[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 207 (Friday, October 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59996-59997]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-23590]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Request for Information on NOAA Actions To Advance the Goals and
Recommendations in the Report on Conserving and Restoring America The
Beautiful, Including Conserving At Least 30 Percent of U.S. Lands and
Waters By 2030
AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Department of Commerce (DOC).
ACTION: Notice; request for information.
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SUMMARY: On May 6, 2021, the U.S. Departments of the Interior,
Agriculture, Commerce, and the White House Council on Environmental
Quality released a preliminary report on Conserving and Restoring
America the Beautiful (Report). The Report recommends a decade-long
national initiative to advance locally led conservation and restoration
in public, private, and tribal lands and waters toward addressing three
threats: Disappearance of nature, climate change, and inequitable
access to the outdoors. Guided by eight core principles and six focus
areas for early action and progress in the Report, NOAA is seeking
public input on how NOAA should, using its existing authorities and
associated measures, conserve and restore America's ocean, coasts, and
Great Lakes.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
December 28, 2021.
NOAA will host virtual public listening sessions at the following
dates and times:
Monday, November 8, 2021, 2:00-4:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Tuesday, November 16, 2021, 4:00-6:00 p.m. Eastern Time
NOAA may end a meeting before the time noted above if all those
participating have completed their oral comments.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Responses can be submitted
electronically to the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-HQ-2021-0109. Click the ``Comment
Now!'' button, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your
comments.
Public Listening Sessions: Provide oral comments during virtual
public listening sessions, as described under DATES. Registration
details and additional information about how to participate in these
public listening sessions is available at www.noaa.gov/america-the-beautiful.
Instructions: Response to this request for information (RFI) is
voluntary. Attachments will be accepted in plain text, Microsoft Word,
or Adobe PDF formats only. Each individual or institution is requested
to submit only one response. NOAA requests that all letter writing
campaigns submit one letter with an attachment that includes signatures
to your letter, which will aid in review. The number of signatures will
be taken into account in the summary of comments. DOC may post
responses to this RFI, without change, on a Federal website. NOAA,
therefore, requests that no business proprietary information,
copyrighted information, or personally identifiable information be
submitted in response to this RFI. 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: Visit www.noaa.gov/america-the-beautiful. For technical questions about this notice, email
[email protected] (please do not submit public comments
directly to this email address).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 27, 2021, the White House issued
Executive Order 14008 on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad
(Executive Order). 86 FR 7619 Section 216(a) of the Executive Order
directs the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the
Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Chair of the
Council on Environmental Quality, and the heads of other relevant
agencies, to submit a report to the National Climate Task Force within
90 days of the date of the order recommending steps that the United
States should take, working with state, local, tribal, and territorial
governments, agricultural and forest landowners, fishermen, and other
key stakeholders, to achieve the goal of conserving at least 30 percent
of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
In accordance with Section 216(a) of the Executive Order, on May 6,
2021, the U.S. Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and
the White House Council on Environmental Quality released a preliminary
report on Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful: www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/report-conserving-and-restoring-america-the-beautiful-2021.pdf. The Report calls for a decade-long national
initiative to advance locally led conservation and restoration in
public, private, and tribal lands and waters. The Report recommends
eight core principles:
Principle 1: Pursue a Collaborative and Inclusive Approach
to Conservation.
Principle 2: Conserve America's Lands and Waters for the
Benefit of All People.
Principle 3: Support Locally Led and Locally Designed
Conservation Efforts.
Principle 4: Honor Tribal Sovereignty and Support the
Priorities of Tribal Nations.
Principle 5: Pursue Conservation and Restoration
Approaches that Create Jobs and Support Healthy Communities.
Principle 6: Honor Private Property Rights and Support the
Voluntary Stewardship Efforts of Private Landowners and Fishers.
Principle 7: Use Science as a Guide.
Principle 8: Build on Existing Tools and Strategies with
an Emphasis on Flexibility and Adaptive Approaches.
