[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 39 (Monday, February 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11049-11050]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04076]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Determination Regarding 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.

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SUMMARY: In January 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA) requested written comments to facilitate the 
five-year review of the nomination for Hudson Canyon National Marine 
Sanctuary (NMS). NOAA requested relevant and new information pertaining 
to its 11 sanctuary nomination evaluation criteria. In particular, NOAA 
sought any additional details about the area's natural or cultural 
resources, emerging threats to these resources, and evolving management 
efforts or human uses in the proposed area (e.g., wind energy 
proposals). After reviewing the information gathered through the public 
process and completing an internal analysis of readily-available and 
relevant information on the proposed area, NOAA has determined the 
Hudson Canyon NMS nomination will remain on the inventory until at 
least February 23, 2027.

DATES: This determination is applicable on February 23, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Matt Brookhart, Eastern Regional Director, NOAA Sanctuaries 
Eastern Region, 1305 East West Highway, N/NMS, Silver Spring, MD 20910, 
or at [email protected], and at https://nominate.noaa.gov/nominations/.

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 at 202-
731-0678.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background Information

    In June 2014, NOAA issued a final rule establishing the sanctuary

[[Page 11050]]

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 
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 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. The clarified procedure is 
intended to ensure the inventory contains nominations that remain 
relevant and responsive to the 11 national significance criteria and 
management considerations. The 11 criteria can be found at https://nominate.noaa.gov. The process to update a nomination that is about to 
expire includes the following steps:
    1. ONMS notifies the nominating party prior to the five-year mark 
of the nominated area's time on the inventory to give the nominator an 
opportunity to provide updates on the nominated area's relevance to the 
11 sanctuary nomination evaluation criteria.
    2. ONMS works with partners and the public to gather information on 
the nominated area's relevance to the 11 sanctuary nomination 
evaluation criteria.
    3. ONMS reviews the information received from the original 
nominating party, partners, the public, Indigenous communities, and 
other relevant sources to update any information on the 11 criteria, 
assess the level of community-based support for the nomination from a 
broad range of interests, and determine if that support has increased 
or decreased since the time of nomination. Based on this information, 
ONMS assesses if the nomination is still accurate and relevant.
    4. ONMS produces a report for the ONMS Director that presents an 
analysis of the information that has been collected, and recommends 
whether to maintain the nomination on the inventory, or remove it once 
the five-year mark is reached.
    On January 21, 2022, NOAA issued a request for public comments on 
the Hudson Canyon NMS nomination (87 FR 3283). NOAA requested relevant 
information pertaining to the 11 sanctuary nomination evaluation 
criteria for inclusion in the national inventory. Five public comment 
letters were submitted during this public comment process. The public 
comment letters can be found at regulations.gov (search for docket 
number NOAA-NOS-2022-0010). In analyzing these public comment letters, 
particular attention was given to new scientific information about the 
national significance of natural and cultural resources, increases or 
decreases in the threats to resources originally proposed for 
protection, and evolving management efforts or human uses in the 
proposed area.
    NOAA reviewed the information contained in the public comment 
letters and has determined that the new information shows that there 
are changes to the threats to the resources in Hudson Canyon, Hudson 
Canyon remains an area of national significance, the area has special 
cultural significance to the Indigenous people of the region, and the 
natural resources and ecological qualities continue to contribute to 
the biological productivity of the area. Therefore, this notice serves 
to inform the public of NOAA's decision to extend the nomination of the 
Hudson Canyon NMS on the inventory for another five-year period. With 
this action, NOAA is not proposing to designate Hudson Canyon as a 
national marine sanctuary.
    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. 2022-04076 Filed 2-25-22; 8:45 am]
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