[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 29 (Tuesday, February 12, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9987-9988]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-03251]
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
[Public Notice 8185]
Call for Expert Reviewers to the U.S. Government Review of the
2013 Supplement to the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Wetlands.
Summary: The United States Global Change Research Program, in
cooperation with the Department of State, request expert review of the
Second Order Draft of the 2013 Supplement to the 2006 Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas
Inventories: Wetlands.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) established the IPCC in 1988. In
accordance with its mandate and as reaffirmed in various decisions by
the Panel, the major activity of the IPCC is to prepare comprehensive
and up-to-date assessments of policy-relevant scientific, technical,
and socio-economic information for understanding the scientific basis
of climate change, potential impacts, and options for mitigation and
adaptation. Among the IPCC's products is a series of guidance documents
for the preparation of national greenhouse gas inventories, which
provide guidance to periodic submissions by Parties to the U.N.
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These reports are
developed in accordance with procedures for preparation and review of
IPCC documents, which can be found at the following Web sites:
http://www.ipcc.ch/organization/organization_review.shtml#.UEY0LqSe7x8
http://ipcc.ch/organization/organization_procedures.shtml.
Following an invitation from the UNFCCC to ``undertake further
methodological work on wetlands, focusing on the rewetting and
restoration of peatland, with a view to filling in the gaps in the 2006
IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories'' (FCCC/SBSTA/
2010/13, paragraph 72), an IPCC Expert Meeting on Scoping Additional
Guidance on Wetlands was held, on 30 March-1 April 2011 and its
proposal was presented to the 33rd session of the IPCC held in Abu
Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 10-13 May 2011. In response to the outcome
of the meeting, the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
(TFI) is developing additional national-level inventory methodological
guidance on wetlands, including default emission factor values, with
the aim to fill gaps in the coverage of wetlands and organic soils in
the 2006 IPCC Guidelines.
The 2013 Supplement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Wetlands (the Wetlands Supplement) provides
methods for estimating anthropogenic emissions and removals of
greenhouse gases from wetlands (lands that are saturated by water for
all or part of the year), lands with organic soils, and other drained
lands. Specifically, the guidance in the Wetlands Supplement covers
inland peatlands and other wetlands on mineral soils; coastal wetlands
including mangroves, coastal marshes and sea grass; as well as
constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment. It does not include
methodologies for flooded lands. It supplements the guidance contained
in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
(the 2006 IPCC Guidelines) which provides methodologies for estimating
national anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of
greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol. While the
2006 IPCC Guidelines include a chapter on wetlands, this chapter is
incomplete and does not cover all wetlands types. It does not
characterize all of the significant activities occurring on these
wetlands e.g., rewetting of peatlands. The 2006 IPCC Guidelines only
provide guidance on peatlands drained and managed for peat extraction
and some guidance for drained organic soils.
As part of the U.S. Government Review of the Second Order Draft of
the 2013 Supplement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse
Gas Inventories: Wetlands, the U.S. Government is soliciting comments
from experts in relevant fields of expertise (The Table of Contents for
the
[[Page 9988]]
TFI contribution can be viewed here: http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/home/docs/1105_WetlandsToC.pdf ).
Beginning on 11 February 2013, experts may register and access the
Second Order Draft of the report to contribute to the U.S. Government
review at: review.globalchange.gov. To be considered for inclusion in
the U.S. Government submission, comments must be received by 22 March
2013. The United States Global Change Research Program will coordinate
collection and compilation of U.S. expert comments to develop a
consolidated U.S. Government submission, which will be provided to the
IPCC by 7 April 2013. Instructions for review and submission of
comments are available at: review.globalchange.gov.
Experts may choose to provide comments directly through the IPCC's
Expert Review process, which occurs in parallel with the U.S.
Government Review. More information on the IPCC's comment process can
be found at http://www.ipcc.ch/activities/activities.shtml and http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/forms/wetlandsreview_registration.html. To
avoid duplication, comments submitted for consideration as part of the
U.S. Government Review should not also be sent to the IPCC Secretariat
through the Expert Review process (and vice versa). Comments to the
U.S. government review should be submitted using the web-based system
at: review.globalchange.gov.
This certification will be published in the Federal Register.
Dated: February 6, 2013.
Trigg Talley,
Director, Office of Global Change, Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2013-03251 Filed 2-11-13; 8:45 am]
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