Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 22 / Thursday, February 2, 2012 / Notices 5241 

This five-year sunset review and this 

notice are in accordance with section 

751(c) of the Act and published 

pursuant to section 777(i)(1) of the Act. 

Dated: January 25, 2012. 

Paul Piquado, 

Assistant Secretary for Import 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2012–2252 Filed 2–1–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL 

PROTECTION 

No FEAR Act Notice; Notice of Rights 

and Protections Available Under the 

Federal Antidiscrimination and 

Whistleblower Protection Laws 

AGENCY: The Bureau of Consumer 

Financial Protection. ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer 

Financial Protection (CFPB or the 

Bureau) is providing notice to its 

employees, former employees, and 

applicants for Federal employment 

about the rights and remedies available 

to them under the Federal 

antidiscrimination, whistleblower 

protection, and retaliation laws. This 

notice fulfills CFPB’s initial notification 

obligation under the Notification and 

Federal Employees Antidiscrimination 

and Retaliation Act (No FEAR Act), as 

implemented by Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM) regulations. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Liza 

Strong, Office of Human Capital, 1700 G 

Street, NW Washington, DC 20037, (202) 

435–7655. Additional information can 

be found on CFPB’s Web site at 

http://www.consumerfinance.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 

15, 2002, Congress enacted the 

Notification and Federal Employee 

Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act 

of 2002 (No FEAR Act), Public Law 

107–174, 116 Stat. 566 (5 U.S.C. 2301 

note). The Act is intended to hold 

Federal agencies accountable for 

violations of antidiscrimination and 

whistleblower protection laws. In 

support of this purpose, Congress found 

that ‘‘agencies cannot be run effectively 

if those agencies practice or tolerate 

discrimination.’’ Sec. 101(1), Public Law 

107–174, 116 Stat. 566. The Act requires 

CFPB to inform its employees, former 

employees, and applicants for 

employment of the rights and 

protections available under Federal 

antidiscrimination, whistleblower 

protection, and retaliation laws. OPM 

requires agencies to publish the initial 

notice required by the No FEAR Act in 

the Federal Register. 5 CFR 724.202. 

Antidiscrimination Laws 

A Federal agency may not 

discriminate against an employee or 

applicant with respect to the terms, 

conditions, or privileges of employment 

on the basis of race, color, religion, 

national origin, sex, (including 

pregnancy and gender identity), age (40 

and above), disability, genetic 

information, marital status, parental 

status, sexual orientation, political 

affiliation, military service, or any other 

non-merit factor. Discrimination on 

these bases is prohibited by Federal 

statutes and Executive Orders. 5 U.S.C. 

2302(b)(1); 29 U.S.C. 206(d); 29 U.S.C. 

631; 29 U.S.C. 633a; 29 U.S.C. 791; 38 

U.S.C. 4301–35; 42 U.S.C. 2000e-16; 42 

U.S.C. 2000ff-1; E.O. 13087; E.O. 13145; 

E.O. 13152. 

If you believe that you have been the 

victim of unlawful discrimination on 

the basis of race, color, religion, sex, 

national origin, disability, or genetic 

information, you must contact an Equal 

Employment Opportunity (EEO) 

counselor within 45 calendar days of 

the alleged discriminatory action, or, in 

the case of a personnel action, within 45 

calendar days of the effective date of the 

action, before you may file a formal 

complaint of discrimination with your 

agency. See, e.g., 29 CFR part 1614. 

If you believe that you have been the 

victim of unlawful discrimination on 

the basis of age, you must either contact 

an EEO counselor or give notice of your 

intent to sue to the Equal Employment 

Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 

180 calendar days of the alleged 

discriminatory action. 

If you are alleging discrimination 

based on sexual orientation, marital 

status, parental status, political 

affiliation, or any other non-merit factor 

you may file a written complaint with 

the U.S. Office of Special Counsel 

(OSC). 

If you are alleging discrimination 

based on military service, you may 

request assistance from the Veterans’ 

Employment and Training Service 

(VETS) at the Department of Labor 

(DOL), the Merit Systems Protection 

Board (MSPB), or OSC, depending on 

the circumstances. 

Whistleblower Protection Laws 

A Federal employee with authority to 

take, direct others to take, recommend, 

or approve a personnel action must not 

use that authority to take or fail to take, 

or threaten to take or fail to take, a 

personnel action against an employee or 

applicant because of disclosure of 

information by that individual that is 

reasonably believed to be evidence of 

violations of law, rule or regulation; 

gross mismanagement; gross waste of 

funds; abuse of authority; or substantial 

and specific danger to public health or 

safety, unless disclosure of such 

information is specifically prohibited by 

law or such information is specifically 

required by Executive Order to be kept 

secret in the interest of national defense 

or the conduct of foreign affairs. 

Retaliation against an employee or 

applicant for making a protected 

disclosure is prohibited by 5 U.S.C. 

2302(b)(8). If you believe that you have 

been the victim of whistleblower 

retaliation, you may file a written 

complaint (Form OSC–11) with OSC at 

1730 M Street NW., Suite 218, 

Washington, DC 20036–4505 or online 

through the OSC Web site at http:// 

www.osc.gov. 

Retaliation for Engaging in Protected 

Activity 

A Federal agency may not retaliate 

against an employee or applicant 

because that individual exercises his or 

her rights under any of the Federal 

antidiscrimination or whistleblower 

protection laws listed in this Notice. If 

you believe that you are the victim of 

retaliation for engaging in protected 

activity, you must follow the procedures 

described in the Antidiscrimination 

Laws and Whistleblower Protection 

Laws sections of this Notice in order to 

pursue a legal remedy. 

Disciplinary Actions 

Each agency has the right to 

discipline a Federal employee for 

conduct that is inconsistent with 

Federal antidiscrimination and 

whistleblower protection laws up to and 

including removal from the federal 

service. If OSC has initiated an 

investigation under 5 U.S.C. 1214, 

however, according to 5 U.S.C. 1214(f), 

agencies must seek approval from the 

Special Counsel to discipline employees 

for, among other activities, engaging in 

prohibited retaliation. Nothing in the No 

FEAR Act alters existing laws or permits 

an agency to take unfounded 

disciplinary action against a Federal 

employee or to violate the procedural 

rights of a Federal employee who has 

been accused of discrimination. 

Additional Information 

For further information regarding the 

No FEAR Act regulations, please see 5 

CFR part 724, and contact the Office of 

Human Capital at CFPB. Additional 

information regarding Federal 

antidiscrimination, whistleblower 

protection, and retaliation laws can be 

found on the EEOC Web site at http:// 

www.eeoc.gov, on the OSC Web site at 

http://www.osc.gov, on the DOL Web 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
5242 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 22 / Thursday, February 2, 2012 / Notices 

site at http://www.dol.gov, and the 

MSPB Web site at http://www.mspb.gov. 

Existing Rights Unchanged 

Pursuant to section 205 of the No 

FEAR Act, neither the Act nor this 

notice creates, expands or reduces any 

rights otherwise available to any 

employee, former employee or applicant 

under the laws of the United States, 

including the provisions of law 

specified in 5 U.S.C. 2302(d). 

Dated: January 27, 2012. 

Meredith Fuchs, 

Chief of Staff. 

[FR Doc. 2012–2280 Filed 2–1–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–AM–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Navy 

Notice of Extension of Public Scoping 

Period for the Revised Notice of Intent 

To Prepare an Environmental Impact 

Statement for Military Training 

Activities at the Naval Weapons 

Systems Training Facility, Boardman, 

OR 

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) 

of the National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA) of 1969, as implemented by 

the Council on Environmental Quality 

Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500–1508), 

the Department of the Navy (DoN) 

published a revised notice of intent to 

prepare an Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) for the Naval Weapons 

Systems Training Facility (NWSTF), 

Oregon in the Federal Register on 

December 27, 2011 (76 FR 80910). This 

notice announces a 32-day extension of 

the public scoping comment period to 

end on February 27, 2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mrs. 

Amy Burt, Naval Facilities Engineering 

Command Northwest, 1101 Tautog 

Circle, Suite 203, Silverdale, WA 

98315–1101, Attn: NWSTF Boardman 

Project Manager; or http://www.

NWSTFBoardmanEIS.com. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

public scoping period on the NWSTF 

Boardman EIS will be extended by 32 

days, from January 27, 2012 to February 

27, 2012. Comments on the scope of the 

EIS may be submitted in writing or 

electronically. Written comments 

should be mailed to Naval Facilities 

Engineering Command Northwest, 

Attention: Mrs. Amy Burt, NWSTF 

Boardman EIS Project Manager, Naval 

Facilities Engineering Command 

Northwest, 1101 Tautog Circle, Suite 

203, Silverdale, WA 98315–1101. All 

written comments must be postmarked 

by February 27, 2012, to ensure they 

become part of the official record. 

Comments submitted electronically at 

the project Web site at http://www.

NWSTFBoardmanEIS.com must be 

submitted before the end of the 

comment period to ensure they become 

part of the official record. All scoping 

comments will be taken into account in 

the Draft EIS. 

Dated: January 25, 2012. 

J.M. Beal, 

Lieutenant Commander, Judge Advocate 

General’s Corps, U.S. Navy, Federal Register 

Liaison Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2012–2304 Filed 2–1–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3810–FF–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Navy 

Notice of Availability of GovernmentOwned Invention; Available for 

Licensing 

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The invention listed below is 

assigned to the United States 

Government as represented by the 

Secretary of the Navy and is available 

for licensing by the Department of the 

Navy. 

The following patent is available for 

licensing: Patent application 13/ 

168,459: ACCESSORY INTERFACE 

SYSTEM (An apparatus for mounting 

accessories on a weapon mount). 

ADDRESSES: Written objections are to be 

filed with Naval Surface Warfare Center, 

Crane Div, Code OOL, Bldg 2, 300 

Highway 361, Crane, IN 47522–5001. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Christopher Monsey, Naval Surface 

Warfare Center, Crane Div, Code OOL, 

Bldg 2, 300 Highway 361, Crane, IN 

47522–5001, telephone (812) 854–4100. 

Authority: 35 U.S.C. 207, 37 CFR Part 404. 

Dated: January 25, 2012. 

J. M. Beal, 

Lieutenant Commander, Judge Advocate 

General’s Corps, U.S. Navy, Federal Register 

Liaison Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2012–2299 Filed 2–1–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3810–FF–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Navy 

Notice of Intent To Grant Exclusive 

Patent License; Daniel Defense, Inc. 

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department of the Navy 

hereby gives notice of its intent to grant 

to Daniel Defense, Inc. a revocable, 

nonassignable, exclusive license to 

practice in the United States, the 

Government-owned invention described 

below: Patent application 13/168,459 

(Navy Case 100,359): filed June 24, 

2011, entitled ‘‘Accessory Interface 

System’’. 

DATES: Anyone wishing to object to the 

grant of this license must file objections 

along with supporting evidence, if any, 

not later than February 17, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Written objections are to be 

filed with Naval Surface Warfare Center, 

Crane Div, Code OOL, Bldg 2, 300 

Highway 361, Crane, IN 47522–5001. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Christopher Monsey, Naval Surface 

Warfare Center, Crane Div, Code OOL, 

Bldg 2, 300 Highway 361, Crane, IN 

47522–5001, telephone (812) 854–4100. 

Authority: 35 U.S.C. 207, 37 CFR Part 404. 

Dated: January 25, 2012. 

J.M. Beal, 

Lieutenant Commander, Judge Advocate 

General’s Corps, U.S. Navy, Federal Register 

Liaison Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2012–2303 Filed 2–1–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3810–FF–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Navy 

Notice of Intent To Grant Partially 

Exclusive Patent License; Jinga-hi, Inc. 

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department of the Navy 

herby gives notice of its intent to grant 

to Jinga-hi, Inc., a revocable, 

nonassignable, partially exclusive 

license in the United States to practice 

the Government-owned inventions 

described in U.S. Patent No. 7528606: 

Coupled Non-linear Sensor System for 

Sensing a Time-dependent Target Signal 

and Method of Assembling the 

System.//U.S. Patent No. 8049570: 

Coupled bi-stable microcircuit system 

for ultra-sensitive electrical and 

magnetic field sensing,//and U.S. Patent 

Application No. 12/749338: Coupled BiStable Circuit for Ultra-Sensitive 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES