CONTACT:  Patricia Viets           FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
          Charles Wooldridge       March 19, 1998
          Kira Alvarez

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will hold a public meeting on the licensing of private remote sensing space systems on April 1.

The meeting will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the Department of Commerce, Herbert C. Hoover Building, Room 4830, 14th and Constitution, N.W., Washington, DC.

On Nov. 3, 1997, NOAA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (62 FR 59317) proposing regulations revising its regime for the licensing of private Earth remote sensing space systems under Title II of the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992, 15 U.S.C. 5601 et seq. (1992 Act). These proposed regulations would implement the licensing provisions of the 1992 Act and the Presidential Policy on remote sensing announced March 10, 1994. The goal of the new regulations is to improve the ease and transparency of the process to the public. This meeting is designed to solicit comments from the public sector on the proposed rule.

Comments received to date in response to the notice of proposed rulemaking may be viewed or copied by appointment from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at NOAA, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 3620, Silver Spring, Md.

Anyone interested in participating in the meeting or viewing the comments should contact Charles Wooldridge at 301-713-2024 (ext. 107) or Kira Alvarez at 301-713-1329.