(a) NOAA shall work, to the extent practicable, through existing, recognized, standards bodies in the writing and adopting of standards for a hydrographic product or class that NOAA has accepted into this program. It shall be the responsibility of the sponsor to propose an appropriate standards writing body. NOAA may accept this body at its discretion, or may select an alternate body. NOAA will then undertake, jointly with the sponsor and acknowledged representatives of the affected communities, to submit the proposal for writing standards to, and to secure the cooperation of, the selected standards writing body.

(b) Once accepted as a work item by the standards writing body, NOAA shall undertake, jointly with representatives of the affected community, members of the standards body, other governmental representatives, and the sponsor as appropriate, to write standards for the hydrographic product or class according to the practices of the standards body and the technical needs of the product. Participation in the writing of standards shall be determined according to the procedures of the standards writing body.

(c) NOAA shall then undertake, jointly with representatives of the affected community, members of the standards body and the body itself, other governmental representatives, and the sponsor as appropriate, to have the resulting standard officially adopted by the standards body according to the procedures of that body.

(d) NOAA may, at its option, proceed without the participation of an existing, recognized, standards body should it so choose. Such action might be taken, for example, if there were no appropriate standards body. In this eventuality, NOAA shall adhere to the following general procedure.

(1) Announce, in the Federal Register or by other appropriate means, NOAA's intention to organize and chair a working group to write and publish standards for the proposed hydrographic product or class;

(2) Solicit, via the Federal Register or by other appropriate means, participation and select, reject, and/or revoke permission to participate as NOAA deems appropriate so as to proceed in an orderly and representative manner in writing a standard;

(3) Initiate, schedule, host, and chair, or designate a chair for, the work of the working group;

(4) Circulate, via the Federal Register or by other appropriate means, the drafts of the working group;

(5) Announce, via the Federal Register or by other appropriate means, the NOAA proposed standard and provide an opportunity for public comment;

(6) Announce, via the Federal Register or by other appropriate means, and make available as a standard, the final version of the standard; and

(7) Provide the necessary administrative support.

(e) NOAA may, at its option, adopt an existing standard as the NOAA standard for this program. In this eventuality, NOAA shall adhere to the following general procedure.

(1) Announce, in the Federal Register or by other appropriate means, NOAA's intention to adopt an existing standard for the proposed hydrographic product or class; and

(2) Solicit, via the Federal Register or by other appropriate means including public meetings, comment on the standard that NOAA proposes to adopt, and shall consider the comments received.

(f) Alternatively, NOAA may at its option, proceed by writing a standard by itself. Such action might be used, for example, in cases where the standard is obvious. Producing exact copies of existing NOAA products might be one such case. Once written, this NOAA-authored standard shall be made publicly available for comment, and comments shall be considered before NOAA publishes the final standard.

(g) At the conclusion of the standards writing, whether through an existing standards body, by a NOAA-convened working group, by adopting an existing standard, or by NOAA itself, NOAA shall consider the resulting standard and comments, and either adopt or reject the standard as the NOAA Quality Assurance Program Standard for the particular hydrographic product or class. NOAA's decision shall be publicly announced in the Federal Register or by other appropriate means.

(h) Any party may request NOAA to reconsider its decision to adopt or reject the standard by submitting its request in writing to the Quality Assurance Program address within 30 days of NOAA's announcement of its decision. NOAA shall have, if its other obligations permit, 60 calendar days from the receipt of a request for reconsideration to either deny the request, or to reconsider and announce its decision. NOAA's original decision if unappealed within 30 days, or its decision upon reconsideration shall be considered final.