41972 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 149 / Monday, August 4, 1997 / Notices

NEPA document may do so by

contacting Paul Whitman at the BLM

address below. The draft document is

expected to be available for review

during the fall of 1997 and will have a

minimum 45-day comment period

starting on the date the Notice of

Availability appears in the Federal

Register. The supporting planning

record will be maintained at the BLM

and USFWS Offices below and will be

available for public inspection during

normal business hours. Because of

recent court rulings, it is very important

that those interested in the proposed

action participate during appropriate

comment opportunities, so that any

substantive comments are provided at a

time when the BLM and USFWS can

meaningfully consider them.

ADDRESSES: BLM, Lakeview District

Office, P.O. Box 151, Lakeview, Oregon,

97630, Telephone: (541)–947–2177, or

Hart Mountain National Antelope

Refuge, Post Office Building, Lakeview,

Oregon, 97630, Telephone: (541)–947–

3315.

Dated: July 14, 1997.

Scott R. Florence,

Area Manager.

[FR Doc. 97–20446 Filed 8–1–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–33–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U.S. Geological Survey

Federal Geographic Data Committee

(FGDC); Public Comment on the

Proposal to Develop the ‘‘Content

Standard for Remote Sensing Swath

Data’’ as a Federal Geographic Data

Committee Standard

ACTION: Notice; Request for comments.

SUMMARY: The FGDC is soliciting public

comments on the proposal to develop a

‘‘Content Standard for Remote Sensing

Swath Data.’’ If the proposal is

approved, the standard will be

developed following the FGDC

standards development and approval

process. If the standard is adopted by

the FGDC, it must be followed by all

Federal agencies collecting remotely

sensed swath data directly or indirectly,

through grants, partnerships, or

contracts.

In its assigned leadership role for

developing the National Spatial Data

Infrastructure (NSDI), the FGDC

recognizes that the standards must also

meet the needs and recognize the views

of State and local governments,

academia, industry, and the public. The

purpose of this notice is to solicit such

views. The FGDC invites the community

to review the proposal and comment on

the objectives, scope, approach, and

usability of the proposed standard;

identify existing related standards; and

indicate their interest in participating in

the development of the standard.

Title: Remote Sensing Swath Data

Content Standard.

Date of Proposal: July 3, 1997.

Type of Standard: Content standard

for remote sensing swath data.

Submitting Organization: National

Aeronautics and Space Administration

(NASA).

Point of Contact: Candace Carlisle,

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,

Code 505, Greenbelt, MD 20771. Phone:

(301) 614–5186.

Objectives

The primary objective of this

proposed standard is to define the

content for remote sensing swath data

(subsequently called the swath data

model), thereby providing a solid basis

from which to develop interoperable

data formats for this common form of

remote sensing data. The data model

shall define the minimal content

requirements for a swath and the

relationships among its individual

components. It shall also discuss the

treatment of optional supporting

information within the swath model.

Project Scope

As stated in Executive Order 12906,

dated April 13, 1994, the FGDC shall

coordinate the Federal Government’s

development of the National Spatial

Data Infrastructure (NSDI). The

Executive Order is intended to

strengthen and enhance the general

policies described in OMB Circulars A–

16 and A–119. The swath data model for

remote sensing supports the

development of the NSDI by providing

a common framework for the

organization of a wide range of remotely

sensed data. The model will be

particularly useful for data from

scanning, profiling, staring, or pushbroom type remote sensing instruments,

whether they be ground based,

shipboard, airborn, or spaceborne.

The Committee on Earth Observing

Satellites (CEOS), an international

standards body, has endorsed the

development of data models for

remotely sensed swath through its

Working Group on Information Systems

and Services (WGISS) Data Subgroup.

Justification/Benefit

In order to facilitate interoperability

among agencies with remote sensing

data holdings and member agencies of

international remote sensing groups,

participants must first be able to

exchange information. Ideally, data from

one organization should be easily

useable by other organizations

performing similar work. In practice,

however, each organization has

developed its own methods of encoding

data that are generally not particularly

compatible with those developed by

other organizations. The unfortunate

results are that data are generally not

easily shared among these groups and

that researchers who wish to use data

from multiple sources find the task of

reconciling the data particularly

daunting. Clearly, it is in the interest of

the entire remote sensing community

that there be a common data encoding

mechanism in use by many

organizations. Before such an encoding

mechanism can become widely

accepted, however, each party must

share a common conceptual model of

the data in question. This is exactly the

purpose of the swath data model or

content standard. It will provide a

common conceptual framework, within

which the sharing of remote sensing

swath data will become possible.

Development Approach

The data standardization and

modeling are major research issues

within the Earth Observing System Data

and Information System (EOSDIS). The

Earth Science Data and Information

System (ESDIS) Project is responsible

for EOSDIS and has already sponsored

much preliminary research into these

issues for remote sensing applications.

Some early results of the research are

presented in EOSDIS Version 0 FY92

Data Structures Report, an internal

ESDIS report. Those early results have

been further developed into data

standards for the EOSDIS Core System

(ECS) through soliciting input and

comments from scientists around the

world and from EOSDIS’s Data Model

Working Group. As one of the efforts to

publicize the EOSDIS data standards

and solicit comments, NASA plans to

have a software vendor workshop on

EOSDIS data standards during this year.

The proposed FGDC content standard

for remotely sensed swath data will

based on the ECS swath data standard.

Related Standards

The proposed standard will be based

on the NASA EOSDIS standards for

remote sensing swath data. The NASA

standard specifies the minimal content

requirements for a swath and the

relationships among its individual

components. Based on the standard,

ESDIS project has developed an

encoding mechanism and a set of

software tools for EOSDIS.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 149 / Monday, August 4, 1997 / Notices 41973

The Spatial Data Transfer Standard

(SDTS) deals with transferring

geospatial data among computer

systems. The Raster Profile of SDTS is

remotely related to the proposed swath

standard because the Raster Profile can

also be used to deal with remote sensing

data. However, two important factors

distinct them. First SDTS Raster Profile

is a transfer standard while the

proposed swath standard is a content

standard. Second, SDTS Raster Profile

only deals with two-dimensional

geocoded raster data while the swath

standard handles one, two, or higher

dimensional data in raw sensor

geometry. No other current FGDC,

national, or international standard

addresses this important facet of sharing

remote sensing swath data.

Development and Completion Schedule

Execution of the timeline below will

begin immediately following approval

of this proposal.

1. Set up review committee—within 4

weeks after approval of proposal.

2. Produce working draft of

standard—within 6–8 weeks after

committee impaneled.

3. Conduct committee review—during

4–6 weeks after completion of working

draft.

4. Revise working draft—within 2

weeks after receipt of committee

comments.

5. Submit draft to SWG—within 2

weeks of final committee approval.

The following steps will take place

according to the timing specified by the

FGDC review process.

6. Review revised draft (SWG).

7. Produce revised draft for public

review (NASDA/ESDIS).

8. Conduct pubic review (FGDC).

9. Respond to public comments

(NASDA/ESDIS).

10. Evaluate response to public

comments (SWG).

11. Approve standard for

endorsement (SWG).

12. Endorse standard (FGDC).

Resources Required

NASA/GSFC ESDIS Project will fund

this project to develop the content

standard for swath data.

Potential Participants

NASA, through its Mission to Planet

Earth, is already bringing together many

diverse groups within the remote

sensing community. Through the

continuing data standards work done for

ESDIS, NASA has gained considerable

insight into the requirements of these

various groups. Other Federal agencies

who produce a large amount of remote

sensing data, such as NOAA, NIMA, and

USGS, can also participate in the

standard development. Participation of

the commercial remote sensing

community in the standard

development is also welcomed. In

addition, under the auspices of the

CEOS WGISS, many national and

international space agencies will have

the opportunity to participate in the

development of the swath data model.

These agencies play major roles within

the remote sensing community.

Other Target Authorization Bodies

This proposed standard is not

currently targeted for consideration by

any other authorizing bodies. FGDC will

serve as the target authorization body.

As the FDGC content data standard for

remotely sensed swath data, it is

expected that this proposed standard

could be subsequently authorized by

ANSI, ISO, CEOS, or other groups.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before September 1, 1997.

CONTACT AND ADDRESSES: Comments

may be submitted via Internet mail or by

submitting an electronic copy on

diskette. Send comments via Internet to:

gdc-swth@www.fgdc.gov. Comments emailed as attachments must be in ASCII

format.

A soft copy version may be submitted

on a 3.5 × 3.5 diskette in WordPerfect

5.0 or 6.0/6.1 format, along with one

hardcopy version of the comments, to

the FGDC Secretariat (attn: Jennifer Fox)

at U.S. Geological Survey, 590 National

Center, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive,

Reston, Virginia, 20192.

Dated: July 25, 1997.

Richard E. Witmer,

Chief, National Mapping Division.

[FR Doc. 97–20462 Filed 8–1–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–31–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NM–070–1320–01; NM–8128; NM–8130;

NM–11670]

Notice of Coal Action, New Mexico

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability, Record of

Decision (ROD) for the Thermal Energy

Preference Right Lease Applications

(PRLA’s) San Juan County, New Mexico.

SUMMARY: The PRLA process requires

that ROD be made available to the

public. The ROD is the document

announcing the BLM’s decision

regarding PRLA commercial quantities

determinations. This action establishes

the availability of the ROD for Thermal

Energy’s PRLA’s.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD can be

obtained at the New Mexico State

Office, Bureau of Land Management,

P.O. Box 27115, Santa Fe, New Mexico

87502–0115.

Dated: July 25, 1997.

Richard A. Whitley,

Acting State Director.

[FR Doc. 97–20512 Filed 8–1–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–FB–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[OR–015–97–1610–00: G7–0232]

Availability of Beaty Butte Allotment

Management Plan and Draft

Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management

(BLM), DOI.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Beaty

Butte Allotment Management Plan and

Draft Environmental Impact Statement

(AMP/DEIS).

SUMMARY: The Lakeview District has

analyzed the potential environmental

impacts of a proposed AMP for the

Beaty Butte Allotment (0600) in Lake

and Harney Counties, Oregon. The

proposed plan covers livestock grazing

management activities on approximately

400,000 acres of public lands

administered by the BLM.

DATES: This notice announces the

opening of the public review period.

Interested individuals, organizations,

and other agencies are encouraged to

provide written comments to the

following address within 60 calendar

days of the date the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency publishes its’ Notice

of Availability of the document in the

Federal Register which is expected on

or about August 15, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Scott Florence, Area

Manager, Lakeview Resource Area,

BLM, PO Box 151, Lakeview, OR 97630.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Those

individuals, organizations, native

American tribes, agencies, and local

governments with a known interest in

the proposal have been sent a copy of

the AMP/DEIS. Reading copies are also

available at the Lake, Klamath, and

Harney County, Oregon libraries, and at

the Public Room, Oregon State Office,

BLM, 1515 SW 5th, Portland, Oregon.

Comments on the draft document will

be considered in the preparation of the

AMP/Final EIS. Because of recent court

rulings, it is very important that those

interested in the proposed action