Department of Defense 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (5 U.S.C., Appendix, as amended), the Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976 (5 U.S.C. 552b, as amended), and 41 CFR 102-3, announcement is made of the forthcoming meeting. Name of Committee: Chief of Engineers Environmental Advisory Board (EAB). Date: September 11, 2013. Time: 9:00 a.m. through 12:00 p.m. Location: Room 3K10, Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Building, 441 G Street NW., Washington, DC 20548-0002, Phone: (202) 512-6000. Purpose of the Meeting and Agenda: The Board will advise the Chief of Engineers on environmental policy, identification and resolution of environmental issues and missions, and addressing challenges, problems and opportunities in an environmentally sustainable manner. Discussions and presentations during this meeting will include flow management for sustainable river ecosystems; Corps' outreach opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education; and introduction of a multi-year work plan for the Board. The Board will also briefly discuss recent site visits and completed letter reports. Following Board discussions and presentations there will be a public comment period. Public's Accessibility to the Meeting: This meeting will be open to the public. Anyone attending the meeting must enter and exit at the G Street visitors entrance of the GAO Building, present a valid form of government issued photo identification (e.g., drivers license, state- issued photo ID, or passport), and pass through the security screening station. All visitors must be escorted while in the building. The GAO Building is accessible to persons with disabilities. Attendees need to arrive in time to complete the security screening and arrive at the meeting room before 9:00 a.m. Seating will be limited and on a first- come basis. The Committee's Designated Federal Officer (DFO) and Point of Contact: Mr. John C. Furry, Phone: (202) 761-5875, or email john.c.furry@usace.army.mil

The Department of the Navy hereby gives notice of its intent to grant to Ridgetop Group, Inc. located at 3580 West Ina Road, Tucson, AZ 85741, a revocable, nonassignable, partially exclusive license in the United States to practice for all fields of use the Government- Owned invention described in U.S. Patent No. 7,626,398: System for Isolating Faults Between Electrical Equipment, Navy Case Number 97027, inventors Quiter et al., issued December 01, 2009.

In this proposed rule, the Department of Defense (DoD) discusses new policy, responsibilities, and procedures for the operation of voluntary education programs within DoD. The new policies discussed in the rule include the following. All educational institutions providing education programs through the DoD Tuition Assistance (TA) Program will provide meaningful information to students about the financial cost and attendance at an institution so military students can make informed decisions on where to attend school; not use unfair, deceptive, and abusive recruiting practices; and provide academic and student support services to Service members and their families. New criteria are created to strengthen existing procedures for access to military installations by educational institutions. An annual review and notification process is required if there are changes made to the uniform semester-hour (or equivalent) TA caps and annual TA ceilings. Military Departments will be required to provide their Service members with a joint services transcript (JST). The DoD Postsecondary Education Complaint System is implemented for Service members, spouses, and adult family members to register student complaints. The Military Departments are authorized to establish Service-specific TA eligibility criteria and management controls.

The Department of Defense is publishing the unclassified text of a section 36(b)(1) arms sales notification. This is published to fulfill the requirements of section 155 of Public Law 104-164 dated July 21, 1996.

The Air Force is issuing this notice to advise the public of its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The Gulf Regional Airspace Strategic Initiative (GRASI) Landscape Initiative (GLI) is a U.S Air Force-led partnership with the State of Florida and other state and federal agencies to expand the capacity of the region to safely host military test and training operations. Under the GLI EIS, the Air Force's Proposed Action is to utilize Blackwater River State Forest (BRSF) and Tate's Hell State Forest (THSF) for establishing helicopter landing and drop zones, airstrips, and a number of different land and air training activities which currently occur within the interstitial (areas between designated test/ training sites) areas of the Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) Range. The Air Force is also proposing to establish up to 12 radar, telemetry, and training emitter sites throughout northwest Florida. The emitter sites would support development of an integrated air defense system, which would provide unique, viable, and robust air training. Scoping: In order to effectively define the full range of issues to be evaluated in the EIS, the Air Force will determine the scope (i.e. what will be covered and in what detail) by soliciting comments from interested state and federal agencies and interested members of the public through the Federal Register and various media in the local communities near the Proposed Action. The Air Force will also hold a series of scoping meetings to further solicit input regarding the scope of the proposed action and any reasonable alternatives.

Under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (5 U.S.C., Appendix, as amended), the Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976 (5 U.S.C. 552b, as amended), and 41 CFR 102-3.150, the Department of Defense announces that the following Federal advisory committee meeting will take place: Name of Committee: Board on Coastal Engineering Research. Date of Meeting: September 4-6, 2013. Place: Atlantic Ballroom, Ocean Place Resort and Spa, One Ocean Boulevard, Long Branch, NJ 07740. Time: 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (September 4, 2013). 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (September 5, 2013). 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (September 6, 2013). Purpose of the Meeting: The purpose of the meeting is to explore impacts due to Hurricane Sandy on the water resources infrastructure and coastlines of North Atlantic Division and discuss research needs associated with sustaining resilient coastal communities and systems through risk reduction, regional sediment management, and ecosystem restoration activities. Agenda: Presentations and panel presentations on Wednesday morning, September 4, will include a Charge to the Board by the Chief of Engineers and panel presentations dealing with Hurricane Sandy: Response and Recovery. Presentations dealing with Response include Forecasting Hurricane Sandy, State of New Jersey Response to Hurricane Sandy, New York City Response to Hurricane Sandy, and National Hurricane Program. Presentations dealing with Recovery (Part 1) include Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force and Hurricane Sandy Coastal Projects Performance Evaluation Study. There will be an optional field trip Wednesday afternoon to visit Sea Bright, Union Beach, Mantoloking, and Ortley Beach. On Thursday, September 5, 2013, there will be panel presentations dealing with Hurricane Sandy: Recovery (Part 2) and Hurricane Sandy: Resilience. Presentations dealing with Hurricane Sandy: Recovery include Coastal Breach Closures, Addressing Post-Storm Beach Repair Challenges, The Port Authority of New York/New Jersey Recovery Operations, and Science and Technology Solutions that Supported Response and Recovery. Presentations dealing with Hurricane Sandy: Resilience include USACE North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study; Innovative Approach to Coastal System Resilience; Recommendation to Improve the Strength and Resilience of the Empire State's Infrastructure; Making Coastal Communities Resilient; Coastal Resilience, a Municipality Perspective; and A Framework for Quantifying Resilient Coastal Systems. There will be a luncheon speaker to discuss Improving Resilience to Coastal Storms for the City of New York. The Board will meet in Executive Session to discuss ongoing initiatives and ongoing and future actions on Friday morning, September 6, 2013. Public Participation: Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b and 41 CFR 102- 3.140 through 102-3.165, and the availability of space, the Board on Coastal Engineering Research meeting is open to the public. Participation by the public is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 5, 2013. The entire meeting and field trip are open to the public, but since seating capacity is limited, advance notice of attendance is required. Oral participation by public attendees is encouraged during the time scheduled on the agenda; written statements may be submitted to the Federal Designated Officer for the Board on Coastal Engineering Research prior to the meeting or up to 30 days after the meeting and addressed to COL Jeffrey R. Eckstein, Designated Federal Officer and Executive Secretary, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Waterways Experiment Station, 3909 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg, MS 39180-6199, phone 601-634-2513, or Jeffrey.R.Eckstein@usace.army.mil.

This Final Rule implements for Sole Community Hospitals (SCHs) the statutory provision at title 10, United States Code (U.S.C.), section 1079(j)(2) that TRICARE payment methods for institutional care be determined, to the extent practicable, in accordance with the same reimbursement rules as those that apply to payments to providers of services of the same type under Medicare. This Final Rule implements a reimbursement methodology similar to that applicable to Medicare beneficiaries for inpatient services provided by SCHs. It will be phased in over a several-year period. This Final Rule also provides for special reimbursement for labor/delivery and nursery services in SCHs and creates a possible General Temporary Military Contingency Payment Adjustment (GTMCPA) for inpatient services in SCHs and for Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).

This proposed rule would establish an exception to the usual rule that TRICARE Prime enrollment fees are uniform for the group of retirees and their dependents. Survivors and medically retired members are part of the retiree group under TRICARE rules. This exception would allow Survivors of Active Duty Deceased Sponsors and Medically Retired Uniformed Services Members and their Dependents enrolled in Prime to be exempt from future increases in TRICARE Prime enrollment fees. The Prime beneficiaries in these categories prior to 10/1/2013 would have their annual enrollment fee frozen at their current annual rate (FY 2011 rate $230 per single or $460 per family, FY 2012 rate $260 or $520, or the FY 2013 rate $269.38 or $538.56). The beneficiaries added to these categories on or after 10/1/2013 would have their fee frozen at the rate in effect at the time they are classified in either category and enroll in Prime or, if not enrolling, at the rate in effect at the time of enrollment. The fee remains frozen as long as at least one family member remains enrolled in Prime and there is not a break in enrollment. The fee charged for the dependent(s) of a Medically Retired Uniformed Services Member would not change if the dependent(s) was later re-classified a Survivor.

The Department of Defense is publishing the unclassified text of a section 36(b)(1) arms sales notification. This is published to fulfill the requirements of section 155 of Public Law 104-164 dated July 21, 1996.

The Department of Defense is publishing the unclassified text of a section 36(b)(1) arms sales notification. This is published to fulfill the requirements of section 155 of Public Law 104-164 dated July 21, 1996.

DoD is proposing to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to create an overarching prescription for the set of contract financing related clauses with one or more alternates. The rule also proposes to add a separate prescription for the basic clause as well as the alternate. In addition, the proposed rule would include the full text of the clause alternate.

DoD is issuing a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement a revision by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to the list of least developed countries that are designated countries under the Trade Agreements Act of 1979.

The U.S. Air Force is issuing this notice to advise the public of an extension to the public comment period on the environmental impact statement on the proposed relocation of the 18th Aggressor Squadron to Joint Base Elmendord-Richardson, Alaska. The initial Notice of Availability published in the Federal Register on May 31, 2013 (78 FR 32645), and established a public comment period from May 31 through August 2, 2013. The Air Force has extended the deadline for submitting public comments to August 30, 2013. All substantive comments received by August 30, 2013 will be addressed in the Public Comment Section of the Final EIS. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please direct any written comments or requests for information to Mr. Allen Richmond, AFCEC/CZN, 2261 Hughes Ave, Ste 155, Lackland AFB, TX 78236-9853.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement provisions of law limiting the periods allowed for contractor comments on past performance evaluations and making past performance evaluations available to source selection officials sooner.

The Defense Intelligence Agency is proposing to alter a system of records in its existing inventory of records systems subject to the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended.

The Department of the Navy hereby gives notice of its intent to grant to Safe Environment Engineering a revocable, nonassignable, exclusive license to practice Safe Environment Engineering's proprietary sensor systems for the field of use of public safety for protection from events involving chemical, biological or radiological (CBR) airborne plumes that could endanger the safety of the general public from significant danger, injury/harm, or damage; the field of use of industrial safety and monitoring to ensure plant and factory worker protection from hazards involving CBR airborne plumes that could cause injury to personnel; the field of use of environmental monitoring for the assessment of environmental impacts of CBR airborne plumes on the local environment in the United States, the Government-owned inventions described in U.S. Patent No. 7,542,884: System and Method for Zero Latency, High Fidelity Emergency Assessment of Airborne Chemical, Biological and Radiological Threats by Optimizing Sensor Placement, Navy Case No. 097,281.//U.S. Patent Application No. 13/ 629,842: Method for Depicting Plume Arrival Times, Navy Case No. 101,728 and any continuations, divisionals or re-issues thereof.

The Ocean Research Advisory Panel (ORAP) will hold a regularly scheduled meeting. The meeting will be open to the public.

Under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) of 1972 (5 U.S.C., Appendix, as amended), the Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976 (5 U.S.C. 552b, as amended), and 41 CFR 102-3.150, the Department of Defense (DoD) announces that the following Federal advisory committee meeting of the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force (``the Commission'') will take place.

The duties of the Task Force are to prepare and approve a plan for the use of the funds made available under Title VII to reduce siltation of the Missouri River in the State of North Dakota, develop and implement a long-term strategy to improve conservation, protect recreation from sedimentation, improve water quality, improve erosion control, and protect historic and cultural sites along the Missouri River in North Dakota from erosion, and to identify and develop new projects.

This document makes amendments to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) in order to make editorial changes.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement a revision by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to the list of least developed countries that are designated countries under the Trade Agreements Act of 1979.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to provide Governmentwide standardized past performance evaluation factors and performance rating categories and require that past performance information be entered into the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), the single Governmentwide past performance reporting system.