[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 10 (Friday, January 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2413-2414]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00734]


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 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Notice of Designation of the Connecticut National Estuarine 
Research Reserve

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

ACTION: Notice of designation; notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to the Coastal Zone 
Management Act (CZMA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA) Office for Coastal Management has designated 
certain Connecticut state-owned lands and portions of public trust 
waters of

[[Page 2414]]

the Long Island Sound, Fishers Island Sound, Connecticut River, and 
Thames River as the Connecticut National Estuarine Research Reserve 
(Connecticut Reserve). On January 11, 2022, the Under Secretary of 
Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, Dr. Richard W. Spinrad, signed a 
Record of Decision pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act 
and the findings of designation for the Connecticut Reserve pursuant to 
Section 315 of the CZMA and its implementing regulations. A copy of the 
Record of Decision and the findings of designation are available for 
public review from NOAA's Office for Coastal Management at 
coast.noaa.gov/czm/compliance. Additionally, NOAA hereby provides 
notice of the results of the consistency determination for the 
designation of the Connecticut Reserve.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erica Seiden, Office for Coastal 
Management, National Ocean Service, NOAA, 1305 East-West Highway, N/
OCM, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910; Phone: (202) 607-5232; or Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Estuarine Research Reserve 
System (reserve system) is a federal-state partnership administered by 
NOAA. The reserve system protects more than 1.3 million acres of 
estuarine habitat for long-term research, monitoring, education, and 
stewardship throughout the coastal United States. Established by the 
Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1451 et 
seq.), each reserve is managed by a lead state agency or university, 
with input from local partners. NOAA provides funding and national 
programmatic guidance to the reserve system.
    NOAA received the State of Connecticut's nomination of the proposed 
Connecticut Reserve site on January 3, 2019. NOAA evaluated the 
nomination package and found that the proposed site met the reserve 
system requirements for designation. (See 16 U.S.C. 1461(b).) 
Accordingly, NOAA informed the State of Connecticut on September 27, 
2019, that it was accepting the nomination and that the next step would 
be to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Draft 
Management Plan. (See 15 CFR 921.13.) On June 1, 2020, NOAA issued a 
notice of intent to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement and 
Draft Management Plan for the proposed Connecticut Reserve (85 FR 
33123). On July 17, 2020, NOAA issued a notice of a public scoping 
meeting to solicit input on the Draft Environmental Impact statement 
(85 FR 43543). On September 3, 2021, NOAA issued notice of public 
hearings and a 45-day public comment period for the Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement and Draft Management Plan for the proposed designation 
of the Connecticut Reserve (86 FR 49519). NOAA has included responses 
to the relevant written and oral comments it received on the adequacy 
of the draft environmental impact statement and draft management plan 
in Appendix B of the Final Environmental Impact Statement. The Final 
Environmental Impact Statement and Final Management Plan for the 
proposed Connecticut Reserve were published on December 3, 2021 (86 FR 
68661). For more information about the Connecticut Reserve, including 
the reserve's Final Management Plan, see the reserve's web page: 
coast.noaa.gov/nerrs/reserves/connecticut.html.
    The implementing regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508) for the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 
et seq.), require agencies to publish a public Record of Decision 
identifying alternatives considered by the agencies in reaching their 
decision and specifying the environmentally preferable alternative (40 
CFR 1505.2). Furthermore, pursuant to the CZMA's implementing 
regulations for the reserve system, NOAA is required to provide notice 
in the Federal Register of the results of the consistency determination 
for the proposed designation of a National Estuarine Research Reserve 
in states with federally-approved coastal zone management programs (15 
CFR 921.30).
    Pursuant to these requirements, NOAA has published a Record of 
Decision in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, 
which can be found at coast.noaa.gov/czm/compliance. Furthermore, NOAA 
hereby provides notice of the results of the consistency determination 
for the Connecticut Reserve: NOAA submitted the consistency 
determination to the State of Connecticut on September 8, 2021, in 
accordance with the requirements of Section 307 of the Coastal Zone 
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1456), and the State of Connecticut concurred 
on October 27, 2021.
    For more detailed information on the designation process, see the 
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's 
Connecticut National Estuarine Research Reserve website: portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Coastal-Resources/NERR/NERR-Home-Page.
    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.

Jeffrey L. Payne,
Director, Office for Coastal Management, National Ocean Service, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2022-00734 Filed 1-13-22; 8:45 am]
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