Department of the Navy – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 certain vessels of the VIRGINIA SSN Class are vessels of the Navy which, due to their special construction and purpose, cannot fully comply with certain provisions of the 72 COLREGS without interfering with their special function as a naval ships. The intended effect of this rule is to warn mariners in waters where 72 COLREGS apply.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and regulations implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality, the Department of the Navy (DoN) has prepared and filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/Overseas EIS (OEIS) for public release on June 30, 2017, to evaluate the potential environmental effects from training and testing activities conducted within the Navy's Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing (AFTT) Study Area. The Study Area is in the western Atlantic Ocean and encompasses the waters along the east coast of North America, the Gulf of Mexico, portions of the Caribbean Sea, Navy pierside locations and port transit channels, waters near civilian ports, and inland waters (e.g., lower Chesapeake Bay). The Study Area covers approximately 2.6 million square nautical miles of ocean area and includes designated Navy operating areas and special use airspace. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is a Cooperating Agency for the EIS/OEIS. With the filing of the Draft EIS/OEIS, the DoN is initiating a 60- day public comment period and has scheduled five public meetings to receive oral and written comments on the Draft EIS/OEIS. This notice announces the dates and locations of the public meetings for this Draft EIS/OEIS and provides supplementary information about the environmental planning effort. Dates and Addresses: The Draft EIS/OEIS public review period will begin June 30, 2017, and end on August 29, 2017. The Navy will hold five public meetings to inform the public about the Proposed Action and the alternatives under consideration, and to provide an opportunity for the public to comment on the Proposed Action, alternatives, and the adequacy and accuracy of the analysis in the Draft EIS/OEIS. Each of the public meetings will be conducted in an open-house format with informational stations staffed by DoN representatives. These representatives will be available during the public meeting to clarify information related to the Draft EIS/OEIS. Federal, state, and local agencies and officials, and interested groups and individuals are encouraged to provide comments in person at any of the public meetings or in writing during the public comment period. The public meetings will be held between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on the following dates and at the following locations: 1. Wednesday, July 19, 2017, Hotel Providence, 139 Mathewson Street, Providence, RI 02903. 2. Tuesday, July 25, 2017, UNC Institute of Marine Sciences, 3431 Arendell Street, Morehead City, NC 28557. 3. Wednesday, July 26, 2017, Nauticus, 1 Waterside Drive, Norfolk, VA 23510. 4. Tuesday, August 1, 2017, Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center, 1000 Water Street, Jacksonville, FL 32204. 5. Thursday, August 3, 2017, Gulf Coast State College Conference Center, 5230 W. Highway 98, Panama City, FL 32401. Attendees will be able to submit comments in writing or orally using a voice recorder at the public meetings. Equal weight will be given to oral and written statements. Comments may also be submitted by U.S. postal mail or electronically via the project Web site provided below. Written comments may be submitted by mail to Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic, Attn: Code EV22KP (AFTT EIS Project Managers), 6506 Hampton Boulevard, Norfolk, VA 23508-1278 and through the project Web site; all written comments must be post marked or received by August 29, 2017. All statements, oral or written, submitted during the public review period will become part of the public record on the Draft EIS/OEIS and will be considered in preparation of the Final EIS/OEIS. Public meeting details will also be announced in local newspapers and on the project Web site: www.AFTTEIS.com.

The inventions listed below are assigned to the United States Government as represented by the Secretary of the Navy and are available for domestic and foreign licensing by the Department of the Navy. The following patents are available for licensing: U.S. Patent No. 9,180,933: INTEGRATED STERN BULB AND FLAP//U.S. Patent No. 9,228,805: CORRUGATED BLAST FREQUENCY CONTROL PANEL AND METHOD//U.S. Patent No. 9,230,717: UNIVERSAL CABLE JACKET REMOVAL TOOL//U.S. Patent No. 9,238,501: BILGE KEEL WITH POROUS LEADING EDGE//U.S. Patent No. 9,306,360: TORSION ELIMINATING COMPRESSION DEVICE AND METHOD//U.S. Patent No. 9,307,156: LONGWAVE INFRARED IMAGING OF A HIGH TEMPERATURE HIGH INTENSITY LIGHT SOURCE//U.S. Patent No. 9,340,284: CARGO SUSPENSION FRAME FOR AIRCRAFT//U.S. Patent No. 9,365,262: WIGGLE HULL DESIGN HAVING A CONCAVE AND CONVEX PLANING HULL//U.S. Patent No. 9,376,171: MOORING CLEAT WITH OPEN DESIGN FOR NON THREAD ENTRY//U.S. Patent No. 9,376,175: WATER VESSEL WITH INTEGRATED BUOYANCY BULB AND STERN RAMP//U.S. Patent No. 9,381,979: PORTABLE LIGHTWEIGHT APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR TRANSFERRING HEAVY LOADS//U.S. Patent No. 9,417,155: CALCAREOUS DEPOSIT WIPE TEST APPARATUS AND METHOD//U.S. Patent No. 9,421,618: CLAMPING DEVICE FOR SECURING CABLES TO SUBMERGED FERROUS HULL SURFACE.//

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Commander, Navy Installations Command 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 inventions listed below are assigned to the United States Government, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy and are available for domestic and foreign licensing by the Department of the Navy. The following patents are available for licensing: Patent No. 9,618,309 (Navy Case No. 103257): APPARATUS AND ELECTRIC PRIMER OUTPUT DATA TESTING METHOD//Patent No. 9,617,612 (Navy Case No. 103025): STRUCTURES AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURE OF MICROSTRUCTURES WITHIN A STRUCTURE TO SELECTIVELY ADJUST A RESPONSE OR RESPONSES OF RESULTING STRUCTURES OR PORTIONS OF STRUCTURES TO SHOCK INDUCED DEFORMATION OR FORCE LOADING//and Patent No. 9,620,242 (Navy Case No. 200261): METHODS AND APPARATUSES INCLUDING ONE OR MORE INTERRUPTED INTEGRATED CIRCUIT OPERATIONS FOR CHARACTERIZING RADIATION EFFECTS IN INTEGRATED CIRCUITS.

The U.S. Naval Academy Board of Visitors will meet to make such inquiry, as the Board shall deem necessary, into the state of morale and discipline, the curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, and academic methods of the Naval Academy. The executive session of this meeting will be held on Monday, September 11, 2017, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and will include discussions of new and pending administrative/minor disciplinary infractions and non- judicial punishment proceedings involving midshipmen attending the Naval Academy to include but not limited to individual honor/conduct violations within the Brigade; the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. For this reason, the executive session of this meeting will be closed to the public.

The Department of the Navy (DoN), after carefully weighing the strategic, operational, and environmental consequences of the proposed action, announces its decision to continue military readiness activities as identified in Alternative 1 in the Gulf of Alaska Navy Training Activities Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/ Overseas Environmental Impact Statement. This alternative includes one large-scale Carrier Strike Group exercise annually, Anti-Submarine Warfare activities, and the use of active sonar for up to 21 consecutive days between April and October. Implementation of Alternative 1 will enable the DoN to meet current and future training requirements and manage and mitigate environmental impacts.

The inventions listed below are assigned to the United States Government as represented by the Secretary of the Navy and are available for domestic and foreign licensing by the Department of the Navy. The following patents are available for licensing: U.S. Patent No. 9,197,822: ARRAY AUGMENTED PARALLAX IMAGE ENHANCEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD//U.S. Patent No. 9,199,707: CABLE CUTTING SYSTEM FOR RETRIEVAL OF EXERCISE MINES AND OTHER UNDERWATER PAYLOADS//U.S. Patent No. 9,208,386: CROWD STATE CHARACTERIZATION SYSTEM AND METHOD//U.S. Patent No. 9,217,452: BLIND FASTENER ASSEMBLY AND RELEASE PIN APPARATUS//U.S. Patent No. 9,217,455: QUICK RELEASE COLLAPSIBLE BOLT//U.S. Patent No. 9,246,282: ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTING, ENVIRONMENTALLY SEALING, LOAD TRANSFERRING CABLE TERMINATION FITTING//U.S. Patent No. 9,248,894: CONTROLLED CORROSION RELEASE SYSTEM//U.S. Patent No. 9,318,239: CORROSION RESISTANT, ENVIRONMENTALLY SEALING, ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTING, CABLE CONNECTOR//U.S. Patent No. 9,373,898: SWAGED-ON, EXTERNAL ELECTRODE ANCHORING CONNECTION//U.S. Patent No. 9,441,965: OCEANGRAPHIC ASSEMBLY FOR COLLECTING DATA ALONG MULTIPLE WATER COLUMNS//

Pursuant to the provisions of The Federal Advisory Committee Act, notice is hereby given that the following meeting of the Board of Advisors to the President of the Naval Postgraduate School Subcommittee will be held. This meeting will be open to the public.

The Department of the Navy hereby gives notice of its intent to grant to EnZinc, Inc., a revocable, nonassignable, exclusive license to practice in the field of use of a zinc electrode for use in a nickel-zinc battery for two or three wheeled electric vehicles; the field of use of a zinc electrode for use in a nickel-zinc battery for micro-grid energy storage; the field of use of a zinc electrode for use in a nickel-zinc battery in a start-stop vehicle; the field of use of a zinc electrode for use in a nickel-zinc battery for hybrid- electric vehicles and the field of use of a zinc electrode for use in a nickel-zinc battery for electric vehicles having at least four wheels in the United States, the Government-owned inventions described in U.S. Patent Application No. 13/832,576 entitled ``Zinc Electrodes for Batteries'', Navy Case No. 102,137 and U.S. Patent Application No. 14/ 501,629 entitled ``Three-Dimensional Zinc Sponge Electrodes for Primary and Secondary Zinc-Containing Batteries'', Navy Case No. 102,137 and any continuations, divisionals or re-issues thereof.

The Department of the Navy (Navy) published in the Federal Register on March 13, 2017, a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Land-Water Interface (LWI) and Service Pier Extension (SPE) at Naval Base Kitsap Bangor, Washington. The NOI referenced an incorrect project Web site address.

Pursuant to section (102)(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, and the regulations implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality (40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) parts 1500-1508), the Department of the Navy (DoN) announces its intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to the July 2016 Final EIS for Land-Water Interface (LWI) and Service Pier Extension (SPE), Naval Base (NAVBASE) Kitsap Bangor, Washington. The Final EIS for LWI and SPE resulted in a Record of Decision (ROD) that was signed on September 8, 2016 for the LWI project only. The SPE proposed action is to extend the existing Service Pier and construct associated support facilities. The purpose is to provide additional berthing capacity and improve associated support facilities for existing homeported and visiting submarines at NAVBASE Kitsap Bangor. The SPE project is needed to provide alternative opportunities for berthing to mitigate restrictions at NAVBASE Kitsap Bremerton, Washington, on navigating SEAWOLF Class submarines through Rich Passage under certain tidal conditions and to improve long-term operational effectiveness for the three SEAWOLF Class submarines on NAVBASE Kitsap. The Supplemental EIS will address the SPE project only and will evaluate resources based upon changes in design and new information relevant to environmental concerns per 40 CFR 1502.9. The DoN will evaluate this new, relevant information and incorporate that information into revised analyses where appropriate. The analysis will address, among others, changes to the Alternative 2 design and new regulatory guidance and requirements.

The Department of the Navy (DoN) announces the availability of the Records of Decision (RODs) by the DoN and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Land Acquisition and Airspace Establishment to Support Large-Scale Marine Air Ground Task Force Live-Fire and Maneuver Training at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California. The Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Energy, Installations and Environment) signed the DoN ROD on February 10, 2017. The BLM California Desert District Manager signed the BLM ROD on February 9, 2017.

The Department of the Navy hereby gives notice of its intent to grant to JFD Limited a revocable, non-assignable, exclusive license to practice in the United States, the Government-owned invention described in U.S. Patent No. 6,868,360, entitled ``SMALL HEAD-MOUNTED COMPASS SYSTEM WITH OPTICAL DISPLAY'', issued March 15, 2005, Navy Case No. 84,835.

The Department of the Navy hereby gives notice of its intent to grant to Superior Armor Systems, Inc. a revocable, nonassignable, exclusive license to practice in all fields of use, the Government- owned invention described in U.S. Patent Application No. 12/312,150 A1: Body Armor of Ceramic Ball Embedded Polymer and any continuations, divisionals or re-issues thereof.

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 inventions listed below are assigned to the United States Government, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy and are available for domestic and foreign licensing by the Department of the Navy. The following patents are available for licensing: Patent No. 9,536,620 (Navy Case No. 200321): METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING THE RADIATION TOLERANCE OF FLOATING GATE MEMORIES// and Patent No. 9,535,562 (Navy Case No. 101979): COGNITIVE LOAD REDUCTION AND FIELD OF VIEW ENHANCING STANDARDIZED GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (GUI) OVERLAY GENERATING SYSTEM OR SYSTEMS THAT INCLUDE ELEMENTS THAT CORRELATE VARIOUS DEVICE, EVENT, OR OPERATION INPUTS WITH COMMON GUI OVERLAY GENERATION MODULES AND GROUP RELATED GUI ELEMENTS ACROSS OVERLAYS ALONG WITH ASSOCIATED METHODS.

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 Department of the Navy hereby gives notice of its intent to grant Adaptive Phage Therapeutics, Inc. a revocable, nonassignable, exclusive license to practice worldwide the Government owned inventions described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/353,517, filed 22 June 2016 and entitled ``Bacteriophage compositions and methods of selection of components against specific bacteria'' as well as any issued patent, divisional or continuation from that and related foreign filings in the field of antibiotics and drug-resistant bacteria control.

The Department of the Navy hereby gives notice of its intent to grant DBC Medical Innovations, LLC a revocable, nonassignable, exclusive license to practice worldwide the Government owned inventions described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/267,969, filed 16 December 2015 and entitled ``Device For Noninvasively Verifying Time Temperature Profile Of A Thermoluminescent Dosimeter Card Reader'' as well as any issued patent, divisional or continuation from that and related foreign filings in the field of dosimetry and radiation protection.

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 inventions listed below are assigned to the United States Government, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy and are available for domestic and foreign licensing by the Department of the Navy. The following patents are available for licensing: Patent No. 9,430,189: VEHICLE DAMAGE DETECTION SYSTEM AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME//Patent No. 9,462,264: CHARACTERIZATION AND EVALUATION OF OPTICAL ELEMENTS UNDER VIBRATIONAL LOADING//Patent No. 9,425,580: MODULAR LASER SYSYTEM//Patent No. 9,425,803: APPARATUSES AND MATHODS FOR IMPLEMENTING VARIOUS PHYSICALLY UNCLONABLE FUNCTION (PUF) AND RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR CAPABILITIES//Patent No. 9,250,159: WHISKER MANUFACTURING, DETECTION, RESPONSE, AND COMPOUND MANUFACTURING APPARATUS AND METHOD//Patent No. 9,423,229: IMPLODING BARREL INITIATOR AND RELATED METHODS//Patent No. 9,423,228: ADVANCED FRAGMENTATION HAND GRENADE//Patent No. 9,306,701: SCENE ILLUMINATOR//Patent No. 9,321,128: HIGH POWER LASER SYSTEM//Patent No. 9,322,872: CORRELATED TESTING SYSTEM//Patent No. 9,188,400: SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CHARGING A WEAPON// Patent No. 9,235,378: VEHICLE DAMAGE DETECTION SYSTEM AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME//Patent No. 9,291,435: SHAPED CHARGE INCLUDING STRUCTURES AND COMPOSITIONS HAVING LOWER EXPLOSIVE CHARGE TO LINER MASS RATIO//Patent No. 9,325,073: APPRATUS FOR ASSEMBLING DIFFERENT CATEGOREIS OF MULTI-ELEMENT ASSEMBLIES TO PREDETERMINED TOLERANCES AND ALIGNMENTS USING A RECONFIGURABLE ASSEMBLING AND ALIGNMENT APPARATUS// Patent No. 9,456,483: FIELD PROGRAMMABLE MULTI-EMITTER//Patent No. 9,325,914: ELECTROMAGNETIC (EM) POWER DENSITY AND FIELD CHARACTERIZATION TECHNIQUE//Patent No. 9,423,069: PORTABLE EQUIPMENT SYSTEM MOUNT//Patent No. 9,417,286: SENSOR ENHANCEMENT THROUGH ALGORITHMIC ACQUISITION USING SYNCHRONIZATION WITH A SCAN GENERATOR// Patent No. 9,321,081: APPARATUS AND METHODS OF TUNING AND AMPLIFYING PIEZOELECTRIC SONIC AND ULTRASONIC OUTPUTS//Patent No. 9,326,384: PROCESS TO PRODUCE CONFORMAL NANO-COMPOSITE COATING FOR MITIGATION OF MANUFACTURING DEFECTS USING CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION AND NANO- STRUCTURES//Patent No. 9,079,544: ACCESSORY MOUNTING APPARATUS FOR A VEHICLE//Patent No. 9,321,079: PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING A PLURALITY OF WAVE ENERGY EMITTERS//Patent No. 9,322,847: APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR INTEGRATED CIRCUIT FORENSICS//Patent No. 9,337,941: ANTENNA SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR OVER-THE-AIR TRANSMITTER SIGNAL MEASUREMENT//and Patent No. 9,250,195: WHISKER MANUFACTURING, DETECTION, RESPONSE, AND COMPOUND MANUFACTURING APPARATUS AND METHOD.

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 inventions listed below are assigned to the United States Government, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy and are available for domestic and foreign licensing by the Department of the Navy. The following patents are available for licensing: Patent Application No. 14/587,455 (Navy Case No. 103030): ADHESION IMPROVEMENT IVA MATEIRAL NANOSTRUCUTURING OR TEXTURIZING//Patent Application No. 15/077,352 (Navy Case No. 200332): MODIFYING THE SURFACE CHEMISTRY OF A MATERIAL//and Navy Case No. 200322: ADHESION IMPROVEMENT VIA MATERIAL NANOSTRUCTURING OR TEXTURIZING.