Notice of Indirect Cost Rates for the Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program for Fiscal Year 2018, 47358-47359 [2020-17100]

Download as PDF 47358 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 151 / Wednesday, August 5, 2020 / Notices Currently, the preliminary determination is due no later than August 25, 2020. jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES Postponement of Preliminary Determination Section 733(b)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), requires Commerce to issue the preliminary determination in a LTFV investigation within 140 days after the date on which Commerce initiated the investigation. However, section 733(c)(1)(A)(b)(1) of the Act permits Commerce to postpone the preliminary determination until no later than 190 days after the date on which Commerce initiated the investigation if: (A) The petitioner 2 makes a timely request for a postponement; or (B) Commerce concludes that the parties concerned are cooperating, that the investigation is extraordinarily complicated, and that additional time is necessary to make a preliminary determination. Under 19 CFR 351.205(e), the petitioner must submit a request for postponement 25 days or more before the scheduled date of the preliminary determination and must state the reasons for the request. Commerce will grant the request unless it finds compelling reasons to deny the request. On July 15, 2020, the petitioner submitted a timely request that Commerce postpone the preliminary determination in the LTFV investigation.3 The petitioner stated that its requested postponement ‘‘is warranted to provide {Commerce} sufficient time to develop the record in this investigation. As it stands, the record is limited, and additional time is needed for {Commerce} to analyze fully the questionnaire responses, issue any supplemental questionnaires, and prepare an accurate preliminary dumping margin calculation. Extending the deadline will enable {Commerce} to properly conduct the investigation and allow all parties adequate time to examine and comment on the record.’’ 4 For the reasons stated above and because there are no compelling reasons to deny the request, Commerce, in accordance with section 733(c)(1)(A) of the Act, is postponing the deadline for the preliminary determination by 50 days (i.e., 190 days after the date on which this investigation was initiated). As a result, Commerce will issue its preliminary determination no later than 2 The petitioner is Briggs & Stratton Corporation. Petitioner’s Letter, ‘‘Certain Vertical Shaft Engines Between 99cc and Up To 225cc, and Parts Thereof, from the People’s Republic of China: Petitioner’s Request for Postponement of the Preliminary Determination,’’ dated July 15, 2020. 4 Id. 3 See VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:55 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 250001 October 14, 2020. In accordance with section 735(a)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(b)(1), the deadline for the final determination of this investigation will continue to be 75 days after the date of the preliminary determination, unless postponed at a later date. This notice is issued and published pursuant to section 733(c)(2) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.205(f)(1). Dated: July 29, 2020. Jeffrey I. Kessler, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance. [FR Doc. 2020–17033 Filed 8–4–20; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Notice of Indirect Cost Rates for the Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program for Fiscal Year 2018 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce ACTION: Notice of Indirect Cost Rates for the Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program for Fiscal Year 2018. AGENCY: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP) is announcing new indirect cost rates on the recovery of indirect costs for its component organizations involved in natural resource damage assessment and restoration activities for fiscal year (FY) 2018. The indirect cost rates for this fiscal year and date of implementation are provided in this notice. More information on these rates and the DARRP policy can be found at the DARRP website at www.darrp.noaa.gov. SUMMARY: For further information, contact LaTonya Burgess by phone at 240–533–0428 or email at LaTonya.Burgess@noaa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The mission of the DARRP is to restore natural resource injuries caused by releases of hazardous substances or oil under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) (33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), and to support restoration of physical injuries to National Marine Sanctuary resources under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (NMSA) (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.). The DARRP consists of three component FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 organizations: The Office of Response and Restoration (ORR) within the National Ocean Service; the Restoration Center within the National Marine Fisheries Service; and the Office of the General Counsel Natural Resources Section (GCNRS). The DARRP conducts Natural Resource Damage Assessments (NRDAs) as a basis for recovering damages from responsible parties, and uses the funds recovered to restore injured natural resources. Consistent with federal accounting requirements, the DARRP is required to account for and report the full costs of its programs and activities. Further, the DARRP is authorized by law to recover reasonable costs of damage assessment and restoration activities under CERCLA, OPA, and the NMSA. Within the constraints of these legal provisions and their regulatory applications, the DARRP has the discretion to develop indirect cost rates for its component organizations and formulate policies on the recovery of indirect cost rates subject to its requirements. The DARRP’s Indirect Cost Effort In December 1998, the DARRP hired the public accounting firm Rubino & McGeehin, Chartered (R&M) to: evaluate the DARRP cost accounting system and allocation practices; recommend the appropriate indirect cost allocation methodology; and determine the indirect cost rates for the three organizations that comprise the DARRP. A Federal Register notice on R&M’s effort, their assessment of the DARRP’s cost accounting system and practice, and their determination regarding the most appropriate indirect cost methodology and rates for FYs 1993 through 1999 was published on December 7, 2000 (65 FR 76611). R&M continued its assessment of DARRP’s indirect cost rate system and structure for FYs 2000 and 2001. A second federal notice specifying the DARRP indirect rates for FYs 2000 and 2001 was published on December 2, 2002 (67 FR 71537). In October 2002, DARRP hired the accounting firm of Cotton and Company LLP (Cotton) to review and certify DARRP costs incurred on cases for purposes of cost recovery and to develop indirect rates for FY 2002 and subsequent years. As in the prior years, Cotton concluded that the cost accounting system and allocation practices of the DARRP component organizations are consistent with federal accounting requirements. Consistent with R&M’s previous analyses, Cotton also determined that the most appropriate indirect allocation method continues to be the Direct