Department of Defense January 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with 37 CFR 404.6 and 404.7, announcement is made of the availability for licensing of the invention set forth in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/613,121 entitled ``Method of Prophylactically Treating Organophosphate Poisoning,'' filed September 24, 2004. Foreign rights are also available. The United States Government, as represented by the Secretary of the Army, has rights in this invention.

In accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7(a)(1)(i), announcement is made of the intent to grant an exclusive, royalty- bearing, revocable license within the geographic area of the United States of America and its territories and possessions to U.S. Patent 6,669,481, issued December 30, 2003 entitled ``Neurocognitive Assessment Apparatus And Method;'' Continuation-in-part U.S. Patent Application 10/614,758, filed July 8, 2003 entitled ``Automated Neurological Assessment Metrics (Anam);'' U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60/289,125, filed May 8, 2001 entitled ``Automated Neurological Assessment Metrics;'' U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60/663,765, filed March 22, 2005 entitled ``System, Method, And Computer Program Product For An Automated Neuropsychological Test;'' U.S. Patent Application 10/340,473, filed December 27, 2002, to The University of Oklahoma with its principal place of business at 350 David L. Boren Boulevard, Suite 1510, Norman, Oklahoma 73072-7264.

In accordance with 37 CFR 404.6, announcement is made of the availability for licensing of U.S. Patent No. US 6,981,339 entitled ``Article of Footwear with Temperature Regulation Means'' issued January 3, 2006. This patent has been assigned to the United States Government as represented by the Secretary of the Army.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) intend to prepare a joint project- level integrated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/Environmental Impact Report (EIR)/Feasibility Report, hereafter called the Report, to address the potential impacts of the first Interim Feasibility Study component of the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Study, San Francisco Bay, CA. This study is closely interrelated with the ongoing South Bay Salt Ponds Restoration Project, discussed in the Notice of Intent dated November 9, 2004. It will function as a project-level EIS/EIR tiered under that programmatic EIS/EIR and will be issued subsequently to the programmatic document. The California State Coastal Conservancy (Conservancy) will be the lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Federal Lead Agencies Proposed Actions and Related Programmatic EIS/EIR. The Corps, in cooperation with the USFWS, is proposing to study flood protection and ecosystem restoration for the Alviso portion of the South San Francisco Bay (South Bay) Salt Ponds and adjacent areas to determine whether there is a federal interest in constructing a project with flood protection and/or ecosystem restoration components in this area, and if so, to determine the optimum project to recommend to Congress for authorization. The Report will recommend a plan which will provide for long-term restoration for these salt ponds and adjacent areas as well as flood protection and recreation components, if these actions are justified under Federal criteria. The Report and its alternatives will be tiered to the programmatic EIS/EIR for the South Bay Salt Ponds Restoration Project. One public scoping meeting will be held to solicit comments on the environmental effects of the range of potential projects and the appropriate scope of the Report. The public is invited to comment during this meeting on environmental issues to be addressed in the Report.

The Department of the Army announces the availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) to full integrate the Overhills property into the Fort Bragg Training Program, Fort Bragg, Cumberland and Harnett Counties, NC. Presently, realistic training in Fort Bragg's Northern Training Area (NTA), one of Fort Bragg's largest training areas, is hampered by the two sets of training rules that govern training in the units. Though no physical barriers separate the Overhills training units, NTA V-VIII, from NTA units I-IV, the Overhills Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) limits the number of personnel and types of activities during training exercises, effectively creating a training barrier. Applying the same training regulation to the Overhills that governs training on the rest of the installation would allow Fort Bragg to full incorporate the Overhills into the installation's training program, and maximize training possibilities throughout the NTA.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement the increased thresholds for the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement and Free Trade Agreements.

This document is issued under the joint authority of the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of General Services and the Administrator for 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 rule appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-08 which amends the FAR. An asterisk (*) next to a rule indicates that a regulatory flexibility analysis has been prepared. Interested parties may obtain further information regarding this rule by referring to FAC 2005-08 which precedes this document. These documents are also available via the Internet at http:/ /www.acqnet.gov/far.

This document makes amendments to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) in order to make editorial corrections and updates the Federal Acquisition Regulation's authority citation.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to modify the language regarding advance notification requirements. This change is required to implement Section 842 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, Public Law 108-136, which resulted in revisions to 10 U.S.C. 2306(e).

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on an interim rule to implement Section 517 of Division H, Title V of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub. L. 108-447). Section 517 authorizes exemption from the Buy American Act for acquisitions of information technology that are commercial items.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to delete the Very Small Business Pilot Program. Under the pilot program, contracting officers were required to set-aside for very small business concerns certain acquisitions with an anticipated dollar value between $2,500 and $50,000. The Councils removed the FAR provisions because the legislative authority for the program terminated on September 30, 2003.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) by changing the terms ``performance-based contracting (PBC)'' and ``performance-based service contracting (PBSC)'' to ``performance-based acquisition (PBA)'' throughout the FAR; adding applicable PBA definitions of ``Performance Work Statement (PWS)'' and ``Statement of Objectives (SOO)'' and describing their uses; clarifying the order of precedence for requirements; eliminating redundancy where found; modifying the regulation to broaden the scope of PBA and give agencies more flexibility in applying PBA methods to contracts and orders of varying complexity; and reducing the burden of force-fitting contracts and orders into PBA, when it is not appropriate. The title of the rule has also been changed to reflect the deletion of ``service.''

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement changes to the Interstate Commerce Act, which abolished tariff-filing requirements for motor carriers of freight and the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). Also, the rule implements changes to the Federal Management Regulation that require use of commercial bills of lading for domestic shipments.