[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 143 (Tuesday, July 26, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Page 48858]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-17326]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY


National Science and Technology Council; Interagency Arctic 
Research Policy Committee (IARPC) Arctic Research Plan FY2017-2021

ACTION: Request for Public Comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (ARPA), P.L. 98-
373, established the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee 
(IARPC) to develop national Arctic research policy through five-year 
Federal research plans. Chaired by the Director of the National Science 
Foundation (NSF), IARPC is composed of representatives from 14 
agencies. More information on IARPC can be found at http://www.iarpccollaborations.org.
    IARPC seeks public comment on its new Arctic Research Plan FY2017-
2021 (Five-Year Plan). The Five-Year Plan describes research priorities 
that are expected to benefit from interagency collaboration; not all 
research conducted by Federal agencies is included in the Five-Year 
Plan. The Five-Year Plan and additional information, including any 
updates to this Federal Register notice, will be available at https://review.globalchange.gov/.

DATES: Responses must be received by August 21, 2016, 11:59 p.m. EST, 
to be considered.

ADDRESSES: The Arctic Research Plan FY2017-2021 is available at https://review.globalchange.gov/ where comments from the public will be 
accepted electronically. Comments must be submitted online at this 
address; instructions for submitting are on this Web site. The U.S. 
Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) hosts several documents for 
review. To comment on the Arctic Research Plan FY 2017-2021, please 
scroll through the list of available documents and select ``Arctic 
Research Plan FY2017-2021.''
    Instructions: Responses to this Request for Information (RFI) are 
voluntary. All submissions must be in English. Please clearly label 
submissions as ``IARPC FIVE-YEAR PLAN COMMENT.'' Responses exceeding 
250 words will not be considered. All comments received through this 
process will be considered by the relevant chapter authors without 
knowledge of the commenters' identities. When the final plan is issued, 
relevant comments and the commenters' names, along with the authors' 
responses, will become part of the public record and be made available 
at https://review.globalchange.gov/. The Office of Science and 
Technology Policy (OSTP) therefore requests that no business 
proprietary information, copyrighted information, or personally 
identifiable information be submitted in response to this RFI. Please 
note that the U.S. Government will not pay for response preparation, or 
for the use of any information contained in the response.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandy Starkweather, NOAA Arctic 
Research Program (c/o Starkweather), 1315 East West Highway, R/CP 42nd 
Floor, 2820 Silver Spring, MD 20910. (telephone number: 301-427-2471 or 
email address: [email protected]) during normal business 
hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, or visit 
https://review.globalchange.gov/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Five-Year Plan focuses on the following 
nine priority areas designed to enhance the goals and objectives of 
Federal agencies in Arctic research:

(1) Health and well-being
(2) Atmospheric composition and dynamics
(3) Sea ice cover
(4) Marine ecosystems
(5) Glaciers and the Greenland Ice Sheet
(6) Permafrost
(7) Terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems
(8) Coastal community resilience
(9) Environmental intelligence

    For the purposes of research planning, IARPC follows Section 112 of 
the ARPA in defining the Arctic as ``all United States and foreign 
territory north of the Arctic Circle and all United States territory 
north and west of the boundary formed by the Porcupine, Yukon, and 
Kuskokwim Rivers [in Alaska]; all contiguous seas, including the Arctic 
Ocean and the Beaufort, Bering, and Chukchi Seas; and the Aleutian 
chain.''
    OSTP anticipates that the final IARPC Arctic Research Plan FY2017-
2021 will be available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp/nstc/committees/cenrs/iarpc and at 
www.iarpccollaborations.org.

Ted Wackler,
Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant Director.
[FR Doc. 2016-17326 Filed 7-25-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3270-F6-P