[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 17 (Thursday, January 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4916-4917]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-01477]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Notice of Intent To Conduct Scoping and To Prepare a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Bay of Green Bay 
National Estuarine Research Reserve

AGENCY: Office for Coastal Management (OCM), National Ocean Service 
(NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. 
Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a draft environmental impact 
statement and hold public scoping meetings; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 315 of the Coastal Zone Management 
Act of 1972, as amended, and the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended, NOAA and the State of Wisconsin intend to prepare a 
draft environmental impact statement and draft management plan for the 
proposed Bay of Green Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. NOAA and 
the State are also announcing two public scoping meetings to solicit 
comments on significant issues related to the development of a draft 
environmental impact statement for the proposed Bay of Green Bay 
National Estuarine Research Reserve.

DATES: Both an in-person meeting and a virtual meeting will be held on 
Tuesday, March 19, 2024. The virtual meeting will be held at 10 a.m. 
Central Time (CT). The in-person meeting will be held at 1:30 p.m. CT. 
Written comments provided electronically must be submitted no later 
than Friday, April 19, 2024; written comments submitted by mail must be 
postmarked by Friday, April 19, 2024.

ADDRESSES: The virtual public scoping meeting will be held on Zoom at 
the following link: wisconsin-edu.zoom.us/j/
99904429917?pwd=akF5N1IrSHhCKzdYVEVtWmNKNU90dz09 at 10 a.m. Central 
Time. If requested upon joining the virtual meeting, the meeting ID is

[[Page 4917]]

999 0442 9917, and the attendee access code is NERR. Participants may 
also join the meeting by phone by using this toll-free number: +1 (312) 
626-6799, along with meeting ID 999 0442 9917, and attendee access code 
826461.
    The in-person public scoping meeting will be conducted in the 
S.T.E.M. Innovation Center at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay 
campus, located at 2019 Technology Way, Green Bay, Wisconsin 54311 at 
1:30 p.m. Central Time. This meeting will be in-person only and not 
broadcast.
    Participants will be able to provide comments during both meetings. 
Both public meetings will present the same information. Meeting 
documents will be available on the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay's 
national estuarine research reserve website, uwgb.edu/national-estuarine-research-reserves, as well as on the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal, regulations.gov/docket?D=NOAA-NOS-2024-0006.
    Written comments may be submitted using the following methods:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to regulations.gov/docket?D=NOAA-NOS-2024-0006, click the ``Comment Now!'' button, 
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments. 
Written comments must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern 
Time on Friday, April 19, 2024.
     Mail: Submit written comments to Bridget Faust-Accola, 
Office for Coastal Management, 1735 Lake Drive West, Chanhassen, 
Minnesota 55317; ATTN: Bay of Green Bay Research Reserve. Comments must 
be postmarked no later than Friday, April 19, 2024.
    Instructions: All comments received are part of the public record 
and will be posted for public viewing on regulations.gov/docket?D=NOAA-NOS-2024-0006 with no changes. All personally identifiable information 
(e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business information, or 
otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the commenter 
will be publicly accessible and maintained by NOAA as part of the 
public record. NOAA will accept anonymous comments. To do so, on the 
eRulemaking Portal, enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to 
remain anonymous. If you would like to submit an anonymous comment 
during the in-person meeting, a comment box, along with paper and 
writing implements, will be provided. If you would like to provide an 
anonymous comment during the virtual public scoping meeting, type your 
comment into the question box, and state that you would like to remain 
anonymous when your comment is read. Multimedia submissions (i.e., 
audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The 
written comment is considered the official comment and should include 
discussion of all points you wish to make. NOAA will generally not 
consider comments, or comment contents, located outside of the primary 
submission sites or addresses (i.e., those posted on the web, cloud, or 
other file-sharing system). Please note that no public comments will be 
audio or video recorded by NOAA or the State.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bridget Faust-Accola, Office for 
Coastal Management, 1735 Lake Drive West, Chanhassen, Minnesota 55317; 
ATTN: Bay of Green Bay NERR. Phone: 612-564-0323; or email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with section 315 of the 
Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1461), and 
its implementing regulations (15 CFR part 921), and the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321), and its 
implementing regulations (40 CFR part 1500), NOAA and the State intend 
to prepare a draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Bay 
of Green Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Early in the 
development of this document, NOAA and the State are required to hold a 
scoping meeting to solicit public and government comments on 
significant issues related to this proposed action. (15 CFR 921.13(c)).
    NOAA received the State's nomination of the proposed multicomponent 
site on December 29, 2022. NOAA evaluated the nomination package and 
found that the proposed site met the research reserve system's 
requirements. NOAA informed the State in early 2024 that it was 
approving the nomination and that the next step would be to prepare a 
draft environmental impact statement and draft management plan. The 
draft environmental impact statement will assess the potential 
environmental and socioeconomic impacts of designating the State's 
proposed site as a National Estuarine Research Reserve System site, and 
identify and assess the impacts of boundary alternatives. The draft 
management plan will set a course for operating the Bay of Green Bay 
National Estuarine Research Reserve once approved, and will include 
plans for administration, research, education, and facilities for the 
proposed site. (See 15 CFR 921.13.)
    The State's proposed site consists of three components, including 
all or portions of the following State, university, county, local 
government, or land trust-owned properties: the Peshtigo Harbor State 
Wildlife Area, Bloch Oxbow State Natural Area, and Badger Gift Lands; 
the Peats Lake, Sensiba, Tibbet-Suamico, and Long Tail Units within the 
Green Bay West Shores Wildlife Area; the Suamico River State Habitat 
Area; Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve; Fort Howard Wildlife Area; Gordon 
Nauman Conservation Area; Ken Euers Nature Area; Point au Sable and 
Wequiock Creek Natural Areas; Crossroads at Big Creek; the Strawberry 
Creek Chinook Facility, and Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Nature Preserve.
    The proposed site resulted from the State's comprehensive 
evaluation process that sought input from the public, affected 
landowners, and other interested parties. The State held public kickoff 
meetings in April 2021 to describe the research reserve system, explain 
the rationale for establishing a reserve in the Bay of Green Bay, and 
outline a process for selecting and nominating a site to NOAA. The 
State assembled committees composed of State and Federal agency 
representatives, Tribal Nations, academia, non-governmental 
organizations, members of the public, and local units of government. 
These committees conducted preliminary screening, developed and applied 
site selection criteria, scored those sites that showed the most 
potential, and ultimately recommended a site for the future reserve. 
The State and NOAA held public hearings on September 7 and 8, 2022, to 
solicit comments on the proposed site. For more detailed information on 
the site selection process and the proposed site, see the University of 
Wisconsin-Green Bay's research reserve website: uwgb.edu/national-estuarine-research-reserves.

Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog Number 11.420 (Coastal Zone 
Management) Research Reserves

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1461.

Keelin S. Kuipers,
Deputy Director, Office for Coastal Management, National Ocean Service, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2024-01477 Filed 1-24-24; 8:45 am]
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