[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 139 (Friday, July 21, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47125-47127]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15546]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD173]


Request for Information; Advancing Equity and Environmental 
Justice in the Southeast Through the Conservation and Management of 
Living Marine Resources

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; request for information.

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SUMMARY: In May 2023, NMFS finalized its first-ever national Equity and 
Environmental Justice Strategy. The national strategy describes the 
path the agency will take to incorporate equity and environmental 
justice into the vital

[[Page 47126]]

services we provide to all communities. Through this Request for 
Information, we are seeking stakeholder input to inform the 
operationalization of the national strategy in the Southeast Region. 
The public input we receive in response to the questions listed in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document will inform the 
development of a Southeast Equity and Environmental Justice 
Implementation Plan that is specific and responsive to the needs of 
underserved communities in the U.S. Caribbean, South Atlantic, and Gulf 
of Mexico.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to provide input in response to 
this Request for Information through September 30, 2023. Late-filed 
input will be considered to the extent practicable.
    Verbal input will be accepted during a webinar-based listening 
session to be conducted in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese on Tuesday, 
August 29, 2023, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to provide input using one of 
the following methods:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and enter NOAA-NMFS-2023-0092 in the Search box. 
Click on the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter 
or attach your comments.
     Verbal submission: NMFS will accept verbal input during a 
webinar-based listening session from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, 
August 29, 2023. The webinar will be conducted in English, Spanish, and 
Vietnamese. Information about how to access the webinar will be 
available at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/about-us/southeast-equity-and-environmental-justice-implementation-plan. The 
transcript of the webinar will be posted to https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/about-us/southeast-equity-and-environmental-justice-implementation-plan after the listening session 
has been completed.
    Recorded presentations providing more information on this public 
comment opportunity will be made available at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/about-us/southeast-equity-and-environmental-justice-implementation-plan in English, Spanish, and 
Vietnamese for interested persons to listen at their convenience prior 
to submitting input via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal or the webinar-
based listening session. If you are unable to provide electronic 
written comments or participate in the webinar-based listening session, 
please contact Brent Stoffle at [email protected] or (305) 951-
1212 for alternative submission methods.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heather Blough, 
[email protected], (727) 304-0131.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    NMFS is responsible for managing the nation's living marine 
resources. We work to make fisheries sustainable and productive, 
provide safe seafood to consumers, conserve threatened and endangered 
species and other protected resources, and maintain healthy ecosystems. 
The work that we do affects people in underserved communities who 
depend on these resources for their environmental, economic, social, 
and cultural well-being. We recognize that these communities experience 
barriers to accessing our services and that the services they access 
may not effectively meet their needs.
    On May 22, 2023, NMFS finalized a national Equity and Environmental 
Justice Strategy (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/noaa-fisheries-releases-final-equity-and-environmental-justice-strategy) 
designed to break down key barriers impeding the equitable delivery of 
services and opportunities derived from the work that we do. The 
national strategy describes the path we will take to incorporate equity 
and environmental justice into the vital services we provide to all 
communities.
    Our goals under the strategy are to: (1) Prioritize identification, 
equitable treatment, and meaningful involvement of underserved 
communities; (2) Provide equitable delivery of services; and (3) 
Prioritize equity and environmental justice in our mandated and mission 
work with demonstrable progress.
    The strategy outlines six objectives to accomplish those goals: (1) 
Provide an empowering environment within NMFS to support multiple 
approaches to equity and environmental justice; (2) Ensure that our 
policies promote equal opportunities for all and do not create 
unintended inequities or unequal burdens for underserved communities; 
(3) Identify underserved communities and their needs, conduct 
collaborative research, and assess impacts of management decisions; (4) 
Build relationships with underserved communities to better understand 
their engagement preferences, and improve information sharing with all 
communities; (5) Distribute benefits equitably among communities by 
increasing the access to opportunities for underserved communities; and 
(6) Enable the meaningful involvement of underserved communities in 
decision-making processes.
    Together, these goals and objectives are intended to create the 
capacity and accountability processes necessary to effectively embed 
equity and environmental justice within our agency and the work that we 
do.
    Additional information on the national strategy, including our 
working definitions of equity, environmental justice, and underserved 
communities, is available on our website at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/about-us/southeast-equity-and-environmental-justice-implementation-plan.

II. Purpose of This Request for Information

    NMFS recognizes that we have much work to do to effectively embed 
equity and environmental justice into our day-to-day efforts, and we 
have incorporated input from communities into our national Equity and 
Environmental Justice Strategy (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/noaa-fisheries-releases-final-equity-and-environmental-justice-strategy) to guide that work. The purpose of this Request for 
Information is to solicit input on ways we can operationalize the 
national strategy in the Southeast Region by identifying specific 
actions and related performance metrics we will take to advance each of 
our six national equity and environmental justice objectives in the 
U.S. Caribbean, South Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico. We will supplement 
the information we receive in response to this Request for Information 
with information we obtain through a series of focus group meetings we 
are conducting with underserved community members and liaisons 
throughout the region.

III. Specific Information Requested To Inform Development of the 
Southeast Region Equity and Environmental Justice Implementation Plan

    Through this Request for Information, NMFS seeks written public 
input to inform the operationalization of our national Equity and 
Environmental Justice Strategy (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/noaa-fisheries-releases-final-equity-and-environmental-justice-strategy) in the Southeast Region. The input we receive in response to 
this request will help us to identify specific action items and related 
performance metrics to advance

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each of the six national equity and environmental justice objectives in 
the U.S. Caribbean, South Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico.
    When providing input, please specify if you are providing general 
feedback on how we can eliminate barriers or better serve underserved 
communities in the region, or responding to one or more of the specific 
objective(s) and question number(s) below:
    Objective 1. Provide an empowering environment within NMFS to 
support multiple equity and environmental justice approaches.
    1. What data and resources does NMFS need to identify the 
underserved communities impacted by our work and evaluate the success 
of our equity and environmental justice efforts?
    2. What accountability structures does NMFS need to stay focused on 
our equity and environmental justice goals and build trust with 
underserved communities?
    Objective 2. Ensure that our policies promote equal opportunities 
for all and do not create unintended inequities or unequal burdens for 
underserved communities.
    1. How can NMFS better include equity for underserved communities 
in policies and plans?
    2. How can existing policies and procedures be refined or revised 
to achieve more equitable outcomes?
    3. How can NMFS design or revise policies and procedures in a way 
that ensures they are helpful and clear to underserved communities?
    4. How can NMFS further incorporate into its policies and 
procedures relevant language, customs, and indigenous knowledge, 
consistent with statutory requirements (e.g., best scientific 
information available standard under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act)?
    Objective 3. Identify underserved communities and their needs, 
conduct collaborative research, and assess impacts of management 
decisions.
    1. What research do we need to identify underserved communities and 
assess their needs?
    2. How can NMFS better engage with underserved communities to 
identify, co-develop, and co-produce place-based research and 
monitoring priorities and promote opportunities for citizen science?
    3. How can we reduce bias in the prioritization of NMFS' research 
to better serve underserved communities?
    4. How can NMFS expand involvement of members of underserved 
communities in research and monitoring projects while ensuring 
protection of indigenous knowledge?
    5. How can NMFS more equitably allocate research and monitoring 
resources to identify and characterize underserved communities, 
understand their needs, and use findings to effectively guide 
management decisions that affect them?
    6. How can NMFS more equitably allocate research and monitoring 
resources to fisheries, habitat, and protected species science that 
directly impacts underserved communities?
    7. How can NMFS improve our understanding of the impact of our 
regulatory actions on underserved communities?
    8. What are best practices for working with communities to 
integrate indigenous knowledge into research structure, data 
collection, and data reporting?
    9. How can NMFS better share research and monitoring results in 
plain language?
    Objective 4. Build relationships with underserved communities to 
better understand their engagement preferences, and improve information 
sharing with all communities.
    1. Are the various communication platforms and outreach activities 
used by NMFS effectively reaching underserved communities? Are there 
other preferred methods of communication?
    2. How can NMFS build relationships with underserved communities 
that allow for two-way communication and trust?
    3. What training and resources do staff need to expand NMFS' 
outreach and communication in underserved communities?
    4. How can NMFS make its communications more accessible and 
understandable to a diverse audience, including underserved 
communities?
    Objective 5. Distribute benefits equitably among communities by 
increasing the access to opportunities for underserved communities.
    1. What barriers do underserved communities face in accessing 
benefits managed by NMFS?
    2. Do NMFS' benefits (such as funding, fishery allocations, 
permits, opportunities, services, and environmental protection and 
restoration) equitably reach or benefit underserved communities? 
Consistent with applicable legal requirements, how can we expand the 
equity in our delivery of these benefits?
    3. What accountability structures and processes are needed to 
ensure equitable delivery of benefits, such as data collection, on 
benefit recipients and analysis of that data?
    4. How can we better serve underserved communities with data and 
tools NMFS provides to the public?
    Objective 6. Enable the meaningful involvement of underserved 
communities in decision-making processes.
    1. How can NMFS better account for the needs of underserved 
communities in decision-making?
    2. What accountability processes and structures are needed for NMFS 
to assess if underserved community needs are adequately accounted for 
in decision-making?
    3. Is the information NMFS uses to support decision-making 
accessible to underserved communities?
    4. How can underserved communities have equitable access to 
participate in public meetings?
    5. How can NMFS ensure that public meetings are inclusive, safe, 
and welcoming?
    6. How can NMFS facilitate access and involvement of underserved 
communities during the decision-making process?
    7. How can NMFS increase representation of underserved communities 
on Regional Fishery Management Councils and advisory bodies, including 
international advisory bodies?

    Dated: July 18, 2023.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-15546 Filed 7-20-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P