Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 5 / Wednesday, January 8, 1997 / Notices 1089

The Committee has met five times

since June 1996. This will be the

Committee’s last meeting. During the

meeting in January, the Committee will

finalize its recommendations. The

Committee will make a presentation to

the Access Board at the Board’s regular

business meeting on January 15th. The

Board will meet on January 15th from

1:30–3:30 p.m. at the Marriott at Metro

Center hotel, 775 12th Street, NW.,

Washington, DC.

The Committee will meet on the dates

and at the location announced in this

notice. The meetings are open to the

public. The facility is accessible to

individuals with disabilities. Sign

language interpreters, assistive listening

systems and real time transcription will

be available.

Lawrence W. Roffee,

Executive Director.

[FR Doc. 97–336 Filed 1–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8150–01–P

BROADCASTING BOARD OF

GOVERNORS

Sunshine Act Meeting

DATE AND TIME: January 14, 1997; 9:00

a.m.

PLACE: Cohen Building, Room 3321, 330

Independence Ave., S.W., Washington,

D.C. 20547.

CLOSED MEETING: The members of the

Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG)

will meet in closed session to address

internal procedural, budgetary, and

personnel issues, as well as sensitive

foreign policy issues relating to

potential options in the U.S.

international broadcasting field. This

meeting is closed because if open it

likely would either disclose matters that

would be properly classified to be kept

secret in the interest of foreign policy

under the appropriate executive order (5

U.S.C. 552b.(c)(1)) or would disclose

information the premature disclosure of

which would be likely to significantly

frustrate implementation of a proposed

agency action. (5 U.S.C. 552b.(c)(9)(B)).

In addition, part of the discussion will

relate solely to the internal personnel

issues of the BBG or the International

Broadcasting Bureau. (5 U.S.C. 552b.(c)

(2) and (6)).

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Persons interested in obtaining more

information should contact Brenda

Thomas at (202) 401–3736.

Dated: January 6, 1997.

David W. Burke,

Chairman.

[FR Doc. 97–521 Filed 1–6–97; 1:40 pm]

BILLING CODE 8230–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[Docket No. 950329080–5080–01]

Special American Business Internship

Training Program (SABIT)

AGENCY: International Trade

Administration, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This Notice announces

availability of funds for the Special

American Business Internship Training

Program (SABIT), for training business

executives and scientists (also referred

to as ‘‘interns’’) from the New

Independent States (NIS) of the former

Soviet Union. The Department of

Commerce, International Trade

Administration (ITA) established the

SABIT program in September 1990 to

assist the former Soviet Union’s

transition to a market economy. Since

that time, SABIT has been matching

business executives and scientists from

the NIS with U.S. firms which provide

them with three to six months of handson training in a U.S. market economy.

Under the SABIT program, qualified

U.S. firms will receive funds through a

cooperative agreement with ITA to help

defray the cost of hosting interns. ITA

will interview and recommend eligible

interns to participating companies.

Interns may be from any of the

following Independent States: Armenia,

Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakstan,

Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan,

Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

The U.S. firms will be expected to

provide the interns with a hands-on,

non-academic, executive training

program designed to maximize their

exposure to management or

commercially-oriented scientific

operations. At the end of the training

program, interns must return to the NIS.

DATES: The closing date for applications

is March 31, 1997. An original and two

copies of the application (Standard

Form 424 (Rev. 4–92) and supplemental

material) are to be sent to the address

designated in the Application Kit and

postmarked by the closing date.

Applications will be considered on a

‘‘rolling’’ basis as they are received,

subject to the availability of funds. If

available funds are depleted prior to the

closing date, a notice to that effect will

be published in the Federal Register.

Processing of complete applications

takes approximately two to three

months.

ADDRESSES: Request for Applications:

Competitive Application kits will be

available from ITA starting on the day

this notice is published. To obtain a

copy of the Application Kit please Email: sabitapply@usita.gov (please

signify which format, e.g. WordPerfect

6.1), telephone (202) 482–0073,

facsimile (202) 482–2443 (these are not

toll free numbers), or send a written

request with two self-addressed mailing

labels to: Application Request, The

SABIT Program, HCHB Room 3319, U.S.

Department of Commerce, 14th Street

and Constitution Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC, 20230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The

SABIT Program, U.S. Department of

Commerce, phone—(202) 482–0073,

facsimile—(202) 482–2443. These are

not toll free numbers. Only one copy of

the Application Kit will be provided to

each organization requesting it, but it

may be reproduced by the requester.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: SABIT

exposes NIS business managers and

scientists to a completely new way of

thinking in which demand, consumer

satisfaction, and profits drive

production. Senior-level interns visiting

the U.S. for internship programs with

public or private sector companies will

be exposed to an environment which

will provide them with practical

knowledge for transforming their

countries’ enterprises and economies to

the free market. The program provides

first-hand, eye-opening experience to

managers and scientists which cannot

be duplicated by American managers

traveling to their territories.

Business Executives

SABIT assists economic restructuring

in the NIS by providing top-level

business managers with practical

training in American methods of

innovation and management in such

areas as strategic planning, financing,

production, distribution, marketing,

accounting, wholesaling, and labor

relations. This first-hand experience in

the U.S. economy enables interns to

become leaders in establishing and

operating a market economy in the NIS,

and creates a unique opportunity for

U.S. firms to familiarize key executives

from the NIS with their products and

services.

Scientists

SABIT provides opportunities for

gifted scientists to apply their skills to

peaceful research and development in

the civilian sector, in areas such as

defense conversion, medical research,

and the environment, and exposes them

to the role of scientific research in a

market economy where applicability of

research relates to business success.

Sponsoring firms in the U.S. scientific
1090 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 5 / Wednesday, January 8, 1997 / Notices

community also benefit from

exchanging information and ideas, and

different approaches to new

technologies.

All internships are for three to six

months; however, ITA reserves the right

to allow an intern to stay for a shorter

period if the U.S. company agrees and

the intern demonstrates a need for a

shorter internship based on his or her

management responsibilities.

Funding Availability

Pursuant to section 632(a) of the

Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as

amended (the ‘‘Act’’) funding for the

program will be provided by the United

States Agency for International

Development (A.I.D). ITA will award

financial assistance and administer the

program pursuant to the authority

contained in section 635(b) of the Act.

The estimated amount of financial

assistance available for the program is

$1 million. Additional funding may

become available at a future date.

Funding Instrument and Project

Duration

Federal assistance will be awarded

pursuant to a cooperative agreement

between ITA and the recipient firm. ITA

will reimburse companies for the round

trip international travel of each intern

from the intern’s home city in the NIS

to the U.S. internship site, upon

submission to ITA of the paid travel

invoice, payment receipt, or other

evidence of payment and the form SF–

270, ‘‘Request for Advance or

Reimbursement.’’ Travel under the

program is subject to the Fly America

Act. Recipient firms provide $30 per

day directly to interns; ITA will

reimburse recipient firms for this

stipend of $30 per day per intern for up

to six months, upon submission by

company of an end-of-internship report

and form SF–270. In general, each

award will have a cap of $7,500 per

intern for total cost of airline travel and

stipend. ITA reserves the right to allow

an award to exceed this amount in cases

of unusually high costs, such as airfare

from remote regions of the NIS.

However, the total payment cannot

exceed the award amount. There are no

specific matching requirements for the

awards. Host firms, however, are

expected to bear the costs beyond those

covered by the award, including: visa

fees, housing, insurance, any food and

incidentals costs beyond $30 per day,

any training-related travel within the

U.S., and provision of the hands-on

training for the interns.

U.S. firms wishing to utilize SABIT in

order to be matched with an intern

without applying for financial

assistance may do so. Such firms will be

responsible for all costs, including

travel expenses, related to sponsoring

the intern. However, prior to acceptance

as a SABIT intern, work plans and

candidates must be approved by the

SABIT Program. Furthermore, program

training will be monitored by SABIT

staff and evaluated upon completion of

training.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants for the SABIT

program will be any for profit or nonprofit U.S. corporation, association,

organization or other public or private

entity. Agencies or divisions of the

federal government are not eligible.

Evaluation Criteria

Consideration for financial assistance

will be given to those SABIT proposals

which:

(1). Demonstrate a commitment to the

intent and goals of the program to

provide practical, on-the-job, nonacademic, non-classroom training: in

the case of manager interns, an

appropriate management training

experience, or, in the case of scientist

interns, a practical, commerciallyoriented scientific training experience.

(2). Respond to the priority needs of

senior business managers and scientists

in the NIS, as determined by ITA.

(3). Host firms must be solidly

committed to interns’ return to their

own countries upon completion of the

internships.

(4). Present a realistic work plan

describing in detail the training program

to be provided to the SABIT intern(s).

Work plans must include the following:

(a). whether Applicant is applying to

host managers or scientists, or both (and

the number of each); (b). the duration of

the internship (at least three but not

more than six months.) As noted above,

ITA reserves the right to allow an intern

with very senior management

responsibilities to stay for a shorter

period (minimum of one month) if the

U.S. company agrees and the intern

demonstrates a compelling need for a

shorter internship based on his or her

management responsibilities; (c). the

location(s) of the internship; (d). the

name, address, and telephone number of

the designated internship coordinator;

(e). name(s) of division(s) in which the

intern(s) will be placed; (f). the

individual(s) in the U.S. company under

whose supervision the intern will train;

(g). the proposed internship training

activities. The components of the

training activities must be described in

as much detail as possible, preferably on

a week-by-week basis. The description

of the training activities should include

an accounting of what the intern’s(s’)

duties and responsibilities will be

during the training; (h). the anticipated

housing arrangements to be provided for

the intern(s). Note that housing

arrangements should be suitable for

mid- and senior-level professionals, and

that each intern must be provided with

a private room.

(5). Include a brief objectives section

indicating why the Applicant wishes to

provide an internship to a manager(s) or

scientist(s) from the NIS, and how the

proposed internship would further the

purpose of the SABIT program as

described above. If Applicant is

nominating a specific individual for

training, this objectives section must

describe any existing relationship

between the Applicant and the

individual.

(6). Provide a general description of

the profile of the intern(s) the Applicant

would like to host, including:

educational background; occupational/

professional background (including

number of years and areas of

experience); size and nature of

organization at which the intern(s) is/

are presently employed; preference for

the region of the NIS where the intern(s)

is/are employed; and whether Applicant

is open to sponsoring interns from a

variety of NIS countries.

(7). Indicate whether Applicant

organization operates in one or more of

the following business sectors: (a).

Agribusiness (including food processing

and distribution, and agricultural

equipment), (b). Defense conversion, (c).

Energy, (d). Environment (including

environmental clean-up), (e). Financial

services (including banking and

accounting), (f). Housing, construction

and infrastructure, (g). Medical

equipment, supplies, pharmaceuticals,

and health care management, (h).

Product standards and quality control,

(i). Telecommunications, and (j).

Transportation. Applicant proposal

must provide an explanation including

description and extent of involvement

in the sector(s). While Applicants

involved in any industry sector may

apply to the program, priority

consideration is given to those operating

in the above sectors.

Evaluation criteria 1–6 will be

weighted equally. ITA does not

guarantee that it will match Applicant

with the profile provided to SABIT.

Selection Procedures

Each application will receive an

independent, objective review by one or

more three or four-member ITA review

panels qualified to evaluate applications

submitted under the program.

Applications will be evaluated on a
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 5 / Wednesday, January 8, 1997 / Notices 1091

competitive, ‘‘rolling’’ basis as they are

received in accordance with the

selection evaluation set forth above.

Awards will be made to those

applications which successfully meet

the selection criteria. If funds are not

available for all those applications

which successfully meet the criteria,

awards will be made to the first

applications received which

successfully do so. ITA review panel(s)

reserve(s) the right to reject any

application; to limit the number of

interns per applicant; to waive

informalities and minor irregularities in

applications received; and to consider

other than competitive procedures to

distribute assistance under this program

and in accordance with the law. ITA

review panel(s) reserve(s) the right to

make awards based on U.S. geographic

and organization size diversity among

applicants. Recipients may be eligible,

pursuant to approval of an amendment

of an active award, to host additional

interns under the program.

Additional Information

Applicants must submit: (1). Evidence

of adequate financial resources of

Applicant organization to cover the

costs involved in providing an

internship(s). As evidence of such

resources, Applicant should submit

financial statements audited by an

outside organization or an annual report

including such statements. If these are

not available, a letter should be

provided from the Applicant’s bank or

outside accountant attesting to the

financial capability of the firm to

undertake the scope of work involved in

training an intern under the SABIT

program. (2). Evidence of a satisfactory

record of performance in grants,

contracts and/or cooperative agreements

with the Federal Government, if

applicable. (Applicants who are or have

been deficient in current or recent

performance in their grants, contracts,

and/or cooperative agreements with the

Federal Government shall be presumed

to be unable to meet this requirement).

(3). A statement that the Applicant will

provide medical insurance coverage for

interns during their internships.

Recipients will be required to submit

proof of the interns’ medical insurance

coverage to the Federal Program Officer,

before the interns’ arrivals. The

insurance coverage must include an

accident and comprehensive medical

insurance program as well as coverage

for accidental death, emergency medical

evacuation, and repatriation.

Other Requirements

All applicants are advised of the

following:

1. No award of Federal funds shall be

made to an Applicant who has an

outstanding delinquent Federal debt

until either the delinquent account is

paid in full, a negotiated repayment

schedule is established and at least one

payment is received, or other

arrangements satisfactory to the

Department of Commerce (DOC) are

made.

2. A false statement on the application

is grounds for denial or termination of

funds and grounds for possible

punishment by a fine or imprisonment

as provided in 18 U.S.C. 1001.

3. Recipients and subrecipients are

subject to all Federal laws and Federal

and Departmental regulations, policies

and procedures applicable to financial

assistance awards.

4. Participating companies will be

required to comply with all relevant

U.S. tax and export regulations. Export

controls may relate not only to licensing

of products for export, but also to

technical data transfer.

5. Applications under this program

are not subject to Executive Order

12372, ‘‘Intergovernmental Review of

Federal Programs.’’

6. If applicants incur any costs prior

to an award being made, they do solely

at their own risk of not being

reimbursed by the Government.

Notwithstanding any verbal or written

assurance that may have been received,

there is no obligation on the part of DoC

to cover pre-award costs.

7. Past performance: Unsatisfactory

performance by an applicant under

prior Federal awards may result in an

application not being considered for

funding.

8. No obligation for future funding: If

an application is selected for funding,

DOC has no obligation to provide any

additional future funding in connection

with that award. Renewal of an award

to increase funding or extend the period

of performance is at the total discretion

of DoC.

9. Primary Applicant Certifications:

All primary applicants must submit a

completed Form CD–511,

‘‘Certifications Regarding Debarment,

Suspension and Other Responsibility

Matters; Drug-Free Workplace

Requirements and Lobbying,’’ and the

following explanations are hereby

provided:

(a) Nonprocurement Debarment and

Suspension: Prospective participants (as

defined at 15 CFR Part 26, Section 105)

are subject to 15 CFR Part 26,

‘‘Nonprocurement Debarment and

Suspension’’ and the related section of

the certification form prescribed above

applies.

(b) Drug Free Workplace: Grantees (as

defined at 15 CFR Part 26, Section 605)

are subject to 15 CFR Part 26, Subpart

F, ‘‘Government wide Requirements for

Drug-Free Workplace (Grants)’’ and the

related section of the certification form

prescribed above applies.

(c) Anti-Lobbying: Funds provided

under the SABIT program may not be

used for lobbying activities. Persons (as

defined at 15 CFR Part 28, Section 105)

are subject to the lobbying provisions of

31 U.S.C. 1352, ‘‘Limitation on use of

appropriated funds to influence certain

Federal contracting and financial

transactions,’’ and the lobbying section

of the certification form prescribed

above applies to applications/bids for

grants, cooperative agreements, and

contracts for more than $100,000, and

loans and loan guarantees for more than

$150,000, or the single family maximum

mortgage limit for affected programs,

whichever is greater.

(d) Anti-Lobbying Disclosures: Any

applicant that has paid or will pay for

lobbying in connection with this award

using any funds must submit an SF-LLL,

‘‘Disclosure of Lobbying Activities,’’ as

required under 15 CFR Part 28,

Appendix B.

10. Lower Tier Certifications:

Recipients shall require applicants/

bidders for subgrants, contracts,

subcontracts, or other lower tier covered

transactions at any tier under the award

to submit, if applicable, a completed

Form CD–512, ‘‘Certifications Regarding

Debarment, Suspension, Ineligibility

and Voluntary Exclusion-Lower Tier

Covered Transactions and Lobbying’’

and disclosure form, SF-LLL,

‘‘Disclosure of Lobbying Activities.’’

Form CD–512 is intended for the use of

recipients and should not be transmitted

to DOC. SF-LLL submitted by any tier

recipient or subrecipient should be

submitted to DOC in accordance with

the instructions contained in the award

document.

11. Indirect Costs: Indirect costs are

not allowed under the SABIT program.

12. Applicants are hereby notified

that any equipment or products

authorized to be purchased with

funding provided under this program

must be American-made to the

maximum extent feasible.

13. The following statutes apply to

this program: Restriction on Assistance

to the Government of Azerbaijan

(Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support

Act, Public Law 102–511); Chapter 11 of

Part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of

1961, as amended, including section

498A (b), regarding ineligibility for

assistance; provisions in annual Foreign

Operations, Export Financing, and

Related Programs Appropriations Act,
1092 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 5 / Wednesday, January 8, 1997 / Notices

including the following provisions

contained in Public Law 103–87: Use of

American Resources (Section 559 of the

Foreign Operation, Export Financing,

and Related Programs Appropriations

Act, 1995, Public Law 103–87); Impact

on Jobs in the United States (Section

545 of the Foreign Operation, Export

Financing, and Related Programs

Appropriations Act, 1995, Public Law

103–87); Bumpers Amendment (Section

513(b) of the Foreign Operations, Export

Financing, and Related Programs

Appropriations Act, 1994, Public Law

103–87); Lautenberg Amendment

(Section 513(b) of the Foreign

Operations, Export Financing, and

Related Programs Appropriations Act,

1994, Public Law 103–87); and Section

660(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of

1961, as amended.

14. Audit Requirements: The Grants

Officer has the discretion to require by

the terms and conditions of SABIT

awards that recipients have an audit

conducted in accordance with

Government Auditing Standards. In

addition, the DoC Office of Inspector

General has authority under the

Inspector General Act of 1978, as

amended, to conduct an audit of any

DoC award at any time.

15. Payments. As required by the Debt

Collections Improvement Act of 1996,

all Federal payments to award

recipients pursuant to this

announcement will be made by

electronic funds transfer.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Special American Business Internship

Training, International Trade

Administration, at (202)482–0073. This

is not a toll free-number.

Dated: January 2, 1997.

Liesel C. Duhon,

Director, SABIT Program.

[FR Doc. 97–398 Filed 1–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–HE–P

National Institute of Standards and

Technology

Economic Impact of NIST

Thermocouple Program

ACTION: Proposed Data Collection;

comment request.

SUMMARY: The Department of

Commerce, as part of its continuing

effort to reduce paperwork and

respondent burden, invites the general

public and other Federal agencies to

take this opportunity to comment on

proposed and/or continuing information

collections, as required by the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C.

3506(c)(2)(A)).

DATES: Written comments must be

submitted on or before March 10, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments

to Linda Engelmeier, Acting

Departmental Forms Clearance Officer,

Department of Commerce, Room 5327,

14th and Constitution Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information on

the information collection

instruments(s) and instructions should

be directed to George Burns, Chemical

Science and Technology Laboratory,

Building 221 (Physics), Room B–230,

National Institute of Standards and

Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899,

(301–975–4817) phone; e-mail:

george.burns@nist.gov

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

NIST seeks to assess economic

impacts of its thermocouple calibration

program. The respondents will be U.S.

thermocouple manufacturers and their

customers as well as the providers of

independent thermocouple calibration

services. The results will be used by

NIST for program evaluation purposes.

II. Method of Collection

Personnel of firms in the U.S.

thermocouple industry and their

customers, as well as providers of

independent thermocouple calibration

services, may respond to questionnaires

by mail, fax, E-mail, or telephone.

III. Data

OMB Number: None.

Form Number: None.

Type of Review: None.

Affected Public: Personnel of firms in

the U.S. thermocouple industry and

their customers as well as providers of

independent thermocouple calibration

services.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

50.

Estimated Time Per Response: 0.5

hours.

Estimated Total Annual Burden

Hours: 25 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Cost: $2,500

(25 X $100 per hour fully burdened cost

for a senior level technical manager.)

There are no equipment or maintenance

costs associated with this collection.

IV. Requests for Comments

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 shall have

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden

(including hours and cost) of the

proposed collection of information; (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 and

other forms of information technology.

Comments submitted in response to this

notice will be summarized and/or

included in the request for OMB

approval of this information collection.

They will also become a matter of

public record.

Dated: January 2, 1997.

Linda Engelmeier,

Acting Departmental Forms Clearance

Officer, Office of Management and

Organization.

[FR Doc. 97–417 Filed 1–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P

Economic Impact of NIST Alternative

Refrigerants Program

ACTION: Proposed data collection;

comment request.

SUMMARY: The Department of

Commerce, as part of its continuing

effort to reduce paperwork and

respondent burden, invites the general

public and other Federal agencies to

take this opportunity to comment on

proposed and/or continuing information

collections, as required by the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C.

3506(c)(2)(A)).

DATES: Written comments must be

submitted on or before March 10, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments

to Linda Engelmeier, Acting

Departmental Forms Clearance Officer,

Department of Commerce, Room 5327,

14th and Constitution Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information on

the information collection

instruments(s) and instructions should

be directed to Richard Kayser, Chemical

Science and Technology Laboratory,

Building 221 (Physics), Room B–230,

National Institute of Standards and

Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899,

(301–975–4817) phone; e-mail:

richard.kayser@nist.gov e-mail.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

NIST seeks to assess economic

impacts of its alternative refrigerants

program. The respondents will be U.S.