[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 151 (Monday, August 7, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40160-40161]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-19302]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Notice of the National Ocean Service's Discontinuation of the
Printing and Distribution of Book-Form Tide and Tidal Current
Prediction Tables as a Standard Nautical Product
AGENCY: National Ocean Service (NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce (DOC).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National
Ocean Service is announcing that, beginning with the 1996 edition, NOS
will no longer print and distribute book-form Tide and Tidal Current
Prediction Tables as a standard nautical product.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Richard Sillcox, (301) 713-2812, or (202) 482-2152.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under 33 U.S.C. 883a-883j, NOS is authorized
to conduct tide and current observations, prepare analyses and
predictions of the tide and current data, and disseminate to the public
such data and information resulting from the observations and analyses.
Consistent with this authority, NOS had annually printed and
distributed book-form Tide and Tidal Current Prediction Tables (Tables)
as a standard nautical product.
NOS is experiencing a shortage of funds to print and distribute the
Tables. In addition, the role of the NOS with
[[Page 40161]]
regard to the publication of the Tables is redefined to be that of
maintaining and updating the tidal prediction database from domestic
and international sources and generating the annual predictions and
associated information. Therefore, beginning with the 1996 edition of
those Tables, NOS will no longer print and distribute book-form Tables
as a standard nautical product.
The titles of the NOS publications affected are:
``Tide Tables 1996--East Coast of North and South America including
Greenland'';
``Tide Tables 1996--West Coast of North and South America including
the Hawaiian Islands'';
``Tide Tables 1996--Central and Western Pacific Ocean and Indian
Ocean'';
``Tide Tables 1996--Europe and West Coast of Africa including the
Mediterranean Sea'';
``Tidal Current Tables 1996--Atlantic Coast of North America'';
``Tidal Current Tables 1996--Pacific Coast of North America and
Asia'';
``Regional Tide and Tidal Current Tables 1996--New York Harbor to
Chesapeake Bay''; and
``Supplemental Tidal Predictions--Anchorage, Nikiski, Seldovia, and
Valdez, Alaska--1996''.
Although NOS will no longer print and distribute the Tables in a
book format, a complete set of Tables will be made available to all who
request it as a special compilation of prediction information on CD-
ROM. The CD-ROM will contain camera-ready PostScript page-images. There
will be a fee charged for production and distribution of any requested
special compilation. Although available to all who request it, the CD-
ROM vehicle may also be used by private printers who wish to print in
book-form the full set of Tables for distribution to retailers and the
general public. The annual predictions and associated information will
be made available on the same schedule as followed in previous years.
In addition to the CD-ROM, two new vehicles will be provided for
obtaining predictions. First, for the approximately 3700 domestic tide
stations, a 3-day window of predictions for any date in 1995 and 1996
will be offered on the NOS, Coastal and Estuarine Oceanography Branch,
Tidal Information Distribution and Education System (TIDES) electronic
bulletin board which is accessible by telephone modem (301-713-4492, N-
8-1, up to 9600 baud). Second, for domestic tidal reference stations,
predictions covering a 4-day period beginning on the day of inquiry
will be available on the NOS, Coastal and Estuarine Oceanography
Branch, Mosaic Homepage on the Internet (http://www-ceob.nos.noaa.gov).
These two new communication pathways will also be used to continuously
inform customers when prediction products become available or finalized
during the year. Further, NOS will continue to provide tide and tidal
current prediction and associated information on the media and in the
time-frames with which customers have been familiar from past
experience with NOS.
Thus, all requests for prediction and associated information
continue to be welcome. Beginning immediately, NOS is accepting
prediction data requests via two new communication pathways. The first
is the TIDES electronic bulletin board. The second is the NOS, Coastal
and Estuarine Oceanography Branch, World Wide Web Homepage.
As NOS is no longer printing and distributing the Tables in book-
form, the NOS Nautical Chart Sales Agents will no longer obtain the
Tables in book-form from the NOS Distribution Branch. Instead, they may
obtain quantities of the Tables for resale to the public from various
private printers and distributors. NOS is aware of a small number of
vendors who have shown interest in printing and distributing the Tables
in book-form. NOS requests any and all parties who may be interested in
printing and distributing the Tables in book-form to contact NOS.
NOS has been in contact with the U.S. Coast Guard concerning 33 CFR
Part 164 (Navigation and Safety Rules). Questions concerning that
regulation should be addressed to Chief, Navigation Rules Branch, G-
NVT-3, United States Coast Guard, Washington, DC 20593, telephone 202-
267-0416.
NOS is publishing this notice consistent with section 8a(6)(j) of
Office of Management and Budget Circular A-130. Anyone with questions
or comments regarding the above subject or private printers and
distributors wishing more information should write, fax or e-mail to:
NOAA, National Ocean Service Attn: Tidal Predictions, N/OES33, 1305
East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, fax 301-713-4501, (http://
www-ceob.nos.noaa.gov).
Dated: July 31, 1995.
David Evans,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal
Zone Management.
[FR Doc. 95-19302 Filed 8-4-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-08-M