Board on Coastal Engineering Research

AGENCY:

Department of the Army, DoD.

ACTION:

Notice of Advisory Committee meeting.

SUMMARY:

The Department of the Army is publishing this notice to announce the following Federal advisory committee meeting of the Board on Coastal Engineering Research. This meeting is open to the public.

DATES:

Dates and Location: The Board on Coastal Engineering Research will meet from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on March 3, 2015, and reconvene from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on March 4, 2015. Both sessions of the meeting will be held in the Conference Facility, Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL), U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, 3909 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg, MS 39180-6199. All sessions are open to the public. For more information about the Board, please visit http://chl.erdc.usace.army.mil/cerb.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Colonel Jeffrey R. Eckstein, Designated Federal Officer (DFO) and Executive Secretary, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Waterways Experiment Station, 3909 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg, MS 39180-6199, phone 601-634-2513, or Jeffrey.R.Eckstein@usace.army.mil.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The meeting is being held under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) of 1972 (5 U.S.C., Appendix, as amended), the Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976 (5 U.S.C. 552b, as amended), and 41 CFR 102-3.150. The Board on Coastal Engineering Research provides broad policy guidance and reviews plans for the conduct of research and the development of research projects in consonance with the needs of the coastal engineering field and the objectives of the U.S. Army Chief of Engineers.

Purpose of the Meeting: The meeting is an Executive Session to review past action items, status reports, research and development strategic directions, and coastal engineering research in the United States.

Agenda: On Tuesday morning, March 3, 2015, meeting logistics, review and status of action items, CHL coastal research and development strategic direction, existing coastal engineering statements of need, and a status report on the Coastal Working Group will be discussed.

On Tuesday afternoon, there will be technology demonstrations of the Ship-Tow Simulator and the CHL Sediment Lab and presentations and discussions on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Resilience and Harmonization, next steps for Civil Works and Military initiatives, and USACE resilience research and development plans.

On Wednesday, March 4, 2015, the Board will reconvene to discuss a Regional Sediment Management Regional Technical Center of Expertise and coastal engineering research in the United States. A discussion on the September meeting will also be hosted by the U.S. Army Engineer Division, Southwestern.

Meeting Accessibility: Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b, as amended, and 41 CFR 102-3.140 through 102-3.165, and subject to the availability of space, the meeting is open to the public. Because seating capacity is limited, advance registration is required. Registration can be accomplished as set forth below. Because the meeting of the Board will be held in a Federal Government facility, security screening is required. A photo ID is required to enter the facility. The name of each person seeking entry will be checked against the list of names of those persons who have registered to attend the meeting. Individuals will be directed to the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory. Please note that the guards have a right to inspect vehicles seeking to enter the facility. The Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory is fully handicap accessible. For additional information about public access procedures, please contact Colonel Eckstein, the Board's Designated Federal Officer, at the email address or telephone number listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

Registration: Individuals who wish to attend the meeting of the Board must register with the DFO by email, the preferred method of contact, no later than February 27, using the electronic mail contact information found in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section, above. The communication should include the registrant's full name, title, affiliation or employer, email address, and daytime phone number. If applicable, include written comments or statements with the registration email.

Written Comments and Statements: Pursuant to 41 CFR 102-3.015(j) and 102-3.140 and section 10(a)(3) of the FACA, the public or interested organizations may submit written comments or statements to the Board, in response to the stated agenda of the open meeting or in regard to the Board's mission in general. Written comments or statements should be submitted to Colonel Jeffrey R. Eckstein, DFO, via electronic mail, the preferred mode of submission, as the address listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section above. Each page of the comment or statement must include the author's name, title or affiliation, address, and daytime phone number. The DFO will review all submitted written comments or statements and provide them to members of the Board for their consideration. Written comments or statements being submitted in response to the agenda set forth in this notice must be received by the DFO at least five business days prior to the meeting to be considered by the Board. The DFO will review all timely submitted written comments or statements with the Board Chairperson and ensure the comments are provided to all members of the Board before the meeting. Written comments or statements received after this date may not be provided to the Board until its next meeting.

Verbal Comments: Pursuant to 41 CFR 102-3.140d, the Board is not obligated to allow a member of the public to speak or otherwise address the Board during the meeting. Members of the public will be permitted to make verbal comments during the Board meeting only at the time and in the manner described below. If a member of the public is interested in making a verbal comment at the open meeting, that individual must submit a request, with a brief statement of the subject matter to be addressed by the comment, at least five business days in advance to the Board's DFO, via electronic mail, the preferred mode of submission, at the address listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. The DFO will log each request, in the order received, and in consultation with the Board Chair, determine whether the subject matter of each comment is relevant to the Board's mission and/or the topics to be addressed in this public meeting. A 30-minute period near the end of the meeting will be available for verbal public comments. Members of the public who have requested to make a verbal comment, and whose comments have been deemed relevant under the process described above, will be allotted no more than five minutes during this period, and will be invited to speak in the order in which their requests were received by the DFO.