Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, 55689-55690 [2018-24279]

Download as PDF amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 216 / Wednesday, November 7, 2018 / Notices clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Comments may be sent by any of the following methods: • Mail: Thomas P. Dickson, Rural Development Innovation Center, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, STOP 1522, Room 5164, South Building, Washington, DC 20250–1522. Telephone: (202) 690–4492. Email: Thomas.Dickson@wdc.usda.gov. • Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Title: Request for Approval to Sell Capital Assets. OMB Control Number: 0572–0020. Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved information collection. Abstract: A borrower’s assets provide the security for a government loan. The selling of assets reduces the security and increases the risk to the government. RUS Form 369 allows the borrower to seek agency permission to sell some of its assets. The form collects detailed information regarding the proposed sales of a portion of the borrower’s systems. RUS electric utility borrowers complete this form to request RUS approval in order to sell capital assets when the fair market value exceeds 10 percent of the borrower’s net utility plant. The collection of information will be revised to remove the requirement to submit a Board Resolution with the Form 369. Estimate of Burden: Public reporting for this collection of information is estimated to average 42.5 hours per response. Respondents: Not-for-profit institutions. Estimated Number of Respondents: 33. Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1. Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 83 hours. Copies of this information collection can be obtained from Robin M. Jones, Innovation Center, at (202)772–1172, Email: robin.m.jones@wdc.usda.gov. All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will also become a matter of public record. Dated: November 2, 2018. Christopher A. McLean, Acting Administrator, Rural Utilities Service. [FR Doc. 2018–24351 Filed 11–6–18; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410–15–P VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:46 Nov 06, 2018 Jkt 247001 CHEMICAL SAFETY AND HAZARD INVESTIGATION BOARD Sunshine Act Meetings November 13, 2018, 10 a.m. EDT. PLACE: U.S. Chemical Safety Board, 1750 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 910, Washington, DC 20006. STATUS: This meeting will be closed to the public. TIME AND DATE: Matters To Be Considered The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (Board) will hold a closed session, as authorized by the Government in the Sunshine Act, to confer with, and receive advice from, its legal counsel regarding pending litigation. The Board will also consider and vote on calendared notation item 2019–08, which concerns the authorization of funding for a legal services support contract, and related matters. Board Members, Counsel to the Board, and a recording clerk or stenographer will attend the closed meeting. Certain staff members who have an interest in the matters also may be present. The Acting General Counsel of the Board has certified that, in his opinion, one or more of the exemptions set forth in 5 U.S.C. 552b (c)(6), (9)(B), and (10) and 40 CFR 1603.7(f),(h),(i) and (j), permit consideration of the scheduled matters at the closed meeting. Board Members Kulinowski and Engler voted to consider the matters listed above in a closed session on the grounds noted above. CONTACT PERSON FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Thomas Zoeller, Acting General Counsel, at Tom.Zoeller@ csb.gov or (202) 261–7600. Further information about this public meeting can be found on the CSB website at: www.csb.gov. Dated: November 5, 2018. Raymond Porfiri, Deputy General Counsel, Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. [FR Doc. 2018–24505 Filed 11–5–18; 4:15 pm] BILLING CODE 6350–01–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act. PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 55689 Agency: U.S. Census Bureau. Title: 2018–2020 Business Research & Development Survey. OMB Control Number: 0607–0912. Form Number(s): BRD–1. Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection. Number of Respondents: 45,000. Average Hours per Response: 3 hours and 18 minutes. Burden Hours: 148,600. Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau, with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), plans to conduct the Business Research and Development Survey (BRDS) for the 2018–2020 survey years. The BRDS covers all domestic, non-farm, for-profit businesses with at least 10 paid employees. The BRDS provides the only comprehensive data on Research and Development (R&D) costs and detailed expenses by type and industry. The Census Bureau has conducted an R&D survey since 1957, collecting primarily financial information on the systematic work companies undertake to discover new knowledge or use existing knowledge to develop new or improved goods and services. Beginning in 2018, the BRDS will collect new data about R&D on artificial intelligence, geographic detail of companies’ R&D workforce, and leased and temporary R&D employees. There is increasing interest among domestic policy-makers and in the international community, as well as among U.S. researchers in academia, government and industry, for more data on artificial intelligence. Domestic and foreign geographic information for R&D workforce will address Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) requests on inputs for enhanced estimation and evaluation of gross domestic product by state, foreign direct investment in the U.S., and U.S. direct investment abroad. As a result of the revision of the Frascati Manual: Guidance for Collecting and Reporting on R&D (OECD, 2015), countries are recommended to collect and separately report on both internal R&D workers (those who are employed directly by and are part of the R&D-performing business) and ‘‘external’’ R&D workers (consultants, contractors, and others who contribute directly to the R&D performance of the R&D-performing business, but are not an employee of the business). The collection of these R&D employees is to provide internationally comparable US data on total business R&D workers. The 2018–2020 BRDS will continue to collect the following types of information: E:\FR\FM\07NON1.SGM 07NON1 amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1 55690 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 216 / Wednesday, November 7, 2018 / Notices • R&D expense based on accepted accounting standards. • Worldwide R&D of domestic companies. • Business segment detail. • R&D-related capital expenditures. • Detailed data about the R&D workforce. • R&D strategy and data on the potential impact of R&D on the market. • R&D directed to application areas of particular national interest. • Data measuring intellectual property protection activities and technology transfer. Domestic and foreign researchers in academia, business, and government analyze and cite data from the BRDS. Among the federal government users are the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). BEA includes R&D in the system of national accounts that measures the economic well-being of the country. BRDS data are key inputs into these accounts, which feed into the calculation of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The White House, in 2006, issued the American Competitiveness Initiative to ‘‘increase investments in research and development, strengthen education, and encourage entrepreneurship.’’ In support of this initiative and in response to legislative mandates, data on R&D are delivered to OSTP, primarily in the biennial National Science Board report Science and Engineering Indicators. Also, the National Science Foundation (NSF) produces a series of publications containing R&D data including the National Patterns of R&D Resources series, the S&E State Profile series, and the annual Business R&D and Innovation series. Special reports and other publications are also prepared. Affected Public: Business or other forprofit. Frequency: Annually. Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory. Legal Authority: The survey is conducted under the authority of Title 13, United States Code, Sections 8(b), 131, and 182, and Title 42, United States Code, Sections 1861–76 (National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended). This information collection request may be viewed at www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce collections currently under review by OMB. Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:46 Nov 06, 2018 Jkt 247001 notice to OIRA_Submission@ omb.eop.gov or fax to (202) 395–5806. Sheleen Dumas, Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer. [FR Doc. 2018–24279 Filed 11–6–18; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–07–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [B–69–2018] Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) 203—Moses Lake, Washington, Notification of Proposed Production Activity, Joyson Safety Systems Acquisition, LLC (Automotive Airbag Inflators and Propellants), Moses Lake, Washington Joyson Safety Systems Acquisition, LLC (JSSA) submitted a notification of proposed production activity to the FTZ Board for its facility in Moses Lake, Washington. The notification conforming to the requirements of the regulations of the FTZ Board (15 CFR 400.22) was received on October 30, 2018. JSSA already has authority to produce automotive airbag inflators and related propellants within Subzone 203A. The current request would add foreign status materials/components to the scope of authority. Pursuant to 15 CFR 400.14(b), additional FTZ authority would be limited to the specific foreign-status materials/components described in the submitted notification (as described below) and subsequently authorized by the FTZ Board. Production under FTZ procedures could exempt JSSA from customs duty payments on the foreign-status materials/components used in export production. On its domestic sales, for the foreign-status materials/components noted below, JSSA would be able to choose the duty rates during customs entry procedures that apply to the finished products in the existing scope of authority. JSSA would be able to avoid duty on foreign-status components which become scrap/waste. Customs duties also could possibly be deferred or reduced on foreign-status production equipment. The materials/components sourced from abroad include: Strontium tintinaite; cupric oxide; boron carbide; calcium stearate; guanidine nitrate; nitroguanidine; and, hybrid curtain inflator (HCI) bottles/bodies (metal cylinders) (duty rate ranges from dutyfree 6.5%). The request indicates that certain materials/components are subject to special duties under Section PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (Section 232) and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Section 301), depending on the country of origin. The applicable Section 232 and Section 301 decisions require subject merchandise to be admitted to FTZs in privileged foreign status (19 CFR 146.41). Public comment is invited from interested parties. Submissions shall be addressed to the Board’s Executive Secretary at the address below. The closing period for their receipt is December 17, 2018. A copy of the notification will be available for public inspection at the Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Room 21013, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230–0002, and in the ‘‘Reading Room’’ section of the Board’s website, which is accessible via www.trade.gov/ftz. For further information, contact Christopher Wedderburn at Chris.Wedderburn@trade.gov or (202) 482–1963. Dated: October 31, 2018. Andrew McGilvray, Executive Secretary. [FR Doc. 2018–24341 Filed 11–6–18; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [B–66–2018] Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) 259— International Falls, Minnesota; Notification of Proposed Production Activity; Digi-Key Corporation; (Consumer Electronics); Thief River Falls, Minnesota Digi-Key Corporation (Digi-Key) submitted a notification of proposed production activity to the FTZ Board for its facilities in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. The notification conforming to the requirements of the regulations of the FTZ Board (15 CFR 400.22) was received on October 31, 2018. The applicant indicates that it will be submitting a separate application for FTZ designation at the Digi-Key facilities under FTZ 259. The facilities are used for light value-added production and kitting of cable connectors and small fans for electronics. Pursuant to 15 CFR 400.14(b), FTZ activity would be limited to the specific foreign-status materials and components and specific finished products described in the submitted notification (as described below) and E:\FR\FM\07NON1.SGM 07NON1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 216 (Wednesday, November 7, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55689-55690]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-24279]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: 2018-2020 Business Research & Development Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0912.
