Meeting To Implement Pandemic Response Voluntary Agreement Under Section 708 of the Defense Production Act, 63567-63568 [2020-22419]

Agencies

• Federal Emergency Management Agency
• DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 196 (Thursday, October 8, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63567-63568]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-22419]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Federal Emergency Management Agency

[Docket ID FEMA-2020-0016]


Meeting To Implement Pandemic Response Voluntary Agreement Under 
Section 708 of the Defense Production Act

AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS.

ACTION: Announcement of meeting; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will convene a 
meeting remotely via web conference to implement the Voluntary 
Agreement for the Manufacture and Distribution of Critical Healthcare 
Resources Necessary to Respond to a Pandemic. A portion of the meeting 
will be open to the public.

DATES: The meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 13, 2020, from 
1:00 to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). The first portion of the meeting, 
from approximately 1:00 to 2:00 p.m., will be open to the public. 
Written comments for consideration at the meeting must be submitted and 
received by 12:00 p.m. ET on Monday, October 12, 2020. To register to 
attend the meeting or to make remarks during the public comment period 
of the meeting, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section below by 12:00 p.m. ET on Monday, October 
12, 2020.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held via web conference. To register for 
the meeting, and to obtain information about how to attend the meeting, 
contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section below by 12:00 p.m. ET on Monday, October 12, 2020, and provide 
your name, telephone number, email address, title, and organization.
    Reasonable accommodations are available for people with 
disabilities. To request a reasonable accommodation, contact the person 
listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section below as soon as 
possible. Last minute requests will be accepted but may not be possible 
to fulfill.
    To facilitate public participation, members of the public are 
invited to provide written comments on the issues to be considered at 
the meeting. The Meeting Objectives listed below outline these issues. 
Written comments for consideration at the meeting must be submitted and 
received by 12:00 p.m. ET on Monday, October 12, 2020, identified by 
Docket ID FEMA-2020-0016, and submitted by one of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: FEMA's Office of Business, Industry, Infrastructure 
Integration, [email protected].
    Instructions: All submissions must include the docket ID FEMA-2020-
0016. Comments received, including any personal information provided, 
may be posted without alteration at https://www.regulations.gov.
    Docket: For access to the docket and to read comments received by 
FEMA, go to https://www.regulations.gov, and search for Docket ID FEMA-
2020-0016.
    All speakers during the public comment period must limit their 
comments to three (3) minutes. Comments should be addressed to FEMA. 
Any comments not related to the Meeting Objectives, listed below, will 
not be considered at the meeting. To register to make remarks during 
the public comment period, contact the individual listed in the FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section below by 12:00 p.m. ET on Monday, 
October 12, 2020. If necessary, FEMA will limit the number of comments 
taken during the public meeting consistent with the time available, but 
will consider relevant and properly submitted written submissions from 
all interested parties.
    FEMA encourages interested parties to make written submissions in 
advance of or following the meeting consistent with the instructions 
for submitting comments stated above. Follow-up comments must be 
received within five (5) business days of the meeting in order to be 
considered.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Glenn, Office of Business, 
Industry, Infrastructure Integration, via email at [email protected] or 
via phone at (202) 212-1666.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice of the meeting is provided as 
required by section 708(h)(8) of the Defense Production Act (DPA), 50 
U.S.C. 4558(h)(8), and consistent with 44 CFR part 332.
    The DPA authorizes the making of ``voluntary agreements and plans 
of action'' with, among others, representatives of industry and 
business to address conditions that may pose a direct threat to the 
national defense or its preparedness programs.\1\ The President's 
authority to facilitate voluntary agreements has been

[[Page 63568]]

delegated to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) generally in 
section 401 of Executive Order 13603,\2\ ``National Defense Resources 
Preparedness,'' and specifically for response to the spread of COVID-19 
within the United States in section 3 of Executive Order 13911,\3\ 
``Delegating Additional Authority Under the Defense Production Act With 
Respect to Health and Medical Resources To Respond to the Spread of 
COVID-19.'' The Secretary of Homeland Security has delegated this 
authority to the FEMA Administrator in section II of DHS Delegation 
09052, Rev. 00.1, ``Delegation of Defense Production Act Authority to 
the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency'' (Apr. 1, 
2020).
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    \1\ 50 U.S.C. 4558(c)(1).
    \2\ 77 FR 16651 (Mar. 22, 2012).
    \3\ 85 FR 18403 (Apr. 1, 2020).
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    On August 17, 2020, after the appropriate consultations with the 
Attorney General and the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, FEMA 
completed and published in the Federal Register a ``Voluntary Agreement 
for the Manufacture and Distribution of Critical Healthcare Resources 
Necessary to Respond to a Pandemic'' (Voluntary Agreement).\4\ Unless 
terminated prior to that date, the Voluntary Agreement is effective 
until August 17, 2025, and may be extended subject to additional 
approval by the Attorney General after consultation with the Chairman 
of the Federal Trade Commission. The Agreement may be used to prepare 
for or respond to any pandemic, including COVID-19, during that time.
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    \4\ 85 FR 50035 (Aug. 17, 2020). The Attorney General, in 
consultation with the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, made 
the required finding that the purpose of the voluntary agreement may 
not reasonably be achieved through an agreement having less 
anticompetitive effects or without any voluntary agreement and 
published the finding in the Federal Register on the same day. 85 FR 
50049 (Aug. 17, 2020).
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    The meeting will be chaired by the FEMA Administrator or his 
delegate, and attended by the Attorney General or his delegate and the 
Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission or his delegate. In 
implementing this agreement, FEMA will adhere to all procedural 
requirements of 50 U.S.C. 4558 and 44 CFR part 332.
    Meeting Objectives: The purpose of the meeting is four-fold:
    (1) Update interested parties on the status of the implementation 
of FEMA's Voluntary Agreement;
    (2) Request that interested parties sign up to participate in the 
Voluntary Agreement;
    (3) Request that specific parties sign up to participate in one or 
more specific Plans of Action; and
    (4) Discuss activation of the first Plan of Action under the 
Voluntary Agreement to identify more efficient methods of allocating 
and distributing Personal Protective Equipment to meet national demand 
and ways of expanding the production of critical healthcare resources, 
with an initial focus on the manufacture of N95 masks.
    Portions of the Meeting Closed to the Public: By default, the DPA 
requires meetings held to implement a Voluntary Agreement or Plan of 
Action be open to the public.\5\ However, attendance may be limited if 
the Sponsor \6\ of the Voluntary Agreement, in this case the FEMA 
Administrator, finds that the matter to be discussed at a meeting falls 
within the purview of matters described in 5 U.S.C. 552b(c). The FEMA 
Administrator has found that the portion of the meeting dedicated to 
achieving meeting objective 4, finalizing the first Plan of Action 
under the Voluntary Agreement, falls within the purview of matters 
described in 5 U.S.C. 552b(c) and should therefore be closed to the 
public.
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    \5\ See 50 U.S.C. 4558(h)(7).
    \6\ ``[T]he individual designated by the President in subsection 
(c)(2) [of section 708 of the DPA] to administer the voluntary 
agreement, or plan of action.'' 50 U.S.C. 4558(h)(7).
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    Specifically, finalizing the Plan of Action may require Plan of 
Action Participants from the private sector to disclose trade secrets 
or commercial or financial information that is privileged or 
confidential. Disclosure of such information allows for a meeting to be 
closed pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(4). In addition, the success of the 
Voluntary Agreement depends on willing and enthusiastic participation 
of the private sector. If sensitive information that was shared during 
Plan of Action development were released, some or all of the 
Participants would likely withdraw their support from the Voluntary 
Agreement, which would significantly frustrate the implementation of 
the Voluntary Agreement and proposed Plan of Action. Frustration of an 
agency's objective due to premature disclosure of information allows 
for the closure of a meeting to pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(9)(B).

Pete Gaynor,
Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2020-22419 Filed 10-7-20; 8:45 am]
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