Standard Operating Procedure

Updated April, 2017

DOCUMENT NUMBER: SOP318

TITLE: Government of (GOG) & Permitting Policies

PURPOSE:

To define general permit requirements in Greenland and describe Government of Greenland (GoG) processes that must be followed in order to be granted a permit for fieldwork or land-area use.

BACKGROUND:

For field activities in Greenland, the GoG has various permitting requirements dependent on the location and type of fieldwork or expedition being conducted. These requirements affect both RSL Program contractor and researcher activities in Greenland.

The following activities require an individual permit from a specific branch of the GoG.

• Remote Travel and Expeditions o Ice sheet travel location that falls within the mapped definition. (see appendix) o Not required if less than 24 hours over the span of 7 days is spent on the ice sheet. o Permit application is submitted to the Ministry of Domestic Affairs, Nature, and Environment. o A permitting fee is required for each separate deployment.

• Area Allotments o Any installation or camp lasting longer than 2 months regardless of location; including, but not limited to, GPS, seismometers, cameras, and physical camps. o Permit application is submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Infrastructure, and Transport.

• Access to the National Park or the World Heritage (UNESCO) area

• Radio o All program Iridium phones, personal locator beacons, and marine VHF radios are permitted in advance of the season, prior to issue to staff or researchers.

• Certain types of sampling

In addition to the common instances above, the following permits may also be required: firearms, explosives, and environmental.

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Standard Operating Procedure

Updated April, 2017

DETAILS:

Government of Greenland permit requirements, directions, and applications can be found at the following link: http://naalakkersuisut.gl/en/About-government-of-greenland/Travel-activities-in- remote-parts-of-Greenland/Procedure-and-forms

Contractor-specific annual permits:

The Senior Greenland Science Project Manager or Greenland Science Operations Manager is responsible for assembling and submitting these permits. The ARSLS Program Director reviews and signs all of these permits prior to submission.

• Summit Station and Raven Camp o Remote Travel o Research Station or Expedition o Area Allotment o Radio o Dependent on activities, an environmental permit may be required as well. • Greenland Inland Traverse (GrIT) o Remote Travel/Expedition, o Radio o Potentially firearms, explosives, and environmental permit dependent on planned activities for that season’s traverse.

• Radio Permits for allocated communication equipment

Science project -specific permits: Contractor Science Project managers assist research groups in permitting procedures but ultimately it is the PI’s responsibility to submit and obtain the proper permits. Common permits needed for science projects dependent on the type of activity/fieldwork: • Remote Travel Permit – requires proof of institutional or personal medieval insurance • Area Allotment, Firearms • Explosives • Sampling (which falls within Bureau of Mineral and Petroleum’s requirements), • For projects working at Summit Station, a one page sub-permit application is required in addition to the larger, Summit Research Station permit that the contractor holds. • The ARSLS Contractor obtains the following on behalf of NSF & NASA projects o Basic Radio Permit & Search and Rescue insurance.

Tracking:

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Standard Operating Procedure

Updated April, 2017

Working with GoG, the Greenland Planner tracks projects that require permits throughout the season. Projects that require Remote Travel permits are flagged as such in the project’s Season Form in ARLSS, and as permit #’s are issued that info is also updated in ARLSS.

Search and Rescue (SAR) Insurance Letter and Report

• ARSLS Contractor drafts a SAR insurance letter for the NSF no later than Feb 1 annually. Once signed by the NSF Contracting Officer, it sent back to the contractor for Science Project Managers to distribute to NSF-sponsored researchers confirming NSF self-insurance and the Foundation’s commitment to provide SAR reimbursement support. This commitment is a requirement of the Remote Travel Permit described above. NSF provides the letter as an alternative to signing GoG’s binding Insurance Statement. The letter includes an Attachment A – a list of all the covered participants. See example in Appendix. • On the first day of each ANG flight period the Greenland Planner provides NSF a report generated using ARLSS data. The NSF Contracting officer reviews this report and forwards it as an updated Attachment A to the GoG Section of Nature Head. This report notifies the GoG on which projects are active in the country. Summit and Raven Participants Report

• GoG requires up to date lists for all participants traveling to Summit regardless of whether they are covered via NSF’s SAR letter. o The Greenland Planner generates an ARLSS report as needed to keep the participant lists up to date. The desired frequency is on the first day of each ANG flight period, and upon Summit Coordinator request at the end of the season to assist with closeout activities. o Because the Raven permit only covers contractor staff, the report is typically only required with the first and last flight periods to account for construction crew changes. Close-Out Reports

• Each of the contractor-permitted activities, including Summit Station, Raven Camp, and GrIT are required to submit a close-out report to the Ministry of Domestic Affairs, Nature and Environment. • Environmental permits may also require a close-out report. The Greenland Logistics Coordinator is responsible for assembling and submitting these operational permit reports. • Individual science projects are also required to submit a close-out report to the Ministry of Domestic Affairs, Nature and Environment. It is the responsibility of the PI to file this report.

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Standard Operating Procedure

Updated April, 2017

DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS (SUMMARY):

The ARSLS contractor is responsible for submission and correlated close-out reports as described above for the following locations: Summit Station, Raven Camp, and Grit. The contractor generates the first step leading to the SAR insurance letter and generates Attachment A and Summit/Raven participant’s reports of NSF and GoG.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Greenland Planner: Responsible for updating and sending Attachment A to the NSF and GoG at the start of every flight period. • Greenland Science Support Manager: Responsible for generating the initial SAR insurance letter for NSF • Greenland Senior Science Project Manager: Responsible for submittal of permits and close-out reports for Summit Station, Raven Camp, and GrIT as detailed above. • Greenland Science Operations Manager: Provides back up to the Greenland Senior Science Project Manager and assists in permit submittal/reporting. • Greenland Science Project Managers: Communicate GoG permitting and close-out requirements to researcher groups. • Principle Investigators: Responsible for submitting permit applications and close-out reports as required by their particular field work. • Contractor IT&C Support: Responsible for gathering communication information to assist in submittal of annual radio permit • ARSLS Program Director: Reviews and signs all permits for Summit Station, Raven Camp, and GrIT prior to submittal to GoG.

APPENDIXES:

• Map of area covered by GoG Executive Order for expeditions and remote travel • Example of SAR insurance letter and report and Attachment A

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Qaanaaq

Upernavik

Uummannaq Illoqqortoormiut

Qeqertarsuaq

Ilulissat

Kangaatsiaq

Sisimiut

Maniitsoq

Nuuk

Paamiut

Narsaq No access permit needed Access permit needed

National Science Foundation 4201 Wilson Boulevard Arlington, Virginia 22230

January 30.2017

Finn L. Nielsen !lead of Section Section of Nature Ministry of Nature. Environment and Justice Government of Greenland

Dear Mr. Nielsen ·

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is plea sed to submit the following statement in lieu of your Insurance Statement (for expeditions to Greenland) form .

NSF. as an independent executive agency in the United States Government. is self-insured. Accordingly, while NSF cannot sign the binding Insurance Statements as proposed, NSF does wish to express its intention to reimburse the Government of Greenland for reasonable SAR (Search and Rescue) expenses incurred for the NSF-funded Greenland expeditions, if any, not to exceed the amount of DKK 1.000.000 for any expedition as a whole and. for each individual participant for evacuation (ambulance) transport costs. not to exceed DKK 280.000. However, for expeditions to the N01th-East of Greenland National Park (above latitude 78° N). the individual participant amount shall be not to exceed DKK 600.000.

This self-insurance is extended to the 2017 Field Season. which is represented by the expeditions on Attachment A.l. This list is expected to be revised on the following dates in 2017: April 5, 2017 Aprill8,2017 April 25, 2017 May 9, 2017 May 15,2017 June 3, 2017 June 21,2017 June 23 2017 July 19,2017 July 21,2017 August 16, 2017

Please contact me at (703) 292-8094 or [email protected] with any questions.

Sincerely.

Initial Report 2017 Anticipated Greenland Remote Expeditions Attachment A.1 January 2017 Covered by NSF SAR Letter (List of Expeditions) Prelim list of projects - no person details Page 1of 1

Group Project #/name PI Date In Date Out Permit info Summit Staff & Operations [____] 2/1/2017 1/31/2017 Raven Staff & Operations [____] 4/20/2017 8/26/2017 Remote NNX15AC62G [____] 4/24/2017 6/10/2017 Summit 1603239 [____] 6/6/2017 6/12/2017 Summit NOAASummit [____] 4/21/2017 8/26/2017 Summit 1638402 [____] 8/1/2017 8/26/2017 Remote 1304011 [____] 7/28/2017 8/20/2017 Remote 1604022 [____] 4/1/2017 10/31/2017 Summit 1637003 [____] 8/18/2017 8/26/2017 Summit 1108391 [____] 4/26/2017 8/18/2017 Summit ICESat [____] 5/17/2017 8/26/2018 Remote 1417678 [____] 4/25/2017 6/11/2017 Summit NNX15AM80A [____] 6/20/2017 7/15/2017 Remote 1604058 [____] 4/24/2017 5/15/2017 Remote NNX14AH93G [____] 4/5/2017 7/19/2017 Remote NASAAWS [____] 5/2/2017 6/1/2017 Summit 1506155 [____] 6/27/2017 7/22/2017 Summit 1414314 [____] 6/3/2017 8/26/2017