Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 3 / Wednesday, January 5, 2011 / Notices 539 

1An SME is defined as a firm with 500 or fewer 

employees or that otherwise qualifies as a small 

business under SBA regulations. See http:// 

www.sba.gov/contractingopportunities/owners/ 

basics/whatismallbusiness/index.html. Parent 

companies, affiliates, and subsidiaries will be 

considered when determining business size. The 

dual pricing reflects the Commercial Service’s user 

fee schedule that became effective May 1, 2008. See 

http://www.export.gov/newsletter/march2008/ 

initiatives.html. 

best satisfy the selection criteria as 

outlined below. A minimum of 15 

companies will be selected to 

participate in the mission from the 

applicant pool. U.S. companies already 

doing business with Turkey and 

Kazakhstan as well as U.S. companies 

seeking to enter these markets for the 

first time may apply. 

Expenses: 

After a company has been selected to 

participate on the mission, a 

participation fee to the U.S. Department 

of Commerce is required. The 

participation fee for one representative 

is $3,160 for a small or medium-sized 

enterprise (SME) 1 and $4,585 for large 

firms. The fee for each additional firm 

representative (SME or large) is $450. 

Expenses for travel, lodging, most 

meals, and incidentals will be the 

responsibility of each mission 

participant. Delegation members will be 

able to take advantage of Embassy rates 

for hotel rooms. 

Conditions for Participation: 

• An applicant must submit a 

completed and signed mission 

application and supplemental 

application materials, including 

adequate information on the company’s 

products and/or services, primary 

market objectives, and goals for 

participation. If the Department of 

Commerce receives an incomplete 

application, the Department may reject 

the application, request additional 

information, or take the lack of 

information into account when 

evaluating the applications. 

• Each applicant must also certify 

that the products and services it seeks 

to export through the mission are either 

produced in the United States, or, if not, 

marketed under the name of a U.S. firm 

and have at least 51 percent U.S. 

content of the value of the finished 

product or service. 

Selection Criteria for Participation: 

Selection will be based on the 

following criteria: 

• Suitability of the company’s 

products or services to the Eurasian 

Region oil and gas equipment and 

services market 

• Applicant’s potential for business 

in Turkey and Kazakhstan, including 

likelihood of exports resulting from the 

mission 

• Consistency of the applicant’s goals 

and objectives with the stated scope of 

the mission 

Diversity of company size, type, 

location, demographics and traditional 

under representation in business, may 

also be considered during the review 

process. 

Referrals from political organizations 

and any documents containing 

references to partisan political activities 

(including political contributions) will 

be removed from an applicant’s 

submission and not considered during 

the selection process. 

Timeframe for recruitment and 

Applications 

Mission recruitment will be 

conducted in an open and public 

manner, including posting on the 

Commerce Department trade missions 

calendar—http://www.ita.doc.gov/ 

doctm/tmcal.html—and other Internet 

websites, publication in domestic trade 

publications and association 

newsletters, direct outreach to internal 

clients and distribution lists, posting in 

the Federal Register, and 

announcements at industry meetings, 

symposia, conferences, and trade shows. 

Recruitment for the mission will 

begin immediately and conclude no 

later than April 15, 2011. The U.S. 

Department of Commerce will review all 

applications immediately after the 

deadline. Applications received after 

this date will be considered only if 

space and scheduling constraints 

permit. We will inform applicants of 

selection decisions as soon as possible 

after the deadline. 

Contact Information 

U.S. Commercial Service Domestic 

Contact 

Brendan Kelly, Tel: 713–209–3113, Email: brendan.kelly@trade.gov. Lisa 

Huot, Tel: 202–482–1841, E-mail: 

lisa.huot@trade.gov. 

U.S. Commercial Service Almaty, 

Kazakhstan 

Jennifer Kane, Senior Commercial 

Officer or Azhar Kadrzhanova, 

Commercial Specialist, U.S. Consulate 

General—Almaty, 41 Kazybek bi Street, 

Almaty 050010, Kazakhstan, Tel.: +7 

(727) 250–7612, Fax: +7 (727) 250–0777, 

E-mail: Jennifer.Kane@trade.gov and 

Azhar.Kadrzhanova@trade.gov. 

U.S. Commercial Service Ankara, 

Turkey 

Michael Lally, Senior Commercial 

Officer or Serdar Cetinkaya, Senior 

Commercial Specialist, U.S. Embassy— 

Ankara, Tel: +90 (312) 457–7203, Fax: 

+90 (312) 457–7302, E-mail: 

Michael.Lally@trade.gov and 

Serdar.Cetinkaya@trade.gov. 

U.S. Commercial Service Istanbul, 

Turkey 

Gregory Taevs, Principal Commercial 

Officer, Tel: +90 (212) 335 9302, Fax: 

+90 (212) 335 9103, E-mail: 

Gregory.Taevs@trade.gov. 

Frank Spector, 

Global Trade Promotion Programs, U.S. & 

Foreign Commercial Services. 

[FR Doc. 2010–33248 Filed 1–4–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology 

[Docket Number: 101129594–0594–02] 

Alternative Personnel Management 

System (APMS) at the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology 

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards 

and Technology, Department of 

Commerce. 

ACTION: This notice provides for changes 

to existing provisions of the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology’s 

(NIST) Alternative Personnel 

Management System (APMS) published 

October 21, 1997 (62 FR 54604). 

SUMMARY: This notice announces 

changes to existing provisions of the 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology’s (NIST) Alternative 

Personnel Management System (APMS), 

primarily to expedite hiring and align 

APMS Direct-Hire procedures with the 

Office of Personnel Management (OPM) 

Direct-Hire Authority (5 CFR part 337 

and 69 FR 114). NIST will pilot directhire authority under 5 CFR part 337, 

subpart B, for a period of one year from 

the issuance date of this notice, for all 

positions within NIST in the Scientific 

and Engineering (ZP) career path at the 

Pay Band III and above, for Nuclear 

Reactor Operator positions in the 

Scientific and Engineering Technician 

(ZT) career path at Pay Band III and 

above, and for all occupations for which 

there is a special rate under the General 

Schedule pay system. 

DATES: This notice is effective on 

January 5, 2011. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Essex Brown at the National Institute of 

Standards and Technology, (301) 975– 

3801; or Pamela Boyland at the U.S. 

Department of Commerce, (202) 482– 

1068. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
540 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 3 / Wednesday, January 5, 2011 / Notices 

Background 

In accordance with Public Law 99– 

574, the NIST Authorization Act for 

1987, the Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM) approved a 

demonstration project plan, ‘‘Alternative 

Personnel Management System (APMS) 

at the National Institute of Standards 

and Technology (NIST),’’ and published 

the plan in the Federal Register on 

October 2, 1987 (52 FR 37082). The 

project plan has been modified twice to 

clarify certain NIST authorities (54 FR 

21331 of May 17, 1989, and 55 FR 39220 

of September 25, 1990). The project plan 

and subsequent amendments were 

consolidated in the final APMS plan, 

which became permanent on October 

21, 1997, (62 FR 54604). NIST published 

an amendment on May 6, 2005 (70 FR 

23996), which became permanent on 

June 6, 2005. 

The plan provides for modifications 

to be made as experience is gained, 

results are analyzed, and conclusions 

are reached on how the system is 

working. This notice formally modifies 

the APMS plan to align Direct-Hire 

procedures with OPM’s Direct-Hire 

Authority on a pilot basis. During this 

pilot period, NIST will be gathering data 

on the impact of direct-hire authority on 

veterans preference eligibles as well as 

information supporting whether or not 

there is a severe shortage of candidates 

for the positions covered under the 

direct-hire authority. Veterans 

preference is the preferential treatment 

given to qualified veterans of the United 

States armed forces under Federal law. 

Dated: December 28, 2010. 

Charles H. Romine, 

Acting Associate Director for Laboratory 

Programs. 

Table of Contents 

I. Executive Summary 

II. Basis for APMS Plan Modification 

III. Changes to the APMS Plan 

I. Executive Summary 

The National Institute of Standards 

and Technology’s (NIST) Alternative 

Personnel Management System (APMS) 

is designed to (1) Improve hiring and 

allow NIST to compete more effectively 

for high-quality researchers through 

direct hiring, selective use of higher 

entry salaries, and selective use of 

recruiting allowances; (2) motivate and 

retain staff through higher pay potential, 

pay-for-performance, more responsive 

personnel systems, and selective use of 

retention allowances; (3) strengthen the 

manager’s role in personnel 

management through delegation of 

personnel authorities; and (4) increase 

the efficiency of personnel systems 

through installation of a simpler and 

more flexible classification system 

based on pay banding through reduction 

of guidelines, steps, and paperwork in 

classification, hiring, and other 

personnel systems, and through 

automation. 

