Request for Information To Identify Barriers to Planning for Climate Resilience in U.S. Ports
| Published date | 15 July 2024 |
| Record Number | 2024-15356 |
| Citation | 89 FR 57389 |
| Court | U.s. Committee On The Marine Transportation System |
| Section | Notices |
Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 135 (Monday, July 15, 2024)
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 135 (Monday, July 15, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57389-57390]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-15356]
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U.S. COMMITTEE ON THE MARINE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
[Docket No. DOT-OST-2024-0044]
Request for Information To Identify Barriers to Planning for
Climate Resilience in U.S. Ports
AGENCY: U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System.
ACTION: Notice of request for information (RFI).
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS)
seeks information to identify what types of planning guidance,
documents, datasets, and Federal funding opportunities are currently
being utilized in planning for long-term environmental change in U.S.
Ports; and to identify barriers to action. The information received
from this RFI will be analyzed to assess whether the needs for this
type of planning are being met and identify where improvements could be
made. Information is requested from anyone who works in or adjacent to
climate resilience planning and execution in ports (public and
private).
DATES: Interested persons and organizations are invited to submit
comments on or before August 29, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Interested individuals and organizations should submit
comments electronically via regulations.gov. Due to time constraints,
mailed paper submissions will not be accepted, and electronic
submissions received after the deadline may not be incorporated or
taken into consideration.
Instructions: Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov
to submit your comments electronically. Information on how to use
Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency documents,
submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site
under ``FAQ'' (https://www.regulations.gov/faq).
Privacy Note: CMTS's policy is to make all comments received from
members of the public available for public viewing in their entirety on
the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov. Therefore,
commenters should be careful to include in their comments only
information that they wish to make publicly available. CMTS requests
that no proprietary information, copyrighted information, or personally
identifiable information be submitted in response to this RFI.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heather Gilbert, Senior Policy
Advisor, U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System; telephone
(202) 366-3612; email [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Per the interagency sea level rise report
``2022: Global and Regional Sea Level Rise Scenarios for the United
States: Updated Mean Projections and Extreme Water Level Probabilities
Along U.S. Coastlines,'' sea level rise driven by global climate change
is a clear and present risk to the United States today and for the
coming decades and centuries. Sea levels will continue to rise due to
the ocean's sustained response to the warming that has already
occurred--even if climate change mitigation succeeds in limiting
surface air temperatures in the coming decades. Tens of millions of
people in the United States already live in areas at risk of coastal
flooding, with more moving to the coasts every year. Rising sea levels
and land subsidence are combining, and will continue to combine, with
other coastal flood factors, such as storm surge, wave effects, rising
coastal water tables, river flows, and rainfall, some of whose
characteristics are also undergoing climate-related changes. The net
result will be a dramatic increase in the exposure and vulnerability of
this growing population, as well as the critical infrastructure related
to transportation, water, energy, trade, military readiness, and
coastal ecosystems and the supporting services they provide.
[[Page 57390]]
By 2050, the expected relative sea level will cause tide and storm
surge heights to increase and will lead to a shift in U.S. coastal
flood regimes, with major and moderate high tide flood events occurring
as frequently as moderate and minor high tide flood events occur today.
Without additional risk-reduction measures, U.S. coastal
infrastructure, communities, and ecosystems will face significant
consequences. [https://aambpublicoceanservice.blob.core.windows.net/oceanserviceprod/hazards/sealevelrise/noaa-nos-techrpt01-global-regional-SLR-scenarios-US.pdf]
In addition to the impacts of sea level rise and flood risk, it is
reasonable to assess whether changes in precipitation intensity and
frequency or increasing temperatures will have impacts on port
infrastructure, intermodal connectivity, or workforce health and
efficiency. Long range planning efforts might consider if changes in
sea ice extent and other environmental factors may lead to shifts in
global trade patterns and shipping routes. Ports may assess potential
changes in preferred shipping routes and changes to cargo volume and
types associated with these shifts.
Various guidance documents have been published that can be used by
ports for resiliency planning. The CMTS is looking to better understand
how different threats impacting our ports--including increased storms,
atmospheric rivers, changes in precipitation patterns are being
perceived, planned for, and managed. What types of planning guidance,
documents, datasets, and Federal funding opportunities are currently
being utilized in planning for long-term environmental change on
decadal or longer time scales?
Guides, such as the CISA Marine Transportation System Resilience
Assessment Guide and the FEMA National Resilience Guidance have been
released to help address these issues, and the CMTS is seeking input on
how ports, port users and stakeholders are planning for these
anticipated long term environmental changes.
Information Requested
Response to this RFI is voluntary. Each responding entity
(individual or organization) is requested to submit only one response.
The CMTS welcomes any responses to inform and guide the work of the
request for information. Please feel free to respond to as many
questions as you choose, indicating the question number being
addressed. Responses are encouraged to include the name of the
person(s) or organization(s) filing the comment, and may also include
the respondent type (e.g., academic, non-profit, professional society,
community-based organization, industry, trainee/student, member of the
public, government, other). Respondent's role in the organization may
also be provided (e.g., port professional, researcher, faculty, or
program manager) on a voluntary basis. Additionally, please include the
Docket ID at the top of your comments.
Comments containing references, studies, research, and other
empirical data that are not widely published should include copies or
electronic links to the referenced materials. Please note that the U.S.
Government will not pay for response preparation, or for the use of any
information contained in the response. A response to this RFI will not
be viewed as a binding commitment to develop or pursue the project or
ideas discussed. Respondents may provide information on as many
questions below as they choose. Input is welcome from stakeholders and
members of the public representing all backgrounds and perspectives.
For this RFI, ``port'' means any waterways, shoreside
infrastructure, and/or intermodal connections that work together as a
transportation system. `User' includes port authorities, officials,
employees, consultants, and/or anyone that uses a port. To support this
information gathering, CMTS seeks information on the types of planning
guidance, documents, datasets, and Federal funding opportunities
currently being utilized in planning for long-term environmental change
in and adjacent to ports. If effective planning is not being
undertaken, what are the barriers to action? To guide your input,
please respond to any or all of the following questions:
1. Demographics. What is the type of organization you represent,
the size of port, and the region you are located in?
2. Use of Guidance and/or information products Documents to Support
Long-term (e.g., decades or longer) Port Resilience Planning. Have you
used any of the documents listed below, or other similar, federally
produced documents to plan for resilient port infrastructure in the
face of a changing climate? If yes, please describe your experiences
using them. If you have not used them, why not? Did you utilize other
planning documents? Did you encounter any barriers or difficulties
using these documents?
National Resilience Framework--The White House
National Climate Resilience Framework--USGCRP
DOT Climate Action Plan for Resilience--DOT
Inland Port Community Resilience Roadmap (2018)--EPA
Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation--DOI, NOAA
Marine Transportation Resilience Assessment Guide--CISA
Digital Coast--NOAA
Federal Funding Handbook for the Marine Transportation System
Sixth Edition (resource)--CMTS
3. Access to Port Resilience Data. How/where do you obtain
environmental data and decision support for your port resilience
planning needs? Do these data include future projections of
environmental conditions, such as sea level rise? Are the data you
obtain sufficient to meet your requirements?
4. Long-term Port Resilience Planning Process. How do you approach
port resilience planning for climate change? Is it done in-house or
contracted? Who in your organization does your port resilience
planning?
5. Have you engaged in port-to-port sharing? Are you open to
engaging in port-to-port sharing to learn best practices from other
ports?
6. Grants and Other Funding Opportunities. Do you have an awareness
of the availability of Federal or State funding opportunities to
support port resilience and infrastructure planning? If so, have you
applied to and/or been awarded any funding specifically to support
long-term port resilience and infrastructure planning? Do you know
where to find funding opportunities?
a. Is funding available to do the planning work?
b. What gaps or challenges have you encountered related to
obtaining grants/funding/etc.? (Information on applying; planning
documents; etc.)
7. Additional Needs. What more (in addition to funding, existing
guidance, and existing data) do you need to improve your long-term
resilience planning? (e.g., authoritative guidance documents, technical
qualifications, data, incentives to plan for longer time frames, a
central location for accessing all the information in one place, better
planning tools, certification or leadership programs for port
employees)
8. Other. Is there anything else you would like to share related to
this request for information?
Authority: 46 U.S.C. 50401.
Issued in Washington, DC.
Brian James Tetreault,
Acting Director, U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System.
[FR Doc. 2024-15356 Filed 7-12-24; 8:45 am]
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