    Form Number(s): BRD-1.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Number of Respondents: 45,000.
    Average Hours per Response: 3 hours and 18 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 148,600.
    Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau, with support from the 
National Science Foundation (NSF), plans to conduct the Business 
Research and Development Survey (BRDS) for the 2018-2020 survey years. 
The BRDS covers all domestic, non-farm, for-profit businesses with at 
least 10 paid employees. The BRDS provides the only comprehensive data 
on Research and Development (R&D) costs and detailed expenses by type 
and industry.
    The Census Bureau has conducted an R&D survey since 1957, 
collecting primarily financial information on the systematic work 
companies undertake to discover new knowledge or use existing knowledge 
to develop new or improved goods and services.
    Beginning in 2018, the BRDS will collect new data about R&D on 
artificial intelligence, geographic detail of companies' R&D workforce, 
and leased and temporary R&D employees.
    There is increasing interest among domestic policy-makers and in 
the international community, as well as among U.S. researchers in 
academia, government and industry, for more data on artificial 
intelligence.
    Domestic and foreign geographic information for R&D workforce will 
address Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) requests on inputs for 
enhanced estimation and evaluation of gross domestic product by state, 
foreign direct investment in the U.S., and U.S. direct investment 
abroad.
    As a result of the revision of the Frascati Manual: Guidance for 
Collecting and Reporting on R&D (OECD, 2015), countries are recommended 
to collect and separately report on both internal R&D workers (those 
who are employed directly by and are part of the R&D-performing 
business) and ``external'' R&D workers (consultants, contractors, and 
others who contribute directly to the R&D performance of the R&D-
performing business, but are not an employee of the business). The 
collection of these R&D employees is to provide internationally 
comparable US data on total business R&D workers.
    The 2018-2020 BRDS will continue to collect the following types of 
information:

[[Page 55690]]

     R&D expense based on accepted accounting standards.
     Worldwide R&D of domestic companies.
     Business segment detail.
     R&D-related capital expenditures.
     Detailed data about the R&D workforce.
     R&D strategy and data on the potential impact of R&D on 
the market.
     R&D directed to application areas of particular national 
interest.
     Data measuring intellectual property protection activities 
and technology transfer.
    Domestic and foreign researchers in academia, business, and 
government analyze and cite data from the BRDS. Among the federal 
government users are the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the 
White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). BEA 
includes R&D in the system of national accounts that measures the 
economic well-being of the country. BRDS data are key inputs into these 
accounts, which feed into the calculation of the U.S. Gross Domestic 
Product (GDP). The White House, in 2006, issued the American 
Competitiveness Initiative to ``increase investments in research and 
development, strengthen education, and encourage entrepreneurship.'' In 
support of this initiative and in response to legislative mandates, 
data on R&D are delivered to OSTP, primarily in the biennial National 
Science Board report Science and Engineering Indicators. Also, the 
National Science Foundation (NSF) produces a series of publications 
containing R&D data including the National Patterns of R&D Resources 
series, the S&E State Profile series, and the annual Business R&D and 
Innovation series. Special reports and other publications are also 
prepared.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: The survey is conducted under the authority of 
Title 13, United States Code, Sections 8(b), 131, and 182, and Title 
42, United States Code, Sections 1861-76 (National Science Foundation 
Act of 1950, as amended).
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce 
collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to [email protected] or fax to (202) 395-5806.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-24279 Filed 11-6-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
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