Department of Defense 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of Economic Adjustment announces a proposed public information collection and seeks public comment on the provisions thereof. Comments are invited on: (a) 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; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) 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 Department of Defense (DoD) is publishing this notice to announce that it is renewing the charter for the Air University Board of Visitors (``the Board'').

DoD is issuing a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 that makes contractors and subcontractors subject to approval (as well as review and audit) by appropriate DoD officials when identifying a contractor- approved supplier of electronic parts.

DoD is issuing a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 to revise the DFARS to include a statement of purpose.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District (USACE) announces the release of the Draft Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement (DIFR-EIS) for the Tentatively Selected Plan of the Matagorda Ship Channel Improvement Project, Calhoun and Matagorda Counties, TX. The DIFR-EIS documents the existing condition of environmental resources in and around areas considered for development, and potential impacts on those resources as a result of implementing the alternatives.

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

In compliance with s the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Department of the Army announces a proposed revision of a public information collection and seeks public comment on the provisions thereof. Comments are invited on: (a) 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; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) 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.

This document is issued under the joint authority of DOD, GSA, and NASA. 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 the rules appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-98, which amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). An asterisk (*) next to a rule indicates that a regulatory flexibility analysis has been prepared. Interested parties may obtain further information regarding these rules by referring to FAC 2005-98, which precedes this document. These documents are also available via the internet at https:// www.regulations.gov.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to adjust for inflation the rate of liquidated damages assessed for violations of the overtime provisions of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 to raise the threshold for task-and delivery-order protests from $10 million to $25 million (applicable to DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard) and to repeal the sunset date for the authority to protest the placement of an order (for the other civilian agencies), which was also previously repealed by the GAO Civilian Task and Delivery Order Protest Authority Act of 2016.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Mobile District, intends to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to evaluate potential changes to the Water Control Manuals (WCMs) for three reservoirs in the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) River Basin and to the Master WCM for the ACT River Basin. The USACE intends to conduct a water supply storage reallocation study to evaluate a March 30, 2018 request by Georgia and Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority (CCMWA) for increased water supply usage at Allatoona Lake and changed storage accounting methodology. The Draft SEIS will be prepared as an integrated document with the reallocation study. The reallocation study with the integrated Draft SEIS will address the water supply storage request and updated operating criteria and guidelines for managing the water storage and release actions of Federal water managers and will evaluate the associated environmental impacts of the proposed federal action, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The USACE also intends to update the WCMs for the Alabama Power Company's Weiss and Logan Martin Reservoirs in the ACT River Basin.

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 the Army hereby gives notice of its intent to grant to 4D Tech Solutions, Inc.; a corporation having its principle place of business at 1275 Stewartstown Road, Morgantown, WV 26505, an exclusive license.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the FAR Council invites the public to comment upon a renewal for the Standard Form (SF) 1443, Contractor's Request for Progress Payment, and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.232-16, Progress Payments. There are no changes to the existing information collection.

The DoD is publishing this notice to announce that the following Federal Advisory Committee meeting of the Board of Regents, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences will take place.

This final rule removes DoD's regulation concerning the National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) Freedom of Information Act program. On February 6, 2018, the DoD published a revised FOIA program rule as a result of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016. When the DoD FOIA program rule was revised, it included DoD component information and removed the requirement for component supplementary rules. The DoD now has one DoD-level rule for the FOIA program at 32 CFR part 286 that contains all the codified information required for the Department. Therefore, this part can be removed from the CFR.

This final rule removes DoD's regulation concerning the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Freedom of Information Act Program Regulation. On February 6, 2018, the DoD published a revised FOIA program rule as a result of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016. When the DoD FOIA program rule was revised, it included DoD component information and removed the requirement for component supplementary rules. The DoD now has one DoD-level rule for the FOIA program at 32 CFR part 286 that contains all the codified information required for the Department. Therefore, this part can be removed from the CFR.

This final rule removes DoD's regulation concerning the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Freedom of Information Act program. On February 6, 2018, the DoD published a revised FOIA program rule as a result of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016. When the DoD FOIA program rule was revised, it included DoD component information and removed the requirement for component supplementary rules. The DoD now has one DoD- level rule for the FOIA program at 32 CFR part 286 that contains all the codified information required for the Department. Therefore, this part can be removed from the CFR.

This final rule removes one of the Department's two DoD-level regulations concerning the implementation of and assignment of responsibilities for the DoD Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) program. Any content required to be in an agency's FOIA rule from this part was incorporated into the Department's other DoD-level regulation concerning the DoD FOIA program, which was recently revised and for which a final rule published on February 6, 2018. Therefore, this part can now be removed from the CFR. Additionally, the revised DoD-level FOIA rule now includes DoD component FOIA program information, which eliminated the requirement for component supplementary rules. Accordingly, all of the department's necessary FOIA public guidance has been incorporated into a single part.

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

The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) proposes to modify a system of records notice entitled GlobalNET Outreach and Collaboration Platform, DSCA 02. This system is a web based technology solution that provides the Regional Center for Security Studies and Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) with a procedure to improve international outreach efforts as well as foster collaboration among their faculty, current and former students, OSD, and other designated Department of Defense (DoD) educational institutions and communities. The GlobalNET platform provides a collaborative social networking environment/capability for students, alumni, faculty, partners, and other community members.

In a final rule published on January 19, 2017, federal departments and agencies made revisions to the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (hereafter the ``2018 Requirements''). The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) adopted the same regulatory changes in a separate final rule published on September 18, 2017. The 2018 Requirements were scheduled to become effective on January 19, 2018, with a general compliance date of January 19, 2018 (with the exception of the revisions to the cooperative research provision). The departments and agencies listed in this document have also published an interim final rule delaying the effective date and general compliance date for the 2018 Requirements for six months, to cover the time period of January 19, 2018 until July 19, 2018. As per the interim final rule, the effective date of the 2018 Requirements is now July 19, 2018. The departments and agencies listed in this document propose delaying the general compliance date for the 2018 Requirements for an additional six months, for the time period of July 19, 2018 until January 21, 2019. This proposed rule is intended to provide additional time to regulated entities for the preparations necessary to implement the 2018 Requirements. This proposed rule, if finalized, would require regulated entities to continue to comply with the requirements of the current Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (hereafter the ``pre-2018 Requirements'') until January 21, 2019. This proposal also takes comment on whether to permit institutions to implement, for certain research studies, the following provisions in the 2018 Requirements during the period from July 19, 2018, until January 21, 2019, that the general compliance date is delayed. Those three provisions, intended to reduce burdens on regulated entities, are the 2018 Requirements' definition of ``research,'' which deems certain activities not to be research, the allowance for no annual continuing review of certain categories of research, and the elimination of the requirement that institutional review boards (IRBs) review grant applications related to the research. The way that this option is proposed, regulated entities would be required to comply with all pre- 2018 Requirements during the period that the general compliance date is delayed, except for provisions substituted by the three burden-reducing provisions of the 2018 Requirements. As described in section III, below, this flexibility is proposed only for studies for which an institution makes a choice to transition to comply with the 2018 Requirements, beginning on July 19, 2018. In order to clearly describe this proposed flexibility, including how it would impact institutions choosing to transition research to comply with the 2018 Requirements, this document proposes a redrafted transition provision.

The Department of Defense is publishing the unclassified text of an arms sales notification.