[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 14 (Friday, January 21, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3283-3284]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01085]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Review of Nomination for Hudson Canyon 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 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is 
seeking written comments on its five-year review of the nomination for 
Hudson Canyon National Marine Sanctuary (NMS). Comments should focus 
solely on any new and relevant information relating to NOAA's 11 
sanctuary nomination evaluation criteria. NOAA will pay particular 
attention to any additional details about the significance of the 
area's natural or cultural resources, changes to any threats to these 
resources, and evolving management efforts, or human uses in the 
proposed area (e.g., wind energy proposals in the area). NOAA will make 
a final determination on whether the Hudson Canyon NMS nomination 
remains relevant and responsive to the evaluation criteria after it 
analyzes the comments it receives and, if so, whether Hudson Canyon NMS 
is to remain in the nomination inventory for another five-year period. 
With this five-year review, NOAA is not seeking comments on whether to 
start the sanctuary designation process for the Hudson Canyon NMS 
proposal.

DATES: Comments are due by February 7, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Submit electronic comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal and 
search for Docket Number NOAA-NOS-2022-0010.
     Mail: LeAnn Hogan, Regional Operations Coordinator, NOAA 
Sanctuaries Eastern Region, 1305 East West Highway, N/NMS, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910.
    Email: [email protected].
    Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public 
record. All personally identifiable 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: LeAnn Hogan, Regional Operations 
Coordinator, NOAA Sanctuaries Eastern Region, 1305 East-West Highway, 
N/NMS, Silver Spring, MD 20910, or at [email protected], or 202-731-
0678.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background Information

    In June 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

[[Page 3284]]

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 Federal Register 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. This 
notice explained that if a nomination remains responsive to the 
evaluation criteria for inclusion on the inventory, NOAA could keep the 
nomination on the inventory for another five years. The notice also 
established a process for NOAA to consider the continuing viability of 
nominations nearing the five-year expiration mark. The nomination for 
Hudson Canyon proposal is scheduled to expire in February 2022. The 
full nomination can be found at https://nominate.noaa.gov/nominations/.
    NOAA is not proposing to designate Hudson Canyon as a national 
marine sanctuary with this action. Instead, comments should identify 
any new or changing information relative to NOAA's 11 sanctuary 
nomination evaluation criteria (https://nominate.noaa.gov/guide.html). 
Comments that do not pertain to information supporting the evaluation 
criteria, or present new information on the Hudson Canyon NMS 
nomination, will not be considered in NOAA's decision on whether to 
retain this nomination in the inventory.
    Should NOAA conclude that the Hudson Canyon NMS nomination no 
longer meets its evaluation criteria and decide to remove it from the 
inventory, NOAA would notify the nominator directly via letter, and the 
public via notice in the Federal Register and a web posting at 
``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. 2022-01085 Filed 1-20-22; 8:45 am]
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