[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 49160]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12670]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Notice of Availability of Draft Guidance on Designation of New
Regional Ocean Partnerships
AGENCY: Office for Coastal Management, National Ocean Service, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of draft guidance regarding the
designation of new regional ocean partnerships; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: Under the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2023 (NDAA), Coastal States (including Puerto Rico, the
United States Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands, the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands, and
American Samoa), federally-recognized Indian Tribes (including Alaska
native villages), and other entities may form new partnerships and
apply to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (as
delegated) for designation as a regional ocean partnership. Regional
ocean partnerships coordinate the management of ocean, coastal, and
Great Lakes resources. NOAA invites public comment on draft guidance on
designating new regional ocean partnerships under the NDAA.
DATES: Comments are due by July 11, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft designation guidance document may be
found on www.regulations.gov (search for NOAA-NOS-2024-0066) and NOAA's
Office for Coastal Management website at https://coast.noaa.gov/data/coasthome/funding/_pdf/bil-rop-designation-guidance.pdf. Comments may
be submitted by:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to www.regulations.gov
and enter NOAA-NOS-2024-0066 in the search box, then click the
``comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach
your comments.
Mail: Submit written comments to Joshua Lott, Office for
Coastal Management, NOS, NOAA, 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring,
Maryland 20910; ATTN: Regional Ocean Partnership Designation Guidance.
Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public record
and generally will be posted for public viewing on www.regulations.gov
without change. All personally identifiable information (name, address,
etc.), confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive
information submitted voluntarily by the commenter will be publicly
accessible. The Federal agencies will accept anonymous comments (enter
``N/A'' in the required fields you wish to remain anonymous).
Multimedia submissions (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. The
Federal agencies will generally not consider comments or comment
contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web,
cloud, or other file sharing system). Comments that are not responsive
or contain profanity, vulgarity, threats, or other inappropriate
language will not be considered.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joshua Lott, Office for Coastal
Management, NOS, NOAA, 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland
20910; ATTN: Regional Ocean Partnership Designation Guidance. Phone:
(202) 670-3826; or Email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regional ocean partnerships are regional
organizations, voluntarily convened by coastal States and Indian Tribes
and designated by NOAA (as delegated, per the NDAA) to coordinate the
management of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources. These
partnerships work in collaboration with other governments (including
Tribal, Federal, and local) and stakeholders to address ocean and
coastal issues of common concern in that region.
There are four existing regional ocean partnerships: the Gulf of
Mexico Alliance, the Northeast Regional Ocean Council, the Mid-Atlantic
Regional Council on the Ocean, and the West Coast Ocean Alliance.
Section 10102(b)(3) of the NDAA, codified at 16 U.S.C. 1468(b)(3),
designates these four entities as regional ocean partnerships; as such,
this draft designation guidance and application process for new
partnerships does not apply to them.
This draft designation guidance has been developed to address the
membership, organization, and required elements of new partnerships.
NOAA proposes to include the following information in the guidance:
introduction and background; instructions on submitting a new
partnership application to NOAA; requirements for new regional ocean
partnerships; and eligibility for funding as a partnership.
Applications to NOAA for new regional ocean partnerships must identify:
the members of the new partnership, the governing body of the new
partnership, and the purposes and functions of the new partnership.
The draft designation guidance document may be found on
www.regulations.gov (search for NOAA-NOS-2024-0066) and NOAA's Office
for Coastal Management website at https://coast.noaa.gov/data/coasthome/funding/_pdf/bil-rop-designation-guidance.pdf.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1468
Jeffrey L. Payne,
Director, Office for Coastal Management, National Ocean Service,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2024-12670 Filed 6-10-24; 8:45 am]
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