88370 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 244 / Thursday, December 21, 2023 / Notices 

• Economic feasibility of conducting 

AI red-teaming exercises for small and 

large organizations; and 

• The appropriate unit of analysis for 

red teaming (models, systems, 

deployments, etc.) 

2. Reducing the Risk of Synthetic 

Content 

NIST is seeking information regarding 

topics related to synthetic content 

creation, detection, labeling, and 

auditing. 

a. E.O. 14110 Section 4.5(a) directs 

the Secretary of Commerce to submit a 

report to the Director of the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) and the 

Assistant to the President for National 

Security Affairs identifying existing 

standards, tools, methods, and practices, 

along with a description of the potential 

development of further science-backed 

standards and techniques for reducing 

the risk of synthetic content from AI 

technologies. NIST is seeking 

information regarding the following 

topics related to reducing the risk of 

synthetic content in both closed and 

open source models that should be 

included in the Secretary’s report, 

recognizing that the most promising 

approaches will require 

multistakeholder input, including 

scientists and researchers, civil society, 

and the private sector. Existing tools 

and the potential development of future 

tools, measurement methods, best 

practices, active standards work, 

exploratory approaches, challenges and 

gaps are of interest for the following 

non-exhaustive list of possible topics 

and use cases of particular interest. 

• Authenticating content and tracking 

its provenance; 

• Techniques for labeling synthetic 

content, such as using watermarking; 

• Detecting synthetic content; 

• Resilience of techniques for labeling 

synthetic content to content 

manipulation; 

• Economic feasibility of adopting 

such techniques for small and large 

organizations; 

• Preventing generative AI from 

producing child sexual abuse material 

or producing non-consensual intimate 

imagery of real individuals (to include 

intimate digital depictions of the body 

or body parts of an identifiable 

individual); 

• Ability for malign actors to 

circumvent such techniques; 

• Different risk profiles and 

considerations for synthetic content for 

models with widely available model 

weights; 

• Approaches that are applicable 

across different parts of the AI 

development and deployment lifecycle 

(including training data curation and 

filtering, training processes, fine-tuning 

incorporating both automated means 

and human feedback, and model 

release), at different levels of the AI 

system (including the model, API, and 

application level), and in different 

modes of model deployment (online 

services, within applications, opensource models, etc.); 

• Testing software used for the above 

purposes; and 

• Auditing and maintaining tools for 

analyzing synthetic content labeling and 

authentication. 

3. Advance Responsible Global 

Technical Standards for AI 

Development 

NIST is seeking information regarding 

topics related to the development and 

implementation of AI-related consensus 

standards, cooperation and 

coordination, and information sharing 

that should be considered in the design 

of standards. 

a. E.O. 14110 Section 11(b) directs the 

Secretary of Commerce, within 270 days 

and in coordination with the Secretary 

of State and the heads of other relevant 

agencies, to establish a plan for global 

engagement on promoting and 

developing AI consensus standards, 

cooperation, and coordination, ensuring 

that such efforts are guided by 

principles set out in the NIST AI Risk 

Management Framework (https:// 

www.nist.gov/itl/ai-risk-managementframework) and the U.S. Government 

National Standards Strategy for Critical 

and Emerging Technology (https:// 

www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/ 

uploads/2023/05/US-Gov-NationalStandards-Strategy-2023.pdf). The 

following is a non-exhaustive list of 

possible topics that may be addressed: 

• AI nomenclature and terminology; 

• Best practices regarding data 

capture, processing, protection, quality, 

privacy, transparency, confidentiality, 

handling, and analysis, as well as 

inclusivity, fairness, accountability, and 

representativeness (including nondiscrimination, representation of lower 

resourced languages, and the need for 

data to reflect freedom of expression) in 

the collection and use of data; 

• Examples and typologies of AI 

systems for which standards would be 

particularly impactful (e.g., because 

they are especially likely to be deployed 

or distributed across jurisdictional lines, 

or to need special governance practices); 

• Best practices for AI model training; 

• Guidelines and standards for 

trustworthiness, verification, and 

assurance of AI systems; 

• AI risk management and 

governance, including managing 

potential risk and harms to people, 

organizations, and ecosystems; 

• Human-computer interface design 

for AI systems; 

• Application specific standards (e.g., 

for computer vision, facial recognition 

technology); 

• Ways to improve the inclusivity of 

stakeholder representation in the 

standards development process; 

• Suggestions for AI-related standards 

development activities, including 

existing processes to contribute to and 

gaps in the current standards landscape 

that could be addressed, and including 

with reference to particular impacts of 

AI; 

• Strategies for driving adoption and 

implementation of AI-related 

international standards; 

• Potential mechanisms, venues, and 

partners for promoting international 

collaboration, coordination, and 

information sharing on standards 

development; 

• Potential implications of standards 

for competition and international trade; 

and 

• Ways of tracking and assessing 

whether international engagements 

under the plan are having the desired 

impacts. 

Across all these topics, NIST is 

seeking information about costs and 

ease of implementation for tools, 

systems, practices, and the extent to 

which they will benefit the public if 

they can be efficiently adopted and 

utilized. 

Authority: Executive Order 14110 of 

Oct. 30, 2023; 15 U.S.C. 272. 

Alicia Chambers, 

NIST Executive Secretariat. 

[FR Doc. 2023–28232 Filed 12–19–23; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

Notice of Availability of a Draft 

Programmatic Environmental 

Assessment for Vessel Operations 

AGENCY: Office of Marine and Aviation 

Operations (OMAO), National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration 

(NOAA), Department of Commerce 

(DOC). 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: The National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Office of Marine and Aviation 

Operations (OMAO) has prepared a 

draft programmatic environmental 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 244 / Thursday, December 21, 2023 / Notices 88371 

assessment (PEA) in accordance with 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

of 1969 (NEPA), as amended by the 

Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, to 

analyze the potential environmental 

impacts associated with OMAO’s 

ongoing vessel operations as the NOAA 

fleet is modernized over a 15-year 

timeframe from 2023 to 2038. 

The Draft PEA assesses the direct, 

indirect, and cumulative environmental 

impacts from OMAO vessel operations 

while NOAA ships are underway, 

during which time OMAO conducts 

training, testing, calibration, and 

troubleshooting of vessel equipment and 

instruments in preparation for use by 

other NOAA Line Offices (LOs) or 

organizations outside of NOAA. 

OMAO’s Proposed Action in the Draft 

PEA would ensure that NOAA’s current 

and future fleet is maintained and 

operated in a safe, environmentally 

compliant manner, thus allowing NOAA 

to fulfill its at-sea mission objectives 

and data collection requirements in 

marine, coastal, and freshwater 

environments. The purpose of this NOA 

is to invite affected government 

agencies, non-governmental 

organizations, tribes and tribal 

organizations, and interested members 

of the public to participate in the Draft 

PEA process and provide comments on 

the structure, contents, and analysis in 

the Draft PEA. Publication of this 

document begins the 40-day public 

comment period for the Draft PEA. 

DATES: Written comments on the Draft 

PEA will be accepted on or before 

January 31, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: The Draft PEA can be 

viewed or downloaded from the OMAO 

website at http://omao.noaa.gov/noaavessel-operations-draft-pea. Written 

comments on OMAO’s Draft PEA may 

be submitted by one of the following 

methods: 

• Mail: Please direct written 

comments to DOC/NOAA/OMAO: 

Hannah Staley, Sea Grant Fellow, Office 

of Marine and Aviation Operations, 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration, 1315 East-West 

Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. 

• Email: omaoenvironmental.

compliance@noaa.gov. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered by NOAA. All comments 

received are part of the public record. 

All personal identifying information 

(e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential 

business information, or otherwise 

sensitive information submitted 

voluntarily by the sender will be 

publicly accessible. NOAA will accept 

anonymous comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Hannah Staley, Sea Grant Fellow, 

omaoenvironmental.compliance@

noaa.gov; 301–713–1045. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Draft 

PEA examines the environmental effects 

of OMAO’s operation of NOAA vessels 

in United States (U.S.) waters, including 

the oceans from the U.S. baseline, also 

known as the territorial sea baseline, to 

the limits of the U.S. Exclusive 

Economic Zone (EEZ), and the U.S. 

portions of the Great Lakes. The 

geographic scope extends to the 

international maritime boundaries with 

Canada and Mexico. The PEA also 

considers OMAO’s operations in areas 

outside of U.S. jurisdiction. Under the 

Draft PEA’s Proposed Action, OMAO 

would continue to operate, maintain, 

and manage the NOAA fleet as the 

existing fleet is updated and aging 

vessels are replaced with new vessels. 

Specifically, the Draft PEA focuses its 

analysis on the environmental impacts 

of OMAO’s vessel operations while 

NOAA ships are underway (i.e., when 

ships are either moving in open water 

or secured to a specific location in open 

water), but not for scientific research 

activities conducted by another NOAA 

Line Office or organization outside of 

NOAA. During this time, OMAO 

conducts training, testing, calibration, 

and troubleshooting of vessel equipment 

and instruments to maintain missionreadiness levels in support of NOAA’s 

at-sea observational requirements. 

Examples of routine vessel operations 

include vessel movement; anchoring; 

waste handling and discharges; vessel 

repair and maintenance; uncrewed 

marine systems operations; uncrewed 

aircraft systems operations; small boat 

operations; and over the side handling, 

crane, davit, and winch operations. 

OMAO has prepared the Draft PEA to 

analyze the physical, biological, 

economic, and social impacts to the 

human environment from OMAO vessel 

operations over a 15-year timeframe 

from 2023 to 2038. OMAO notes that 

almost half of NOAA’s ships will exceed 

their design service life during the 

timeframe of this Draft PEA; therefore, 

NOAA needs to invest in modernizing 

its fleet to maintain fleet capabilities for 

its primary missions. OMAO supports 

NOAA’s primary missions by operating, 

managing, and maintaining NOAA’s 

fleet of vessels, vessel equipment, and 

instruments, and NOAA’s Uncrewed 

Systems Operation Program, of which 

only Uncrewed Marine Systems (UMS) 

and Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) 

deployed directly from NOAA vessels 

are considered in this Draft PEA. OMAO 

maintains these vessels, equipment, and 

systems at mission-readiness levels, 

facilitating all of NOAA’s at-sea and 

data collection requirements. 

OMAO’s Draft PEA evaluates three 

alternatives: 

• Alternative A—No Action— 

Continue Vessel Operations with 

Current NOAA Fleet: Under Alternative 

A, OMAO would continue to use the 

current NOAA fleet to conduct routine 

vessel operations, in addition to the 

testing, calibrating, training, and 

troubleshooting of vessel equipment and 

instruments, to support NOAA’s 

primary missions and at-sea 

capabilities. OMAO would operate 

ships in the NOAA fleet until the end 

of their service life, and would continue 

to support projects undertaken by other 

NOAA Line Offices or organizations 

outside of NOAA at the current level of 

activity, for as long as the fleet capacity 

allows. Additionally, OMAO is 

constructing two oceanographic 

research vessels that are expected to 

come online in 2025, and awarded 

contracts in July 2023 for two new 

charting and mapping vessels that are 

expected to come online in 2027 and 

2028 for a total of four new ships. This 

alternative also analyzes impacts from 

the additional ‘‘greening’’ techniques 

that are currently being implemented 

across the NOAA fleet, which include 

goals for fuel efficiency and emissions 

reductions. New ships would be 

integrated with greener technologies 

including improvements in wastewater 

and solid waste management, 

supplemental power generation, and 

hull protection; new technologies for 

data collection; and advancements in 

ship infrastructure. This alternative 

reflects the ships, technology, 

equipment, fleet utilization, scope, and 

methods currently in use by OMAO. 

• Alternative B—Vessel Operations 

with Fleet Modernization and 

Optimizing At-Sea Capabilities: This 

alternative consists of Alternative A 

plus implementing measures for longterm modernization of the NOAA fleet 

and fleet management best practices. 

Fleet modernization is expected to 

result in a NOAA fleet of similar size to 

the current fleet, but with new ships 

coming online as older ships retire, in 

addition to newer and more efficient 

technologies and fleet utilization 

resulting in the capacity to provide 

more days-at-sea (DAS) than Alternative 

A. Specific examples of additional 

measures adopted under Alternative B 

over the next 15 years would include: 


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88372 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 244 / Thursday, December 21, 2023 / Notices 

Æ Designing and constructing up to 

four additional ships needed to replace 

vessels that would reach the end of their 

design service life between 2023 and 

2038 (resulting in a total of 8 new ships 

when combined with the four new ships 

being constructed under Alternative A); 

Æ Extending service life of the 

existing fleet by conducting material 

condition assessment surveys and midlife repairs; and 

Æ Increasing NOAA fleet utilization, 

which would provide more DAS 

compared to Alternative A; 

Under Alternative B, all the activities 

described in Alternative A would 

continue, many at a higher level of 

effort. The nature of these actions would 

not change, but the overall level of 

activity would be increased. 

• Alternative C—Vessel Operations 

with Fleet Modernization and 

Optimization with Greater Funding 

Support: Alternative C includes all the 

activities and measures described in 

Alternative B, but with an increase in 

overall funding of 20 percent relative to 

Alternative B, resulting in the capacity 

to provide more DAS. Specific examples 

of additional measures adopted under 

Alternative C over the next 15 years 

would include: 

Æ Designing and constructing two 

new ships in addition to the eight new 

ships that would be added to the NOAA 

fleet between 2023 and 2038 under 

Alternative B; 

Æ Increasing the number of uncrewed 

systems integrated into new ships that 

would be added to the NOAA fleet; 

Æ Shortening the timeframe of fleet 

improvement activities and the 

induction of new ships into the fleet; 

Æ Greening techniques proposed for 

the new ships would be implemented 

across the current fleet over a shorter 

timeframe; 

Æ Shortening of the timeframe to 

improve the OMAO small boat fleet; and 

• Purchasing or developing 

technology to enable more efficient 

scheduling of vessels, equipment, and 

personnel to maximize crew 

productivity and enhance overall fleet 

performance, which would provide 

more DAS. 

Under Alternative C, all the activities 

described in Alternative B would occur, 

many at a higher level of effort. The 

nature of these actions would not 

change, but the overall level of activity 

would be increased. 

The official public review and 

comment period ends on January 31, 

2024. Please visit the OMAO website for 

additional information and to access the 

Draft PEA: http://omao.noaa.gov/noaavessel-operations-draft-pea. 

Classification: The Draft PEA was 

prepared in accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) as 

amended by the Fiscal Responsibility 

Act of 2023, Public Law 118–5 (2023); 

Council on Environmental Quality 

(CEQ) Regulations for Implementing the 

Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 

1500–1508 (1978)); NOAA’s Policy and 

Procedures for Compliance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act and 

Related Authorities (NOAA 

Administrative Order (NAO) 216–6A 

and Companion Manual for NAO 216– 

6A), and other relevant federal and state 

laws and regulations. 

Dated: December 18, 2023. 

Richard W. Spinrad, 

Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and 

Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2023–28120 Filed 12–20–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–12–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD587] 

Marine Mammals; File No. 27592 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

Shannon Atkinson, Ph.D., University of 

Alaska Fairbanks, 17101 Point Lena 

Loop Road, Juneau, AK 99801 has 

applied in due form for a permit to 

import, export, and receive marine 

mammal parts for scientific research. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before January 22, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: The application and related 

documents are available for review by 

selecting ‘‘Records Open for Public 

Comment’’ from the ‘‘Features’’ box on 

the Applications and Permits for 

Protected Species (APPS) home page, 

https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov, and then 

selecting File No. 27592 from the list of 

available applications. These documents 

are also available upon written request 

via email to NMFS.Pr1Comments@

noaa.gov. 

Written comments on this application 

should be submitted via email to 

NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov. Please 

include File No. 27592 in the subject 

line of the email comment. 

Those individuals requesting a public 

hearing should submit a written request 

via email to NMFS.Pr1Comments@

noaa.gov. The request should set forth 

the specific reasons why a hearing on 

this application would be appropriate. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jennifer Skidmore or Erin Markin, 

Ph.D., (301) 427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

subject permit is requested under the 

authority of the Marine Mammal 

Protection Act of 1972, as amended 

(MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), the 

regulations governing the taking and 

importing of marine mammals (50 CFR 

part 216), the Endangered Species Act of 

1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 

et seq.), the regulations governing the 

taking, importing, and exporting of 

endangered and threatened species (50 

CFR parts 222–226), and the Fur Seal 

Act of 1966, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1151 

et seq.). 

The applicant proposes to receive, 

import, and export marine mammal 

parts from cetaceans and pinnipeds 

annually for scientific research. Marine 

mammal parts will not exceed 1,000 

animals per year within order Cetacea 

(dolphins, porpoises, and whales) and 

500 animals per year within order 

Pinnipedia (seals and sea lions, 

excluding walrus). Secondary to 

research, marine mammal parts may 

also be used for educational purposes. 

Import and export activities would 

occur world-wide. Sources of samples 

include U.S. subsistence harvests and 

stranded animals in foreign countries. 

Samples may also be obtained within 

the United States or abroad from 

animals held in captivity, authorized 

researchers or collections, and soft or 

hard parts that sloughed, excreted, or 

naturally discharged. No live animals 

would be harassed or taken, lethally or 

otherwise, under the requested permit. 

The requested duration of the permit is 

5 years. 

In compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), an initial 

determination has been made that the 

activity proposed is categorically 

excluded from the requirement to 

prepare an environmental assessment or 

environmental impact statement. 

Concurrent with the publication of 

this notice in the Federal Register, 

NMFS is forwarding copies of the 

application to the Marine Mammal 

Commission and its Committee of 

Scientific Advisors. 

Dated: December 14, 2023. 

Julia M. Harrison, 

Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–28151 Filed 12–20–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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