Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 22 / Thursday, February 4, 2021 / Notices 8225 

www.nsf.gov/nsb for general 

information. 

Chris Blair, 

Executive Assistant to the National Science 

Board Office. 

[FR Doc. 2021–02374 Filed 2–2–21; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Sunshine Act Meeting 

The National Science Board’s 

Committee on Oversight hereby gives 

notice of the scheduling of a 

teleconference for the transaction of 

National Science Board business as 

follows: 

TIME AND DATE: Wednesday, February 10, 

2021, from 1:00–2:00 p.m. EST. 

PLACE: This meeting will be held by 

teleconference through the National 

Science Foundation. 

STATUS: Open. 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: The agenda 

of the teleconference is: Chair’s opening 

remarks; presentation regarding merit 

review analysis; review of two proposed 

NSB policies; and discussion of data on 

careers of NSF-funded graduate 

students. 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

Point of contact for this meeting is: Ann 

Bushmiller, abushmil@nsf.gov, 703/ 

292–7000. To listen to this 

teleconference, members of the public 

must send an email to 

nationalsciencebrd@nsf.gov at least 24 

hours prior to the teleconference. The 

National Science Board Office will send 

requesters a toll-free dial-in number. 

Meeting information and updates may 

be found at https://www.nsf.gov/nsb/ 

meetings/index.jsp. Please refer to the 

National Science Board website at 

www.nsf.gov/nsb for general 

information. 

Chris Blair, 

Executive Assistant to the National Science 

Board Office. 

[FR Doc. 2021–02466 Filed 2–2–21; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NEIGHBORHOOD REINVESTMENT 

CORPORATION 

Sunshine Act Meetings 

TIME AND DATE: 10:00 a.m., Thursday, 

February 11, 2021 

PLACE: Via Conference Call 

STATUS: Parts of this meeting will be 

open to the public. The rest of the 

meeting will be closed to the public. 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Audit 

Committee meeting. 

The General Counsel of the 

Corporation has certified that in his 

opinion, one or more of the exemptions 

set forth in 5 U.S.C. 552 (b)(2) and (4) 

permit closure of the following 

portion(s) of this meeting: 

• Executive Session 

Agenda 

I. Call to Order 

II. Executive Session: Chief Audit 

Executive 

III. Action Item Presentation of the 

FY2021 Risk Assessment & Internal 

Audit Plan 

IV. Action Item Internal Audit Reports 

with Management’s Response 

V. Internal Audit Status Reports 

VI. Adjournment 

PORTIONS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: 

Everything except the Executive 

Session. 

PORTIONS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC: 

Executive Session. 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

Lakeyia Thompson, Special Assistant, 

(202) 524–9940; Lthompson@nw.org. 

Lakeyia Thompson, 

Special Assistant. 

[FR Doc. 2021–02425 Filed 2–2–21; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 7570–02–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 50–155, 50–255, 72–007, and 

72–043; NRC–2021–0036] 

Palisades Nuclear Plant and Big Rock 

Point Plant Consideration of Approval 

of Transfer of Control of Licenses and 

Conforming Amendments 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Application for direct and 

indirect transfers of licenses; 

opportunity to comment, request a 

hearing, and petition for leave to 

intervene. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) received and is 

considering approval of an application 

filed by Entergy Nuclear Operations, 

Inc. (ENOI), on behalf of itself, Entergy 

Nuclear Palisades, LLC (ENP), Holtec 

International (Holtec), and Holtec 

Decommissioning International, LLC 

(HDI) (collectively, the applicants), on 

December 23, 2020. The application 

seeks NRC approval of the transfer of 

control of Provisional Operating License 

No. DPR–6 and Renewed Facility 

Operating License No. DPR–20 for Big 

Rock Point Plant (Big Rock Point) and 

Palisades Nuclear Plant (Palisades), 

respectively, as well as the general 

license for the Big Rock Point 

Independent Spent Fuel Storage 

Installation (ISFSI) and the Palisades 

ISFSI (collectively, the licenses). 

