This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

500 

Vol. 86, No. 3 

Wednesday, January 6, 2021 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

Review and Approval; Notice of 

Withdrawal; Reporting Process for 

Complaint of Employment 

Discrimination Based on Sexual 

Orientation Against the Department of 

Commerce 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Office 

of Civil Rights, Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; withdrawal. 

SUMMARY: On Thursday, October 1, 

2020, the Department of Commerce 

(DOC) published a notice entitled, 

‘‘Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request; Reporting Process for 

Complaint of Employment 

Discrimination Based on Sexual 

Orientation Against the Department of 

Commerce.’’ That notice invited public 

comments on the proposed, and 

continuing information collection 

request for OMB Control Number 0694– 

0024, Form Number: CD–545. Through 

the publication of this document, we are 

withdrawing the request for approval 

from the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) to collect this 

information collection. 

DATES: The request for public comment 

preceding submission of the collection 

to OMB published on October 1, 2020 

and ended November 30, 2020. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In a notice 

published in the Federal Register on 

October 1, 2020 (85 FR 61923), the 

Department of Commerce proposed to 

extend the information collection for the 

Form CD–545. However, we are 

withdrawing the request for this 

collection approval from the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB), and 

instead, we are discontinuing the Form 

CD–545. 

Background 

Executive Order (E.O.) 13087, issued 

on May 28, 1998, amended E.O. 11478, 

Equal Employment Opportunity in the 

Federal Government, to include sexual 

orientation as a prohibited basis of 

discrimination in Federal employment. 

Consistent with this E.O., Department 

Administrative Order (DAO) 215–11, 

Complaint Process for Sexual 

Orientation Discrimination, was 

established in 1999 to provide 

Department of Commerce employees 

and applicants for employment with a 

Department-wide and uniform 

complaint process by which to seek 

redress for claims of sexual orientation 

discrimination. Form CD–545 has been 

used in connection with the Department 

of Commerce’s Complaint Process for 

Sexual Orientation Discrimination. 

At the time DAO 215–11 was 

established and many years thereafter, 

Department employees and applicants 

were unable to pursue sexual 

orientation discrimination claims under 

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 

as amended, and thus could not utilize 

the process afforded to Federal 

employees and applicants outlined in 

Title 29, Code of Federal Regulations 

(CFR), Part 1614. However, the Supreme 

Court, in Bostock v. Clayton County, 140 

S. Ct. 1731 (2020), recently interpreted 

the prohibition against sex-based 

discrimination contained in Title VII of 

the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as 

amended, to include sexual orientation 

discrimination in Federal employment. 

As such, Department employees and 

applicants are now able to pursue 

sexual orientation discrimination claims 

under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 

of 1964, as amended, and may utilize 

the process afforded to Federal 

employees and applicants outlined in 

29 CFR part 1614. 

In response to the request for public 

comment, comments were received from 

Lisa Schnall, Senior Attorney Advisor, 

Office of Legal Counsel, Equal 

Employment Opportunity Commission, 

on November 30, 2020, concerning 

Form CD–545 (Complaint of 

Employment Discrimination Based on 

Sexual Orientation Against the 

Department of Commerce). In her 

comments, Ms. Schnall cited the 

Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. 

Clayton County holding that the 

prohibition of sex discrimination in 

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 

as amended, prohibits discrimination 

based on sexual orientation, and 

recommended that the Department of 

Commerce withdraw Form CD–545, 

commenting that withdrawing the form 

would streamline and enhance the 

efficiency of the complaint process by 

ensuring that complaints of protected 

employment discrimination are reported 

on an existing form currently in use at 

the Department of Commerce. 

Since the matter of sexual orientation 

being a form of prohibited sex 

discrimination has now been decided 

with finality, we agree that withdrawing 

Form CD–545 would streamline and 

enhance the efficiency of the process for 

raising claims of sexual orientation and 

are therefore requesting the form’s 

discontinuation. 

Paul Redpath, Chief, Program 

Implementation Division, Office of Civil 

Rights, Department of Commerce, 

approved the publication of this Notice 

in the Federal Register. 

Dated: December 31, 2020. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Chief Information Officer, Commerce 

Department. 

[FR Doc. 2020–29254 Filed 1–5–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–BP–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Foreign-Trade Zones Board 

[B–57–2020] 

Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) 7— 

Mayaguez, Puerto Rico; Authorization 

of Production Activity; Patheon Puerto 

Rico, Inc. (Pharmaceutical Products) 

Manatı ́, Puerto Rico 

On September 2, 2020, Patheon 

Puerto Rico, Inc. (Patheon), submitted a 

notification of proposed production 

activity to the FTZ Board for its facility 

within Subzone 7L, in Manatı ́, Puerto 

Rico. 

The notification was processed in 

accordance with the regulations of the 

FTZ Board (15 CFR part 400), including 

notice in the Federal Register inviting 

public comment (85 FR 56577—56578). 

On December 31, 2020, the applicant 

was notified of the FTZ Board’s decision 

that no further review of the activity is 

warranted at this time. The production 

activity described in the notification 

was authorized, subject to the FTZ Act 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES