Bureau of Industry and Security 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is amending the microprocessor military end-use and end-user control in the Export Administration Regulations by expanding the scope of microprocessors subject to the restriction to harmonize with technological advances to microprocessor chips and expand the scope to include related software and technology for the development and production of these chips. In addition, this rule adds a prohibition on the use of license exceptions (including License Exception ENC) and otherwise expands license requirements for exports, reexports, or transfers (in-country) of microprocessors subject to the military end-use and end-user restriction. This expansion is consistent with the foreign policy objectives of the United States of preventing U.S. exports that might contribute to destabilizing military capabilities against the United States and its citizens. The foreign policy report explaining the expansion was sent to Congress on December 1, 2014. This rule also expands the scope of controls to cover in-country transfers, in order to control in-country transfers to prohibited military end users or end uses. BIS is also making editorial and format revisions to this section to improve clarity.

In this rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to revise the existing authorization for Validated End User (VEU) Lam Research Service Co., Ltd. (Lam) in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Specifically, BIS amends Supplement No. 7 to part 748 of the EAR to change two addresses for Lam's eligible facilities (also known as ``eligible destinations''), remove two existing facilities, and add eight eligible facilities.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is seeking public comments on the impact that implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), through the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act (CWCIA) and the Chemical Weapons Convention Regulations (CWCR), has had on commercial activities involving ``Schedule 1'' chemicals during calendar year 2014. The purpose of this notice of inquiry is to collect information to assist BIS in its preparation of the annual certification to the Congress on whether the legitimate commercial activities and interests of chemical, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical firms are being harmed by such implementation. This certification is required under Condition 9 of Senate Resolution 75, April 24, 1997, in which the Senate gave its advice and consent to the ratification of the CWC.

This final rule makes clarifications and corrections to an interim final rule that was published on May 13, 2014. The May 13 rule added controls to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) for spacecraft and related items that the President has determined no longer warrant control under United States Munitions List (USML) Category XVspacecraft and related items. New Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) 9A515, 9B515, 9D515, and 9E515 created by the May 13 rule and existing ECCNs on the Commerce Control List (CCL) will control such items. The May 13 rule also revised various sections of the EAR to provide the proper level of control for the new ECCNs. The vast majority of the changes included in the May 13 rule have been implemented as published in the interim final rule, so those change are not republished in this final rule. A full description of those changes can be found in the Background section and the regulatory text of the May 13 rule. The changes included in this final rule are limited to corrections and clarifications to what was included in the interim final rule. These corrections and clarifications were also informed by comments received in response to the May 13 rule that included a request for comments.

In response to the Venezuelan military's violent repression of the Venezuelan people, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) in this final rule to impose license requirements on the export, reexport, or transfer (in- country) of certain items to or within Venezuela when intended for a military end use or end user. This change complements an existing U.S. arms embargo against Venezuela for its failure to cooperate in areas of counterterrorism.

In this rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to impose foreign policy controls on read-out integrated circuits and related ``software'' and ``technology,'' radar for helicopter autonomous landing systems, seismic intrusion detection systems and related ``software'' and ``technology'', and ``technology'' ``required'' for the ``development'' or ``production'' of specified infrared up-conversion devices. The read-out integrated circuits and related ``technology'' are controlled under new Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) on the Commerce Control List. An existing ECCN has been amended to control the related ``software'' for those items. New paragraphs have been added to certain existing ECCNs to control radar for helicopter autonomous landing systems, seismic intrusion detection systems, and the ``technology,'' as mentioned, for specified infrared up-conversion devices. Specified existing ``software'' and ``technology'' ECCNs have been amended to apply to helicopter autonomous landing systems and seismic intrusion detection systems. The items are controlled for regional stability reasons Column 1 (RS Column 1) and Column 2 (RS Column 2), and antiterrorism reasons Column 1 (AT Column 1). The Departments of Commerce, State and Defense have determined that imposition of these license requirements protects U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. Specifically, those agencies have determined that the items described in this rule have civilian applications but also warrant immediate controls under the EAR because of their potential military applications.

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 4314(c)(4), the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Department of Commerce (DOC), announce the appointment of those individuals who have been selected to serve as members of BIS's Performance Review Board. The Performance Review Board is responsible for (1) reviewing performance appraisals and rating of Senior Executive Service (SES) members and (2) making recommendations to the appointing authority on other performance management issues, such as pay adjustments, bonuses and Presidential Rank Awards for SES members. The appointment of these members to the Performance Review Board will be for a period of twenty-four (24) months.

This final rule amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to impose additional sanctions implementing U.S. policy toward Russia. Specifically, in this rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the EAR by adding ten entries to the Entity List. The persons who are added to the Entity List have been determined by the U.S. Government to be acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States. These persons will be listed on the Entity List under the destination of Russia. BIS is also amending the EAR to impose license requirements for items destined to Russia when those items are intended for a military end use or military end user.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a final rule in the Federal Register on Thursday, August 7, 2014 (79 FR 46316), that amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement the understandings reached at the 2005, 2012, and 2013 Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) Plenary meetings. That final rule also amended the EAR to implement a decision adopted under the NSG intersessional silent approval procedures, in December 2009, and to reflect the status of Croatia, Estonia, Iceland, Lithuania, Malta, Mexico, and Serbia as participating countries in the NSG. In that final rule, the amendatory instruction for the EAR supplement that lists ``Country Groups'' contained an error with respect to Mexico. In addition, the amendments to Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) 6A203 in the August 7, 2014, final rule inadvertently omitted the controls that apply to certain radiation-hardened TV cameras and lenses therefor. This document amends the EAR to correct these errors. Finally, the contact information in the preamble of the August 7, 2014, NSG Plenary rule contained an incorrect telephone number and the saving clause in the preamble omitted specific instructions concerning certain items newly controlled under ECCN 3A225. This document amends the preamble of the August 7, 2014, NSG Plenary rule to correct these errors.

BIS is seeking public comments on the effect of existing foreign policy-based export controls in the Export Administration Regulations. BIS is requesting public comments to conduct consultations with U.S. industries. Section 6 of the Export Administration Act (EAA) requires BIS to consult with industry on the effect of such controls and to report the results of the consultations to Congress. Comments from all interested persons are welcome. All comments will be made available for public inspection and copying and included in a report to be submitted to Congress.

The purpose of this notice is to advise the public that the National Defense Stockpile Market Impact Committee, co-chaired by the Departments of Commerce and State, is seeking public comments on the potential market impact of the proposed Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Stockpile Annual Materials Plan. The role of the Market Impact Committee is to advise the National Defense Stockpile Manager on the projected domestic and foreign economic effects of all acquisitions and disposals involving the stockpile and related material research and development projects. Public comments are an important element of the Committee's market impact review process.

The Department of Commerce, 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.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is correcting certain provisions of the Export Administration Regulations that were amended by two final rules appearing in the Federal Register on June 5, 2014 and on May 13, 2014. Both rules amended a number of the same provisions of the Export Administration Regulations, and certain language was either removed or changed inadvertently. This final rule corrects those provisions to accurately reflect the revisions made by both rules.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is publishing this final rule to amend the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement the understandings reached at the 2005 Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) Plenary meeting held in Oslo, Norway; the 2012 NSG Plenary meeting held in Seattle, Washington; and the 2013 NSG Plenary meeting held in Prague, Czech Republic. This rule also implements a decision adopted under the NSG intersessional silent approval procedures in December 2009. Accordingly, this rule amends certain entries in Category 1 (``Special Materials and Related Equipment''), Category 2 (``Materials Processing''), Category 3 (``Electronics''), and Category 6 (``Sensors and Lasers'') of the Commerce Control List (CCL) to reflect changes in the Annex to the NSG ``Guidelines for the Transfer of Nuclear-Related Dual-Use Equipment, Materials, Software and Related Technology'' (the NSG Annex) based on the understandings reached at the 2005, 2012, and 2013 NSG Plenary meetings and the aforementioned 2009 NSG intersessional decision. Consistent with the 2005 NSG understandings, this rule also amends the export licensing policies in the EAR that apply to items that require a license for nuclear nonproliferation (NP) reasons, or as a result of certain nuclear end- users or end-uses, by adding an additional factor that must be considered by BIS when it reviews license applications involving such items, end-users, and/or end-uses. The 2012 and 2013 NSG Plenary understandings are a continuation of the fundamental review of the NSG control lists that was launched at the 2010 NSG Plenary meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand. Finally, this rule amends the EAR to reflect the status of Croatia, Estonia, Iceland, Lithuania, Malta, Mexico, and Serbia as participating countries in the NSG, first, by adding these countries to the list of participating countries in the definition of ``Nuclear Suppliers Group'' and to Country Group A:4 (Nuclear Suppliers Group countries) and, second, by removing the license requirements for exports and reexports to these countries of certain items controlled for nuclear nonproliferation (NP) reasons.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) maintains, as part of its Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the Commerce Control List (CCL), which identifies certain of the items subject to Department of Commerce jurisdiction. This final rule revises the CCL to implement changes made to the Wassenaar Arrangement's List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (Wassenaar List) maintained and agreed to by governments participating in the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (Wassenaar Arrangement, or WA) at the December 2013 WA Plenary Meeting (the Plenary). The Wassenaar Arrangement advocates implementation of effective export controls on strategic items with the objective of improving regional and international security and stability. This rule harmonizes the CCL with the changes made to the WA List at the Plenary by revising Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) controlled for national security reasons in each category of the CCL, as well as amending the General Technology Note, WA reporting requirements, and definitions section in the EAR. However, BIS intends to publish a separate rule in September setting forth changes to the CCL resulting from the WA agreements for cybersecurity. These changes agreed to at the Plenary include raising the Adjusted Peak Performance (APP) for digital computers in ECCN 4A003. The President's report for High Performance Computers was sent to Congress on July 1, 2014 to set forth the new APP in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY1998. This rule also makes corresponding revisions to the de minimis rule, and post shipment verification reporting requirements in the Export Administration Regulations. This rule also extends the controls on specified fly-by-wire source code software and technology until June 20, 2015, as BIS continues to negotiate for multilateral controls for this software and technology. This rule also revises the license requirements for Mexico on the Commerce Country Chart, because of its recent membership in multiple multilateral export control regimes. In addition, this rule makes changes to the EAR resulting from previous rules issued as part of BIS's export control reform initiative and makes minor editorial corrections to the CCL.