46522 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 178 / Thursday, September 13, 2018 / Notices 

labor market area conditions, 

discounting temporary or seasonal 

factors. 

Eligible Labor Surplus Areas 

A Labor Surplus Area (LSA) is a civil 

jurisdiction that has a civilian average 

annual unemployment rate during the 

previous two calendar years of 20 

percent or more above the average 

annual civilian unemployment rate for 

all states during the same 24-month 

reference period. ETA uses only official 

unemployment estimates provided by 

the Bureau of Labor Statistics in making 

these classifications. The average 

unemployment rate for all states 

includes data for the Commonwealth of 

Puerto Rico. LSA classification criteria 

stipulate a civil jurisdiction must have 

a ‘‘floor unemployment rate’’ of 6.0 

percent or higher to be classified an 

LSA. Any civil jurisdiction that has a 

‘‘ceiling unemployment rate’’ of 10.0 

percent or higher is classified an LSA. 

Civil jurisdictions are defined as 

follows: 

1. A city of at least 25,000 population 

on the basis of the most recently 

available estimates from the Bureau of 

the Census; or 

2. A town or township in the States 

of Michigan, New Jersey, New York, or 

Pennsylvania of 25,000 or more 

population and which possess powers 

and functions similar to those of cities; 

or 

3. All counties, except for those 

counties which contain any type of civil 

jurisdictions defined in ‘‘1’’ or ‘‘2’’ 

above; or 

4. A ‘‘balance of county’’ consisting of 

a county less any component cities and 

townships identified in ‘‘1’’ or ‘‘2’’ 

above; or 

5. A county equivalent, which is a 

town in the States of Connecticut, 

Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, or a 

municipio in the Commonwealth of 

Puerto Rico. 

Procedures for Classifying Labor 

Surplus Areas 

The Department of Labor (DOL) issues 

the LSA list on a fiscal year basis. The 

list becomes effective each October 1 

and remains in effect through the 

following September 30. The reference 

period used in preparing the current list 

is January 2016 through December 2017. 

The national average unemployment 

rate (including Puerto Rico) during this 

period is rounded to 4.66 percent. 

Twenty percent higher than the national 

unemployment rate during this period is 

rounded to 5.59 percent. Since 5.59 

percent is below the ‘‘floor 

unemployment rate’’ of 6.0 percent, a 

civil jurisdiction must have a two-year 

unemployment rate of 6.0 percent in 

order to be classified an LSA. Therefore, 

areas included on the FY 2019 LSA list 

had an unemployment rate for the 

reference period of 6.0 percent or 

higher. To ensure that all areas 

classified as labor surplus meet the 

requirements, when a city is part of a 

county and meets the unemployment 

qualifier as an LSA, that city is 

identified in the LSA list; the balance of 

county, not the entire county, will be 

identified as an LSA if the balance of 

county also meets the LSA 

unemployment criteria. The FY 2019 

LSA list and statistical data on the 

current and prior year’s LSAs are 

available at ETA’s LSA website at http:// 

www.doleta.gov/programs/lsa.cfm. 

Petition for Exceptional Circumstance 

Consideration 

The classification procedures also 

provide criteria for the designation of 

LSAs under exceptional circumstances 

criteria. These procedures permit the 

regular classification criteria to be 

waived when an area experiences a 

significant increase in unemployment 

that is not temporary or seasonal and 

that was not reflected in the data for the 

two-year reference period. Under the 

program’s exceptional circumstance 

procedures, LSA classifications can be 

made for civil jurisdictions, 

Metropolitan Statistical Areas, or 

Combined Statistical Areas, as defined 

by the U.S. Office of Management and 

Budget. In order for an area to be 

classified as an LSA under the 

exceptional circumstance criteria, the 

state workforce agency must submit a 

petition requesting such classification to 

the Department of Labor’s ETA. The 

current criteria for an exceptional 

circumstance classification are: 

(1) An area’s unemployment rate is at 

least 6.0 percent for each of the three 

most recent months; 

(2) a projected unemployment rate of 

at least 6.0 percent for each of the next 

12 months because of an event; and 

(3) documentation that the 

exceptional circumstance event has 

occurred. The state workforce agency 

may file petitions on behalf of civil 

jurisdictions, Metropolitan Statistical 

Areas, or Micropolitan Statistical Areas. 

State Workforce Agencies may submit 

petitions in electronic format to 

wright.samuel.e@dol.gov, or in hard 

copy to the U.S. Department of Labor, 

Employment and Training 

Administration, Office of Workforce 

Investment, 200 Constitution Avenue 

NW, Room C–4514, Washington, DC 

20210, Attention Samuel Wright. Data 

collection for the petition is approved 

under OMB 1205–0207, expiration date 

July 31, 2020. 

Signed at Washington, DC. 

Rosemary Lahasky, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment 

and Training. 

[FR Doc. 2018–19905 Filed 9–12–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FN–P 

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND 

BUDGET 

Request of the U.S. Intellectual 

Property Enforcement Coordinator for 

Public Comments: Development of the 

Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual 

Property Enforcement 

AGENCY: Office of the U.S. Intellectual 

Property Enforcement Coordinator, 

Executive Office of the President, Office 

of Management and Budget. 

ACTION: Request for written submissions 

from the public. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Government is 

starting the process to develop a new 3- 

year Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual 

Property Enforcement. By committing to 

common goals, the U.S. Government 

will more effectively and efficiently 

promote and protect our intellectual 

property. In this request for comments, 

the Executive Office of the President 

(‘‘EOP’’), Office of the U.S. Intellectual 

Property Enforcement Coordinator 

invites public input and participation in 

shaping the Administration’s 

intellectual property enforcement 

strategy. 

The Office of the U.S. Intellectual 

Property Enforcement Coordinator 

(‘‘IPEC’’) is charged with developing, 

with certain Federal departments and 

agencies, the Administration’s Joint 

Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property 

Enforcement for submission to Congress 

every three years. The previous 3-year 

Joint Strategic Plans were issued in 

2010, 2013, and 2016. To assist IPEC 

and Federal agencies in our preparation 

of the fourth 3-year plan, IPEC requests 

input and recommendations from the 

public for improving the U.S. 

Government’s intellectual property 

enforcement efforts, along the lines of 

this Administration’s four-part strategic 

approach, described in greater detail 

below. 

DATES: Submissions must be received on 

or before November 13, 2018, at 5 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: All submissions should be 

electronically submitted to http://

www.regulations.gov. If you are unable 

to provide submissions to 

regulations.gov, you may contact the 

Office of the U.S. Intellectual Property 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 178 / Thursday, September 13, 2018 / Notices 46523 

Enforcement Coordinator at 

intellectualproperty@omb.eop.gov using 

the subject line ‘‘Development of the 

Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual 

Property Enforcement’’ to arrange for an 

alternate method of transmission. The 

regulations.gov website is a Federal EGovernment website that allows the 

public to find, review and submit 

comments on documents that have 

published in the Federal Register and 

that are open for comment. Submissions 

filed via the regulations.gov website will 

be available to the public for review and 

inspection. For this reason, please do 

not include in your comments 

information of a confidential nature, 

such as sensitive personal information 

or proprietary business information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

Levock, 202–395–3826, Office of the 

U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement 

Coordinator, at intellectualproperty@

omb.eop.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Since 

January 2017, President Trump and his 

Administration have worked to promote 

strong intellectual property rights 

protection and enforcement, both 

domestically and abroad. As part of an 

integrated approach, the Trump 

Administration views our intellectual 

property strategy, policy and 

enforcement efforts, together, as key to 

helping secure the future of our 

innovative economy and to maintaining 

our competitive advantage. As the 

Administration continues to build on 

past strategic efforts in all areas of 

intellectual property policy (including 

patents, copyrights, trademarks and 

trade secrets), both domestically and 

abroad, the Administration also 

recognizes that for the United States to 

maintain its future economic 

competitiveness, we need to think 

strategically and shift the paradigm to 

one where we not only place America 

First, but regard America’s inventive 

and creative capacity as something that 

we must protect, promote and prioritize. 

As explained in the Annual 

Intellectual Property Report to Congress 

(https://www.whitehouse.gov/wpcontent/uploads/2017/11/2018Annual_

IPEC_Report_to_Congress.pdf), the 

Trump Administration has taken 

significant actions to promote and 

protect intellectual property. The 

Administration’s four-part strategic 

approach includes engagement with our 

trading partners; effective use of all our 

legal authorities, including our trade 

tools; expanded law enforcement action 

and cooperation; and engagement and 

partnership with the private sector and 

other stakeholders. The goal is to ensure 

a level playing field for American 

innovators and creators, where their 

innovations and creations are respected 

and protected, and for systems to be in 

place that allow American businesses to 

operate in a free, fair and open 

marketplace. 

As the United States government 

works to advance American economic 

interests overseas, a significant 

component of our enforcement and 

protection efforts includes addressing 

trade enforcement, market access, 

competition, digital trade, cybersecurity, 

and rule of law concerns in the 

intellectual property space around the 

world. American innovators and 

creators must be able to operate in 

foreign markets that provide them with 

clear paths to secure and use their IP. 

Countries and foreign companies should 

not be allowed to profit from the theft 

or misappropriation of American 

intellectual property through actions 

including trade secret theft, IP 

infringement, piracy, forced technology 

transfers or localization requirements. 

Additionally, American brand holders 

must have full and fair opportunity to 

market and sell their products and use 

their properly registered trademarks 

across the globe, without undue 

restrictions. 

To that end, and as set forth by the 

PRO IP Act (15 U.S.C. 8113), the 

objectives of the Joint Strategic Plan 

include: 

• Reducing the supply of infringing 

goods, domestically and internationally; 

• Identifying weaknesses, duplication 

of efforts, waste, and other unjustified 

impediments to effective enforcement 

actions; 

• Promoting information sharing 

between participating agencies to the 

extent permissible by law; 

• Disrupting and eliminating 

infringement networks in the U.S. and 

in other countries; 

• Strengthening the capacity of other 

countries to protect and enforce 

intellectual property rights; 

• Reducing the number of countries 

that fail to enforce intellectual property 

rights effectively; 

• Assisting other countries to more 

effectively enforce intellectual property 

rights; 

• Protecting intellectual property 

rights in other countries by: 

Æ Working with other countries to 

reduce intellectual property crimes in 

other countries; 

Æ Improving information sharing 

between U.S. and foreign law 

enforcement agencies; and 

Æ Establishing procedures for 

consulting with interested groups 

within other countries; 

• Establishing effective and efficient 

training programs and other forms of 

technical assistance to enhance the 

enforcement efforts of foreign 

governments through: 

Æ Minimizing the duplication of U.S. 

Government training and assistance 

efforts; 

Æ Prioritizing deployment of U.S. 

Government resources to those 

countries where programs can be carried 

out most effectively with the greatest 

impact on reducing the number of 

infringing products imported into the 

United States, while also protecting the 

intellectual property rights of U.S. rights 

holders and the interests of U.S. persons 

otherwise harmed by infringements in 

other countries. 

IPEC welcomes input and 

recommendations from the public for 

improving the U.S. Government’s 

intellectual property enforcement 

efforts. 

In submitting comments for the 

development of the fourth Joint 

Strategic Plan, comments should be 

organized along the lines of the 

Administration’s four-part strategic 

approach to promote and protect 

intellectual property (as discussed 

above and in IPEC’s Annual Intellectual 

Property Report to Congress): 

• Engagement with our trading partners 

• Effective use of all our legal 

authorities, including our trade tools 

• Expanded law enforcement action and 

cooperation 

• Engagement and partnership with the 

private sector and other stakeholders. 

Vishal J. Amin, 

United States Intellectual Property 

Enforcement Coordinator, Executive Office of 

the President. 

[FR Doc. 2018–19863 Filed 9–12–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3110–01–P 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Proposal Review Panel for 

International Science and Engineering; 

Notice of Meeting 

In accordance with the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92– 

463, as amended), the National Science 

Foundation (NSF) announces the 

following meeting: 

Name and Committee Code: Proposal 

Review Panel for Office of International 

Science and Engineering—PIRE: 

Crafting Optimal Learning in Science 

Environments—Reverse Site Visit 

(#10749). 

Date and Time: October 12, 2018; 8:00 

a.m.–5:30 p.m. 


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