Notice of Indirect Cost Rates for the Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program for Fiscal Year 2020, 26275-26276 [2023-09008]
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 82 / Friday, April 28, 2023 / Notices
as amended, 5 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.,
notice is hereby given that the VCAT
will meet on Tuesday, June 13, 2023,
from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern
Time. The meeting will be open to the
public. The VCAT is composed of not
fewer than 9 members appointed by the
NIST Director, eminent in such fields as
business, research, new product
development, engineering, labor,
education, management consulting,
environment, and international
relations. The primary purpose of this
meeting is for the VCAT to review and
make recommendations regarding
general policy for NIST, its organization,
its budget, and its programs within the
framework of applicable national
policies as set forth by the President and
the Congress. The agenda will include
an update on major programs at NIST.
It will also include discussions on the
NIST budget and administration
priorities, an update on the NIST Safety
Culture, and next steps for each of the
three subcommittees: Subcommittee on
Alignment of Manufacturing Efforts,
Subcommittee on Visibility
Improvement, and Subcommittee on
Workforce Development Efforts, based
on their previous recommendations to
NIST. The agenda is subject to change
if needed to accommodate Committee
business. The final agenda will be
posted on the NIST website at https://
www.nist.gov/director/vcat/agenda.cfm.
Individuals and representatives of
organizations who would like to offer
comments and suggestions related to the
Committee’s business are invited to
request a place on the agenda by no later
than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Tuesday,
June 6, 2023 by contacting Stephanie
Shaw at stephanie.shaw@nist.gov.
Approximately one-half hour will be
reserved for public comments and
speaking times will be assigned on a
first-come, first-served basis. The
amount of time per speaker will be
determined by the number of requests
received but, is likely to be about 3
minutes each. The exact time and date
for public comments will be included in
the final agenda that will be posted on
the NIST website at https://
www.nist.gov/director/vcat/agenda.cfm.
Questions from the public will not be
considered during this period. Speakers
who wish to expand upon their oral
statements, those who had wished to
speak but could not be accommodated
on the agenda, and those who were
unable to attend in person or via
webinar are invited to submit written
statements to Stephanie Shaw at
stephanie.shaw@nist.gov.
For participants attending via
webinar, please contact Ms. Shaw at
stephanie.shaw@nist.gov for detailed
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:44 Apr 27, 2023
Jkt 259001
instructions on how to join the webinar
by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Tuesday,
June 6, 2023. For participants wishing to
attend in person, please submit your
name, time of arrival, email address,
and phone number to Stephanie Shaw,
stephanie.shaw@nist.gov by 5:00 p.m.
Eastern Time, Tuesday, June 6, 2023.
For detailed information please contact
Ms. Shaw at stephanie.shaw@nist.gov.
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 278, as amended,
and the Federal Advisory Committee
Act, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.
Alicia Chambers,
NIST Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2023–08975 Filed 4–27–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–13–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Notice of Indirect Cost Rates for the
Damage Assessment, Remediation,
and Restoration Program for Fiscal
Year 2020
Office of Response and
Restoration (ORR), National Ocean
Service, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of indirect cost rates for
the Damage Assessment, Remediation,
and Restoration Program for Fiscal Year
2020.
AGENCY:
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) 2020. 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 CONTACT:
LaTonya Burgess, Deputy Director,
NOAA Office of Response and
Restoration, by phone at 206–491–1369
or by 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
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00027
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
26275
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: 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 Register 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
E:\FR\FM\28APN1.SGM
28APN1
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
26276
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 82 / Friday, April 28, 2023 / Notices
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 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 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 FR 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
through FY 2019. Empirical reaffirmed
that the Direct Labor Cost Base is the
most appropriate indirect allocation
method for the development of the FY
2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 indirect cost
rates. The Federal Register notice for
these rates can be found at the
following:
• FY 2016 and FY 2017, published on
October 16, 2019 (84 FR 55283)
• FY 2018, published on August 5, 2020
(85 FR 47358)
• FY 2019, published on August 24,
2021 (86 FR 47300)
Empirical Concepts developed the
DARRP indirect rates for FY 2020 and
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:44 Apr 27, 2023
Jkt 259001
reaffirmed the Direct Labor Cost Base as
the most appropriate indirect allocation
for the development of the FY 2020
indirect cost rates.
The DARRP’s Indirect Cost Rates and
Policies
The DARRP will apply the indirect
cost rates for FY 2020 as recommended
by Empirical Concepts for each of the
DARRP component organizations as
provided in the following table:
FY 2020
indirect
rate
(%)
DARRP
component organization
Office of Response and Restoration
(ORR) ..................................................
Restoration Center (RC) .........................
General Counsel Natural Resources
Section (GCNRS) ................................
128.19
77.13
42.98
The FY 2020 rates will be applied to
all damage assessment and restoration
case costs incurred between October 1,
2019 and September 30, 2020 effective
May 1, 2023. DARRP will use the FY
2020 indirect cost rates for future fiscal
years, beginning with FY 2021, 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. 2023–09008 Filed 4–27–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–JE–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XC909]
Pacific Fishery Management Council;
Public Meeting
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
AGENCY:
PO 00000
Frm 00028
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
ACTION:
Notice of public meeting.
The Pacific Fishery
Management Council’s (Pacific Council)
Ad Hoc Ecosystem Workgroup (EWG) is
holding an online meeting, which is
open to the public.
SUMMARY:
The online meeting will be held
Monday, May 15, 2023, from 10 a.m. to
2:30 p.m. and Wednesday, May 17,
2023, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
DATES:
This meeting will be held
online. Specific meeting information,
including directions on how to join the
meeting and system requirements will
be provided in the meeting
announcement on the Pacific Council’s
website (see www.pcouncil.org). You
may send an email to Mr. Kris
Kleinschmidt (kris.kleinschmidt@
noaa.gov) or contact him at (503) 820–
2412 for technical assistance.
Council address: Pacific Fishery
Management Council, 7700 NE
Ambassador Place, Suite 101, Portland,
OR 97220–1384.
ADDRESSES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kit
Dahl, Staff Officer, Pacific Council;
telephone: (503) 820–2422.
The EWG
presented a proposed workplan for the
Fishery Ecosystem Plan Ecosystem and
Climate Information Initiative (Initiative
4), which the Council endorsed. Under
this initiative, in the near term the EWG
will develop risk tables and related
methodologies to integrate ecosystem
and climate information into Council
decision-making on harvest
specifications for petrale sole and
possibly other species. In addition to
petrale sole, the Council also asked the
EWG to consider development of related
methodologies for sablefish, Pacific
sardine, and Chinook salmon. The EWG
will present draft risk tables and related
methodologies to the Council at its
September meeting. Risk tables are a
structured approach to integrate
ecosystem and climate information into
the decision-making process. At its
meeting the EWG will begin developing
risk tables and related methodologies for
selected species in consultation with
members of the Council’s Groundfish
Management Team. The EWG also may
discuss and begin planning potential
initiative-related activities following the
September Council meeting.
Although non-emergency issues not
contained in the meeting agenda may be
discussed, those issues may not be the
subject of formal action during this
meeting. Action will be restricted to
those issues specifically listed in this
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
E:\FR\FM\28APN1.SGM
28APN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 82 (Friday, April 28, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26275-26276]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09008]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Notice of Indirect Cost Rates for the Damage Assessment,
Remediation, and Restoration Program for Fiscal Year 2020
AGENCY: Office of Response and Restoration (ORR), National Ocean
Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of indirect cost rates for the Damage Assessment,
Remediation, and Restoration Program for Fiscal Year 2020.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: 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) 2020. 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 CONTACT: LaTonya Burgess, Deputy Director, NOAA
Office of Response and Restoration, by phone at 206-491-1369 or by
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: 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 Register 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
[[Page 26276]]
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 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 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 FR 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
through FY 2019. Empirical reaffirmed that the Direct Labor Cost Base
is the most appropriate indirect allocation method for the development
of the FY 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 indirect cost rates. The Federal
Register notice for these rates can be found at the following:
FY 2016 and FY 2017, published on October 16, 2019 (84 FR
55283)
FY 2018, published on August 5, 2020 (85 FR 47358)
FY 2019, published on August 24, 2021 (86 FR 47300)
Empirical Concepts developed the DARRP indirect rates for FY 2020
and reaffirmed the Direct Labor Cost Base as the most appropriate
indirect allocation for the development of the FY 2020 indirect cost
rates.
The DARRP's Indirect Cost Rates and Policies
The DARRP will apply the indirect cost rates for FY 2020 as
recommended by Empirical Concepts for each of the DARRP component
organizations as provided in the following table:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2020
DARRP component organization indirect
rate (%)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Office of Response and Restoration (ORR)..................... 128.19
Restoration Center (RC)...................................... 77.13
General Counsel Natural Resources Section (GCNRS)............ 42.98
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The FY 2020 rates will be applied to all damage assessment and
restoration case costs incurred between October 1, 2019 and September
30, 2020 effective May 1, 2023. DARRP will use the FY 2020 indirect
cost rates for future fiscal years, beginning with FY 2021, 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. 2023-09008 Filed 4-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-JE-P
