Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 174 / Thursday, September 10, 2009 / Notices 46639 

procedure as indicated under 

‘‘Notification Procedure.’’ 

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES: 

Information relating to the 

accommodation process will be 

supplied by the individual requesting 

accommodation(s), the individual’s 

supervisor, and occasionally the modal 

OATS Administrator. 

EXEMPTIONS CLAIMED FOR THIS SYSTEM: 

None. 

Dated: September 3, 2009. 

Habib Azarsina, 

Departmental Privacy Officer. 

[FR Doc. E9–21804 Filed 9–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Office of the Secretary 

[DOT–0ST–2009–0191] 

Notice of Rights and Protections 

Available Under the Federal 

Antidiscrimination and Whistleblower 

Protection Laws 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DOT. 

ACTION: No FEAR Act notice. 

SUMMARY: This Notice implements Title 

II of the Notification and Federal 

Employee Antidiscrimination and 

Retaliation Act of 2002 concerning the 

annual obligation of Federal agencies to 

notify all employees, former employees, 

and applicants for Federal employment 

of the rights and protections available to 

them under the Federal 

Antidiscrimination Laws and 

Whistleblower Protection Laws. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Caffin Gordon, Associate Director of 

Policy and Quality Control Division, S– 

35, Departmental Office of Civil Rights, 

Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department 

of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, 

202–366–4648 or (TTY) 202–366–8538. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Access 

You may retrieve this document 

online through the Federal Document 

Management System (FDMS) at: 

www.regulations.gov. The FDMS is 

available 24 hours each day, 365 days 

each year. Electronic retrieval help and 

guidelines are available under the help 

section of the Web site. An electronic 

copy of this document may be 

downloaded by using a computer, 

modem and suitable communications 

software from the Government Printing 

Office’s Electronic Bulletin Board home 

page at: http://www.nara.gov/fedreg and 

the Government Printing Office’s web 

page at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/ 

nara. 

No Fear Act Notice 

On May 15, 2002, Congress enacted 

the ‘‘Notification and Federal Employee 

Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act 

of 2002,’’ Public Law 107–174, which is 

now known as the No FEAR Act. One 

purpose of the Act is to ‘‘require that 

Federal agencies be 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.’’ The Act also requires 

this agency to provide this notice to 

Federal employees, former Federal 

employees and applicants for Federal 

employment to inform you of the rights 

and protections available to you under 

Federal antidiscrimination, 

whistleblower protection and retaliation 

laws. 

Antidiscrimination Laws 

A Federal agency cannot discriminate 

against an employee or applicant with 

respect to the terms, conditions or 

privileges of employment on the basis of 

race, color, religion, sex, national origin, 

age, disability, marital status or political 

affiliation. Discrimination on these 

bases is prohibited by one or more of the 

following statutes: 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 and 42 U.S.C. 

2000e–16. 

If you believe that you have been the 

victim of unlawful discrimination on 

the basis of race, color, religion, sex, 

national origin or disability, 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 can file a formal complaint 

of discrimination with your agency. See, 

e.g., 29 CFR 1614.105. If you believe 

that you have been the victim of 

unlawful discrimination on the basis of 

age, you must either contact an EEO 

counselor as noted above or give notice 

of intent to sue to the Equal 

Employment Opportunity Commission 

(EEOC) within 180 days of the alleged 

discriminatory action. If you are alleging 

discrimination based on marital status 

or political affiliation, you may file a 

written complaint with the U.S. Office 

of Special Counsel (OSC) (see contact 

information below). In the alternative 

(or in some cases, in addition), you may 

pursue a discrimination complaint by 

filing a grievance through your agency’s 

administrative or negotiated grievance 

procedures, if such procedures apply 

and are available. 

Whistleblower Protection Laws 

A Federal employee with authority to 

take, direct others to take, recommend 

or approve any 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 evidence 

violations of law, rule or regulation; 

gross mismanagement; gross waste of 

funds; an abuse of authority; or a 

substantial and specific danger to public 

health or safety, unless disclosure of 

such information is specifically 

prohibited by law and 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 the U.S. 

Office of Special Counsel at 1730 M 

Street NW., Suite 218, Washington, DC 

20036–4505 or online through the OSC 

Web site—www.osc.gov. 

Retaliation for Engaging in Protected 

Activity 

A Federal agency cannot retaliate 

against an employee or applicant 

because that individual exercises his or 

her rights under any of the Federal 

antidiscrimination or whistleblower 

protections laws listed above. If you 

believe that you are the victim of 

retaliation for engaging in protected 

activity, you must follow, as 

appropriate, the procedures described in 

the Antidiscrimination Laws and 

Whistleblower Protection Laws sections 

or, if applicable, the administrative or 

negotiated grievance procedures in 

order to pursue any legal remedy. 

