Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 151 / Monday, August 6, 2018 / Notices 38317 

Respondent’s grant applications, 

articles, and posters in question 

examined the differential effects of 

endothelin receptor antagonists on 

traumatic brain injury-induced 

hypoperfusion of cerebral blood flow, 

neuronal cell injury, and cognition in 

rat animal models. 

Respondent recklessly included 

falsely described images in the 

following grant applications: 

• R01 NS064976–01A1 submitted to 

NINDS, NIH (unfunded) 

• R01 NS064976–01A2 submitted to 

NINDS, NIH (funded) 

• R01 NS065824–01 submitted to 

NINDS, NIH (unfunded) 

Respondent recklessly included 

falsely described images in the 

following publications and posters: 

• ‘‘Differential effects of endothelin 

receptor A and B antagonism on 

cerebral hypoperfusion following 

traumatic brain injury.’’ Neurological 

Research 32(2):209–14, 2010 Mar 

(‘‘NR2010’’). Retracted in Neurological 

Research 39(5):472, 2017 May. 

• ‘‘Clazosentan, a novel endothelin A 

antagonist, improves cerebral blood 

flow and behavior after traumatic brain 

injury.’’ Neurological Research 

33(2):208–13, 2011 Mar (‘‘NR2011–1’’). 

Retracted in Neurological Research 

39(5):472, 2017 May. 

• 2009 poster for a Department of 

Veterans Affairs (VA) presentation: 

‘‘Using endothelin-A antagonists to 

ameliorate hypoperfusion and cognitive 

deficits following brain trauma: towards 

a clinical trial’’ (‘‘VA2009’’). 

• 2010 poster for a VA presentation: 

‘‘Endothelin-1 receptor A antagonists 

improve neurologic and cognitive 

outcome following TBI’’ (‘‘VA2010’’). 

The following findings of research 

misconduct were proven by a 

preponderance of the evidence. 

Respondent recklessly included: 

• falsely described Fluoro-Jade stained 

images of rat brain cells in: 

—Figure 8 (left panel) in R01 

NS064976–01A1 

—Figure 8B (left panel) in R01 

NS064976–01A2 

—Figures 4A–F in R01 NS065824–01 

—Figure 3 (right and left panels) in 

NR2011–1 

—Figure 5C in NR2010 

—Figure 3 (panel 3) and Figure 6 

(right and left panels) in VA2009 

—Figure 3 (panel 3) and Figure 6 

(right and left panels) in VA2010 

• falsely described systolic blood 

pressure curves in Figures 4A and 

4B in NR2010 

• falsely described cerebral blood flow 

graphs in: 

—Figure 5 (left panel) in R01 

NS064976–01A1 

—Figure 5 (left panel) in R01 

NS064976–01A2 

—Figure 3A in NR2010 

—Figure 5 in VA2009 

—Figure 5 in VA2010 

• falsely described Western blot images 

in one of the following three grant 

applications (because at least one of 

the three must be false): Figure 1 

(me+TBI panel for VEGF) in R01 

NS065824–01, Figure 2B in R01 

NS064976–01A1, and Figure 2B in 

R01 NS064976–01A2 

• falsely described Western blot images 

in: 

—Figure 2A in R01 NS064976–01A1 

—Figure 2A in R01 NS064976–01A2 

• a falsely described image of lectin 

labeled rat brain section in Figure 

2C in R01 NS065824–01 

Thus, the research misconduct 

findings set forth above became 

effective, and the following 

administrative actions have been 

implemented for a period of five (5) 

years, beginning on July 13, 2018: 

(1) Dr. Kreipke is debarred from any 

contracting or subcontracting with any 

agency of the United States Government 

and from eligibility or involvement in 

nonprocurement programs of the United 

States Government referred to as 

‘‘covered transactions’’ pursuant to 

HHS’ Implementation (2 CFR part 376) 

of Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) Guidelines to Agencies on 

Governmentwide Debarment and 

Suspension (2 CFR part 180); and 

(2) Dr. Kreipke is prohibited from 

serving in any advisory capacity to PHS 

including, but not limited to, service on 

any PHS advisory committee, board, 

and/or peer review committee, or as a 

consultant. 

Wanda K. Jones, 

Interim Director, Office of Research Integrity. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16693 Filed 8–3–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4150–31–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

[Docket Number USCG–2018–0193] 

Polar Icebreaker Program; Preparation 

of Environmental Impact Statement 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability and 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard, as lead 

agency, announces the availability of a 

draft Programmatic Environmental 

Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance 

with the National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA) for the Polar Icebreaker 

Program’s design and build of up to six 

polar icebreakers. The U.S. Coast Guard 

requests public comments on the draft 

EIS. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted to 

the online docket via http://

www.regulations.gov on or before 

September 20, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by docket number USCG– 

2018–0193 using the Federal portal at 

http://www.regulations.gov. See the 

‘‘Public Participation and Request for 

Comments’’ portion of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for 

further instructions on submitting 

comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If 

you have questions about this notice of 

intent, email Mr. Ahmed Majumder, 

Deputy Program Manager, Polar 

Icebreaker Program, U.S. Coast Guard; 

email PIBEnvironment@uscg.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Table of Abbreviations 

CFR Code of Federal Regulations 

CGC Coast Guard Cutter 

EIS Environmental Impact Statement 

FR Federal Register 

NEPA National Environmental Policy Act 

PIBs Polar Icebreakers 

U.S.C. United States Code 

II. Background and Purpose 

The U.S. Coast Guard’s current fleet of 

polar icebreakers (PIBs) consists of two 

heavy icebreakers, Coast Guard Cutter 

(CGC) POLAR STAR and CGC POLAR 

SEA, and one medium icebreaker, CGC 

HEALY. The U.S. Coast Guard’s heavy 

icebreakers have both exceeded their 

designed 30 year service life. CGC 

POLAR STAR was commissioned in 

1976 and CGC POLAR SEA in 1978. 

CGC POLAR STAR began reactivation in 

2010 and completed a service life 

extension in 2013 to allow CGC POLAR 

STAR to operate for an additional seven 

to ten years. CGC POLAR SEA has 

remained out of service since 2010 and 

is not expected to be reactivated. The 

current PIB program acquisition strategy 

is approved to construct up to three 

heavy PIBs and may (at a future date) 

potentially expand to include up to 

three medium icebreakers, with planned 

service design lives of 30 years each. 

The first of these new PIBs is expected 

to delivered in 2023. Because the first 

new PIB would not be operational in the 

Polar Regions until at least 2023, new 

information may become available after 

the completion of this EIS. In that case, 

supplemental NEPA documentation 

may, as appropriate, be prepared in 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
38318 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 151 / Monday, August 6, 2018 / Notices 

support of individual proposed actions. 

Examples of new information may 

include, but are not limited to, changes 

to a species listing status or any other 

applicable laws and directives, and 

information regarding mission, training, 

homeporting, maintenance, and 

eventual decommissioning of the new 

PIBs. 

A new PIB would be designed to carry 

out the U.S. Coast Guard’s primary 

missions supported by the current polar 

icebreaker fleet. Expected missions 

include Ice Operations, Defense 

Readiness, Aids to Navigation, Living 

Marine Resources, Marine Safety, 

Marine Environmental Protection, Other 

Law Enforcement, Ports, Waterways, 

and Coastal Security, and Search and 

Rescue. 

In executing its various missions, the 

U.S. Coast Guard protects the public, 

the environment, and U.S. economic 

and security interests in any maritime 

region, including international waters 

and the Nation’s coasts, ports, and 

inland waterways, as required to 

support national security. Legislation 

and executive orders assign the U.S. 

Coast Guard a wide range of 

responsibilities applicable to Polar 

Regions. The U.S. Coast Guard derives 

its authority for the use of icebreaking 

from several statutes governing 

execution of its missions. These include 

14 U.S.C. 81 (Coast Guard 

establishment, maintenance, and 

operation of aids to navigation), 14 

U.S.C. 88 (Coast Guard saving of life and 

property), 14 U.S.C. 89 (Coast Guard law 

enforcement), 14 U.S.C. 90 (Arctic 

maritime transportation), 14 U.S.C. 91 

(controlling anchorage and movement of 

vessels), 14 U.S.C. 94 (conduct 

oceanographic research), and 14 U.S.C. 

141 (cooperation with agencies, States, 

territories, and others). In addition, 

Executive Order 7521 (Use of Vessels for 

Icebreaking in Channels and Harbors), 1 

FR 2184, Dec. 24, 1936, directs the U.S. 

Coast Guard to assist in keeping 

channels and harbors open to navigation 

by means of icebreaking operations. 

The U.S. Coast Guard proposes to 

conduct polar icebreaker operations and 

training exercises to meet Coast Guard 

mission responsibilities in the U.S. 

Arctic and Antarctic Regions of 

operation, in addition to vessel 

performance testing post-dry dock in the 

Pacific Northwest near the current polar 

icebreaker homeport of Seattle, 

Washington. The exact location for 

future homeporting has not been 

determined, but the current fleet of 

polar icebreakers is homeported in 

Seattle, Washington. 

Polar Regions are becoming 

increasingly important to U.S. national 

interests. The changing environment in 

these regions could lead to a rise in 

human activity and increased 

commercial ship, cruise ship, and naval 

surface ship operations, as well as 

increased exploration for oil and other 

resources, particularly in the Arctic. 

One of the U.S. Coast Guard’s highest 

priorities is safety of life at sea. This 

entails the Artic responsibilities 

described above as well as assisting 

with Antarctica logistics at McMurdo 

Station. Long-term projected increases 

in U.S. Coast Guard mission demand in 

the Polar Regions would require 

additional support from PIBs. A lack of 

infrastructure, polar environmental 

conditions, and long distances between 

operating areas and support bases all 

influence the U.S. Coast Guard’s ability 

to provide comparable service and 

presence in Polar Regions as compared 

to that provided in other non-polar areas 

of operation with existing Coast Guard 

assets. 

This EIS will analyze the potential 

impacts of up to six new PIBs, as this 

is the maximum number anticipated to 

be operational in the Polar Regions 

under the current PIB program 

acquisition strategy; A lesser number of 

icebreakers is expected to result in a 

similar or reduced impact than what 

will be discussed and evaluated in this 

EIS. Potential environmental stressors 

include acoustic (underwater acoustic 

transmissions, vessel noise, icebreaking 

noise, aircraft noise, and gunnery noise), 

and physical (vessel movement, aircraft 

or in-air device movement, in-water 

device movement, icebreaking, and 

marine expended materials). 

III. Scoping Process 

The U.S. Coast Guard conducted 

scoping in accordance with Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) 

regulations implementing the NEPA (40 

CFR 1500 et seq.) through public 

comment and public meetings. A 

summary of the scoping process can be 

found in the draft EIS. 

IV. Public Participation and Request for 

Comments 

We encourage you to submit 

comments (or related material) on the 

draft Programmatic Environmental 

Impact Statement. We will consider all 

submissions and may adjust our final 

action based on your comments. If you 

submit a comment, please include the 

docket number for this notice, indicate 

the specific section of this document to 

which each comment applies, and 

provide a reason for each suggestion or 

recommendation. 

We encourage you to submit 

comments through the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at http://

www.regulations.gov. If your material 

cannot be submitted using http://

www.regulations.gov, contact the person 

in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section of this document for 

alternate instructions. Documents 

mentioned in this notice, and all public 

comments, are in our online docket at 

http://www.regulations.gov and can be 

viewed by following that website’s 

instructions. Additionally, if you go to 

the online docket and sign up for email 

alerts, you will be notified when 

comments are posted or a final EIS is 

published. 

We accept anonymous comments. All 

comments received will be posted 

without change to http://

www.regulations.gov and will include 

any personal information you have 

provided. For more about privacy and 

the docket, you may review a Privacy 

Act notice regarding the Federal Docket 

Management System in the March 24, 

2005, issue of the Federal Register (70 

FR 15086). 

This notice is issued under authority 

of 5 U.S.C. 552(a). 

Dated: June 31, 2018. 

Ahmed Majumder, 

U.S. Coast Guard, Program Manager, Polar 

Icebreaker Program. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16760 Filed 8–3–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–04–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Federal Emergency Management 

Agency 

[Docket ID FEMA–2008–0010] 

Board of Visitors for the National Fire 

Academy 

AGENCY: Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, DHS. 

ACTION: Committee management; notice 

of open federal advisory committee 

meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Board of Visitors for the 

National Fire Academy (Board) will 

meet on August 27–28, 2018, in 

Emmitsburg, Maryland. The meeting 

will be open to the public. 

DATES: The meeting will take place on 

Monday, August 27, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 

p.m. Eastern Daylight Time and on 

Tuesday, August 28, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 

p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Please note 

that the meeting may close early if the 

Board has completed its business. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the National Emergency Training 

Center, 16825 South Seton Avenue, 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES