Department of Defense January 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), on February 28, 2013, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Sacramento District, initiated the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process to evaluate the effects of the proposed development of two Reservoir Islands (Bacon Island and Webb Tract) and to assist the Corps in deciding whether to approve Delta Wetlands Properties' application under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. On July 25, 2016, the applicant for the proposed project withdrew their application for a Department of the Army Permit. Therefore, the Corps is terminating the EIS process, and is issuing this Notice of Intent to withdraw the February 28, 2013, Notice of Intent to Prepare an SEIS.

The comment period for the Intent to Grant an Exclusive License of U.S. Government-Owned Patents published in the Federal Register on Friday, December 9, 2016 (81 FR 89087), required comments be postmarked on or before December 24, 2016 and again on January 23, 2017. The comment period has been extended to March 10, 2017.

The Jacksonville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is beginning preparation of a supplemental National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis for the Port Everglades Navigation Improvements Project. The Port Everglades Navigation Improvement Project is designed to address future growth of cargo being transported to southeast Florida on post-Panamax ships due to the completion of the Panama Canal expansion, and to ensure safe navigational conditions for those vessels, as well as vessels currently calling at Port Everglades. The Port Everglades Feasibility Study was authorized through House Document 126, 103rd Congress, 1st Session, and House Document 144, 93rd Congress, 1st Session and by a resolution of the House Committee on Transportation dated May 9, 1996. In response to the study authority, the feasibility study was initiated in 2001 and completed with the signature of a Chief's Report and Record of Decision in 2016. The final recommended project was authorized as part of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act signed December 2016. The non-federal sponsor for the project is Broward County. The primary federal objective is to provide for increased navigational safety, efficiency, and improved economic conditions while limiting impacts to the environment to the maximum extent practicable, in accordance with environmental statutes, applicable executive orders, and other federal planning requirements.

The 2017 Defense Science Board (DSB) Summer Study Task Force on Countering Anti-access Systems with Longer Range and Standoff Capabilities (``the Long Range Effects Summer Study Task Force'') will meet in closed session on Thursday, January 26, 2017, from 8:15 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Friday, January 27, 2017, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Strategic Analysis Inc. Executive Conference Center, 4075 Wilson Blvd., Suite 350, Arlington, VA.

Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974 notice is hereby given that the Department of the Army proposes to alter a system of records, A0350-1b TRADOC, entitled ``Army Career Tracker (ACT),'' last published at 76 FR 26714 on May 9, 2011. The Army Career Tracker (ACT) exists to enable Soldiers and Army civilians world-wide with career development and transition resources. ACT provides users with a more efficient and effective way to monitor their career development while allowing leaders to track and advise subordinates on personalized leadership development. As a leader development tool, it integrates data on training, education, and experiential learning from a number of source systems into one personalized and easy-to-use interface. ACT allows supervisors to track and advise employees on their leadership development and allows career program managers the ability to reach their geographically dispersed careerists. The Total Army Sponsorship Program is also administered through ACT. The sponsorship program provides Soldiers and Army civilians and their families with resources to facilitate their transition and/or relocation between commands and duty assignments. This alteration to the system of records notice incorporates the applicable DoD Routine Uses in the notice to provide clarity for the public. The categories of individuals has been updated to reflect the inclusion of Army Reserve, Guard, and Reserve Officer Training Corps personnel. The category of records was expanded to cover data that is collected and used in support of the Total Army Sponsorship Program. Further, the authorities were updated to cite the specific sections of the United States Code and identify the DoD issuances that implement the program. The purpose has been revised to clarify the use and description of these records. The systems that are data sources or interface with ACT have been denoted in the records source categories. Lastly, administrative corrections were made to the system location, retrievability, safeguards, system manager and address, notification and record access procedures, and contesting records procedures.

The Department of Defense has submitted to OMB for clearance, the following proposal for collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act.

The Department of Defense has submitted to OMB for clearance, the following proposal for collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act.

The Department of Defense is publishing this notice to announce that the following Federal Advisory Committee meeting of the Defense Health Board (DHB) will take place.

The Department of Defense is publishing this notice to announce a Federal Advisory Committee meeting of the Department of Defense Military Family Readiness Council (MFRC). This meeting will be open to the public.

The 2017 Defense Science Board (DSB) Summer Study Task Force on Nuclear Deterrence in the 21st Century's Multi-Polar, Multi-Threat Strategic Environment (``the Nuclear Deterrence Summer Study Task Force'') will meet in closed session on Tuesday, January 24, 2017, from 8:15 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Virginia Tech Advanced Research Center, 900 Glebe Road, 7th Floor, Arlington, VA and Wednesday, January 25, 2017, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Executive Conference Center, 4075 Wilson Blvd., Suite 350, Arlington, VA.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is publishing this notice to announce that it is terminating the Advisory Council on Dependents' Education.

The Department of Defense has submitted to OMB for clearance, the following proposal for collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act.

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

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement section 857 of the Carl Levin and Howard P. `Buck' McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015. This section provides additional requirements relative to the allowability of costs incurred by a contractor in connection with a Congressional investigation or inquiry.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement a section of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, that prohibits the use of funds, appropriated or otherwise made available, for a contract with an entity that requires employees or subcontractors to sign an internal confidentiality agreement that restricts such employees or subcontractors from lawfully reporting waste, fraud, or abuse to a designated Government representative authorized to receive such information.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to establish uniform use of line items in Federal procurement.

DoD announces an early engagement opportunity regarding implementation of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 within the acquisition regulations.

The Department of the Navy (DoN) is amending its certifications and exemptions under the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (72 COLREGS), to reflect that the Deputy Assistant Judge Advocate General (DAJAG) (Admiralty and Maritime Law) has determined that USS OMAHA (LCS 12) is a vessel of the Navy which, due to its special construction and purpose, cannot fully comply with certain provisions of the 72 COLREGS without interfering with its special function as a naval ship. The intended effect of this rule is to warn mariners in waters where 72 COLREGS apply.

The Department of the Navy (DoN), after carefully considering the environmental consequences of the proposed action, announces its decision to implement a project for the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater within the Lower Santa Margarita River (SMR) Basin. The DoN has selected the preferred alternative as identified in the 2016 Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/Environmental Impact Report (EIR). This alternative consists of construction and operation of new facilities for adaptive management of surface water and groundwater resources that would be achieved through the enhanced diversion of SMR surface waters to groundwater recharge ponds and the active use of groundwater aquifers for water storage. The proposed action would resolve the water rights disputes between the United States (on behalf of the Marine Corps) and Fallbrook Public Utility District (FPUD) and satisfy the United States District Court for the Southern District of California order to find a ``physical solution'' to the ongoing litigation in United States v. Fallbrook Public Utility District, et al. The Proposed Action would also efficiently meet the long-term water demands of Marine Corps Installations (MCI) West-MCB Camp Pendleton and FPUD, reduce FPUD's dependence on imported water, maintain watershed resources, and improve water supply reliability by managing the yield of the Lower SMR Basin. The DoN and Reclamation are the designated co-lead agencies for review of this project under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and FPUD is the designated lead agency for review of this project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in the preparation of the joint EIS/ EIR. This ROD documents why the DoN has chosen to implement the preferred alternative as described in the 2016 Final EIS/EIR. The ROD includes descriptions and discussions of the anticipated environmental impacts of the proposed action as well as all practical means to avoid or minimize environmental impacts from the selected alternative. It also includes descriptions and discussions of all related actions and their anticipated impacts.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) are promulgating discharge performance standards for 11 discharges incidental to the normal operation of a vessel of the Armed Forces into the navigable waters of the United States, the territorial seas, and the contiguous zone. When implemented, the discharge performance standards will reduce the adverse environmental impacts associated with the vessel discharges, stimulate the development of improved vessel pollution control devices, and advance the development of environmentally sound vessels of the Armed Forces. The 11 discharges addressed by the final rule are the following: aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), chain locker effluent, distillation and reverse osmosis brine, elevator pit effluent, gas turbine water wash, non-oily machinery wastewater, photographic laboratory drains, seawater cooling overboard discharge, seawater piping biofouling prevention, small boat engine wet exhaust, and welldeck discharges.

The Department of Defense is publishing this notice to announce that the following Federal Advisory Committee meeting of the National Intelligence University Board of Visitors has been scheduled. The meeting is closed to the public.

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 (DoD) is publishing this notice to announce that it is amending the charter for the United States Naval Academy Board of Visitors.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs announces a proposed public information collection and seeks public comment on the provisions thereof. Comments are invited on: whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

The JSC announces the publication of the MCM and updates to the Supplementary Materials accompanying the MCM.