70392 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 227 / Monday, November 25, 2013 / Notices 

Session of the International Maritime 

Organization’s (IMO) Sub-Committee on 

Ship Design and Construction to be held 

at the IMO Headquarters, United 

Kingdom, January 20–24, 2014. 

The agenda items to be considered 

include: 

—Adoption of the agenda 

—Decisions of other IMO bodies 

—Development of a mandatory Code for 

ships operating in polar waters 

—Development of provisions to ensure 

the integrity and uniform 

implementation of the 1969 TM 

Convention 

—Development of second-generation 

intact stability criteria 

—Review of the damage stability 

regulations for ro-ro passenger ships 

—Revision of SOLAS chapter II–1 

subdivision and damage stability 

regulations 

—Development of guidelines on safe 

return to port for passenger ships 

—Amendments to SOLAS regulation II– 

1/11 and development of associated 

guidelines to ensure the adequacy of 

testing arrangements for watertight 

compartments 

—Development of amendments to the 

2011 ESP Code 

—Development of guidelines for use of 

Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP) within 

ship structures 

—Development of amendments to 

SOLAS chapter II–2, the FTP Code 

and MSC/Circ.1120 to clarify the 

requirements for plastic pipes on 

ships 

—Review of the recommendation on 

evacuation analysis for new and 

existing passenger ships 

—Development of amendments to the 

criterion for maximum angle of heel 

in turns of the 2008 IS Code 

—Development of amendments to part B 

of the 2008 IS Code on towing, lifting 

and anchor-handling operations 

—General cargo ship safety 

—Development of an interpretation of 

SOLAS regulation II–1/13.6 on means 

of escape from ro-ro cargo spaces 

—Classification of offshore industry 

vessels and consideration of the need 

for a non-mandatory Code for offshore 

construction support vessels 

—Carriage of more than 12 industrial 

personnel on board vessels engaged in 

international voyages 

—Development of guidelines for wingin-ground craft 

—Consideration of IACS unified 

interpretations 

—Biennial agenda and provisional 

agenda for SDC 2 

—Election of Chairman and ViceChairman for 2015 

—Any other business 

—Report to the Maritime Safety 

Committee 

Members of the public may attend 

this meeting up to the seating capacity 

of the room. To facilitate the building 

security process, and to request 

reasonable accommodation, those who 

plan to attend should contact the 

meeting coordinator, LCDR Catherine 

Phillips, by email at 

catherine.a.phillips@uscg.mil, by phone 

at (202) 372–1374, by fax at (202) 372– 

1925, or in writing at Commandant (CG– 

ENG–2), U.S. Coast Guard, 2703 Martin 

Luther King Jr. Ave. SE., Stop 7509, 

Washington, DC 20593–7509 not later 

than January 2, 2014, 7 days prior to the 

meeting. Requests made after January 2, 

2014, might not be able to be 

accommodated. Please note that due to 

security considerations, two valid, 

government issued photo identifications 

must be presented to gain entrance to 

USCG Offices. This location is 

accessible by taxi, privately owned 

conveyance, and public transportation 

(located near the Ballston Metro 

Station). Additional information 

regarding this and other IMO SHC 

public meetings may be found at: 

www.uscg.mil/imo. 

Dated: November 14, 2013. 

Marc Zlomek, 

Executive Secretary, Shipping Coordinating 

Committee, Department of State. 

[FR Doc. 2013–28231 Filed 11–22–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–09–P 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice 8533] 

Notice of Meeting of Advisory 

Committee on International Law 

A meeting of the Department of 

State’s Advisory Committee on 

International Law will take place on 

Friday, December 13, 2013, from 9:00 

a.m. to approximately 2:30 p.m. at the 

George Washington University Law 

School (Frederick Lawrence Student 

Conference Center), 2000 H Street NW., 

Washington, DC. Acting Legal Adviser 

Mary McLeod will chair the meeting, 

which will be open to the public up to 

the capacity of the meeting room. 

Members of the public who wish to 

attend should contact the Office of the 

Legal Adviser by December 9 

(lermanjb@state.gov or 202–776–8442) 

mailto:KillTP@state.gov and provide 

their name, professional affiliation, 

address, and phone number. A valid 

photo ID is required for admission to the 

meeting. Members of the public who 

require reasonable accommodations 

should make their requests by December 

6. Requests received after that time will 

be considered but might not be possible 

to accommodate. 

Dated: November 4, 2013. 

Jonas Lerman, 

Attorney-Adviser, Office of the Legal Adviser, 

Executive Director, Advisory Committee on 

International Law, United States Department 

of State. 

[FR Doc. 2013–28232 Filed 11–22–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–08–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Waiver of Requirement To Enter Into a 

Reciprocal Waiver of Claims 

Agreement With All Customers for 

Orbital Sciences Corporation 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of waiver. 

SUMMARY: This notice concerns a 

petition for waiver submitted to the 

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 

by Orbital Sciences Corporation 

(Orbital) to waive, in part, the 

requirement that a launch operator enter 

into a reciprocal waiver of claims with 

each customer. The FAA grants the 

petition on the condition that no 

employees of NASA-sponsored CubeSat 

operators will be inside a hazard area 

associated with the Minotaur I launch. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

technical questions concerning this 

waiver, contact Charles P. Brinkman, 

Licensing Program Lead, Commercial 

Space Transportation—Licensing and 

Evaluation Division, 800 Independence 

Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591; 

telephone: (202) 267–7715; email: 

Phil.Brinkman@faa.gov. For legal 

questions concerning this waiver, 

contact Sabrina Jawed, AttorneyAdviser, Space Law Branch, AGC–250, 

Office of the Chief Counsel, Regulations 

Division, Federal Aviation 

Administration, 800 Independence 

Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591; 

telephone (202) 267–8839; email: 

Sabrina.Jawed@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On November 8, 2013, Orbital 

submitted a petition to the FAA’s Office 

of Commercial Space Transportation 

(AST) requesting a waiver under its 

launch license for flight of the Minotaur 

I launch vehicle carrying the Air Force 

Operationally Responsive Space Office3 (ORS–3) payload. Orbital requested a 

partial waiver of 14 CFR 440.17, which 

requires a licensee to enter into a 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 227 / Monday, November 25, 2013 / Notices 70393 

1NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI), 

http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/home/

CubeSats_initiative.html (last visited Nov. 13, 

2013). 

2Chris Chester, Fairfax County School To Put 

First Student-Built Satellite in Orbit, WAMU 88.5 

News, Nov. 4, 2013, http://wamu.org/news/13/11/

01/fairfax_county_school_helps_put_first_student_

built_satellite_in_orbit. 

3NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites, 

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/smallsats/

elana/ (last visited Nov. 13, 2013). 

reciprocal waiver of claims (a ‘‘crosswaiver’’) with each of its customers. 

The FAA licenses the launch of a 

launch vehicle and reentry of a reentry 

vehicle under authority granted to the 

Secretary of Transportation by the 

Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984, 

as amended and re-codified by 51 U.S.C. 

Subtitle V, chapter 509 (Chapter 509), 

and delegated to the FAA Administrator 

and the Associate Administrator for 

Commercial Space Transportation, who 

exercises licensing authority under 

Chapter 509. 

The petition for waiver applies to 

Orbital’s November 2013 launch of a 

Minotaur I launch vehicle and its ORS– 

3 payload. The ORS–3 mission will 

demonstrate and validate launch and 

range improvements for NASA and the 

military. The ORS–3 payloads consist of 

a Space Test Program Satellite-3 

(STPSat-3), twenty-eight other CubeSats, 

and two government experiments that 

will not separate from the upper stage 

of the launch vehicle. STPSat-3 is an Air 

Force technology demonstration 

mission. Nineteen of the CubeSats are 

U.S. Government owned, one of which 

is NASA’s Small Satellite Program 

PhoneSat 2 second generation 

smartphone mission. NASA is 

sponsoring the remaining ten CubeSats 

through its CubeSat Launch Initiative. 

NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative 

provides opportunities for small 

satellite payloads to fly on rockets as 

part of research addressing science, 

exploration, technology development, 

education or operations.1 The operators 

of the ten NASA-sponsored CubeSats 

are University of Hawaii, Vermont 

Technical College, University of New 

Mexico, University of Louisiana at 

Lafayette, University of Florida, 

University of Alabama in Huntsville, 

Thomas Jefferson High School for 

Science and Technology, St. Louis 

University, University of Kentucky, and 

Drexel University. Among the NASAsponsored CubeSats is the first CubeSat 

built by high school students.2

NASA obtained cross-waivers of 

liability with each of the above 

educational institutions through 

Cooperative Research and Development 

Agreements (CRADAs). These ten 

educational institutions are part of 

NASA’s Educational Launch of 

Nanosatellites (ELaNa) program. ELaNa 

is an initiative created by NASA to 

attract and retain students in the 

science, technology, engineering and 

mathematics disciplines. Students 

participating in ELaNa are involved in 

developing, assembling, and testing 

payloads as well as working with NASA 

and the launch vehicle integration 

teams.3

Cross-waivers are not required for the 

nineteen U.S. Government owned 

CubeSats, or the two U.S. Government 

owned experiments that will remain 

attached to the upper stage. The 

operators of the remaining ten NASAsponsored CubeSats qualify as 

customers under the FAA’s definitions. 

Section 440.3 defines a customer, in 

relevant part, as any person with rights 

in the payload or any part of the 

payload, or any person who has placed 

property on board the payload for 

launch, reentry, or payload services. A 

person is an individual or an entity 

organized or existing under the laws of 

a State or country. 51 U.S.C. 50901(12) 

(2013), 14 CFR 401.5 (2013). The 

subjects of this waiver are persons 

because University of Hawaii, Vermont 

Technical College, University of New 

Mexico, University of Louisiana at 

Lafayette, University of Florida, 

University of Alabama in Huntsville, 

Thomas Jefferson High School for 

Science and Technology, St. Louis 

University, University of Kentucky, and 

Drexel University are entities organized 

or existing under the laws of Hawaii, 

Vermont, New Mexico, Louisiana, 

Florida, Alabama, Virginia, Missouri, 

Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, 

respectively. Accordingly, because these 

persons have rights in their respective 

payloads due to their ownership of 

those objects, and because they have 

placed property on board, they are 

customers. Section 440.17 requires their 

signatures as customers. 

In this instance, however, each of the 

CubeSat operators is also subject to a 

NASA reciprocal waiver of claims, a 

cross-waiver, which is governed by 

NASA’s regulations at 14 CFR 1266.104. 

Article 7 of the CRADAs between NASA 

and the various NASA-sponsored 

CubeSat operators governs liability and 

risk of loss and establishes a crosswaiver of liability. 

Orbital’s petition for partial waiver of 

the FAA requirement that Orbital 

implement a cross-waiver with each 

customer applies to each of the NASAsponsored CubeSat operators, all of 

whom have signed a CRADA with 

NASA, and who are customers of the 

November 2013 launch of the Minotaur 

I launch vehicle carrying the ORS–3 

payload. 

Waiver Criteria 

Chapter 509 allows the FAA to waive 

a license requirement if the waiver 1. 

will not jeopardize public health and 

safety, safety of property; 2. will not 

jeopardize national security and foreign 

policy interests of the United States; and 

3. will be in the public interest. 51 

U.S.C. 50905(b)(3); 14 CFR 404.5(b). 

Waiver of FAA Requirement for Each 

Customer To Sign a Reciprocal Waiver 

of Claims 

The FAA waives 14 CFR 440.17, 

which requires a licensee to enter into 

a reciprocal waiver of claims with each 

of its customers, with respect to the 

NASA-sponsored CubeSat operators, 

each of which has signed a CRADA with 

NASA, and who are customers of the 

November 2013 launch of the Minotaur 

I launch vehicle carrying the ORS–3 

payload. 

In 1988, as part of a comprehensive 

financial responsibility and risk sharing 

regime that protects launch participants 

and the U.S. Government from the risks 

of catastrophic loss and litigation, 

Congress required that all launch 

participants agree to waive claims 

against each other for their own 

property damage or loss, and to cover 

losses experienced by their own 

employees. 51 U.S.C. 50915(b). This 

part of the regime was intended to 

relieve launch participants of the 

burden of obtaining property insurance 

by having each party be responsible for 

the loss of its own property and to limit 

the universe of claims that might arise 

as a result of a launch. H. Rep. 100–639, 

at 11–12 (1988); S. Rep. 100–593, at 14, 

(1988); Financial Responsibility 

Requirements for Licensed Launch 

Activities, Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking, 61 FR 38992, 39011 (Jul. 

25, 1996). The FAA’s implementing 

regulations may be found at 14 CFR part 

440. 

In its request for a waiver, Orbital 

submits that the NASA CRADA 

reciprocal waivers of claims imposed on 

the NASA-sponsored CubeSat operators 

are equivalent to the requirements 

imposed on each customer under the 

FAA’s requirements of 14 CFR part 440. 

A comparison of the two regimes shows 

that in this particular situation the two 

sets of cross-waivers are sufficiently 

similar that the statutory goals of 51 

U.S.C. 50914(b) will be met by the FAA 

agreeing to accept the NASA crosswaivers in this instance, provided that 

no employees of NASA-sponsored 

CubeSat operators will be inside a 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
70394 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 227 / Monday, November 25, 2013 / Notices 

4 Indemnification by the U.S. Government is 

conditioned upon the passage of legislation. 51 

U.S.C. 50915; 14 CFR 440.17(d). 

5See Waiver of Requirement to Enter Into a 

Reciprocal Waiver of Claims Agreement With All 

Customers for Orbital Sciences Corporation, Notice 

of Waiver, 78 FR 57215, 57216 (Sept. 17, 2013). 

6Waiver of Requirement to Enter Into a 

Reciprocal Waiver of Claims Agreement With All 

Customers, Notice of Waiver, 77 FR 63221 (Oct. 16, 

2012). 

7The FAA also notes that although its previous 

waiver cited above discussed NASA’s Space Act 

Agreements rather than CRADAs, the waiver of 

liability language in both types of NASA contract 

has the same effect and therefore the FAA applies 

the same reasoning. 

hazard area associated with the 

Minotaur I launch. 

The FAA cross-waivers require the 

launch participants, including the U.S. 

Government and each customer, and 

their respective contractors and 

subcontractors, to waive and release 

claims against all the other parties to the 

waiver and agree to assume financial 

responsibility for property damage 

sustained by that party and for bodily 

injury or property damage sustained by 

the party’s own employees, and to hold 

harmless and indemnify each other from 

bodily injury or property damage 

sustained by their respective employees 

resulting from the licensed activity, 

regardless of fault. 14 CFR 440.17(b) and 

(c). Each party 4 to the cross-waiver 

must indemnify the other parties from 

claims by the indemnifying party’s 

contractors and subcontractors if the 

indemnifying party fails to properly 

extend the requirements of the crosswaivers to its contractors and 

subcontractors. 14 CFR 440.17(d). 

A comparison of each element shows 

that, although there are some 

differences, because Article 7 of the 

NASA CRADAs addressing liability and 

risk of loss and signed by each of the 

NASA-sponsored CubeSat operators is 

consistent with Congressional intent 

and the FAA’s regulations, and relevant 

employees will not be present at the 

launch site, the FAA waives the 

requirement of 14 CFR 440.17 that 

NASA-sponsored CubeSat operators 

must sign a cross-waiver. Additionally, 

the FAA notes that because the only 

customers for the Minotaur I November 

2013 launch are the U.S. Government, 

for which cross-waivers are not 

required, and the various NASAsponsored CubeSat operators, for which 

the CRADAs provide waivers of 

liability, the only signatories to the FAA 

cross-waivers as required by 14 CFR 

440.17 are the FAA, on behalf of the 

U.S. Government, and Orbital. 