Specifically, the application requests 

that the NRC consent to (1) the transfer 

of control of the licenses to Holtec and 

(2) the transfer of ENOI’s operating 

authority to HDI. The NRC is also 

considering amending the licenses for 

administrative purposes to reflect the 

proposed transfer. The application 

contains sensitive unclassified nonsafeguards information (SUNSI). 

DATES: Comments must be filed by 

March 8, 2021. A request for a hearing 

must be filed by February 24, 2021. Any 

potential party as defined in § 2.4 of title 

10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 

(10 CFR) who believes access to SUNSI 

is necessary to respond to this notice 

must follow the instructions in Section 

VI of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

section of this notice. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods; 

however, the NRC encourages electronic 

comment submission through the 

Federal Rulemaking website: 

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2021–0036. Address 

questions about Docket IDs in 

Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 

telephone: 301–415–0624; email: 

Stacy.Schumann@nrc.gov. For technical 

questions, contact the individual listed 

in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section of this document. 

• Email comments to: 

Hearing.Docket@nrc.gov. If you do not 

receive an automatic email reply 

confirming receipt, then contact us at 

301–415–1677. 

• Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 301– 

415–1101. 

• Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001, ATTN: 

Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff. 

• Hand deliver comments to: 11555 

Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 

20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. 

(Eastern Time) Federal workdays; 

telephone: 301–415–1677. 

For additional direction on obtaining 

information and submitting comments, 

see ‘‘Obtaining Information and 

Submitting Comments’’ in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Scott P. Wall, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
8226 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 22 / Thursday, February 4, 2021 / Notices 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 

0001; telephone: 301–415–2855; email: 

Scott.Wall@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and 

Submitting Comments 

A. Obtaining Information 

Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2021– 

0036 when contacting the NRC about 

the availability of information for this 

action. You may obtain publicly 

available information related to this 

action by any of the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2021–0036. 

• NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly 

available documents online in the 

ADAMS Public Documents collection at 

https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ 

adams.html. To begin the search, select 

‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.’’ For 

problems with ADAMS, please contact 

the NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR) 

reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301– 

415–4737, or by email to pdr.resource@

nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number 

for each document referenced (if it is 

available in ADAMS) is provided the 

first time that it is mentioned in this 

document. 

• Attention: The PDR, where you may 

examine and order copies of public 

documents, is currently closed. You 

may submit your request to the PDR via 

email at pdr.resource@nrc.gov or call 

1–800–397–4209 or 301–415–4737, 

between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

B. Submitting Comments 

The NRC encourages electronic 

comment submission through the 

Federal Rulemaking website (https://

www.regulations.gov). Please include 

Docket ID NRC–2021–0036 in your 

comment submission. 

The NRC cautions you not to include 

identifying or contact information that 

you do not want to be publicly 

disclosed in your comment submission. 

The NRC will post all comment 

submissions at https://

www.regulations.gov as well as enter the 

comment submissions into ADAMS. 

The NRC does not routinely edit 

comment submissions to remove 

identifying or contact information. 

If you are requesting or aggregating 

comments from other persons for 

submission to the NRC, then you should 

inform those persons not to include 

identifying or contact information that 

they do not want to be publicly 

disclosed in their comment submission. 

Your request should state that the NRC 

does not routinely edit comment 

submissions to remove such information 

before making the comment 

submissions available to the public or 

entering the comment into ADAMS. 

II. Introduction 

The NRC is considering the issuance 

of an order under 10 CFR 50.80 and 

72.50 approving the direct and indirect 

transfers of control of Provisional 

Operating License No. DPR–6 and 

Renewed Facility Operating License No. 

DPR–20 for Big Rock Point and 

Palisades, respectively, as well as the 

general licenses for the Palisades and 

Big Rock Point ISFSIs (collectively, the 

licenses). Specifically, the application, 

dated December 23, 2020 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML20358A075), requests 

that the NRC consent to (1) the transfer 

of control of the licenses to Holtec, and 

(2) the transfer of ENOI’s operating 

authority (i.e., its authority to conduct 

licensed activities under the licenses) to 

HDI. In addition, HDI submitted a ‘‘Post 

Shutdown Decommissioning Activities 

Report [PSDAR] including Site-Specific 

Decommissioning Cost Estimate for 

Palisades Nuclear Plant,’’ dated 

December 23, 2020 (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML20358A232), which the NRC is 

considering as a supplement to the 

license transfer application. The NRC is 

also considering amending the licenses 

for administrative purposes to reflect 

the proposed transfer. 

Following approval of the proposed 

direct and indirect transfers of control of 

the licenses, Holtec Palisades, LLC, 

would be the licensed owners for the 

licenses and HDI would be the licensed 

operator for the licenses. HDI will 

contract with Comprehensive 

Decommissioning International, LLC to 

decommission Palisades. 

No physical changes to the Palisades 

ISFSI and the Big Rock Point ISFSI or 

operational changes are being proposed 

in the application. 

The NRC’s regulations at 10 CFR 

50.80 state that no license, or any right 

thereunder, shall be transferred, directly 

or indirectly, through transfer of control 

of the license, unless the Commission 

gives its consent in writing. The 

Commission will approve an 

application for the transfer of a license 

if the Commission determines that the 

proposed transferee is qualified to hold 

the license, and that the transfer is 

otherwise consistent with applicable 

provisions of law, regulations, and 

orders issued by the Commission. 

Before issuance of the proposed 

conforming license amendment, the 

Commission will have made findings 

required by the Atomic Energy Act of 

1954, as amended (the Act), and the 

Commission’s regulations. As provided 

in 10 CFR 2.1315, unless otherwise 

determined by the Commission with 

regard to a specific application, the 

Commission has determined that any 

amendment to the license of a 

utilization facility or to the license of an 

ISFSI, which does no more than 

conform the license to reflect the 

transfer action, involves no significant 

hazards consideration and no genuine 

issue as to whether the health and safety 

of the public will be significantly 

affected. No contrary determination has 

been made with respect to this specific 

license amendment application. In light 

of the generic determination reflected in 

10 CFR 2.1315, no public comments 

with respect to significant hazards 

considerations are being solicited, 

notwithstanding the general comment 

procedures contained in 10 CFR 50.91. 

III. Opportunity To Comment 

Within 30 days from the date of 

publication of this notice, persons may 

submit written comments regarding the 

license transfer application, as provided 

for in 10 CFR 2.1305. The Commission 

will consider and, if appropriate, 

respond to these comments, but such 

comments will not otherwise constitute 

part of the decisional record. Comments 

should be submitted as described in the 

ADDRESSES section of this document. 

IV. Opportunity To Request a Hearing 

and Petition for Leave To Intervene 

Within 20 days after the date of 

publication of this notice, any persons 

(petitioner) whose interest may be 

affected by this action may file a request 

for a hearing and petition for leave to 

intervene (petition) with respect to the 

action. Petitions shall be filed in 

accordance with the Commission’s 

‘‘Agency Rules of Practice and 

Procedure’’ in 10 CFR part 2. Interested 

persons should consult a current copy 

of 10 CFR 2.309. The NRC’s regulations 

are accessible electronically from the 

NRC Library on the NRC’s website at 

https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/cfr/. Alternatively, a copy of 

the regulations is available at the NRC’s 

Public Document Room, located at One 

White Flint North, Room O1–F21, 11555 

Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, 

Maryland 20852. If a petition is filed, 

the Commission or a presiding officer 

will rule on the petition and, if 

appropriate, a notice of a hearing will be 

issued. 

As required by 10 CFR 2.309(d), the 

petition should specifically explain the 

reasons why intervention should be 

permitted with particular reference to 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 22 / Thursday, February 4, 2021 / Notices 8227 

the following general requirements for 

standing: (1) The name, address, and 

telephone number of the petitioner; (2) 

the nature of the petitioner’s right to be 

made a party to the proceeding; (3) the 

nature and extent of the petitioner’s 

property, financial, or other interest in 

the proceeding; and (4) the possible 

effect of any decision or order which 

may be entered in the proceeding on the 

petitioner’s interest. 

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(f), 

the petition must also set forth the 

specific contentions that the petitioner 

seeks to have litigated in the 

proceeding. Each contention must 

consist of a specific statement of the 

issue of law or fact to be raised or 

controverted. In addition, the petitioner 

must provide a brief explanation of the 

bases for the contention and a concise 

statement of the alleged facts or expert 

opinion that support the contention and 

on which the petitioner intends to rely 

in proving the contention at the hearing. 

The petitioner must also provide 

references to the specific sources and 

documents on which the petitioner 

intends to rely to support its position on 

the issue. The petition must include 

sufficient information to show that a 

genuine dispute exists with the 

applicant or licensee on a material issue 

of law or fact. Contentions must be 

limited to matters within the scope of 

the proceeding. The contention must be 

one that, if proven, would entitle the 

petitioner to relief. A petitioner who 

fails to satisfy the requirements at 10 

CFR 2.309(f) with respect to at least one 

contention will not be permitted to 

participate as a party. 

Those permitted to intervene become 

parties to the proceeding, subject to any 

limitations in the order granting leave to 

intervene. Parties have the opportunity 

to participate fully in the conduct of the 

hearing with respect to resolution of 

that party’s admitted contentions, 

including the opportunity to present 

evidence, consistent with the NRC’s 

regulations, policies, and procedures. 

Petitions must be filed no later than 

20 days from the date of publication of 

this notice. Petitions and motions for 

leave to file new or amended 

contentions that are filed after the 

deadline will not be entertained absent 

a determination by the presiding officer 

that the filing demonstrates good cause 

by satisfying the three factors in 10 CFR 

2.309(c)(1)(i) through (iii). The petition 

must be filed in accordance with the 

filing instructions in the ‘‘Electronic 

Submissions (E-Filing)’’ section of this 

document. 

A State, local governmental body, 

Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or 

agency thereof, may submit a petition to 

the Commission to participate as a party 

under 10 CFR 2.309(h)(1). The petition 

should state the nature and extent of the 

petitioner’s interest in the proceeding. 

The petition should be submitted to the 

Commission no later than 20 days from 

the date of publication of this notice. 

The petition must be filed in accordance 

with the filing instructions in the 

‘‘Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)’’ 

section of this document, and should 

meet the requirements for petitions set 

forth in this section, except that under 

10 CFR 2.309(h)(2) a State, local 

governmental body, or Federally 

recognized Indian Tribe, or agency 

thereof does not need to address the 

standing requirements in 10 CFR 

2.309(d) if the facility is located within 

its boundaries. Alternatively, a State, 

local governmental body, Federally 

recognized Indian Tribe, or agency 

thereof may participate as a non-party 

under 10 CFR 2.315(c). 

If a petition is submitted, any person 

who is not a party to the proceeding and 

is not affiliated with or represented by 

a party may, at the discretion of the 

presiding officer, be permitted to make 

a limited appearance pursuant to the 

provisions of 10 CFR 2.315(a). A person 

making a limited appearance may make 

an oral or written statement of his or her 

position on the issues but may not 

otherwise participate in the proceeding. 

A limited appearance may be made at 

any session of the hearing or at any 

prehearing conference, subject to the 

limits and conditions as may be 

imposed by the presiding officer. Details 

regarding the opportunity to make a 

limited appearance will be provided by 

the presiding officer if such sessions are 

scheduled. 

V. Electronic Submissions (E-Filing) 

All documents filed in NRC 

adjudicatory proceedings, including a 

request for hearing and petition for 

leave to intervene (petition), any motion 

or other document filed in the 

proceeding prior to the submission of a 

request for hearing or petition to 

intervene, and documents filed by 

interested governmental entities that 

request to participate under 10 CFR 

2.315(c), must be filed in accordance 

with the NRC’s E-Filing rule (72 FR 

49139; August 28, 2007, as amended at 

77 FR 46562; August 3, 2012). The EFiling process requires participants to 

submit and serve all adjudicatory 

documents over the internet, or in some 

cases to mail copies on electronic 

storage media. Detailed guidance on 

making electronic submissions may be 

found in the Guidance for Electronic 

Submissions to the NRC and on the NRC 

website at https://www.nrc.gov/sitehelp/e-submittals.html. Participants 

may not submit paper copies of their 

filings unless they seek an exemption in 

accordance with the following 

procedures. 

To comply with the procedural 

requirements of E-Filing, at least 10 

days prior to the filing deadline, the 

participant should contact the Office of 

the Secretary by email at 

hearing.docket@nrc.gov, or by telephone 

at 301–415–1677, to (1) request a digital 

identification (ID) certificate, which 

allows the participant (or its counsel or 

representative) to digitally sign 

submissions and access the E-Filing 

system for any proceeding in which it 

is participating; and (2) advise the 

Secretary that the participant will be 

submitting a petition or other 

adjudicatory document (even in 

instances in which the participant, or its 

counsel or representative, already holds 

an NRC-issued digital ID certificate). 

Based upon this information, the 

Secretary will establish an electronic 

docket for the hearing in this proceeding 

if the Secretary has not already 

established an electronic docket. 

Information about applying for a 

digital ID certificate is available on the 

NRC’s public website at https://

www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/ 

getting-started.html. Once a participant 

has obtained a digital ID certificate and 

a docket has been created, the 

participant can then submit 

adjudicatory documents. Submissions 

must be in Portable Document Format 

(PDF). Additional guidance on PDF 

submissions is available on the NRC’s 

public website at https://www.nrc.gov/ 

site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A 

filing is considered complete at the time 

the document is submitted through the 

NRC’s E-Filing system. To be timely, an 

electronic filing must be submitted to 

the E-Filing system no later than 11:59 

p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. 

Upon receipt of a transmission, the EFiling system time-stamps the document 

and sends the submitter an email notice 

confirming receipt of the document. The 

E-Filing system also distributes an email 

notice that provides access to the 

document to the NRC’s Office of the 

General Counsel and any others who 

have advised the Office of the Secretary 

that they wish to participate in the 

proceeding, so that the filer need not 

serve the document on those 

participants separately. Therefore, 

applicants and other participants (or 

their counsel or representative) must 

apply for and receive a digital ID 

certificate before adjudicatory 

documents are filed so that they can 

obtain access to the documents via the 

E-Filing system. 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
8228 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 22 / Thursday, February 4, 2021 / Notices 

A person filing electronically using 

the NRC’s adjudicatory E-Filing system 

may seek assistance by contacting the 

NRC’s Electronic Filing Help Desk 

through the ‘‘Contact Us’’ link located 

on the NRC’s public website at https:// 

www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html, by email to 

MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov, or by a tollfree call at 1–866–672–7640. The NRC 

Electronic Filing Help Desk is available 

between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., Eastern 

Time, Monday through Friday, 

excluding government holidays. 

Participants who believe that they 

have a good cause for not submitting 

documents electronically must file an 

exemption request, in accordance with 

10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper 

filing stating why there is good cause for 

not filing electronically and requesting 

authorization to continue to submit 

documents in paper format. Such filings 

must be submitted by: (1) First class 

mail addressed to the Office of the 

Secretary of the Commission, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001, Attention: 

Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or 

(2) courier, express mail, or expedited 

delivery service to the Office of the 

Secretary, 11555 Rockville Pike, 

Rockville, Maryland 20852, Attention: 

Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. 

Participants filing adjudicatory 

documents in this manner are 

responsible for serving the document on 

all other participants. Filing is 

considered complete by first-class mail 

as of the time of deposit in the mail, or 

by courier, express mail, or expedited 

delivery service upon depositing the 

document with the provider of the 

service. A presiding officer, having 

granted an exemption request from 

using E-Filing, may require a participant 

or party to use E-Filing if the presiding 

officer subsequently determines that the 

reason for granting the exemption from 

use of E-Filing no longer exists. 

Documents submitted in adjudicatory 

proceedings will appear in the NRC’s 

electronic hearing docket that is 

available to the public at https://

adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded 

pursuant to an order of the Commission 

or the presiding officer. If you do not 

have an NRC-issued digital ID certificate 

as previously described, click ‘‘cancel’’ 

when the link requests certificates and 

you will be automatically directed to the 

NRC’s electronic hearing dockets where 

you will be able to access any publicly 

available documents in a particular 

hearing docket. Participants are 

requested not to include personal 

privacy information, such as social 

security numbers, home addresses, or 

personal phone numbers in their filings, 

unless an NRC regulation or other law 

requires submission of such 

information. For example, in some 

instances, individuals provide home 

addresses in order to demonstrate 

proximity to a facility or site. With 

respect to copyrighted works, except for 

limited excerpts that serve the purpose 

of the adjudicatory filings and would 

constitute a Fair Use application, 

participants are requested not to include 

copyrighted materials in their 

submission. 

The Commission will issue a notice or 

order granting or denying a hearing 

request or intervention petition, 

designating the issues for any hearing 

that will be held and designating the 

Presiding Officer. A notice granting a 

hearing will be published in the Federal 

Register and served on the parties to the 

hearing. 

For further details with respect to this 

application, see the application dated 

December 23, 2020, and the HDI PSDAR 

and Site-Specific Decommissioning Cost 

Estimate dated December 23, 2020. 

VI. Access to Sensitive Unclassified 

Non-Safeguards Information for 

Contention Preparation 

Any person who desires access to 

proprietary, confidential commercial 

information that has been redacted from 

the application should contact the 

applicant by telephoning Susan H. 

Raimo, Entergy Services, LLC, at 202– 

530–7330 for the purpose of negotiating 

a confidentiality agreement or a 

proposed protective order with the 

applicant. If no agreement can be 

reached, persons who desire access to 

this information may file a motion with 

the Secretary and addressed to the 

Commission that requests the issuance 

of a protective order. 

Dated: February 1, 2021. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Scott P. Wall, 

Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing 

Branch III, Division of Operating Reactor 

Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 2021–02357 Filed 2–3–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL 

OSC Annual Survey 

AGENCY: U.S. Office of Special Counsel. 

ACTION: Notice of modification of 

information collection. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Office of Special 

Counsel (OSC), seeks approval from the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for use of a modified survey that 

differs only slightly from the most 

recently approved information 

collection, OSC’s 2020 Annual Survey. 

By statute, OSC must conduct an annual 

survey to collect feedback from those 

who have contacted OSC for assistance, 

either by filing complaints and/or 

disclosures with OSC, or by seeking 

Hatch Act Advisory Opinions. This OSC 

annual survey consists of four electronic 

questionnaires (one for each type of 

assistance an individual can seek from 

OSC), each asking between five and ten 

questions. OSC invites comments on: (a) 

The accuracy of OSC’s estimate of the 

burden of the proposed collections of 

information; (b) ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (c) 

ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on 

respondents. 

DATES: Written comments should be 

received on or before March 8, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit written 

comments by mail to: Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget, 

Attention: Desk Officer for OSC, New 

Executive Office Building, Room 10235, 

Washington, DC 20503; or by email via: 

oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy Beckett, Senior Litigation Counsel, 

by telephone at (202) 804–7000, or by 

email at frliaison@osc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OSC is a 

permanent independent federal 

investigative and prosecutorial agency. 

OSC’s basic authorities come from four 

federal statutes: The Civil Service 

Reform Act, the Whistleblower 

Protection Act, the Hatch Act, and the 

Uniformed Services Employment & 

Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). 

OSC’s primary mission is to safeguard 

the merit system by protecting federal 

employees and applicants from 

prohibited personnel practices, 

especially reprisal for whistleblowing, 

and to serve as a safe channel for 

allegations of wrongdoing. OSC is 

required to conduct an annual survey of 

individuals who seek its assistance. 

OSC conducts an annual survey 

pursuant to Section 13 of Public Law 

103–424 (1994), codified at 5 U.S.C. 

1212 note, which states, in part: ‘‘[T]he 

survey shall—(1) determine if the 

individual seeking assistance was fully 

apprised of their rights; (2) determine 

whether the individual was successful 

either at the Office of Special Counsel 

or the Merit Systems Protection Board; 

and (3) determine if the individual, 

whether successful or not, was satisfied 

with the treatment received from the 

Office of Special Counsel.’’ The statute 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES