[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 138 (Thursday, July 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46773-46778]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15432]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 2307014-0168]
RTID 0648-XV193


Request for Information on Equitable Delivery of Climate Services

AGENCY: Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration.

ACTION: Request for information.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce (Department), via the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), requests additional 
input from interested parties on how to enhance NOAA's delivery of 
climate data, information, science, and tools (``climate services'') 
and ensure that this delivery is equitable and accounting for the needs 
and priorities of a diverse set of user communities as they engage in 
climate preparedness, adaptation, and resilience planning. Building on 
the work that NOAA is already doing to prepare communities for 
increasing climate impacts, the input from this Request for Information 
(RFI) will be used to create an Action Plan that will inform more 
equitable and inclusive design, production, and delivery of climate 
services for users of all disciplines and backgrounds.

DATES: Responses are due on or before September 21, 2023.
    NOAA will host virtual public listening sessions during the months 
of August and September for participants to provide comments. See 
ADDRESSES below for more information on dates, times, and registration.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document by any of the 
following methods:
     Email Submission: Interested individuals and organizations 
should submit written or recorded comments by email to 
[email protected]. If submitting via email, include the title of 
this RFI, ``Request for Information on Equitable Delivery of Climate 
Services'' in the subject line of the email.

[[Page 46774]]

Attachments will be accepted in plain text, Microsoft Word, or Adobe 
PDF, or recorded formats only, not to exceed a file size of 25 MB. If 
comments are submitted via recording, they must be in .mpg, mpeg, or 
.wav file formats. All comments submitted via email in recorded format 
will be transcribed.
     Electronic Submission: Comments may also be submitted in 
writing only via www.regulations.gov/. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and enter the title of this action, ``Request for 
Information on Equitable Delivery of Climate Services'' in the Search 
box. Click the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and 
enter or attach your comments. Enter ``N/A'' in required fields if you 
wish to remain anonymous.
     Mail: Submit written comments to Ella Clarke, Room 58010/
HCHB, 1401 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20230. Include the 
title of this RFI, ``Request for Information on Equitable Delivery of 
Climate Services'' in the written response.
     Public Listening Sessions: Provide oral comments during 
virtual public listening sessions, as described under DATES. 
Registration details and additional information about how to 
participate in these public listening sessions is available at https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/equitable-climate-service-delivery-2404789.
    Instructions: Response to this RFI is voluntary. Respondents need 
not reply to all questions listed. Each individual or institution is 
requested to submit only one response. All comments received are part 
of the public record and may be posted, without change, on NOAA's 
website at https://www.noaa.gov and on https://www.regulations.gov. 
Commenters should include the name of the person and/or organization 
filing the comment. All identifying information (e.g., name, email 
address) submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly 
accessible. NOAA, therefore, requests that no business proprietary 
information, copyrighted information, or sensitive personally 
identifiable information be submitted in response to this RFI. Comments 
will be accepted in English and Spanish. Comments submitted in Spanish 
will be translated to English for public posting.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ella Clarke, Office of the Assistant 
Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, (771) 216-1352; [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    Climate change is here. Communities around the country and the 
world are feeling its impacts every day. Brutal heat waves on land and 
in the ocean, extreme and prolonged drought, and coastal and inland 
flooding are just some of the risks that are threatening our economies, 
ecosystems, and ways of life. Communities of color, Indigenous, Tribal 
communities, and other marginalized communities--communities already 
facing systemic economic, social, civic, and environmental inequity--
experience disproportionate impacts. Historically, these communities 
have been without access to resources that would support them in 
advancing their community priorities, preparing for climate-related 
disasters, adapting to a changing climate, and avoiding the worst 
future damages.
    NOAA is a leading provider of climate data, information, science, 
and tools (described as ``climate services'' for the purpose of this 
document--see Definitions below), and plays a critical role in 
improving our Nation's ability to adapt and build resilience to climate 
change. Equity is a core component of NOAA and the Department of 
Commerce's vision. NOAA has committed to making equity central to every 
part of its mission, including its climate service delivery, as part of 
NOAA's Strategic Plan (https://www.noaa.gov/organization/budget-finance-performance/value-to-society/noaa-fy22-26-strategic-plan) and 
Climate Ready Nation initiative. This includes improving discovery of, 
access to, and usability of climate services to adapt to climate change 
and prepare for and enhance resilience to its impacts. Following 
through on that equity commitment requires NOAA to center the needs and 
priorities of historically underserved communities in its delivery of 
climate services. NOAA has taken strides to improve how underserved 
communities benefit from NOAA's climate services through a series of 
Climate Equity Roundtables and subsequent Climate Equity Pilots 
(https://www.noaa.gov/regional-collaboration-network/noaas-climate-and-equity-roundtables), among other efforts, but we acknowledge that there 
is more that we can do. NOAA also has opportunities to improve equity 
in its climate service delivery through increased capacity and improved 
access to climate services for climate preparedness, adaptation, and 
resilience planning in underserved and Tribal and Indigenous 
communities, including consideration and inclusion of Indigenous 
Knowledge in the design and delivery of NOAA's climate services.
    NOAA aims to elicit comments on how to enhance the agency's 
delivery of climate services and ensure that this delivery is equitable 
and accounting for the needs and priorities of a diverse set of user 
communities. Building on the work that NOAA is already doing to prepare 
communities for increasing climate impacts, we will gather critical 
feedback from a wide swath of users of all disciplines and backgrounds, 
including but not limited to those working in public health, housing, 
economic development, environmental justice, and other communities that 
we aim to better support (see Target Audience list below). A summary of 
responses will be shared publicly and will be used to develop an Action 
Plan to further embed equity in NOAA's climate service design, 
production, and delivery based on feedback received from respondents.

(1) RFI Objectives

     Solicit feedback on the climate services and other 
decision support needed to help a range of user communities, 
particularly historically underserved, Tribal, and Indigenous 
communities, move forward with their climate preparedness, adaptation, 
and resilience planning.
     Leverage responses to spark further conversation within 
NOAA and with community partners to drive organizational change and 
ensure that NOAA both (1) provides and co-produces climate services 
that meet the needs and enhance the capabilities of those we serve, and 
(2) sustains productive feedback loops with users to adaptively manage 
its climate services for continual improvement and more equitable 
outcomes.
     Take concrete action to make NOAA's climate services more 
accessible, understandable, usable, inclusive of the social and 
economic impacts of climate change, and capable of addressing complex 
and compounding hazards.
     Take concrete action to build capacity and support users 
of all disciplines and backgrounds, particularly for historically 
underserved communities and Tribal and Indigenous communities, by 
expanding science literacy and successfully applying technical 
information and data to science-based decisions about climate 
preparedness, risk, and resilience.

(2) Target Audience

    NOAA is particularly interested in hearing from communities that it 
may

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not engage with regularly, including but not limited to:

 Community and city planners
 Community organizers
 Public health workers
 Affordable housing advocates
 Environmental non-profits
 Environmental justice groups
 Small business owners
 Food banks, urban and community gardens
 Students and youth organizers
 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs)
 Tribal and Indigenous government officials and community 
members
 State and territorial governments
 Local government

II. NOAA Investment in Equitable Climate Service Delivery

    The Biden-Harris Administration has laid out clear priorities 
around climate resilience, adaptation, and equity through Executive 
Order 13985, which calls for the Federal Government to ``pursue a 
comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of 
color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, 
and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality''; and 
Executive Order 14008 on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and 
Abroad. Other Federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of 
Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Emergency Management 
Administration, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, have used 
these Executive Orders as impetus for releasing RFIs to enhance their 
incorporation of equity considerations into existing climate 
preparedness, adaptation, and resilience programs.

(1) Climate Service Delivery for Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples

    NOAA recognizes the critical contributions of Indigenous Knowledge 
that Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples make to climate 
preparedness, adaptation, and resilience practices, and the importance 
of ensuring that NOAA's consideration and inclusion of Indigenous 
Knowledge is guided by respect for the sovereignty and self-
determination of Tribal Nations; the Nation-to-Nation Relationship 
between the United States and Tribal Nations, and the United States' 
trust responsibility; and the need for the consent of and honest 
engagement with Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples. NOAA, in 
response to the Indigenous Knowledge Guidance (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/OSTP-CEQ-IK-Guidance.pdf) 
provided by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and 
the White House Council on Environmental Quality, has updated its NOAA 
Tribal Consultation Handbook (https://www.noaa.gov/legislative-and-intergovernmental-affairs/noaa-tribal-resources-updates) and reaffirmed 
NOAA Administrative Order NAO 218-8A: Policy on Government-to-
Government Consultation with Federally Recognized Indian Tribal 
Governments (https://www.noaa.gov/organization/administration/nao-218-8A-policy-on-G2G-consultation-with-federally-Recognized-Tribal-Governments). This RFI seeks to further understand Tribal and 
Indigenous needs around and contributions to NOAA's suite of climate 
services.

(2) Climate Ready Nation

    NOAA launched Climate Ready Nation to better organize and deliver 
NOAA's climate services and get actionable weather, water, and climate 
information and data in the hands of decision makers to help them build 
a thriving, equitable, and resilient future in the face of climate 
change. But, NOAA and the Federal Government cannot ready the Nation 
alone. Through the Climate-Ready Nation initiative, the focus is on 
strengthening a broad range of partnerships with the end goal of 
creating and sustaining a climate service enterprise that extends far 
beyond what NOAA alone can do. This includes:
     Serving climate needs within the Department of Commerce;
     Supporting other members of the Federal Government in 
climate-proofing their investments;
     Tailoring service delivery to state and local leaders, 
including leaders in communities, with academic institutions and non-
governmental organizations (NGOs), and across the U.S. and territories;
     Engaging with Tribal and Indigenous communities and 
leaders, recognizing the value of traditional knowledge and, 
simultaneously, that climate change poses particular threats to 
indigenous populations;
     Working with businesses and the private sector to enable a 
robust public-private service delivery enterprise; and
     empowering the public to take action in their own lives.
    This will be successful only if we take a purposeful approach to 
our partnerships and ensure that this vast, multi-stakeholder group of 
climate service providers is using authoritative and fit-for-purpose 
information to inform climate actions.

(3) NOAA Climate Equity Roundtables and Pilots

    The NOAA Regional Collaboration Network is supporting NOAA's 
commitment to sustained engagement with underserved communities through 
seven pilot projects in the coming years. Each regional pilot will 
respond directly to feedback received from partners during Climate and 
Equity roundtable discussions. Pilots will take a unique, place-based 
approach to helping vulnerable communities better understand, prepare 
for, and respond to climate change. You can read more about the Pilots 
here: https://www.noaa.gov/noaa-regional-collaboration-network-announces-climate-and-equity-pilot-projects.

(4) NOAA Grant Programs Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and 
Inflation Reduction Act

    On June 6, 2023, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced 
historic funding for NOAA under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA; 
https://www.noaa.gov/inflation-reduction-act), highlighting plans to 
implement $3.3 billion in investments focused on ensuring America's 
communities and economy are ready for and resilient to climate change. 
Through the IRA, and building on investments made under the Bipartisan 
Infrastructure Act (BIL; https://www.noaa.gov/infrastructure-law), NOAA 
will continue its efforts to build a climate-ready nation. This 
includes funding that will empower NOAA to address the growing demand 
for climate services and support for climate preparedness, adaptation, 
and resilience planning in a way that is accessible and equitable for 
users of all disciplines and backgrounds. More information on these 
investments can be found here: https://www.noaa.gov/inflation-reduction-act.

III. List of Questions for Commenters

    NOAA seeks responses to three categories of questions below in 
Sections A, B, and C. We invite any member of the public, particularly 
those in the Target Audience list above, to provide input on some or 
all of the questions in the below categories:

A. Enhancing Accessibility of NOAA Climate Services
B. Capacity Building, Education, and Technical Assistance
C. Community Outreach, Engagement, and Co-production of Climate 
Services

    Respondents are welcome to respond to as many or as few questions 
below as are applicable to their experience with NOAA's climate 
services. Response to

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all questions listed below is NOT required. You may also include links 
to online material or interactive presentations. If including data 
sets, please make the data available in a downloadable, machine-
readable format with accompanying metadata. (See ADDRESSES for further 
instructions.)

A. Enhancing Accessibility of NOAA Climate Services

    NOAA is a leading provider of climate data, information, science, 
and tools, and maintains a rich array of climate services that are 
designed to inform decisions on climate preparedness, adaptation, and 
resilience. However, an abundance of scientific resources and gaps in 
climate services, particularly at smaller scales, can create challenges 
as communities look to access, understand, and use information that 
suit their particular needs. In addition, the data, tools, and services 
that NOAA provides may also not be accessible, understandable, or 
usable for all communities. The questions below seek to gather feedback 
on how NOAA is, or is not, addressing the information needs and 
priorities of communities as they seek to make decisions about their 
climate preparedness, risk, and resilience. Responses could include 
(but are not limited to): feedback on discoverability (finding the 
right data for use), ease of accessing NOAA data, tools, and services; 
scale of data; usability of data; translation of NOAA data and tools 
into multiple languages; and/or data gaps related to Indigenous and 
place-based knowledge, community expertise, and/or social and economic 
impacts of climate change. NOAA invites comment on the following 
questions:
Use of Climate Services
    1. When and why do you seek information about climate and the 
environment? What are your priorities when looking for this 
information, and what do you want to do with the information you are 
seeking?
    2. What data, information, science, and tools (``climate 
services'') do you use to make decisions about your risk from climate-
related natural hazards (e.g., drought, heat waves, wildfires, floods, 
intense precipitation, extreme weather) and your preparedness, 
resilience, and adaptation planning and actions?
    a. What do you find most useful about the data, tools and 
information you use? What's missing?
    b. Are these resources from NOAA? If not, where are they from?
Access/Accessibility
    3. Please tell us, with stories or examples, about your experiences 
accessing NOAA climate services on climate hazards, risk, and 
resilience.
    4. What obstacles or challenges have you faced in accessing NOAA 
climate services for decision-making around climate preparedness, 
adaptation, and resilience in your community?
Understanding
    5. Please tell us, with stories or examples, about your experiences 
understanding NOAA climate services on climate hazards, risk, and 
resilience.
    6. What obstacles or challenges have you faced in understanding 
NOAA climate services for decision-making around climate preparedness, 
adaptation, and resilience in your community?
Use/Application
    7. Please tell us, with stories or examples, about your experiences 
applying NOAA climate services to support decision-making around 
climate preparedness, adaptation, and resilience in your community.
    8. What obstacles or challenges have you faced in applying NOAA 
climate services to decision-making around climate preparedness, 
adaptation, and resilience in your community?
Barriers/Opportunities for Improvement
    9. Does NOAA provide climate resilience science, data, tools, and/
or information that is relevant to you and in your preferred language? 
How has this impacted your climate preparedness and resilience 
planning?
    10. Does NOAA provide climate services that are relevant to your 
needs and at a scale that is useful in your decision-making around 
climate preparedness and resilience? Please explain your answer.
    11. What climate services (science, data, tools, and/or 
information) would you like to have about the socioeconomic impacts of 
climate, such as on housing, the economy, food security, workforce, 
migration, etc.? Please explain your answer.
    a. What would you like to be able to do with these data, tools, 
and/or information?
    b. How can socioeconomic impacts of climate change be better 
integrated into the climate services NOAA provides?

B. Capacity Building, Education, and Technical Assistance

    NOAA recognizes that many communities, particularly underserved 
communities and Tribal and Indigenous communities, may not have 
equitable access to NOAA climate services, nor to NOAA staff, 
scientists, and project development processes to help ensure their 
voices, needs, and priorities are heard. There is an opportunity for 
NOAA to make its climate services easier for users of all disciplines 
and backgrounds to apply. NOAA wants to hear more about what we can do 
to help communities increase their capacity to understand and apply 
NOAA climate services to assess their climate risk and develop 
resilience and adaptation strategies to prepare for the impacts of 
climate change. This could include feedback on gaps in NOAA training 
and workforce development for climate preparedness, resilience, and 
adaptation, supporting users of all disciplines and backgrounds across 
sectors, scales, and hazards, or leveraging existing delivery 
mechanisms or technical assistance programs to reach users more 
broadly. NOAA invites comment on the following questions:
    1. Do you have capacity in your organization or community to use 
NOAA climate data, information, science, and tools (``climate 
services'') in preparedness, adaptation, and resilience planning? 
Please explain your answer--what additional capacity or resources would 
be helpful and why?
    2. How could NOAA climate services be improved to support your 
organization or community in adapting to climate change?
    3. What are the training and workforce development needs that NOAA 
could better address through our climate services?
    4. What are the specific ways in which NOAA can support communities 
in assessing their climate risk, preparing for the range of hazards 
they face, and building long-term resilience--particularly through 
capacity building and technical assistance?
    5. How can NOAA climate services be better used to advance climate 
and environmental justice and prioritize underserved communities?

C. Community Outreach, Engagement, and Co-Production of Climate 
Services

    Fully understanding the needs, priorities, capacity, and 
capabilities of the communities we serve, and where additional 
capacity, training, and education gaps may exist requires a meaningful 
and continued commitment to outreach, engagement, and relationship 
building with communities. This could include better leveraging NOAA 
and other agency ``extension'' programs and other public/private 
partnerships; better understanding what users want/need to know about 
climate change; or co-producing climate

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services and guidance on how to use them based on user experience and 
needs. NOAA invites comment on the following questions:
    1. Has NOAA directly engaged with your community to gather 
feedback, jointly design or produce climate data, information, science, 
or tools (``climate services'')? Please provide a brief description.
    a. If so, was it effective and in what ways? If not, how could it 
be improved to better build a strong trust relationship with your 
community?
    2. Is NOAA effectively using community feedback and relationships 
to co-design and disseminate climate services? How can NOAA improve 
meaningful community engagement that leads to design and dissemination 
of climate services that communities need?
    3. Are there partnerships that have enhanced your access to or 
understanding of climate change and/or potential preparedness, 
adaptation, and resilience solutions? Are there partnerships NOAA 
should invest in to enhance and sustain community access and 
understanding? Please explain your answer.
    4. How can NOAA more meaningfully integrate your organization or 
community, including individuals with lived expertise, in the co-
production of climate services?
    5. How can Indigenous Knowledge, local, place-based knowledge, and 
other ways of knowing be included meaningfully into the climate 
services that NOAA provides, particularly for climate preparedness, 
adaptation, and resilience?