Disciplinary Actions 

Under the existing laws, each agency 

retains the right, where appropriate, to 

discipline a Federal employee who has 

engaged in discriminatory or retaliatory 

conduct, up to and including removal. 

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 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES
46640 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 174 / Thursday, September 10, 2009 / Notices 

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, refer to 5 CFR 

Part 724, as well as the appropriate 

offices within your agency (e.g., EEO/ 

civil rights office, human resources 

office or legal office). Additional 

information regarding Federal 

antidiscrimination, whistleblower 

protection and retaliation laws can be 

found at the EEOC Web site—http:// 

www.eeoc.gov and the OSC Web site— 

http://www.osc.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). 

Mary N. Whigham Jones, 

Acting Director, Departmental Office of Civil 

Rights, United States Department of 

Transportation. 

[FR Doc. E9–21805 Filed 9–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Maritime Administration 

Reports, Forms and Recordkeeping 

Requirements; Agency Information 

Collection Activity Under OMB Review 

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, DOT. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice 

announces that the Information 

Collection abstracted below has been 

forwarded to the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) for review and 

approval. The nature of the information 

collection is described as well as its 

expected burden. The Federal Register 

Notice with a 60-day comment period 

soliciting comments on the following 

collection of information was published 

on June 1, 2009. No comments were 

received. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before October 13, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robert Brown, Maritime 

Administration, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. 

Telephone: 202–366–2277; or e-mail: 

robert.brown@dot.gov. Copies of this 

collection also can be obtained from that 

office. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Maritime 

Administration (MARAD). 

Title: Automated Mutual-Assistance 

Vessel Rescue System (AMVER). 

OMB Control Number: 2133–0025. 

Type of Request: Extension of 

currently approved collection. 

Affected Public: U.S.-flag and U.S. 

citizen-owned vessels that are required 

to respond under current statute and 

regulation. 

Form(s): None. 

Abstract: This collection of 

information is used to gather 

information regarding the location of 

U.S.-flag vessels and certain other U.S. 

citizen-owned vessels for the purpose of 

search and rescue in the saving of lives 

at sea and for the marshalling of ships 

for national defense and safety 

purposes. This collection consists of 

vessels that transmit their positions 

through various electronic means. 

Annual Estimated Burden Hours: 

2,050 hours. 

Addresses: Send comments to the 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs, Office of Management and 

Budget, 725 17th Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20503, Attention 

MARAD Desk Officer. 

Comments Are Invited On: (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate 

of the burden of the proposed 

information collection; (c) ways to 

enhance the quality, utility and clarity 

of the information to be collected; and 

(d) ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on 

respondents, including the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

A comment to OMB is best assured of 

having its full effect if OMB receives it 

within 30 days of publication. 

Authority: 49 CFR 1.66. 

Issued in Washington, DC on August 31, 

2009. 

Murray Bloom, 

Acting Secretary, Maritime Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–21816 Filed 9–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–81–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Maritime Administration 

[Docket No. MARAD 2009 0082] 

Information Collection Available for 

Public Comments and 

Recommendations 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 

notice announces the Maritime 

Administration’s (MARAD’s) intentions 

to request the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) approval for a new 

information collection to assess the 

educational outcome of U.S. Merchant 

Marine Academy alumni. 

DATES: Comments should be submitted 

on or before November 9, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Shashi Kumar, U.S. Merchant Marine 

Academy, Kings Point, NY 11024. 

Telephone: 516–726–5833; Fax: 516– 

773–5539, or E–Mail: 

kumars@usmma.edu. 

Copies of this collection also can be 

obtained from that office. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title of Collection: United States 

Merchant Marine Academy Alumni 

Survey. 

Type of Request: New collection. 

OMB Control Number: 2133–NEW. 

Form Numbers: KP2–66–DK1, KP2– 

67–DK2, KP2–68–DK3, KP2–69–ENG1, 

KP2–70–ENG2, KP2–71–ENG3. 

Expiration Date of Approval: Three 

years from date of approval by the 

Office of Management and Budget. 

Summary of Collection of 

Information: The United States 

Merchant Marine Academy is an 

accredited federal service academy that 

confers BS and MS degrees. The 

Academy is expected to assess its 

educational outcomes and report those 

findings to its Regional Accreditation 

authority in order to maintain the 

institution’s degree granting status. 

Periodic survey of alumni cohorts and 

analysis of the data gathered is a routine 

higher education assessment practice in 

the United States. 

Need and Use of the Information: The 

information gathered will be analyzed 

and used for program management and 

improvement. 

Description of Respondents: 

Respondents are graduates of the U.S. 

Merchant Marine Academy. 

Annual Responses: 500 responses. 

Annual Burden: 250 hours. 

Comments: Comments should refer to 

the docket number that appears at the 


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