Department of the Navy 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of the Navy (DoN) proposes to revise portions of its internal regulations that establish the responsibilities and procedures for complying with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). An agency may determine that certain classes of actions normally do not individually or cumulatively have significant environmental impacts and therefore do not require further review under NEPA. Establishing these categories of activities, called categorical exclusions (CATEXs), in the agency's NEPA implementing procedures is a way to reduce unnecessary paperwork and delay. This revision clarifies what types of activities fall under CATEXs and normally do not require additional NEPA analysis.

Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality, and Presidential Executive Order 12114, the Department of the Navy (DoN) has prepared and filed with the United States Environmental Protection Agency a draft supplement to the 2015 Northwest Training and Testing (NWTT) Final Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (EIS/OEIS) to reassess the potential environmental impacts associated with conducting proposed ongoing and future military readiness activities within the NWTT Study Area, referred to as the ``Study Area.'' Military readiness activities include training and research, development, testing, and evaluation activities, referred to as ``training and testing.'' In the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS, the DoN evaluated new, relevant information, such as more recent marine mammal density data and new scientific information, and updated the environmental analyses as appropriate. The DoN prepared the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS to support the issuance of federal regulatory permits and authorizations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. The DoN will consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and United States Fish and Wildlife Service to renew these authorizations. Additionally, NMFS and the United States Coast Guard are cooperating agencies for this Supplemental EIS/OEIS. The DoN's lead action proponent is Commander, United States Pacific Fleet. Additional action proponents include Naval Sea Systems Command and Naval Air Systems Command.

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.

This final rule removes the Department of the Navy (DON) regulation concerning Medical and Dental Care for Eligible Persons at Navy Department Facilities. Eligibility for healthcare in military medical treatment facilities is established in statute and other DoD regulations, therefore, this regulation is redundant and should be repealed.

The United States Department of the Navy (Navy), after carefully weighing the strategic, operational, and environmental consequences of the proposed action, announces its decision to implement Alternative 2A of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for EA-18G ``Growler'' Airfield Operations at Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island Complex, WA. Alternative 2A is the Navy's Preferred Alternative and will enable the Navy to augment its existing Electronic Attack community at NAS Whidbey Island Complex with additional aircraft in order to provide Combatant Commanders with expanded electronic attack capabilities to support the national defense.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Department of the Navy 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 Department of the Navy hereby gives notice of its intent to grant to Nanocrine, Inc., of Frederick, Maryland an exclusive license in the field of use of products and services for use in cell biology research for cell signaling and phenotyping studies and the field of use of products and services for use in cell biology research for cell protein and chemical secretion, in the United States, to U.S. Patent 9,791,368: Nanoplasmonic Imaging Technique for the Spatio- temporal Mapping of Single Cell Secretions in Real Time, Navy Case No. 102,395.//U.S. Patent Application No. 15/784,433: Nanoplasmonic Imaging Technique for the Spatio-Temporal Mapping of Single Cell Secretion in Real Time, Navy Case No, 102,395.//U.S. Patent No. 9,915,654: Light Microscopy Chips and Data Analysis Methodology for Quantitative Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) Biosensing and Imaging, Navy Case No. 101,529.//U.S. Patent Application No. 15/882,081: Light Microscopy Chips and Data Analysis Methodology for Quantitative Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) Biosensing and Imaging, Navy Case No. 101,529.//U.S Patent Application No. 14/039,326: Calibrating Single Plasmonic Nanostructures for Quantitative Biosensing, Navy Case No. 102,043.//U.S Patent Application No. 15/186,742: Determining Extracellular Protein Concentration with Nanoplasmonic Sensors, Navy Case No. 103,502.//U.S. Patent Application No. 16/196,097: Substrates with Indendently Tunable Topographies and Chemistries for Quantifying Surface-Induced Cell Behavior, Navy Case No. 107,399 and any continuations, divisionals, or re-issues thereof.

The Department of the Navy (DoN) announces the availability of the inventions listed below, assigned to the United States Government, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy, for domestic and foreign licensing by the Department of the Navy.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is publishing this notice to announce that the following Federal Advisory Committee meeting of the President of the Naval Postgraduate School Subcommittee Board of Advisors will be held. This meeting will be open to the public.

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.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Department of the Navy 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.

This final rule removes the Department of the Navy (DON) regulation containing solicitation provisions and contract clauses. This rule contains DON supplemental guidance to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) which has been superseded by existing FAR and DFARS guidance. The rule is no longer used or valid and should be removed.

This final rule removes the Department of the Navy (DON) regulation regarding contract by negotiation. This rule contains DON supplemental guidance to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) which has been superseded by existing FAR and DFARS guidance. The rule is no longer used or valid and should be removed.

The invention listed below is assigned to the United States Government as represented by the Secretary of the Navy. The Department of the Navy hereby gives notice of its intent to grant to ORBIS Wheels, Inc., a revocable, nonassignable, co-exclusive license to practice in the United States, the Government-owned invention described below: U.S. Patent Application Number 62/632,550 (Navy Case 200456): filed February 20, 2018, entitled ``HYPER-COMPACT ELECTRIC ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE DRIVETRAIN AND CONVERSION KIT.''

This final rule removes Department of the Navy regulations governing Certification and Exemptions under the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972. The certification and exemption of certain naval vessels which cannot comply fully with the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972, is governed by statute and executive order which direct that notice of certification of alternate compliance be published in the Federal Register. The content of this part imposes no burden on the public, and the rule is not required. Notice will continue to be provided the public through the publication of notice documents in the Federal Register. Therefore, this rule can be removed from the CFR.

The Department of the Navy (DoN) announces the availability of the inventions listed below, assigned to the United States Government, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy, for domestic and foreign licensing by the Department of the Navy.

Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality, and Presidential Executive Order (E.O.) 12114, the Department of the Navy (DoN) has prepared and filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (EIS/OEIS). In the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS, the DoN reassesses the potential environmental impacts associated with conducting ongoing and future military readiness activities, which includes training activities and research, development, testing, and evaluation activities (referred to as ``testing activities'') conducted at sea and on Farallon de Medinilla (FDM) within the Mariana Islands Training and Testing (MITT) Study Area (hereafter referred to as the Study Area) beyond 2020. In the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS, the DoN evaluates new, relevant information, such as more recent marine mammal density data and new scientific information, and updates the environmental analyses as appropriate. The DoN prepared the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS to support the issuance of federal regulatory permits and authorizations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is a cooperating agency for this Supplemental EIS/OEIS.