Labor Cost E:\FR\FM\05AUN1.SGM 05AUN1 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 151 / Wednesday, August 5, 2020 / Notices Base for all three DARRP component organizations. The Direct Labor Cost Base is computed by allocating total indirect cost over the sum of direct labor dollars, plus the application of NOAA’s leave surcharge and benefits rates to direct labor. Direct labor costs for contractors from ERT, Inc. (ERT), Freestone Environmental Services, Inc. (Freestone), and Genwest Systems, Inc. (Genwest) were included in the direct labor base because Cotton determined that these costs have the same relationship to the indirect cost pool as NOAA direct labor costs. ERT, Freestone, and Genwest provided onsite support to the DARRP in the areas of injury assessment, natural resource economics, restoration planning and implementation, and policy analysis. Subsequent federal notices have been published in the Federal Register as follows: • FY 2002, published on October 6, 2003 (68 FR 57672) • FY 2003, published on May 20, 2005 (70 FR 29280) • FY 2004, published on March 16, 2006 (71 Fed Reg. 13356) • FY 2005, published on February 9, 2007 (72 FR 6221) • FY 2006, published on June 3, 2008 (73 FR 31679) • FY 2007 and FY 2008, published on November 16, 2009 (74 FR 58948) • FY 2009 and FY 2010, published on October 20, 2011 (76 FR 65182) • FY 2011, published on September 17, 2012 (77 FR 57074) • FY 2012, published on August 29, 2013 (78 FR 53425) • FY 2013, published on October 14, 2014 (79 FR 61617) • FY 2014, published on December 17, 2015 (80 FR 78718) • FY 2015, published on August 22, 2016 (81 FR 56580) Empirical Concepts developed the DARRP indirect rates for FY 2016 and 2017. Empirical reaffirmed that the Direct Labor Cost Base is the most appropriate indirect allocation method for the development of the FY 2016 and 2017 indirect cost rates. The federal notice for these rates can be found at the following: • FY 2016 and FY 2017, published on October 16, 2019 (84 FR 55283) Empirical Concepts developed the DARRP indirect rates for FY 18 and reaffirmed the Direct Labor Cost Base as the most appropriate indirect allocation for the development of the FY 2018 indirect cost rates. The DARRP’s Indirect Cost Rates and Policies The DARRP will apply the indirect cost rates for FY 2018 as recommended VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:55 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 250001 by Empirical for each of the DARRP component organizations as provided in the following table: 47359 concerning each proposed collection of information and to allow 60 days for public comment. The Commission revised its regulation requiring the filing FY 2018 of a notice of exemption by persons DARRP indirect rate seeking to claim relief from registration component organization (%) as a commodity pool operator (CPO). This Federal Register notice solicits Office of Response and Restoration (ORR) ................... 148.84 comments on the PRA implications of Restoration Center (RC) ....... 71.94 the revision to that required notice of General Counsel Natural Reexemption, including comments sources Section (GCNRS) 79.21 addressing adjustments in burden to the relevant information collection The FY 2018 rates will be applied to requirement of the revised exemption all damage assessment and restoration notice. case costs incurred between October 1, DATES: Comments must be submitted on 2017 and September 30, 2018 effective October 1, 2020. DARRP will use the FY or before October 5, 2020. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 2018 indirect cost rates for future fiscal identified by ‘‘OMB control number years, beginning with FY 2019, until 3038–0005; Adoption of Revised Notice subsequent year-specific rates can be of Exemption under 17 CFR 4.13(b)(1),’’ developed. For cases that have settled and for by any of the following methods: • CFTC Comments Portal: https:// cost claims paid prior to the effective comments.cftc.gov. Select the ‘‘Submit date of the fiscal year in question, the Comments’’ link for this notice and DARRP will not re-open any resolved follow the instructions on the Public matters for the purpose of applying the Comment Form. revised rates in this policy for these • Mail: Send to Christopher fiscal years. For cases not settled and Kirkpatrick, Secretary of the cost claims not paid prior to the Commission, Commodity Futures effective date of the fiscal year in Trading Commission, Three Lafayette question, costs will be recalculated using the revised rates in this policy for Centre, 1155 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20581. these fiscal years. Where a responsible • Hand Delivery/Courier: Follow the party has agreed to pay costs using same instructions as for Mail, above. previous year’s indirect rates, but has Please submit your comments using not yet made the payment because the only one of these methods. Submissions settlement documents are not finalized, through the CFTC Comments Portal are the costs will not be recalculated. encouraged. Scott Lundgren, All comments must be submitted in Director, Office of Response and Restoration, English or, if not, be accompanied by an National Ocean Service, National Oceanic English translation. Comments will be and Atmospheric Administration. posted as received to https:// [FR Doc. 2020–17100 Filed 8–4–20; 8:45 am] comments.cftc.gov. You should submit BILLING CODE 3510–JE–P only information that you wish to make available publicly. If you wish the Commission to consider information COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING that you believe is exempt from COMMISSION disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a petition for Agency Information Collection confidential treatment of the exempt Activities: Notice of Intent To Revise information may be submitted according Collection 3038–0005, Adoption of to the procedures established in Revised Notice of Exemption Under Commission regulation 145.9.1 Regulation 4.13(b)(1) The Commission reserves the right, but shall have no obligation, to review, AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading pre-screen, filter, redact, refuse, or Commission. remove any or all of your submission ACTION: Notice. from https://comments.cftc.gov that it SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures may deem to be inappropriate for Trading Commission (CFTC or publication, such as obscene language. Commission) is announcing an All submissions that have been redacted opportunity for public comment on the or removed that contain comments on recent revision to the collection of the merits of the information collection certain information by the Commission. request will be retained in the public Under the Paperwork Reduction Act comment file and will be considered as (PRA), Federal agencies are required to 1 17 CFR 145.9. publish notice in the Federal Register PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\05AUN1.SGM 05AUN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 151 (Wednesday, August 5, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47358-47359]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-17100]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Notice of Indirect Cost Rates for the Damage Assessment, 
Remediation, and Restoration Program for Fiscal Year 2018

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce

ACTION: Notice of Indirect Cost Rates for the Damage Assessment, 
Remediation, and Restoration Program for Fiscal Year 2018.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) 
Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP) is 
announcing new indirect cost rates on the recovery of indirect costs 
for its component organizations involved in natural resource damage 
assessment and restoration activities for fiscal year (FY) 2018. The 
indirect cost rates for this fiscal year and date of implementation are 
provided in this notice. More information on these rates and the DARRP 
policy can be found at the DARRP website at www.darrp.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: For further information, contact LaTonya 
Burgess by phone at 240-533-0428 or email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The mission of the DARRP is to restore 
natural resource injuries caused by releases of hazardous substances or 
oil under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act (CERCLA) (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) and the Oil Pollution 
Act of 1990 (OPA) (33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), and to support restoration 
of physical injuries to National Marine Sanctuary resources under the 
National Marine Sanctuaries Act (NMSA) (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.). The 
DARRP consists of three component organizations: The Office of Response 
and Restoration (ORR) within the National Ocean Service; the 
Restoration Center within the National Marine Fisheries Service; and 
the Office of the General Counsel Natural Resources Section (GCNRS). 
The DARRP conducts Natural Resource Damage Assessments (NRDAs) as a 
basis for recovering damages from responsible parties, and uses the 
funds recovered to restore injured natural resources.
    Consistent with federal accounting requirements, the DARRP is 
required to account for and report the full costs of its programs and 
activities. Further, the DARRP is authorized by law to recover 
reasonable costs of damage assessment and restoration activities under 
CERCLA, OPA, and the NMSA. Within the constraints of these legal 
provisions and their regulatory applications, the DARRP has the 
discretion to develop indirect cost rates for its component 
organizations and formulate policies on the recovery of indirect cost 
rates subject to its requirements.

The DARRP's Indirect Cost Effort

    In December 1998, the DARRP hired the public accounting firm Rubino 
& McGeehin, Chartered (R&M) to: evaluate the DARRP cost accounting 
system and allocation practices; recommend the appropriate indirect 
cost allocation methodology; and determine the indirect cost rates for 
the three organizations that comprise the DARRP. A Federal Register 
notice on R&M's effort, their assessment of the DARRP's cost accounting 
system and practice, and their determination regarding the most 
appropriate indirect cost methodology and rates for FYs 1993 through 
1999 was published on December 7, 2000 (65 FR 76611).
    R&M continued its assessment of DARRP's indirect cost rate system 
and structure for FYs 2000 and 2001. A second federal notice specifying 
the DARRP indirect rates for FYs 2000 and 2001 was published on 
December 2, 2002 (67 FR 71537).
    In October 2002, DARRP hired the accounting firm of Cotton and 
Company LLP (Cotton) to review and certify DARRP costs incurred on 
cases for purposes of cost recovery and to develop indirect rates for 
FY 2002 and subsequent years. As in the prior years, Cotton concluded 
that the cost accounting system and allocation practices of the DARRP 
component organizations are consistent with federal accounting 
requirements. Consistent with R&M's previous analyses, Cotton also 
determined that the most appropriate indirect allocation method 
continues to be the Direct Labor Cost

[[Page 47359]]

Base for all three DARRP component organizations. The Direct Labor Cost 
Base is computed by allocating total indirect cost over the sum of 
direct labor dollars, plus the application of NOAA's leave surcharge 
and benefits rates to direct labor. Direct labor costs for contractors 
from ERT, Inc. (ERT), Freestone Environmental Services, Inc. 
(Freestone), and Genwest Systems, Inc. (Genwest) were included in the 
direct labor base because Cotton determined that these costs have the 
same relationship to the indirect cost pool as NOAA direct labor costs. 
ERT, Freestone, and Genwest provided on-site support to the DARRP in 
the areas of injury assessment, natural resource economics, restoration 
planning and implementation, and policy analysis. Subsequent federal 
notices have been published in the Federal Register as follows:

 FY 2002, published on October 6, 2003 (68 FR 57672)
 FY 2003, published on May 20, 2005 (70 FR 29280)
 FY 2004, published on March 16, 2006 (71 Fed Reg. 13356)
 FY 2005, published on February 9, 2007 (72 FR 6221)
 FY 2006, published on June 3, 2008 (73 FR 31679)
 FY 2007 and FY 2008, published on November 16, 2009 (74 FR 
58948)
 FY 2009 and FY 2010, published on October 20, 2011 (76 FR 
65182)
 FY 2011, published on September 17, 2012 (77 FR 57074)
 FY 2012, published on August 29, 2013 (78 FR 53425)
 FY 2013, published on October 14, 2014 (79 FR 61617)
 FY 2014, published on December 17, 2015 (80 FR 78718)
 FY 2015, published on August 22, 2016 (81 FR 56580)

    Empirical Concepts developed the DARRP indirect rates for FY 2016 
and 2017. Empirical reaffirmed that the Direct Labor Cost Base is the 
most appropriate indirect allocation method for the development of the 
FY 2016 and 2017 indirect cost rates. The federal notice for these 
rates can be found at the following:

 FY 2016 and FY 2017, published on October 16, 2019 (84 FR 
55283)

    Empirical Concepts developed the DARRP indirect rates for FY 18 and 
reaffirmed the Direct Labor Cost Base as the most appropriate indirect 
allocation for the development of the FY 2018 indirect cost rates.

The DARRP's Indirect Cost Rates and Policies

    The DARRP will apply the indirect cost rates for FY 2018 as 
recommended by Empirical for each of the DARRP component organizations 
as provided in the following table:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              FY 2018
              DARRP  component organization                indirect rate
                                                                (%)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Office of Response and Restoration (ORR)................          148.84
Restoration Center (RC).................................           71.94
General Counsel Natural Resources Section (GCNRS).......           79.21
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The FY 2018 rates will be applied to all damage assessment and 
restoration case costs incurred between October 1, 2017 and September 
30, 2018 effective October 1, 2020. DARRP will use the FY 2018 indirect 
cost rates for future fiscal years, beginning with FY 2019, until 
subsequent year-specific rates can be developed.
    For cases that have settled and for cost claims paid prior to the 
effective date of the fiscal year in question, the DARRP will not re-
open any resolved matters for the purpose of applying the revised rates 
in this policy for these fiscal years. For cases not settled and cost 
claims not paid prior to the effective date of the fiscal year in 
question, costs will be recalculated using the revised rates in this 
policy for these fiscal years. Where a responsible party has agreed to 
pay costs using previous year's indirect rates, but has not yet made 
the payment because the settlement documents are not finalized, the 
costs will not be recalculated.

Scott Lundgren,
Director, Office of Response and Restoration, National Ocean Service, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2020-17100 Filed 8-4-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-JE-P
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