Since implementing the APMS, 

according to findings in the Office of 

Personnel Management’s ‘‘Summative 

Evaluation Report National Institute of 

Standards and Technology 

Demonstration Project: 1988–1995,’’ 

NIST accomplished the following: NIST 

is more competitive for talent; NIST 

retained more top performers than a 

comparison group; and NIST managers 

reported significantly more authority to 

make decisions concerning employee 

pay. This modification builds on this 

success by piloting direct-hire authority 

under 5 CFR part 337, subpart B, for a 

period of one-year. 

This amendment modifies the October 

21, 1997 Federal Register notice. 

Specifically, it enables NIST to hire, 

after public notice is given, any 

qualified applicant without regard to 5 

U.S.C. 3309–3318, 5 CFR part 211, or 5 

CFR part 337, subpart A for a period of 

one-year. During the one-year pilot 

period, NIST will gather data on the 

impact of direct-hire authority on 

preference eligibles as well as 

information supporting whether or not 

there is a severe shortage of candidates 

for the positions covered under the 

direct-hire authority. 

NIST will continually monitor the 

effectiveness of this amendment. 

II. Basis for APMS Plan Modification 

Section 3304 (c) of title 5, United 

States Code, provides agencies with the 

authority to appoint candidates directly 

to jobs for which OPM determines that 

there is a severe shortage of candidates 

or a critical hiring need. 

In 1987 with the approval of the NIST 

APMS (52 FR 37082), and in 1997 when 

the APMS plan was modified (62 FR 

54604), OPM concurred that all 

occupations in the ZP career path at the 

band III and above constitute a shortage 

category; Nuclear Reactor Operator 

positions in the ZT Career Path at the 

Pay Band III and above constitute a 

shortage category; and all occupations 

for which there is a special rate under 

the General Schedule pay system 

constitute a shortage category. 

OPM’s Direct-Hire Authority enables 

agencies to hire, after public notice is 

given, any qualified application without 

regard to 5 U.S.C. 3309–3318, 5 CFR 

part 211, or 5 CFR part 337, subpart A. 

NIST APMS allows the NIST Director 

to modify procedures if no new waiver 

from law or regulation is added. Given 

this modification is in accordance with 

existing law and regulation, the NIST 

Director is authorized to make the 

changes described in this notice. The 

modification to our final Federal 

Register Notice, dated October 21, 1997, 

with respect to our Staffing authorities 

is provided below. 

III. Changes in the APMS Plan 

The APMS at the NIST, published in 

the Federal Register October 21, 1997 

(62 FR 54604) is amended as follows: 

1. The subsection titled: ‘‘Direct 

Examination and Hiring’’ is deleted. 

2. The subsection titled ‘‘Direct Hire: 

Critical Shortage Highly Qualified 

Candidates’’ is deleted. 

3. The information under the 

subsection titled: ‘‘NIST Applicant 

Supply File’’ is replaced with: NIST 

advertises the availability of job 

opportunities in Direct-Hire occupations 

by posting on the OPM USAJOBS Web 

site. NIST would follow internal Direct 

Hire procedures for accepting 

applications. 

4. The subsection titled: ‘‘Referral 

Procedures for Direct Examination and 

Hiring and Agency Based Staffing 

Authorities’’ is deleted. 

5. A new subsection titled: ‘‘Referral 

Procedures for Direct-Hire’’ is added and 

the information under this subsection is 

as follows: After public notice is given, 

a qualified candidate may be referred 

without regard to 5 U.S.C. 3309–3318, 5 

CFR part 211, or 5 CFR part 337, subpart 

A. 

6. The subsection titled: ‘‘Direct 

Referral’’ is deleted. 

7. The subsection titled: ‘‘Rating and 

Ranking’’ is deleted. 

[FR Doc. 2010–33307 Filed 1–4–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology 

National Conference on Weights and 

Measures 2011 Interim Meeting 

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards 

and Technology, Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The National Conference on 

Weights and Measures (NCWM) 2011 

Interim Meeting will be held January 23 

to 26, 2011. Publication of this notice on 

the NCWM’s behalf is undertaken as a 

public service. The meetings are open to 

the public but a paid registration is 

required. Please see registration 

information in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section below. 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES