 51 U.S.C. 
60601(d)(3).

II. Structure

    The SWAG shall consist of not more than 15 members, including a 
chair, of whom: Five members shall be representatives of the academic 
community; five members shall be representatives of the commercial 
space weather sector; and five members shall be nongovernmental 
representatives of the space weather end-user community. Members will 
be chosen to provide an appropriate range of views that represent the 
span of the space weather community and end-user sectors. Members shall 
serve in a representative capacity; they are, therefore, not Special 
Government Employees. As such, members are not subject to the ethics 
rules applicable to Government employees, except that they must not 
misuse Government resources or their affiliation with the Committee for 
personal purposes. All members of the SWAG will be appointed by the 
interagency working group for a 3-year term, with one member appointed 
by NOAA as the Chair. Members may not serve on the SWAG for more than 
two consecutive terms. A member of the SWAG may not serve as the Chair 
of the SWAG for more than two terms, regardless of whether the terms 
are consecutive. The SWAG will meet approximately three times each 
year, which may be conducted in person or by teleconference, webinar, 
or other means. Additional meetings may be called as appropriate, with 
approval by the Administrator of NOAA. Members are reimbursed for 
actual and reasonable travel and other per diem expenses incurred in 
performing such duties but will not be reimbursed for their time. As a 
Federal Advisory Committee, the SWAG's membership is required to be 
balanced in terms of viewpoints represented and the functions to be 
performed, as well as appointments shall be made without discrimination 
on the basis of age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, 
disability, or cultural, religious, or socioeconomic status.

III. Nominations

    Interested persons may nominate themselves or third parties. An 
application is required to be considered for SWAG membership, 
regardless of whether a person is nominated by a third party or self-
nominated. The application package must include: (1) The nominee's full 
name, title, institutional affiliation, and contact information; (2) 
identification of the nominee's area(s) of industry perspective--
academia, commercial service provider, or end-user; (3) a short 
description of his/her qualifications relative to the kinds of advice 
being solicited by NOAA in this Notice; and (4) a current resume 
(maximum length four [4] pages). All nomination information should be 
provided in a single, complete package, and should be sent to the DFO 
of the SWAG at the electronic address provided above.

    Dated: April 30, 2021.
Benjamin Friedman,
Deputy Under Secretary for Operations Performing the Duties of Under 
Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021-09530 Filed 5-5-21; 8:45 am]
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