Notice2022-05114
Review of Nomination for Mariana Trench National Marine Sanctuary
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
March 10, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
On January 21, 2022, NOAA published a notice in the Federal Register requesting written and oral comments to facilitate ONMS' five- year review of the nomination for the Mariana Trench National Marine Sanctuary (NMS) at the five-year interval. In that notice, NOAA requested relevant information as it pertains to its 11 evaluation criteria for inclusion in the inventory. During the public comment period, NOAA received requests for an extension to the comment period. This notice reopens the public comment period by an additional 45 days.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 47 (Thursday, March 10, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 47 (Thursday, March 10, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Page 13709]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05114]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Review of Nomination for Mariana Trench National Marine Sanctuary
AGENCY: Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS), National Ocean
Service (NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Department of Commerce (DOC).
ACTION: Notice; reopening of public comment period.
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SUMMARY: On January 21, 2022, NOAA published a notice in the Federal
Register requesting written and oral comments to facilitate ONMS' five-
year review of the nomination for the Mariana Trench National Marine
Sanctuary (NMS) at the five-year interval. In that notice, NOAA
requested relevant information as it pertains to its 11 evaluation
criteria for inclusion in the inventory. During the public comment
period, NOAA received requests for an extension to the comment period.
This notice reopens the public comment period by an additional 45 days.
DATES: Written comments must be received by April 25, 2022. Comments
submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal must be received by
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date. NOAA will conduct a
virtual meeting on Thursday, March 31, 2022, from 12 p.m.-3 p.m. ChST
(Guam/Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands)/Wednesday, March
30, 2022, from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. HST (Hawai'i). NOAA may end the meeting
before the time noted above if all those participating have completed
their oral comments.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by one of the following methods:
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Submit electronic comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal and
search for Docket Number NOAA-NOS-2022-0005.
<bullet> Mail: Kristina Kekuewa, Pacific Islands Regional Director,
NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, 1845 Wasp Blvd., Honolulu,
Hawaii 96818.
<bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#aee5dcc7dddac7c0cf80e5cbc5dbcbd9cfeec0c1cfcf80c9c1d8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="773c051e04031e1916593c121c02120016371918161659101801">[email protected]</span></a>.
<bullet> Public Scoping Meeting: Provide oral comments during a
virtual public scoping meeting, as described under DATES. Webinar
registration details and additional information about how to
participate in the public scoping meeting is available at <a href="https://nominate.noaa.gov/5-year-review.html">https://nominate.noaa.gov/5-year-review.html</a>.
Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public
record. All personal identifying information (for example, name and
address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly
accessible. Do not submit confidential business information or
otherwise sensitive or protected information. NOAA will accept
anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required fields to remain
anonymous).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristina Kekuewa, Pacific Islands
Regional Director, NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, 1845
Wasp Blvd., Honolulu, Hawaii 96818, or at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2a415843595e43444b04414f415f4f5d4b6a44454b4b044d455c">[email protected]</a>, or
at 808-725-5252.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background Information
In 2014, NOAA issued a final rule re-establishing the sanctuary
nomination process (SNP), which details how communities may submit
nominations of areas of the marine and Great Lakes environment for NOAA
to consider for designation as national marine sanctuaries (79 FR
33851). NOAA moves successful nominations to an inventory of areas that
could be considered for national marine sanctuary designation. The
final rule re-establishing the SNP included a five-year limit on any
nomination added to the inventory that NOAA does not advance for
designation.
In November 2019, NOAA issued a Federal Register notice (84 FR
61546) to clarify procedures for evaluating and updating a successful
nomination as it approaches the five-year mark in the inventory of
areas that could be considered for national marine sanctuary
designation. This notice explained that if a nomination remains
responsive to the evaluation criteria for inclusion in the inventory,
it may be appropriate to allow the nomination to remain in the
inventory for another five years. The notice also established a process
for NOAA to consider the continuing viability of nominations nearing
the five-year expiration mark.
The nomination for Mariana Trench NMS was accepted to the national
inventory on March 13, 2017, and is therefore scheduled to expire on
March 13, 2022. This notice re-opens the comment period for 45 days. In
combination with the previous 30-day public comment period and this 45-
day public comment period, NOAA is providing 75 days for communities to
organize comments on the nomination. Re-opening the comment period will
not allow for a decision whether to keep the nomination in the
inventory to be made by March 13, 2022, but NOAA believes it is
important to give the community ample time to submit information on
whether the nomination continues to meet the criteria to remain in the
inventory. The Mariana Trench NMS will remain in the inventory until
NOAA makes a determination, following the extended comment period,
whether to retain this nomination in the inventory. The full nomination
can be found at <a href="https://nominate.noaa.gov/nominations/">https://nominate.noaa.gov/nominations/</a>.
NOAA is not proposing to designate the Mariana Trench NMS with this
action. Instead, NOAA is seeking public comment on ONMS' five-year
review of the nomination for Mariana Trench NMS. Accordingly, written
comments submitted as part of this request should not focus on whether
NOAA should initiate the designation process for a Mariana Trench NMS.
Rather, comments should address the relevance of the nomination towards
NOAA's 11 evaluation criteria and any new information NOAA should
consider about the nominated area (these criteria are detailed at
<a href="https://nominate.noaa.gov/guide.html">https://nominate.noaa.gov/guide.html</a>). Comments that do not pertain to
the evaluation criteria, or present new information on the Mariana
Trench NMS nomination, will not be considered in NOAA's decision on
whether to retain this nomination in the inventory.
Whether removing or maintaining the nomination for Mariana Trench
NMS, NOAA would follow the same procedure for notifying the public NOAA
followed when the nomination was submitted, including a letter to the
nominator, a notice in the Federal Register, and posting information on
``<a href="http://nominate.noaa.gov">nominate.noaa.gov</a>''.
(Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.)
John Armor,
Director, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, National Ocean
Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2022-05114 Filed 3-9-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-NK-P
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