[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 88 (Monday, May 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29687-29689]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09749]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Geological Survey

[GX23EN05ESBJF00]


Assessment of Biodiversity and Climate Change; Request for Public 
Comment and Nomination

AGENCY: U.S. Geological Survey, Interior.

[[Page 29688]]


ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides science to support 
the mission of the Department of the Interior. In the FY22 budget, 
Congress charged the USGS with developing an assessment of the linkages 
between biodiversity and climate change. The USGS, in collaboration 
with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Mexico's La 
Comisi[oacute]n Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad 
(CONABIO), and with assistance from the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. 
Udall Foundation's John S. McCain III National Center for Environmental 
Conflict Resolution (National Center), will undertake a two-year (2023-
2025) regional assessment of biodiversity and climate change, 
culminating in the first-ever assessment report addressing these two 
challenges together for the United States, Canada, Mexico, U.S. 
territories, and Freely Associated States. This notice announces the 
opportunity for the public to comment on the draft prospectus for the 
assessment, provide nominations for membership on the assessment 
authoring team (administered by the USGS), and provide expressions of 
interest in serving on the Biodiversity and Climate Change Assessment 
Guidance Committee (Guidance Committee) which will be convened by the 
National Center.

DATES: 
     Comments regarding the draft prospectus must be submitted 
no later than July 7, 2023.
     Nominations for participation on the authoring team must 
be submitted no later than July 7, 2023.
     Expressions of interest or requests for additional 
information about the assessment Guidance Committee must be submitted 
no later than June 7, 2023.

ADDRESSES: The draft prospectus may be viewed and downloaded 
electronically here: https://contribute.globalchange.gov/.
    You may submit comments, nominations, an expression of interest, 
and/or a request for additional information, by any of the following 
methods: by email to [email protected] or through the 
portal at https://contribute.globalchange.gov/; or

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this information collection request (ICR), contact Katherine C. 
Malpeli by email at [email protected] or by telephone 
at 919-896-5029. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, 
deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 
(TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. 
Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services 
offered within their country to make international calls to the point-
of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The assessment process and report production 
will be led by the USGS and will be authored by 130 scientists, policy 
experts, practitioners, and relevant knowledge-holders from government, 
universities, communities, and the private sector. Authoring-team roles 
include co-chairs, coordinating lead authors, lead authors, and review 
editors. The 35-member Guidance Committee, an independent, 
multidisciplinary stakeholder body with diverse policy and technical 
expertise, will be convened and facilitated by the National Center. 
Guidance Committee members will engage throughout the assessment 
process and report production to provide guidance and feedback 
regarding the policy relevance of the report content and ensure its 
messaging supports policymakers and other report audiences. The 
National Center will convene the Guidance Committee on a rolling basis, 
beginning early in the assessment process, to ensure that the Guidance 
Committee can provide multidisciplinary perspectives on the draft 
prospectus and assessment report drafts.
    All authoring team and Guidance Committee members are expected to 
contribute meaningfully and substantially to the assessment process. 
The authoring team and Guidance Committee will comprise experts, 
knowledge-holders, and practitioners with experience in a number of 
areas, including (but not limited to) the physical sciences, biological 
sciences, social sciences, climate-change impacts, application of 
indigenous and local knowledge, valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem 
services (economic and non-economic), conservation decision-making and 
planning (local to national), and existing laws, policies, and policy 
tools relevant to biodiversity or climate change. Participants are 
sought from diverse backgrounds and sectors, including (but not limited 
to) academic institutions, governmental and non-governmental research 
institutions, government agencies concerned with natural-resource 
management (local to national), indigenous governments and communities, 
business and industry, non-governmental organizations, and the general 
public. The assessment process is committed to an inclusive approach, 
with diverse representation among disciplines, perspectives, sectors, 
regions, expertise, and demographic backgrounds.
    The assessment will build on the recently completed 
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem 
Services (IPBES) global assessment and the Intergovernmental Panel on 
Climate Change-IPBES co-sponsored scientific outcome report, scaling 
down to the continental, national, and subnational contexts. The 
resulting report will contribute to the National Nature Assessment, a 
4-year undertaking led by the U.S. Global Change Research Program.
    The authoring team and the Guidance Committee will meet 
periodically via virtual meetings from 2023 through 2025. The Guidance 
Committee and full authoring team will meet in person in Fall 2023. 
Likewise, the Guidance Committee and a subset of assessment authors 
(co-chairs, coordinating authors) will meet a second time in person in 
mid-2024.
    Members of the Guidance Committee and assessment-authoring team 
(including review editors) serve as independent experts (i.e., not 
representing their institution or organization) on a voluntary basis 
without compensation. However, while away from their homes or regular 
places of business, Guidance Committee members and assessment authors 
engaged in meetings associated with the development of this assessment 
report may be entitled to travel expenses, including per diem in lieu 
of subsistence, as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 5703, in the same manner as 
persons employed intermittently in Federal Government service.
    The USGS and its partners seek:
     public comments on a draft prospectus (https://contribute.globalchange.gov/) for the assessment of biodiversity and 
climate change,
     nominations of individuals to serve on the assessment's 
authoring team,
     and expressions of interest and requests for additional 
information concerning the assessment's Guidance Committee.
    Each nomination for the authoring team and each expression of 
interest for the Guidance Committee should include (a) name, (b) phone 
number, (c) email address, and (d) affiliation (where relevant). 
Additional information may also be shared at the nominator's 
discretion.
    Public comments on the prospectus should be accompanied by the 
commentor's name, phone number,

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email address, and affiliation (at the commentor's discretion).

Shawn Carter,
Chief Scientist, National Climate Adaptation Science Center.
[FR Doc. 2023-09749 Filed 5-5-23; 8:45 am]
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