The Report also recommends six areas of early focus and progress:
Create More Parks and Safe Outdoor Opportunities in
Nature-Deprived Communities.
Support Tribally Led Conservation and Restoration
Priorities.
Expand Collaborative Conservation of Fish and Wildlife
Habitats and Corridors.
[[Page 59997]]
Increase Access for Outdoor Recreation.
Incentivize and Reward the Voluntary Conservation Efforts
of Fishers, Ranchers, Farmers, and Forest Owners.
Create Jobs by Investing in Restoration and Resilience.
As directed by Section 216(a) of the Executive Order, the Report
proposes guidelines for determining whether lands and waters qualify
for conservation, and establishes mechanisms to measure and monitor
progress toward the 30-percent goal. This will be accomplished through
two complementary steps described in the Report. The first is the
development of an American Conservation and Stewardship Atlas, which
will provide a baseline assessment of the amount and types of lands and
waters that are currently being managed for conservation and
restoration purposes, as well as track progress of conservation and
restoration efforts going forward. The Atlas will be developed by an
interagency working group of agency experts, co-chaired by NOAA, with
input from the public, states, tribal nations, scientists, and a wide
range of stakeholders. The second step is the publication of annual
America the Beautiful updates on Federal efforts to support locally led
conservation and restoration efforts, with the first update due by the
end of 2021.
Section 216(a) of the Executive Order further directs the Secretary
of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of
Commerce through the NOAA Administrator, and the Chair of the Council
on Environmental Quality to solicit input from state, local, tribal,
and territorial officials, agricultural and forest landowners,
fishermen, and other key stakeholders in identifying strategies that
will encourage broad participation in the goal of conserving at least
30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. NOAA has significant
experience in the conservation and restoration of U.S. lands and
waters. Accordingly, NOAA has existing authorities, as well as
associated regulations, conservation and management plans, and similar
measures. These include the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, Coastal
Zone Management Act, Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Endangered Species Act,
Coral Reef Conservation Act, and others. NOAA is seeking public input
on the use of NOAA's existing authorities and associated measures to
advance the goals and recommendations in the Report, including the
eight core principles and six areas of early focus and progress. As
such, NOAA invites the public to provide input to help guide NOAA's
conservation and restoration of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes
resources; NOAA's engagement on the development of the American
Conservation and Stewardship Atlas; and NOAA's efforts to track its
progress toward advancing the goals and recommendations in the Report
for inclusion in the annual updates. Specifically, NOAA is seeking
public input on the following:
Which of NOAA's existing authorities and associated
measures, as listed above, are most appropriate for addressing the
threats identified in the Report, which are the disappearance of
nature, climate change, and inequitable access to the outdoors.
Whether NOAA should better apply its existing authorities
and associated measures, as listed above, to advance the goals and
recommendations in the Report.
What criteria NOAA should consider in working with other
agencies to identify existing or potential new ``conserved'' or
``restored'' areas for the purpose of advancing the goals and
recommendations in the Report.
What additional scientific information, Indigenous
Knowledge, or other expertise NOAA should consider in order to advance
the goals and recommendations in the Report.
How NOAA should consider tracking its actions and
measuring its progress, including with partners, toward advancing the
goals and recommendations in the Report.
What actions NOAA should consider taking to support non-
Federal entities, including tribal, state, territorial, and local
governments and non-governmental organizations and other private
entities, to advance their efforts to conserve and restore U.S. lands
and waters.
What actions NOAA should consider taking to facilitate
broad participation in the America the Beautiful initiative.
What additional information NOAA should consider as
relevant to its role in implementing the America the Beautiful
initiative.
Respondents are encouraged to focus their comments on actions that
NOAA is authorized to take under its existing authorities and
associated measures, as listed above. More information on NOAA's
authorities, the eight core principles and six areas of early focus and
progress in the Report, and other relevant resources is available at
NOAA's website for Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful:
https://noaa.gov/america-the-beautiful.
Richard W. Spinrad,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, and
Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021-23590 Filed 10-28-21; 8:45 am]
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