This is something that may be of interest to you and the boaters in your state. NOAA has reached out to NASBLA and the Education Committee to ensure we receive notification of proposals that will significantly change the way traditional paper charts are produced and distributed. The notice from Lucy Hick, Deputy Chief, Hydrographic Surveys Division (Acting) said,
NOAA is undertaking a five-year program to end all raster and paper nautical chart production. Ultimately, production of all NOAA paper nautical charts, raster navigational charts (NOAA RNC®), and related products, such as BookletChartsTM will cease. NOAA is seeking feedback from chart users and companies that provide products and services based on NOAA raster and electronic navigational chart (NOAA ENC®) products. This information will shape the manner and timing in which the product sunsetting process will proceed.
I am not sure to what extent nautical charts are used in your education, outreach, or training courses. But I wanted to make sure that you and your organization were aware of these changes.
We are encouraging folks to review the
federal register notice about the raster sunset plan and to either submit your comments through the FRN process of by using NOAA's
ASSIST tool.
In addition, I've attached a memo, outlining 5 major things to know about this transition.
Please take a few minutes to read the announcement in the federal register and the attached memo, make the appropriate comments where indicated, and then share this information with anyone who you think may be affected by these changes.
Please read the information about these changes carefully. NOAA will continue to produce navigational charts. What is changing is how the information NOAA produces is disseminated to the recreational boaters and professional mariners.
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Mark Chanski
NASBLA Deputy Education Director
NASBLA
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