From their announcement, “The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released the final version of the science plan for the NOAA RESTORE Act Science Program. The plan establishes ten long-term research priorities which will guide how the program invests its funds and explains how prior needs assessments for the Gulf of Mexico region and earlier stakeholder input were used to determine these areas of investment. The plan also provides additional information on how the program is administered and how the program works with partners.”
An overview of NOAA’s response to comments received during the public comment period on the draft version of the plan is now available in the Federal Register announcement. They address NOAA’s role, program scope, clarification of priorities, performance measures, coordination and engagement, and other issues.