20960 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 72 / Thursday, April 14, 2011 / Notices 

Policy, NOAA expects to improve 

consistency at a national level, provide 

greater predictability for the regulated 

community and the public, improve 

transparency in enforcement, and more 

effectively protect natural resources. 

Under the new Penalty Policy, 

penalties and permit sanctions are based 

on two criteria: (1) A ‘‘base penalty’’ 

calculated by adding an initial base 

penalty amount and permit sanction 

reflective of the gravity of the violation 

and the culpability of the violator and 

adjustments to the initial base penalty 

and permit sanction upward or 

downward to reflect the particular 

circumstances of a specific violation; 

and (2) an additional amount added to 

the base penalty to recoup the proceeds 

of any unlawful activity and any 

additional economic benefit of 

noncompliance. We note that the new 

Penalty Policy is a departure from 

NOAA’s prior practice of developing 

detailed penalty schedules by region 

and by specific types of violations with 

broad ranges for both penalty and 

permit sanctions. The new policy uses 

a simplified approach of one penalty 

and permit sanction matrix for each 

major statute that NOAA enforces, to be 

applied nationally, with narrower 

penalty and permit sanction ranges. 

This approach assures that NOAA 

attorneys are provided with greater 

guidance in recommending penalties, 

and should assure fairness and 

consistency of approach across NOAA 

statutes, across fisheries, and across the 

country. 

NOAA sought public comment on the 

proposed draft penalty policy between 

October 21, 2010 and December 20, 

2010. NOAA received written input on 

the proposed policy from regional 

fishery management councils, industry 

trade groups, commercial interests, 

nonprofit organizations, academic 

institutions, and federal, state, and 

interstate agencies. A summary of the 

comments received along with NOAA’s 

responses to these comments is 

available at the website above. 

The final Penalty Policy supersedes 

previous guidance regarding assessment 

of penalties or permit sanctions and 

previous penalty and permit sanction 

schedules issued by the NOAA Office of 

General Counsel, and goes into effect 

immediately for any cases charged after 

its issuance date. This Penalty Policy 

provides guidance for the NOAA Office 

of General Counsel, but does not, nor is 

it intended to, create a right or benefit, 

substantive or procedural, enforceable at 

law or in equity, in any person or 

company. 

The full final Penalty Policy, along 

with examples, matrixes, and schedules, 

may be found at http:// 

www.gc.noaa.gov/enforce-office1.html. 

Dated: April 5, 2011. 

Lois J. Schiffer, 

General Counsel, National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2011–9021 Filed 4–13–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–12–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Patent and Trademark Office 

[Docket No. PTO–C–2011–0022] 

Public Advisory Committees 

AGENCY: United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

nominations. 

SUMMARY: On November 29, 1999, the 

President signed into law the Patent and 

Trademark Office Efficiency Act (the 

‘‘Act’’), Public Law 106–113, which, 

among other things, established two 

Public Advisory Committees to review 

the policies, goals, performance, budget 

and user fees of the United States Patent 

and Trademark Office (USPTO) with 

respect to patents, in the case of the 

Patent Public Advisory Committee, and 

with respect to trademarks, in the case 

of the Trademark Public Advisory 

Committee, and to advise the Director 

on these matters (now codified at 35 

U.S.C. 5). The USPTO is requesting 

nominations for three (3) members to 

each Public Advisory Committee for 

terms of three years that begin at the 

expiration of the predecessors’ terms, or 

on October 6, 2011. 

DATES: Nominations must be 

postmarked or electronically 

transmitted on or before May 20, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to submit 

nominations should send the nominee’s 

resume ́ to Chief of Staff, Office of the 

Under Secretary of Commerce for 

Intellectual Property and Director of the 

USPTO, Post Office Box 1450, 

Alexandria, Virginia 22313–1450; by 

electronic mail to: 

PPACnominations@uspto.gov for the 

Patent Public Advisory Committee or 

TPACnominations@uspto.gov for the 

Trademark Patent Public Advisory 

Committee; by facsimile transmission 

marked to the Chief of Staff’s attention 

at (571) 273–0464, or by mail marked to 

the Chief of Staff’s attention and 

addressed to the Office of the Under 

Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual 

Property and Director of the USPTO, 

Post Office Box 1450, Alexandria, 

Virginia 22313–1450. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Andrew H. Hirshfeld, Chief of Staff, by 

facsimile transmission marked to his 

attention at (571) 273–0464, or by mail 

marked to his attention and addressed 

to the Office of the Under Secretary of 

Commerce for Intellectual Property and 

Director of the USPTO, Post Office Box 

1450, Alexandria, Virginia 22313–1450. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Advisory Committees’ duties include: 

• Review and advise the Under 

Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual 

Property and Director of the USPTO on 

matters relating to policies, goals, 

performance, budget, and user fees of 

the USPTO relating to patents and 

trademarks, respectively; and 

• Within 60 days after the end of each 

fiscal year: (1) Prepare an annual report 

on matters listed above; (2) transmit a 

report to the Secretary of Commerce, the 

President, and the Committees on the 

Judiciary of the Senate and the House of 

Representatives; and (3) publish the 

report in the Official Gazette of the 

USPTO. 

Advisory Committees 

The Public Advisory Committees are 

each composed of nine (9) voting 

members who are appointed by the 

Secretary of Commerce (the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

and serve at the pleasure of the 

Secretary for three (3)-year terms. The 

Public Advisory Committee members 

must be United States citizens and 

represent the interests of diverse users 

of the USPTO, both large and small 

entity applicants in proportion to the 

number of such applications filed. The 

Committees must include members who 

have ‘‘substantial backgrounds and 

achievement in finance, management, 

labor relations, science, technology, and 

office automation.’’ 35 U.S.C. 5(b)(3). In 

the case of the Patent Public Advisory 

Committee, at least twenty-five (25) 

percent of the members must represent 

‘‘small business concerns, independent 

inventors, and nonprofit organizations,’’ 

and at least one member must represent 

the independent inventor community 

(35 U.S.C. 5(b)(2)). Each of the Public 

Advisory Committees also includes 

three (3) non-voting members 

representing each labor organization 

recognized by the USPTO. 

Administration policy discourages the 

appointment of Federally registered 

lobbyists to agency advisory boards and 

commissions (Lobbyists on Agency 

Boards and Commissions, http:// 

www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/09/23/ 

lobbyist-agency-boards-andcommissions (Sept. 23, 2009, 2:33PM 

EST)); cf. Exec. Order No. 13490, 74 FR 

4673 (January 21, 2009) (while 

Executive Order 13490 does not 

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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 72 / Thursday, April 14, 2011 / Notices 20961 

specifically apply to Federally 

registered lobbyists appointed by agency 

or department heads, it sets forth the 

Administration’s general policy of 

decreasing the influence of special 

interests in the Federal Government). 

Procedures and Guidelines of the 

Patent and Trademark Public Advisory 

Committees 

Each newly appointed member of the 

Patent and Trademark Public Advisory 

Committees will serve for a term of 

three years beginning at the expiration 

of his or her predecessor’s term. As 

required by the Act, members of the 

Patent and Trademark Public Advisory 

Committees will receive compensation 

for each day while the member is 

attending meetings or engaged in the 

business of that Advisory Committee. 

The enabling statute states that members 

are to be compensated at the daily 

equivalent of the annual rate of basic 

pay in effect for level III of the Executive 

Schedule under section 5314 of Title 5, 

United States Code. Committee 

members are compensated on an hourly 

basis, calculated at the daily rate. While 

away from home or regular place of 

business, each member will be allowed 

travel expenses, including per diem in 

lieu of subsistence, as authorized by 

Section 5703 of Title 5, United States 

Code. The USPTO will provide clerical 

and other support services for the 

Committees as the Director may 

determine to be necessary and proper. 

Applicability of Certain Ethics Laws 

Members of each Public Advisory 

Committee shall be Special Government 

Employees within the meaning of 

Section 202 of Title 18, United States 

Code. The following additional 

information includes several, but not 

all, of the ethics rules that apply to 

members, and assumes that members 

are not engaged in Public Advisory 

Committee business more than sixty 

days during any period of 365 

consecutive days. 

• Each member will be required to 

file a confidential financial disclosure 

form within thirty (30) days of 

appointment. 5 CFR 2634.202(c), 

2634.204, 2634.903, and 2634.904(b). 

• Each member will be subject to 

many of the public integrity laws, 

including criminal bars against 

representing a party, 18 U.S.C. 205(c), in 

a particular matter that came before the 

member’s committee and that involved 

at least one specific party. See also 18 

U.S.C. 207 for post-membership bars. A 

member also must not act on a matter 

in which the member (or any of certain 

closely related entities) has a financial 

interest (18 U.S.C. 208). 

• Representation of foreign interests 

may also raise issues (35 U.S.C. 5(a)(1) 

and 18 U.S.C. 219). 

Meetings of the Patent and Trademark 

Public Advisory Committees 

Meetings of each Advisory Committee 

will take place at the call of the 

respective Committee Chair to consider 

an agenda set by that Chair. Meetings 

may be conducted in person, 

electronically through the Internet, or by 

other appropriate means. The meetings 

of each Advisory Committee will be 

open to the public except each Advisory 

Committee may, by majority vote, meet 

in confidential executive sessions when 

considering personnel, privileged, or 

other confidential matters. Nominees 

must have the ability to participate in 

Committee business through the 

Internet. 

Procedures for Submitting Nominations 

Submit resume ́s for nomination for 

the Patent Public Advisory Committee 

and the Trademark Public Advisory 

Committee to: Chief of Staff to the 

Under Secretary of Commerce for 

Intellectual Property and Director of the 

United States Patent and Trademark 

Office, utilizing the addresses provided 

above. 

Dated: April 8, 2011. 

David J. Kappos, 

Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual 

Property and Director of the United States 

Patent and Trademark Office. 

[FR Doc. 2011–9085 Filed 4–13–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meeting Notice 

TIME AND DATE: Wednesday, April 20, 

2011; 10 a.m.—11 a.m. 

PLACE: Room 410, Bethesda Towers, 

4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, 

Maryland. 

STATUS: Closed to the public. 

MATTER TO BE CONSIDERED: 

Compliance Status Report 

The Commission staff will brief the 

Commission on the status of compliance 

matters. 

For a recorded message containing the 

latest agenda information, call (301) 

504–7948. 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

Todd A. Stevenson, Office of the 

Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product 

Safety Commission, 4330 East West 

Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 

504–7923. 

Dated: April 12, 2011. 

Todd A Stevenson, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2011–9218 Filed 4–12–11; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 6355–01–P 

CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND 

COMMUNITY SERVICE 

Information Collection; Submission for 

OMB Review, Comment Request 

AGENCY: Corporation for National and 

Community Service. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Corporation for National 

and Community Service (hereinafter the 

‘‘Corporation’’), has submitted a public 

information collection request (ICR) 

entitled Assessment of the National 

Conference on Volunteering and Service 

(formerly known as National Conference 

Surveys), for review and approval in 

accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104– 

13, (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). Copies of 

this ICR, with applicable supporting 

documentation, may be obtained by 

calling the Corporation for National and 

Community Service, Nathan Dietz, at 

(202) 606–6633 or e-mail to 

ndietz@cns.gov. Individuals who use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TTY–TDD) may call (202) 606–3472 

between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern 

Time, Monday through Friday. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted, identified by the title of the 

information collection activity, to the 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs, Attn: Ms. Sharon Mar, OMB 

Desk Officer for the Corporation for 

National and Community Service, by 

any of the following two methods 

within 30 days from the date of 

publication in the Federal Register: 

(1) By fax to: (202) 395–6974, 

Attention: Ms. Sharon Mar, OMB Desk 

Officer for the Corporation for National 

and Community Service; and 

(2) Electronically by e-mail to 

smar@omb.eop.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The OMB 

is particularly interested in comments 

which: 

• Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the Corporation, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; 

• Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES