[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 47 (Thursday, March 10, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Page 13709]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05114]


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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; reopening of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: On January 21, 2022, NOAA published a notice in the Federal 
Register requesting written and oral comments to facilitate ONMS' five-
year review of the nomination for the Mariana Trench National Marine 
Sanctuary (NMS) at the five-year interval. In that notice, NOAA 
requested relevant information as it pertains to its 11 evaluation 
criteria for inclusion in the inventory. During the public comment 
period, NOAA received requests for an extension to the comment period. 
This notice reopens the public comment period by an additional 45 days.

DATES: Written comments must be received by April 25, 2022. Comments 
submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal must be received by 
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date. NOAA will conduct a 
virtual meeting on Thursday, March 31, 2022, from 12 p.m.-3 p.m. ChST 
(Guam/Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands)/Wednesday, March 
30, 2022, from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. HST (Hawai'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. This notice re-opens the comment period for 45 days. In 
combination with the previous 30-day public comment period and this 45-
day public comment period, NOAA is providing 75 days for communities to 
organize comments on the nomination. Re-opening the comment period will 
not allow for a decision whether to keep the nomination in the 
inventory to be made by March 13, 2022, but NOAA believes it is 
important to give the community ample time to submit information on 
whether the nomination continues to meet the criteria to remain in the 
inventory. The Mariana Trench NMS will remain in the inventory until 
NOAA makes a determination, following the extended comment period, 
whether to retain this nomination in the inventory. 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 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. 2022-05114 Filed 3-9-22; 8:45 am]
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