IV. Definitions

    There are several terms used throughout this RFI that NOAA will 
define here to ensure clarity and ease of response to the questions.
     Adaptation: The process of adjusting to new (climate) 
conditions in order to reduce risks to valued assets (https://toolkit.climate.gov/content/glossary).
     Capacity Building: The process of developing and 
strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes and resources 
that organizations and communities need to survive, adapt, and thrive 
in a fast-changing world (https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/capacity-building).
     Climate Services: ``Scientifically-based, usable 
information and products that enhance knowledge and understanding about 
the impacts of climate change on potential decisions and actions.'' 
This may involve services that are available for consistent use as well 
as more ongoing, deliberative services shaped by engagement, knowledge 
co-production, and capacity-building. In addition, Indigenous, 
traditional and local knowledge are important components for developing 
climate services in some contexts or for specific cultures and 
communities (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/FTAC_Report_03222023_508.pdf). In the context of this RFI, ``climate 
services'' refer to NOAA climate data, information, science, and tools, 
as well as decision-support, designed to address climate-related 
hazards, such as heat, drought, sea level rise and coastal inundation, 
inland flooding, and wildfire. An example of a climate service that 
NOAA provides to the general public is Climate.gov (https://www.climate.gov), which includes a host of maps, data sets, educational 
materials on climate change, and the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit. 
The Climate Resilience Toolkit is designed to help communities meet the 
challenges of a changing climate, learn about potential climate 
hazards, and understand how to protect and prepare for climate hazards.
     Co-production: The process is generically described as one 
that ``brings together diverse groups to iteratively create new 
knowledge and practices,'' whether to generate actionable knowledge or 
spur the redistribution of power and societal transformation'' (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022CSJ000021). Co-production is a 
methodology that leverages the expertise of practitioners and community 
members to develop holistic solutions to multifaceted problems at the 
intersection of society and the environment. By fostering collaboration 
and integrating diverse perspectives, co-production enables a deeper 
understanding of causes and potential remedies of environmental 
stressors (https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/co-production-of-environmental-knowledge-methods-and-approaches). For more information 
and examples of co-production in a NOAA context, see the following: 
https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/45596/noaa_45596_DS1.pdf.
     Equity: The consistent and systematic fair, just, and 
impartial treatment of all individuals, including individuals who 
belong to underserved communities that have been denied such treatment, 
such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous and Native American persons, 
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of color; 
members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, 
and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live 
in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent 
poverty or inequality (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government/).
     Indigenous Knowledge: A body of observations, oral and 
written knowledge, innovations, practices, and beliefs developed by 
Tribes and Indigenous Peoples through interaction and experience with 
the environment (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/OSTP-CEQ-IK-Guidance.pdf).
     Resilience: The capacity of a community, business, or 
natural environment to prevent, withstand, respond to, and recover from 
a disruption (https://toolkit.climate.gov/content/glossary).
     Service Delivery: The continuous process of engaging with 
users in order to provide relevant and timely information via 
appropriate mechanisms (https://www.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/A-Model-of-Service-Delivery-for-the-NOAA-Water-Initiative_FINAL.pdf).
     Technical Assistance: Targeted coaching for users to help 
them access, understand, and use NOAA products and services for their 
own decisions (https://www.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/A-Model-of-Service-Delivery-for-the-NOAA-Water-Initiative_FINAL.pdf).
     Underserved Communities: Populations sharing a particular 
characteristic, as well as geographic communities, that have been 
systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of 
economic, social, and civic life, as exemplified by the list in the 
preceding definition of ``equity'' (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government/).
     User(s): A person(s), group, or organization who accesses 
and applies information, products, or services (https://www.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/A-Model-of-Service-Delivery-for-the-NOAA-Water-Initiative_FINAL.pdf).

V. Other

    Please note that this is an RFI only. In accordance with the 
implementing regulations of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 
specifically 5 CFR 1320.3(h)(4), this general solicitation is exempt 
from the PRA. Facts or opinions

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submitted in response to general solicitations of comments from the 
public, published in the Federal Register or other publications, 
regardless of the form or format thereof, provided that no person is 
required to supply specific information pertaining to the commenter, 
other than that necessary for self-identification, as a condition of 
the agency's full consideration, are not generally considered 
information collections and therefore not subject to the PRA.
    This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes; it 
does not constitute a request for proposals, applications, proposal 
abstracts, or quotations. This RFI does not commit the U.S. Government 
to contract for any supplies or services or make a grant award. 
Further, we are not seeking proposals through this RFI and will not 
accept unsolicited proposals. Choosing not to respond to this RFI does 
not preclude participation in any future procurement, if conducted.

    Dated: July 17, 2023.
Jainey Kumar Bavishi,
Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere and Deputy Administrator, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2023-15432 Filed 7-19-23; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-12-P