[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 14 (Friday, January 21, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3284-3285]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01151]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Review of Nomination for Mariana Trench 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 (ONMS) of the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is requesting 
written comments to facilitate ONMS' five-year review of the nomination 
for the Mariana Trench National Marine Sanctuary (NMS) at the five-year 
interval. In particular, NOAA is requesting relevant information as it 
pertains to its 11 evaluation criteria for inclusion in the inventory. 
In this five-year review, NOAA will pay particular attention to any new 
information about the significance of the area's natural or cultural 
resources, changes to any threats to these resources, and any updates 
to the management framework of the area. NOAA has provided the original 
nominating parties, The Pew Charitable Trusts and Friends of the 
Marianas Trench, an opportunity to share their views on these same 
questions. Following this information gathering and internal analysis, 
NOAA will make a final determination on whether or not the Mariana 
Trench NMS nomination will remain in the inventory for another five-
year period.

DATES: Written comments must be received by February 22, 2022. NOAA 
will conduct a virtual meeting on Saturday, February 12, 2022, from 10 
a.m.-12 p.m. ChST (Guam/Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands)/
Friday, February 11, 2022, from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. HST (Hawai[revaps]i). 
NOAA may end the meeting before the time noted above if all those 
participating have completed their oral comments.

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-2022-0005.
     Mail: Kristina Kekuewa, Pacific Islands Regional Director, 
NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, 1845 Wasp Blvd., Honolulu, 
Hawaii 96818.
     Email: [email protected].
     Public Scoping Meeting: Provide oral comments during a 
virtual public scoping meeting, as described under DATES. Webinar 
registration details and additional information about how to 
participate in the public scoping meeting is available at https://nominate.noaa.gov/5-year-review.html.
    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: Kristina Kekuewa, Pacific Islands 
Regional Director, NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, 1845 
Wasp Blvd., Honolulu, Hawaii 96818, or at [email protected], or 
at 808-725-5252.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background Information

    In 2014, NOAA issued a final rule re-establishing the sanctuary 
nomination process (SNP), which details how communities may submit 
nominations of areas of the marine and Great Lakes environment for NOAA 
to consider for designation as national marine sanctuaries (79 FR 
33851). NOAA moves successful nominations to an inventory of areas that 
could be considered for national marine sanctuary designation. The 
final rule re-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 successful 
nomination as it approaches the five-year mark in 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 in the inventory, 
it may be appropriate to allow the nomination to remain in 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 Mariana Trench NMS was accepted to the national 
inventory on March 13, 2017, and is therefore scheduled to expire on 
March 13, 2022. The full nomination can be found at https://nominate.noaa.gov/nominations/.
    NOAA is not proposing to designate the Mariana Trench NMS with this 
action. Instead, NOAA is seeking public comment on ONMS' five-year 
review of the nomination for Mariana Trench NMS. Accordingly, written 
comments submitted as part of this request should

[[Page 3285]]

not focus on whether NOAA should initiate the designation process for a 
Mariana Trench NMS. Rather, comments should address the relevance of 
the nomination towards NOAA's 11 evaluation criteria and any new 
information NOAA should consider about the nominated area (these 
criteria are detailed at https://nominate.noaa.gov/guide.html). 
Comments that do not pertain to the evaluation criteria, or present new 
information on the Mariana Trench NMS nomination, will not be 
considered in NOAA's decision on whether to retain this nomination in 
the inventory.
    Whether removing or maintaining the nomination for Mariana Trench 
NMS, NOAA would follow the same procedure for notifying the public NOAA 
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. 2022-01151 Filed 1-20-22; 8:45 am]
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