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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 229 (Wednesday, November 27, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 93671-93672]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-27858]

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OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY

Notice of Request for Information; Downscaled Climate Projection 
Datasets Available To Be Considered for Use in the Sixth National 
Climate Assessment

AGENCY: Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

ACTION: Request for Information (RFI).

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SUMMARY: With this notice, the U.S. Global Change Research Program 
(USGCRP) is issuing a Request for Information (RFI) on downscaled 
climate projection datasets for possible use in the 6th National 
Climate Assessment (NCA6). USGCRP will use the information submitted in 
response to this RFI to identify downscaled datasets that may be used 
by NCA6 authors at their discretion and to develop an updated data 
atlas for NCA6.

DATES: Comments and nominations must be submitted to the web address 
specified below and received on or before January 17th, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Submitted information will be accepted electronically via 
the USGCRP Public Contribution System: https://contribute.globalchange.gov. Instructions for submitting comments are 
available on the website.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aaron Grade (202) 419-3488, 
[email protected], U.S. Global Change Research Program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Global Change Research Act (GCRA) of 
1990 mandates that USGCRP deliver a National Climate Assessment to 
Congress and the President not less frequently than every four years 
that ``(1) integrates, evaluates, and interprets the findings of the 
Program; (2) analyzes the effects of global change on the natural 
environment, agriculture, energy production and use, land and water 
resources, transportation, human health and welfare, human social 
systems, and biological diversity; and (3) analyzes current trends in 
global change, both human-induced and natural, and projects major 
trends for the subsequent 25 to 100 years.'' One of the ways that 
projected changes across the United States are assessed is through the 
use of downscaled datasets, which are used by chapter author teams to 
support their understanding of the future impacts of climate change in 
each of the 50 states and in the U.S. territories so as to inform the 
assessment findings, narrative texts, and figures.
    To date, five NCAs have been released. The most recent (NCA5) was 
released in November 2023, and can be found at https://nca2023.globalchange.gov. NCA6 is being developed in a way that 
maximizes transparency and inclusivity, offering opportunities for 
diverse public participation throughout the process. The production and 
review processes are designed to result in a report that is 
authoritative, timely, relevant, and policy-neutral; valued by authors 
and users; accessible to the widest possible audience; and fully 
compliant with the GCRA and federal Information Quality Act 
requirements.
    A previous Federal Register Notice (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/05/02/2024-09575/national-oceanic-and-atmospheric-administration-noaa-availability-for-public-comment-on-nca6-draft) called for public input on themes, information 
for assessment, and volunteers to participate in the NCA6 development 
process. This RFI asks for input from the public on the availability of 
downscaled climate projection datasets that would advance NCA's efforts 
to inform decisions at more localized scales.
    This voluntary request for information is intended to support 
USGCRP's selection, processing, aggregation, and use of downscaled data 
in NCA6. NCA6 is currently under development, and it is projected to be 
publicly released between late 2027 and early 2028. USGCRP intends to 
use information from this RFI to plan for the appropriate volume and 
methods of data processing, aggregation, and data display techniques 
that reflect the expected increase in breadth of downscaled datasets 
that could be contributed to NCA6.
    Information submitted through this form will be reviewed by a 
federal interagency group tasked with making recommendations to report 
leadership for appropriate downscaled datasets for use in NCA6. The 
USGCRP anticipates this process will require an ongoing dialogue with 
the groups that provide the selected downscaled datasets and has 
designed it to be as flexible as possible to be inclusive, while also 
mindful of NCA6 requirements as a Highly Influential Scientific 
Assessment. Responses to this request

[[Page 93672]]

are strongly encouraged and will serve as a starting point for this 
dialogue.
    Information submissions will be accepted electronically via the 
USGCRP Public Contribution System: https://contribute.globalchange.gov. 
Instructions for submitting technical inputs are available on the 
website. Submitters may enter text or upload files in response to this 
notice. See https://www.globalchange.gov/nca6 for more information. 
While submissions to this RFI are not required, they are highly 
encouraged for consideration for inclusion in NCA6. If you wish to 
submit a downscaled data set to the NCA6 for consideration outside of 
this RFI, please contact Aaron Grade, [email protected] no later than 
March 1, 2025.
    Please note that submission in response to this RFI is entirely 
voluntary. More information, as well as information on asking questions 
beforehand, is available at https://www.globalchange.gov/nca6. Please 
also note that responses to this RFI may be made public as needed at 
USGCRP's discretion.
    Via a questionnaire, submitters can provide the requested 
information on appropriate datasets that are either completed or in 
progress. Creation of these datasets may use statistical, dynamical, or 
other techniques, but are expected to be based on the latest generation 
of global climate models (GCMs) used in the Coupled Model 
Intercomparison Project--Phase 6 (CMIP6). NCA6 will prioritize the 
inclusion of datasets that fully encompass the entire conterminous 
United States and/or specialize in or incorporate U.S. regions outside 
of the conterminous United States (i.e., Alaska, Hawai[revaps]i, U.S.-
Affiliated Pacific Islands, Puerto Rico, and/or the U.S. Virgin 
Islands) using a consistent and peer-reviewed technique. In addition to 
seeking details on dataset attributes, the USGCRP Public Contribution 
System (https://contribute.globalchange.gov) includes important 
requirements and considerations for the NCA timeline and project 
management.
    Given limited resources, considerations of overall fit for NCA 
priorities, and scientific rigor, NCA6 may not include all information 
submitted to through this RFI. Report leadership will make the final 
decision regarding datasets used in NCA6, including potentially 
combining information from multiple products. If a submission is 
identified as relevant for potential use, USGCRP will engage with the 
submitter to develop and format datasets and metadata for use. This 
process is expected to become a recurring opportunity that will 
accommodate the evolving science and the rapid expansion of downscaling 
approaches and products for future NCAs and other federal products.

    Dated: November 22, 2024.
Stacy Murphy,
Deputy Chief Operations Officer/Security Officer.
[FR Doc. 2024-27858 Filed 11-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3270-F1-P
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