Therefore, Orbital does not need to 

amend its cross-waivers to provide that 

signing customers waive claims against 

any other customer as defined by 14 

CFR 440.3, as the FAA has previously 

required before granting a similar 

waiver.5

The FAA bases this determination of 

sufficient similarity between the FAA 

and NASA cross-waiver schemes on the 

reasons stated in the waiver the FAA 

published for Space Exploration 

Technologies Corporation on October 

16, 2012,6 and for the reasons stated 

above.7 The FAA finds that that this 

waiver implicates no safety, national 

security or foreign policy issues. The 

waiver is consistent with the public 

interest goals of Chapter 509. Under 51 

U.S.C. 50914, Congress determined that 

it was necessary to reduce the costs 

associated with insurance and litigation 

by requiring launch participants, 

including customers, to waive claims 

against each other. Because the CRADAs 

under 14 CFR part 1266 accomplish 

these goals by the same or similar 

means, the FAA finds this request in the 

public interest. The FAA grants the 

waiver with respect to the NASAsponsored CubeSat operators in reliance 

on the representations Orbital made in 

its petition, and on the condition that no 

employees of NASA-sponsored CubeSat 

operators will be inside a hazard area 

associated with the Minotaur I launch. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on November 

15, 2013. 

Kenneth Wong, 

Commercial Space Transportation, Licensing 

and Evaluation Division Manager. 

[FR Doc. 2013–28138 Filed 11–22–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Highway Administration 

Buy America Waiver Notification 

AGENCY: Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice provides 

information regarding the FHWA’s 

finding that a Buy America waiver is 

appropriate for the use of non-domestic 

iron and steel products in CNG 

Compressor/Controller (1) for Kings 

County, CA: 2 Storage spheres for city 

of Exeter, CA: 1 CNG fuelling station for 

Newman, CA. 

DATES: The effective date of the waiver 

is November 26, 2013. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

questions about this notice, please 

contact Mr. Gerald Yakowenko, FHWA 

Office of Program Administration, (202) 

366–1562, or via email at 

gerald.yakowenko@dot.gov. For legal 

questions, please contact Mr. Michael 

Harkins, FHWA Office of the Chief 

Counsel, (202) 366–4928, or via email at 

michael.harkins@dot.gov. Office hours 

for the FHWA are from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 

p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Access 

An electronic copy of this document 

may be downloaded from the Federal 

Register’s home page at: http://

www.archives.gov and the Government 

Printing Office’s database at: http://

www.access.gpo.gov/nara. 

Background 

The FHWA’s Buy America policy in 

23 CFR 635.410 requires a domestic 

manufacturing process for any steel or 

iron products (including protective 

coatings) that are permanently 

incorporated in a Federal-aid 

construction project. The regulation also 

provides for a waiver of the Buy 

America requirements when the 

application would be inconsistent with 

the public interest or when satisfactory 

quality domestic steel and iron products 

are not sufficiently available. This 

notice provides information regarding 

the FHWA’s finding that a Buy America 

waiver is appropriate to use nondomestic CNG Compressor/Controller 

(1) for Kings County, CA: 2 Storage 

spheres for city of Exeter CA: 1 CNG 

fueling station for Newman, CA. 

In accordance with Division A, 

section 122 of the ‘‘Consolidated and 

Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 

2012’’ (Pub. L. 112–55), the FHWA 

published a notice of intent to issue a 

waiver on its Web site for non-domestic 

iron and steel products in CNG 

Compressor/Controller (1) for Kings 

County, CA: 2 Storage spheres for city 

of Exeter, CA: 1 CNG fueling station for 

Newman, CA (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ 

construction/contracts/

waivers.cfm?id=91) on September 3, 

2013. The FHWA received no comments 

in response to the publication. During 

the 15-day comment period, the FHWA 

conducted additional nationwide 

review to locate potential domestic 

manufacturers of the CNG Compressor/ 

Controller (1) for Kings County, CA: 2 

Storage spheres for city of Exeter, CA 

and 1 CNG fueling station for Newman, 

CA. 

Based on all the information available 

to the agency, the FHWA concludes that 

there are no domestic manufacturers of 

the CNG Compressor/Controller (1) for 

Kings County, CA: 2 Storage spheres for 

city of Exeter, CA: 1 CNG fueling station 

for Newman, CA. 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES