Office of the Secretary May 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Office of the Secretary (OST) announces its plan to submit the Information Collection Request (ICR) described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its review and approval and invites public comment. Executive Order 12862 directs Federal agencies to provide service to the public that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private sector. In order to work continuously to ensure that our programs are effective and meet our customers' needs, the Department of Transportation (DOT) seeks to obtain OMB approval of a generic clearance to collect feedback on our service delivery. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on March 6, 2018 [Vol. 83, No. 44, Page 9575]. No comments were received. The purpose of this notice is to allow for an additional 30 days of public comment.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the Federal Consulting Group are proposing to renew an information collection.

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 accordance with Section 743 of Division C of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-117), the Department of Commerce (DOC) is publishing this notice to advise the public of the availability of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Service Contract Inventory data, a report that analyzes DOC's FY 2015 Service Contract Inventory and a plan for the analysis of FY 2016 Service Contract Inventory. The service contract inventory provides information on service contract actions over $25,000 made in FY 2016. The information is organized by function to show how contracted resources are distributed throughout the agency. The inventory has been developed in accordance with guidance on service contract inventories issued on November 5, 2010, by the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP).

The Department of Labor (DOL or Department) is submitting the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) sponsored Information Collection Request (ICR) revision, titled, ``Labor Condition Application for H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 Nonimmigrants,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for use in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995. Public comments on the ICR are invited.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is publishing this notice to announce that it is renewing the charter for the Threat Reduction Advisory Committee (``the Committee'').

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT or the Department) is issuing a statement of enforcement priorities to apprise the public of its intended enforcement focus with respect to transportation of service animals in the cabin of aircraft. The Department regulates the transportation of service animals under the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) and its implementing regulation. The Department seeks comment on this interim statement, and intends to issue a final statement after the close of the comment period.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Department's intention to apply to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to renew the previously approved information collection request (ICR) OMB No. 2105-0552, ``Reports by Air Carriers on Incidents Involving Animals During Air Transport.'' The current information collection request approved by OMB expires August 31, 2018.

The United States is heavily reliant on imports of certain mineral commodities that are vital to the Nation's security and economic prosperity. This dependency of the United States on foreign sources creates a strategic vulnerability for both its economy and military to adverse foreign government action, natural disaster, and other events that can disrupt supply of these key minerals. Pursuant to Executive Order 13817 of December 20, 2017, ``A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals,'' the Secretary of the Interior on February 16, 2018, presented a draft list of 35 mineral commodities deemed critical under the definition provided in the Executive Order. After considering the 453 public comments received, the Department of the Interior believes that the methodology used to draft the list remains valid and hereby finalizes the draft list of 35 critical minerals. The final list includes: Aluminum (bauxite), antimony, arsenic, barite, beryllium, bismuth, cesium, chromium, cobalt, fluorspar, gallium, germanium, graphite (natural), hafnium, helium, indium, lithium, magnesium, manganese, niobium, platinum group metals, potash, the rare earth elements group, rhenium, rubidium, scandium, strontium, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, tungsten, uranium, vanadium, and zirconium. This list of critical minerals, while ``final,'' is not a permanent list, but will be dynamic and updated periodically to reflect current data on supply, demand, and concentration of production, as well as current policy priorities. This final list will serve as the Department of Commerce's initial focus as it develops its report to comply with Section 4 of Executive Order 13817.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is publishing this notice to announce that it is renewing the charter for the U.S. Army Science Board (``the Board'').

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

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Defense Security Service 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.

Findings of research misconduct have been made on the part of Gareth John, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS). Dr. John engaged in research misconduct in research supported by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), grants R01 NS056074 and R01 NS062703. The administrative actions, including one (1) year of supervision, were implemented beginning on April 26, 2018, and are detailed below.

The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to delegate functions, powers, and duties as the Secretary deems appropriate. This document amends the existing delegations of authority by adding and modifying certain delegations, as explained in the Supplementary Information section below. In addition, it repeals regulations governing meetings of the Commodity Credit Corporation Board of Directors.

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 is proposing to amend various provisions regarding its aviation economic regulations to eliminate any further remaining obsolete provisions and correct outdated statutory references. This rulemaking aligns with the Department's retrospective regulatory review initiatives to modify, streamline, or repeal regulations that are obsolete or out-of-date.

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'').

The Department of Defense (DoD) is publishing this notice to announce that the following Federal Advisory Committee meeting of the Department of Defense Military Family Readiness Council will take place.

This final rule removes DoD's regulation concerning the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), formerly the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) 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.