National Aeronautics and Space Administration – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, as amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a meeting of the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Regulatory Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement concerning Indirect Cost Rates.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a previously approved information collection requirement regarding Authorized Negotiators.

This document is issued under the joint authority of the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of General Services and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This Small Entity Compliance Guide has been prepared in accordance with Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. It consists of a summary of rules appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-37 which amend the FAR. Interested parties may obtain further information regarding these rules by referring to FAC 2005-37 which precedes this document. These documents are also available via the Internet at https://www.regulations.gov.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to reflect reissuance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) National Response Plan (NRP). On January 22, 2008, FEMA reissued the NRP as the National Response Framework (NRF). In addition, the term ``Incident of National Significance'' was eliminated. These changes became effective on March 22, 2008.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are issuing an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement section 868 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009. Section 868 provides that purchases of commercial services that are not offered and sold competitively in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace may only be considered commercial items for the purposes of the FAR if the contracting officer determines in writing that the offeror has submitted sufficient information to evaluate, through price analysis, the reasonableness of the price of such services.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement section 862 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (Pub. L. 110-417) and Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) Administrator's memorandum of May 31, 2007. The rule limits the length of contracts awarded noncompetitively under unusual and compelling urgency circumstances to the minimum contract period necessary to meet the requirements, and no longer than one year, unless the head of the agency determines that exceptional circumstances apply.

This document summarizes the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rules agreed to by the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council in this Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-37. A companion document, the Small Entity Compliance Guide (SECG), follows this FAC. The FAC, including the SECG, is available via the Internet at https://www.regulations.gov.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, as amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a public teleconference of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee. The agenda topics for the meeting include:

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, as amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announce a forthcoming meeting of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel.

This notice is issued in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 2459f-1 (d). The 2009 Astronaut Glove Challenge is now scheduled, and teams that wish to compete may now register. The NASA Centennial Challenges Program is a program of prize contests to stimulate innovation and competition in technologies of interest and value to NASA and the nation. The 2009 Astronaut Glove Challenge is a prize contest designed to promote the development of glove materials and joint technology, resulting in a highly dexterous and flexible glove that can be used by astronauts over long periods of time for space or planetary surface excursions.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Earth Science Subcommittee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). This Subcommittee reports to the Science Committee of the NAC. The Meeting will be held for the purpose of soliciting from the scientific community and other persons scientific and technical information relevant to program planning.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Planetary Science Subcommittee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). This Subcommittee reports to the Science Committee of the NAC. The Meeting will be held for the purpose of soliciting from the scientific community and other persons scientific and technical information relevant to program planning.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve a reinstatement of a previously approved information collection requirement concerning Make-or-Buy Program. Requests for public comments were published in the Federal Register at 74 FR 32164, July 7, 2007. No comments were received.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement concerning extraordinary contractual action requests. A request for public comments was published at 74 FR 32165, July 7, 2009. No comments were received.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, NASA is giving notice that it proposes to retire the following Privacy Act system of records notice, Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Training Certification System (YC-04)/KSC 76STCS (October 1, 2007, 72 FR 55832) from its inventory of record systems and rely upon the Government-wide system of records notice issued by the Office of Personnel Management, OPM/Govt-1 General Personnel Records (June 19, 2006, 71 FR 35342), which is written to cover all Federal government training and certification records.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Astrophysics Subcommittee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). This Subcommittee reports to the Science Committee of the NAC. The Meeting will be held for the purpose of soliciting from the scientific community and other persons scientific and technical information relevant to program planning.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement concerning quality assurance requirements. A request for public comments was published at 74 FR 32166 on July 7, 2009. No comments were received.

This notice is issued in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209(c)(1) and 37 CFR 404.7(a)(1)(i). NASA hereby gives notice of its intent to grant a worldwide partially exclusive license to practice the inventions described and claimed in NASA Case Numbers LAR-16571-2 entitled ``Magnetic Field Response Sensor for Conductive Media,'' U.S. Patent Application Number 11/421,886; LAR-16571-3 entitled ``Magnetic Field Response Sensor for Conductive Media,'' U.S. Patent Application Number 12/533,520; LAR-16974-1 entitled ``Flexible Framework for Capacitive Sensing,'' U.S. Patent Number 7,047,807 B2; LAR-17116-1 entitled ``System and Method for Wirelessly Determining Fluid Volume,'' U.S. Patent Number 7,506,541 B2; LAR-17155-1 entitled ``Wireless Fluid Level Measuring System,'' U.S. Patent Number 7,255,004 B2; LAR-17294-1 entitled ``Wireless Sensing System Using Open-Circuit, Electrically- Conductive Spiral-Trace Sensor,'' U.S. Patent Application Number 11/ 671,089; LAR-17480-1 entitled ``Method of Calibrating a Fluid-Level Measurement System,'' U.S. Patent Application Number 11/930,222; LAR- 17480-1-PCT entitled ``Method of Calibrating a Fluid-Level Measurement System,'' PCT Patent Application Number PCT/US08/58332; LAR-17488-1 entitled ``Wireless Sensing System for Non-Invasive Monitoring of Attributes of Contents in a Container,'' U.S. Patent Application Number 12/015,626; and LAR-17488-1-PCT entitled ``Wireless Sensing System for Non-Invasive Monitoring of Attributes of Contents in a Container,'' PCT Patent Application Number PCT/US08/51258 to Kelvin International Corporation having its principal place of business in Newport News, Virginia. The field of use may be limited to cryogenic liquid product applications including flow, level, and fluid measurement applications. The patent rights have been assigned to the United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The prospective partially exclusive license will comply with the terms and conditions of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to establish procedures for contracting officers to provide contractor information into the Past Performance Information System (PPIRS). This case sets forth requirements for reporting defective cost or pricing data and terminations for cause or default. Evaluation of past performance information, especially terminations, manages risks associated with timely, effective and cost efficient completion of contracts, a key objective of the President's March 4, 2009, Memorandum on Government Contracting.

This notice is issued in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 2459f-1(d). The 2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge is now scheduled and teams that wish to compete may now register. The NASA Centennial Challenges is a program of prize contests to stimulate innovation and competition in technologies of interest and value to NASA and the nation. The Regolith Excavation Challenge promotes the development of new methods and technologies to excavate lunar regolith (lunar dirt). Excavation is a necessary step towards lunar resource utilization. The unique physical properties of lunar regolith make excavation an extremely difficult technical challenge. To qualify to win a prize, teams competing in the 2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge must build tele-robotic and/or autonomously operating systems that will excavate simulated lunar regolith and deliver it to a collector.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement Executive Order (E.O.) 13502, Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects. The comment period is being reopened for an additional 30 days to provide additional time for interested parties to review the proposed FAR changes.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation, Regulatory Secretariat (VPR) will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to reinstate a previously approved information collection requirement concerning Integrity of Unit Prices.