Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 136 / Monday, July 16, 2018 / Notices 32843 

artificial intelligence (AI), advanced and 

quantum computing, and autonomous 

systems. 

Request for Information 

Respondents are encouraged—but not 

required—to respond to any or all of the 

following questions, and may address 

related topics. Please identify the 

questions or topic areas each of your 

comments addresses. The following 

questions cover the major areas about 

which NIST seeks comment. These 

questions are directed towards domestic 

semiconductor manufacturers, 

associated supporting industries, 

educational institutions, and their 

stakeholders. Responses may include 

estimates. Please indicate where the 

response is an estimate. 

Respondents may organize their 

submissions in response to this RFI in 

any manner, and all responses that 

comply with the requirements listed in 

the DATES and ADDRESSES sections of 

this notice will be considered. 

Comments containing references, 

studies, research, and other empirical 

data that are not widely published 

should include electronic copies of the 

referenced materials. Do not include in 

comments or otherwise submit 

proprietary or confidential information. 

Comments that contain profanity, 

vulgarity, threats, or inappropriate 

language or content will not be 

considered. 

Basic Information 

Briefly describe your company or 

organization in terms of: 

a. What is the name of your company 

or organization? 

b. How is your company or 

organization involved with the 

semiconductor industry (e.g., industry 

association, university, company 

involved in semiconductor design, 

fabrication, package test and assembly, 

or other)? 

Workforce Challenges and Needs 

1. When hiring technical staff, for 

what types of positions do you 

encounter the most difficultly in finding 

qualified employees? 

a. Have you been able to identify any 

causes for these recruitment difficulties 

(lack of appropriate educational 

programs, lack of collaboration between 

industry and educational institutions, 

competition within your industry, 

competition for talent from outside your 

industry, etc.) 

2. Are there specific educational 

levels that are needed for your current 

workforce? 

a. Are there some educational levels 

where it is harder to find qualified staff? 

b. Have you been able to identify any 

causes for these difficulties in finding 

qualified staff (high competition for a 

specific talent pool, lack of experienced 

individuals, educational programs not 

directly aligned with your needs, etc.) 

3. Are there certain factors relating to 

workforce needs that your company or 

organization prioritizes when locating a 

new facility, for example a strong base 

of existing talent, a robust local 

educational ecosystem, etc.? 

4. How do you see the work force 

needs of your company or organization 

changing over the next 5 years, 10 years, 

15 years? 

a. Do you think that certain levels of 

education will be more important? 

b. Are there fields of training that you 

think will be more important? 

5. As the industry continues to evolve 

and develop and integrate new 

technologies (e.g., new computing 

paradigms, new material systems, 

broader use of AI) are there skillsets that 

you see as becoming more important? 

a. Do you have an opinion on the 

types of training needed to develop 

these skillsets for the future? 

b. From your experience are there 

types of partnerships with federal 

agencies and/or educational institutions 

that would be helpful to prepare this 

workforce for the future? 

6. Are there certain obstacles that you 

see as the biggest impediment to 

meeting your workforce needs? For 

example, a lack of aligned educational 

programs (including internship and 

apprenticeship opportunities), a lack of 

collaboration with such educational 

programs, a lack of students in science 

and engineering, a lack of interest in 

your industry, a lack of facilities with 

appropriate equipment to train workers 

(e.g., community colleges without 

access to fabrication equipment/ 

facilities), or other issues? Please 

describe. 

Potential Workforce Solutions 

7. Are there specific approaches your 

company or organization utilizes to 

address your workforce needs? For 

example, tailored partnerships and 

curricula with regional universities and 

community colleges, internship or 

apprenticeship programs, training or 

retraining of displaced workers, or other 

approaches? 

8. Are there certain approaches or 

actions that would most effectively 

stimulate the supply of qualified 

workers for the semiconductor industry 

in the near term (e.g., targeted 

scholarships including internships/ 

apprenticeships, loan repayment 

incentives, procurement of specialized 

equipment for schools and universities, 

immigration and visa reform, etc.)? 

9. What approaches do you think 

would most effectively stimulate the 

supply of qualified workers for the 

semiconductor industry over the long 

term (e.g., professional development 

opportunities for K–12 teachers and K– 

12 student programs such as camps, 

competitions and projects in the 

semiconductor space)? 

10. Although apprenticeship has, in 

the past, been available mostly to those 

in the traditional trades, efforts are now 

underway to expand apprenticeship 

into new fields, including advanced 

manufacturing, IT, healthcare, energy 

supply and distribution, banking and 

finance and engineering (in partnership 

with four-year institutions). Have you 

considered engaging in apprenticeship 

training to prepare your workforce? 

Why or why not? 

11. Are there examples of 

partnerships with local educational 

institutions (e.g., a work-study program) 

that you use to support your operations? 

12. Are there types of support (grants, 

economic development incentives or 

other benefits) from federal, state and 

local government agencies that have 

helped enable your workforce? Of these 

types of support what makes them most 

effective? 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 278s. 

Kevin A. Kimball, 

Chief of Staff. 

[FR Doc. 2018–15077 Filed 7–13–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XG304 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish 

Fishery of Puerto Rico and the U.S. 

Virgin Islands; Exempted Fishing 

Permit 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of receipt of an 

application for an exempted fishing 

permit; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the receipt 

of an application for an exempted 

fishing permit (EFP) from the NMFS 

Panama City, FL laboratory. If granted, 

the EFP would authorize NMFS or 

NMFS contracted commercial fishers 

aboard their commercial fishing vessels 


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32844 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 136 / Monday, July 16, 2018 / Notices 

to collect certain deep-water snapper 

species in waters of the U.S. exclusive 

economic zone (EEZ) in the Caribbean 

off Puerto Rico. The EFP would exempt 

this activity from complying with 

certain seasonal closures in the U.S. 

Caribbean EEZ. The purpose of the EFP 

is to gather information that could be 

used to define essential fish habitat 

(EFH) of deep-water snappers off the 

coast of Puerto Rico and to determine 

life history information for queen and 

blackfin snappers. 

DATES: Comments must be received no 

later than August 15, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on the application by any of the 

following methods: 

• Email: Sarah.Stephenson@

noaa.gov. Include in the subject line of 

the email comment the following 

document identifier: ‘‘PR NOAA NMFS_

EFP 2018’’. 

• Mail: Sarah Stephenson, Southeast 

Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th 

Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. 

The EFP application and related 

documents are available for review 

upon written request to any of the above 

addresses. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah Stephenson, 727–824–5305; 

email: Sarah.Stephenson@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EFP is 

requested under the authority of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act (16 

U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), and regulations at 

50 CFR 600.745(b) concerning exempted 

fishing. 

The applicant requests authorization 

to collect deep-water reef fish species in 

the U.S. Caribbean EEZ off the west, 

north, and south coasts of Puerto Rico. 

The applicant is seeking to gather 

information that could be used to define 

essential fish habitat for deep-water 

snapper species off the coast of Puerto 

Rico, and to obtain additional life 

history information about queen and 

blackfin snapper. Specimens would be 

collected by NMFS researchers and/or 

contractors and contracted commercial 

fishermen aboard three commercial 

fishing vessels. These activities may be 

conducted without NMFS staff aboard 

the contracted vessels. Each vessel’s 

home port is located in Puerto Rico. 

This permit would exempt project 

participants from certain seasonal and 

area closure regulations at 50 CFR 

622.435, as identified and described 

below. The EFP would be effective from 

the date of issuance through August 1, 

2020. 

Activities would consist of harvesting 

reef fish during a total of 450 fishing 

trips in the 2-year project period, of 

which 225 would be within the U.S. 

Caribbean EEZ off Puerto Rico. The 

remaining trips would be conducted in 

Puerto Rico territorial waters. Sampling 

sites would be randomly selected from 

locations with a high probability of 

containing habitat that could be 

considered essential for deep-water 

snappers as determined by bathymetric 

maps recently produced by NOAA’s 

Marine Spatial Ecology Division. The 

target depth range for this project is 100 

to 500 m, with sampling sites selected 

in each 50 m depth range throughout 

the overall depth range. 

Sampling would be conducted by 

hook-and-line drift fishing in deepwater habitats, with underwater cameras 

attached to the fishing line. On each 

fishing trip, three to seven sites would 

be fished per day based on distance 

between the sampling sites and weather, 

with an average of five sites per day at 

sea and an average of 15 days at sea per 

vessel. At each site, one vertical fishing 

line would be deployed from the 

commercial fishing vessel with a surface 

float and bottom weight for a 30 minute 

soak time. Twelve #9 hooks would be 

attached to the bottom 2 m of the line 

and manual snapper reels would be 

used to retrieve the line. A GoPro 

camera encased in a light-weight 

pressure-tested housing and a light 

would be attached to a small, neutrally 

buoyant fitting on the vertical line. This 

camera array would be attached to the 

fishing line at two separate points, 

approximately 3 m above the bottom 

weight. 

Project activities would be conducted 

from September 1, 2018, through August 

1, 2020. The majority of sampling would 

occur each year in September and 

October. Sampling would occur at 

approximately 75 sites at each of the 

following locations in the EEZ off 

Puerto Rico: 

• Western region: From Isabela to 

Puerto Real, including Isla de Desecheo 

Marine Reserve, within 12 miles of any 

point of land in Puerto Rico, from 

depths of 100–500 m. 

• Northeast region: From San Juan to 

Fajardo, extending out to Isla de 

Culebra, within 12 miles of any point of 

land in Puerto Rico, from depths of 100– 

500 m. 

• Southeast region: From Patillas to 

Buena Vista, extending out to Isla de 

Vieques, within 12 miles of any point of 

land in Puerto Rico, from depths of 100– 

500 m. 

The applicant will target queen and 

blackfin snappers, but anticipates 

encountering other species. All queen 

and blackfin snappers caught during the 

EFP would be retained, and the gonads 

and otoliths would be extracted for 

subsequent analysis by NMFS, Puerto 

Rico’s Department of Natural and 

Environmental Resources, and the 

University of South Carolina. Length 

measurements would be recorded for all 

targeted and incidental species except 

for species for which harvest is 

prohibited under Federal law (i.e., 

goliath and Nassau groupers, and 

midnight, rainbow, and blue 

parrotfishes). These species would be 

returned immediately to the water with 

a minimum of harm. In order to 

minimize the negative biological effects 

of bringing these deep-water species to 

the surface, the commercial fishermen 

would have venting tools onboard their 

vessels to properly vent fish being 

released to facilitate their return to 

depth. 

Based on catch and effort information 

from the commercial sector in Puerto 

Rico, the applicant anticipates 

harvesting up to 100 specimens of both 

queen and blackfin snappers in each of 

the three sampling regions, each year. 

Under the EFP, the applicant would be 

allowed to fish for and possess blackfin 

snapper during the October 1 through 

December 31 seasonal closure in place 

for vermilion, black, silk, or blackfin 

snappers (50 CFR 622.435(a)(1)(iii)). In 

addition, under the EFP, the applicant 

would be allowed to fish for and possess 

queen and blackfin snappers in or from 

the Bajo de Sico closed area, which is 

located in the project’s western area off 

Puerto Rico, during the October 1 to 

March 31 closure period (50 CFR 

622.435(a)(2)(iv)). Based on the 

sampling plan, the applicant anticipates 

making a maximum of 10 fishing trips 

over the 2 year period of the EFP to the 

Bajo de Sico closed area during the 

months of October through March. 

Based on catch and effort information 

from the commercial sector in Puerto 

Rico, the applicant also anticipates 

catching up to 100 fish of the following 

species from each of the three sampling 

regions each year, as incidental catch: 

Black, silk, vermilion, and wenchman 

snappers (Snapper Unit 1); coney, 

graysby, red hind, and rock hind 

groupers (Grouper Unit 3); black, red, 

tiger, and yellowfin groupers (Grouper 

Unit 4), and misty and yellowedge 

groupers (Grouper Unit 5). It is possible 

that the applicant may also incidentally 

catch cardinal snapper, which is in 

Snapper Unit 2 with queen snapper, as 

they are targeting queen snapper and 

these species are frequently caught 

together. 

Some of these incidental species 

(namely, red, black, tiger, yellowfin, 

yellowedge, and red hind groupers and 

vermilion, black, and silk snappers) are 

also subject to seasonal closures (50 CFR 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 136 / Monday, July 16, 2018 / Notices 32845 

622.435(a)(1)(i) & (ii) & (iii)). The 

applicant does not intend to retain any 

of these species caught during the 

respective seasonal closures. However, 

the EFP would allow the applicant to 

possess these species during those 

closure periods for sufficient time to 

collect and record length measurements, 

consistent with the goals of the EFP. If 

these species were caught outside of a 

closed season, the contracted 

commercial fishers would be able retain 

them, consistent with applicable law. 

These species also may be encountered 

in the Bajo de Sico closed area (50 CFR 

622.435(a)(2)(iv)), and the EFP would 

allow the applicant to possess the 

species during the seasonal area closure 

for sufficient time to collect and record 

length measurements. No species caught 

as incidental catch during the seasonal 

or area closures would be retained 

during the EFP. 

NMFS finds this application warrants 

further consideration based on a 

preliminary review. Possible conditions 

the agency may impose on this permit, 

if it is granted, include but are not 

limited to, a prohibition on conducting 

sampling activities within marine 

protected areas, marine sanctuaries, or 

special management zones, without 

additional authorization, and requiring 

compliance with best practices in the 

event of interactions with any protected 

species. NMFS may also require annual 

reports summarizing the amount of reef 

fish species harvested during the 

seasonal and area closures, as well as 

during the period of effectiveness of any 

issued EFP. Additionally, NMFS would 

require any sea turtles taken 

incidentally during the course of the 

activities to be handled with due care to 

prevent injury to live specimens, 

observed for activity, and returned to 

the water. 

A final decision on issuance of the 

EFP will depend on NMFS’ review of 

public comments received on the 

application, consultations with the 

affected state(s), the Council, and the 

U.S. Coast Guard, and a determination 

that it is consistent with all applicable 

laws. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: July 10, 2018. 

Margo B. Schulze-Haugen, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–15074 Filed 7–13–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XG299 

Nominations to the Marine Mammal 

Scientific Review Groups 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; request for nominations. 

SUMMARY: As required by of the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the 

Secretary of Commerce established three 

independent regional scientific review 

groups (SRGs) to provide advice on a 

range of marine mammal science and 

management issues. NMFS conducted a 

membership review of the Alaska, 

Atlantic, and Pacific SRGs, and is 

soliciting nominations for new members 

to fill vacancies and gaps in expertise. 

DATES: Nominations must be received 

by August 15, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Nominations can be 

emailed to Shannon.Bettridge@

noaa.gov, or mailed to: Marine Mammal 

and Sea Turtle Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD 

20910–3226, Attn: SRGs. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Shannon Bettridge, Office of Protected 

Resources, 301–427–8402, 

Shannon.Bettridge@noaa.gov. 

Information about the SRGs, including 

the SRG Terms of Reference, is available 

at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/ 

national/marine-mammal-protection/ 

scientific-review-groups. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

117(d) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1386(d)) 

directs the Secretary of Commerce to 

establish three independent regional 

SRGs to advise the Secretary (authority 

delegated to NMFS). The Alaska SRG 

advises on marine mammals that occur 

in waters off Alaska that are under the 

jurisdiction of the United States. The 

Pacific SRG advises on marine 

mammals that occur in waters off the 

U.S. West Coast, Hawaiian Islands, and 

the U.S. Territories in the Central and 

Western Pacific that are under the 

jurisdiction of the United States. The 

Atlantic SRG advises on marine 

mammals that occur in waters off the 

Atlantic coast, Gulf of Mexico, and U.S. 

Territories in the Caribbean that are 

under the jurisdiction of the United 

States. 

SRGs members are highly qualified 

individuals with expertise in marine 

mammal biology and ecology, 

population dynamics and modeling, 

commercial fishing technology and 

practices, and stocks taken under 

section 101(b) of the MMPA. The SRGs 

provide expert reviews of draft marine 

mammal stock assessment reports and 

other information related to the matters 

identified in section 117(d)(1) of the 

MMPA, including: 

A. Population estimates and the 

population status and trends of marine 

mammal stocks; 

B. Uncertainties and research needed 

regarding stock separation, abundance, 

or trends, and factors affecting the 

distribution, size, or productivity of the 

stock; 

C. Uncertainties and research needed 

regarding the species, number, ages, 

gender, and reproductive status of 

marine mammals; 

D. Research needed to identify 

modifications in fishing gear and 

practices likely to reduce the incidental 

mortality and serious injury of marine 

mammals in commercial fishing 

operations; 

E. The actual, expected, or potential 

impacts of habitat destruction, 

including marine pollution and natural 

environmental change, on specific 

marine mammal species or stocks, and 

for strategic stocks, appropriate 

conservation or management measures 

to alleviate any such impacts; and 

F. Any other issue which the 

Secretary or the groups consider 

appropriate. 

SRG members collectively serve as 

independent advisors to NMFS and the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and 

provide their expert review and 

recommendations through participation 

in the SRG. Members attend annual 

meetings and undertake activities as 

independent persons providing 

expertise in their subject areas. 

Members are not appointed as 

representatives of professional 

organizations or particular stakeholder 

groups, including government entities, 

and are not permitted to represent or 

advocate for those organizations, 

groups, or entities during SRG meetings, 

discussions, and deliberations. 

SRG membership is voluntary; and, 

except for reimbursable travel and 

related expenses, service is without pay. 

The term of service for SRG members is 

three years, and members may serve up 

to three consecutive terms if 

reappointed. 

NMFS annually reviews the expertise 

available on the SRG and identifies gaps 

in the expertise that is needed to 

provide advice pursuant to section 

117(d) of the MMPA. In conducting the 

reviews, NMFS attempts to achieve, to 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES