Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 40 / Wednesday, February 29, 2012 / Notices 12241 

Dated: February 22, 2012. 

Gregory Campbell, 

Director, IA Subsidies Enforcement Office. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4838 Filed 2–28–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

Smart Grid Trade Mission to the United 

Kingdom; London, United Kingdom, 

October 15–17, 2012 

AGENCY: International Trade 

Administration, Department of 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

Mission Description 

The United States Department of 

Commerce International Trade 

Administration’s (ITA) U.S. and Foreign 

Commercial Service (USFCS) in London 

is organizing a Smart Grid Trade 

Mission to the United Kingdom, October 

15–17, 2012. 

The Smart Grid Trade Mission offers 

a timely and cost-effective means for 

U.S. firms to engage with key 

stakeholders and to enter the promising 

UK market for smart grid equipment, 

technology and services. Target sectors 

holding high potential for U.S exporters 

include: smart meters and advanced 

metering infrastructure; communication 

and data management software and 

services; grid optimization technologies; 

demand response and control systems; 

cyber security software and services; 

transmission and distribution 

equipment; automation technologies; 

and consumer engagement platforms 

and services. 

Advancing President Obama’s goal of 

positioning the United States as the 

leading exporter of clean energy 

technologies, the mission will support 

the Renewable Energy and Energy 

Efficiency Export Initiative’s (RE4I) 

goals by promoting export opportunities 

for innovative U.S. companies active in 

the smart grid sector. With a focus on 

connecting U.S. companies with the 

major players in the UK electricity 

sector, this mission will provide critical 

market information and will help 

participants establish business and 

government contacts who are involved 

in smart grid and energy efficiency 

projects in the United Kingdom. The 

three-day agenda will include meetings 

with high-level national government 

officials and industry leaders; briefings 

on the UK market and the wider 

European Union market; site visits; 

seminars; and networking opportunities 

in and around the London area. 

The delegation will be comprised of at 

least 15 U.S. firms and a maximum of 

25 U.S. firms representing a crosssection of U.S. industries that have 

developed products and services for the 

smart grid. The mission will also be 

open to representatives of U.S. trade 

associations in the targeted industries 

with a commercial interest in the United 

Kingdom. 

Commercial Setting 

According to the ‘‘Doing Business 

2011’’ report from the World Bank, the 

United Kingdom is the best place to do 

business in the EU and G8 countries: the 

report ranks the United Kingdom first in 

Europe and fourth in the world for ease 

of doing business. 

The United Kingdom has the seventhlargest economy in the world and is a 

major international trading power. 

Highly developed, sophisticated, and 

diversified, the UK market is the single 

largest export market for U.S. services 

exports and the fifth largest in the world 

for U.S. goods exports. With few trade 

barriers, the United Kingdom is in fact 

the entry market into the EU for more 

than 40,000 U.S. exporters. 

Annual U.S. exports to the United 

Kingdom of both goods and services are 

valued at more than $100 billion. The 

U.S.-UK investment relationship is the 

largest in the world with a cumulative 

bilateral stock in direct investment 

valued at over $925 billion, creating 

over two million jobs, about one million 

in each country, to manage and drive 

this investment. 

Over 7,500 U.S. firms maintain a 

presence in the United Kingdom, many 

of which serve as regional headquarters 

for companies covering Europe, the 

Middle East, and Africa. Furthermore, 

London is a major international 

financial hub. Ranked by the Economist 

Intelligence Unit to be ahead of other 

major European economies in the global 

digital economy index, the United 

Kingdom offers world class Information 

and Communication Technology 

infrastructure. 

The UK government has committed to 

reducing the country’s carbon emissions 

by 34% of 1990 levels by 2020 and by 

80% of 1990 levels by 2050. Power 

generation is a major source of carbon 

emissions, with 74% of power generated 

in the United Kingdom coming from 

fossil fuels. As the government seeks to 

reduce dependency on fossil fuels, it 

plans to refurbish its existing electricity 

infrastructure and establish a smart grid. 

Consequently, over $300 billion of 

investment is needed over the next ten 

years to replace older power plants and 

upgrade the grid—twice the rate of 

investment seen in the previous decade. 

The United Kingdom’s determination to 

become a low carbon economy should 

create many opportunities for 

innovative U.S. companies to supply 

‘‘green’’ solutions to help the United 

Kingdom supply sustainable, reliable, 

and secure, low carbon energy sources 

while providing the technologies and 

services that enable energy efficiency 

gains for electricity consumers. 

The smart grid sector is developing 

rapidly in the European Union. The 

United Kingdom is at the forefront, with 

major U.S. companies already providing 

smart grid solutions for electric utilities 

in the region. The challenge of 

efficiently transmitting and distributing 

ever increasing amounts of electricity 

from intermittent and geographically 

spread renewable sources, like wind 

turbines and solar panels, creates a need 

for the utility and related industries to 

modernize and reinvent the way 

electricity is transmitted, distributed 

and consumed. 

To achieve this, electricity utilities in 

the United Kingdom will have to invest 

in information and communication 

technologies, as well as enhanced 

system monitoring and intelligent 

controls that will be needed to securely 

manage a much more complex system, 

while meeting the demand for energy 

with the optimum level of generation 

and network capacity. 

In 2008, the UK Government 

announced that gas and electricity smart 

meters would be rolled out by energy 

suppliers to every home and most small 

businesses in Britain by the end of 2020. 

The mass roll-out of smart meters is 

expected to begin in 2014. Some 54 

million gas and electricity meters will 

need to be replaced over 10 years at an 

expected cost of $18 billion. 

To stimulate innovation in the sector, 

the Government has launched a $10 

million UK Smart Grid Demonstration 

Fund for small projects and has made 

$825 million available through the Low 

Carbon Networks Fund for larger scale 

trials. This has led to a number of UK 

smart technology pilot projects that are 

already underway or in the planning 

stages. In addition to government-led 

smart grid initiatives, private sector 

utilities are expected to invest more 

than $65 billion in the upgrade and 

expansion of the UK’s transmission and 

distribution networks. 

Current studies indicate that 60% of 

UK companies in the energy market 

plan to invest in smart grids over the 

next three years, with a quarter of these 

firms already having committed money. 

This level of investment by government 

and energy companies signals the 

potential commercial opportunities in 

the UK market. It is not surprising, 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
12242 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 40 / Wednesday, February 29, 2012 / Notices 

1An SME is defined as a firm with 500 or fewer 

employees or that otherwise qualifies as a small 

business under SBA regulations (see http:// 

www.sba.gov/services/contracting opportunities/ 

sizestandardstopics/index.html). Parent companies, 

affiliates, and subsidiaries will be considered when 

determining business size. The dual pricing reflects 

the Commercial Service’s user fee schedule that 

became effective May 1, 2008 (see http:// 

www.export.gov/newsletter/march2008/ 

initiatives.html for additional information). 

therefore, that the sector has attracted 

interest from a wide range of industry 

players—from small startups and SMEs 

to global corporations. 

The market is expected to grow from 

$380 million in 2010 to $4.5 billion in 

2015. An early entry into the UK smart 

grid industry could help technology, 

equipment and specialist service 

companies to become leading players in 

the global energy services market. Pilot 

projects undertaken in the UK market 

can serve as a benchmark to provide 

U.S. companies with early adopter 

opportunities in other European 

countries and in the global market. 

Emerging opportunities in the UK 

smart grid market encompass a range of 

technology and service segments 

associated with electricity transmission 

and distribution, energy data 

management, and energy efficiency 

applications, such as: 

• Smart meters and advanced 

metering infrastructure; 

• Meter data management software 

and systems; 

• Demand response control systems 

and services; 

• Grid optimization systems and 

technologies; 

• Energy management systems for 

distributed generation and storage; 

• Utility cyber security services; 

• Home area networking 

technologies; 

• Consumer electronic smart devices, 

applications, and energy efficiency 

software and services; and 

• Home and building energy 

management programs and marketing 

campaigns. 

Additionally, opportunities in the UK 

smart grid sector will emerge for firms 

specializing in the provision of utility 

information management systems, 

billing software and services, cyber 

security services, and other utility backend information technology solutions. 

In April 2012, the United Kingdom 

will host the 2012 Clean Energy 

Ministerial, an important platform 

developed under the auspices of the 

United Nations Framework Convention 

on Climate Change to advance 

international and public-private 

collaboration on the adoption and 

deployment of clean energy 

technologies worldwide. One of the 

Clean Energy Ministerial activities is the 

International Smart Grid Action 

Network (ISGAN), a mechanism through 

which multinational stakeholders can 

collaborate on accelerating the 

development and deployment of smarter 

electric grids around the world. ISGAN 

aims to improve the understanding of 

smart grid technologies, practices, and 

systems and to promote adoption of 

related enabling government policies. 

U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu 

will co-host the 2012 Clean Energy 

Ministerial. 

Mission Goals 

The mission will help U.S. companies 

increase their export potential to the 

United Kingdom by identifying 

profitable opportunities in the UK smart 

grid and electricity markets. As such, 

the mission will focus on helping U.S. 

companies obtain market information, 

establish business and government 

contacts, solidify business strategies, 

and/or advance specific projects. 

The mission’s goals include: 

• Facilitating first-hand market 

exposure and access to government 

decision makers and key private-sector 

industry contacts, including potential 

trading partners; 

• Promoting the U.S. green economy 

by connecting representatives of U.S. 

companies focused on low carbon 

technologies with potential trading 

partners; 

• Helping companies gain valuable 

international business experience in the 

rapidly growing smart grid market; and 

• Helping U.S. companies strengthen 

their engagement in the worldwide 

marketplace, leading to increased 

exports and, in turn, job creation. 

Mission Scenario 

Participants will attend country 

briefings, seminars and meetings with 

government decision makers and key 

private-sector industry contacts, 

including potential trading partners. 

Participants will also receive briefing on 

the European Union-wide perspective 

on smart grids. 

Networking events will provide 

mission participants with further 

opportunities to speak with local 

business and government 

representatives, as well as with business 

executives of major U.S. companies 

already established in the United 

Kingdom. 

The precise agenda will depend upon 

the availability of local government and 

private sector officials, as well as on the 

specific goals and makeup of the 

mission participants. 

The U.S Commercial Service in 

London stands ready to assist the 

participants. 

Proposed Timetable 

Monday, October 15, 2012 

• Country briefing by U.S. Embassy 

staff on programs and opportunities in 

the UK and EU smart grid sector. 

• Ice-breaker reception at the 

Embassy of the United States of 

America, London. 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012 

• Seminar on UK and European smart 

grid markets. The seminar will provide 

market information to identify profitable 

opportunities. Speakers will include 

government officials, trade associations, 

senior industry representatives, and 

experts on the various aspects of smart 

grids, such as smart meters, advanced 

communications and information 

management systems, demand side 

management and storage, cyber security, 

transmission and distribution, and 

electric energy storage technologies. The 

seminar will be followed by a luncheon 

reception. 

• Business meetings with utilities, 

transmission and distribution networks, 

major energy and technology 

companies. 

• Networking reception for business 

and government contacts. 

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 

• Site visits and business meetings. 

• Networking business reception 

(TBC). 

Participation Requirements 

All parties interested in participating 

in the trade mission must complete and 

submit an application package for 

consideration by the Department of 

Commerce. All applicants will be 

evaluated, on a rolling basis, on their 

ability to meet certain conditions and 

best satisfy the selection criteria as 

outlined below. A minimum of 15 and 

maximum of 25 companies will be 

selected to participate in the mission 

from the applicant pool. 

Fees and Expenses 

After a company or organization has 

been selected to participate on the 

mission, a payment to the Department of 

Commerce in the form of a participation 

fee is required. The participation fee for 

the Trade Mission will be $1,202.00 for 

a small or medium-sized firm (SME),1

and $2,350.00 for large firms. The fee for 

each additional firm representative 

(large firm or SME/trade organization) is 

$600. Expenses for travel, lodging, 

meals, and incidentals will be the 

responsibility of each mission 

participant. Delegation members will be 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 40 / Wednesday, February 29, 2012 / Notices 12243 

able to take advantage of U.S. Embassy 

rates for hotel rooms. 

Conditions For Participation 

Targeted mission participants are U.S. 

companies providing smart grid 

equipment, technology and services that 

have an interest in learning more about 

the UK and European markets. Target 

sectors holding high potential for U.S. 

exporters include: Smart meters and 

advanced metering infrastructure; 

communication and data management 

software and services; grid optimization 

technologies; demand response and 

control systems; cyber security software 

and services; transmission and 

distribution equipment; automation 

technologies; and consumer engagement 

platforms and services. 

Selection Criteria for Participation 

The following criteria will be 

evaluated in selecting participants: 

• Relevance of the company’s 

business to the mission goals; 

• Market potential for business in the 

UK and European markets; 

• Provision of adequate information 

on the company’s products and/or 

services, and communication of the 

company’s primary objectives; and 

• Timeliness of the company’s 

completed application and participation 

agreement signed by a company officer. 

Diversity of company size and 

location may also be considered during 

the review process. Referrals from 

political organizations and any 

documents containing references to 

partisan political activities (including 

political contributions) will be removed 

from an applicant’s submission and not 

considered during the selection process. 

Selection Timeline 

Mission recruitment will be 

conducted in an open and public 

manner, including publication in the 

Federal Register, posting on the 

Commerce Department trade mission 

calendar (http://export.gov/ 

trademissions) and other Internet Web 

sites, press releases to general and trade 

media, direct mail, notices by industry 

trade associations and other multiplier 

groups, and publicity at industry 

meetings, symposia, conferences, and 

trade shows. Recruitment for the 

mission will begin immediately and 

conclude no later than August 17, 2012. 

The U.S. Department of Commerce will 

review applications and make selection 

decisions on a rolling basis beginning in 

February, 2012. Applications received 

after August 17, 2012 will be considered 

only if space and scheduling constraints 

permit. 

Contacts 

Claudia Colombo (BSc Hons, MRes, 

Ph.D.), Energy Commercial Specialist, 

U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. 

Embassy, 24 Grosvenor Square, London 

W1A 1AE, UK, Tel: +44 (0)20 7894 

0443, Fax: +44 (0)20 7894 0020, Email: 

claudia.colombo@trade.gov. 

Elnora Moye, 

Trade Program Assistant. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4840 Filed 2–28–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–FP–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

Proposed Information Collection; 

Comment Request; Pacific Islands 

Region Coral Reef Ecosystems Permit 

Form 

AGENCY: National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

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. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted on or before April 30, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments 

to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental 

Paperwork Clearance Officer, 

Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 

14th and Constitution Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20230 (or via the 

Internet at JJessup@doc.gov). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

copies of the information collection 

instrument and instructions should be 

directed to Walter Ikehara, (808) 944– 

2275 or Walter.Ikehara@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

This request is for extension of a 

current information collection. 

National Marine Fisheries Service 

(NMFS) requires, as codified under 50 

CFR part 665, any person, (1) fishing for, 

taking, retaining, or using a vessel to 

fish for Western Pacific coral reef 

ecosystem management unit species in 

the designated low-use Marine 

Protected Areas; (2) fishing for any of 

these species using gear not specifically 

allowed in the regulations; or (3) fishing 

for, taking, or retaining any Potentially 

Harvested Coral Reef Taxa in the coral 

reef ecosystem regulatory area, to obtain 

and carry a permit. A receiving vessel 

must also have a transshipment permit 

for at-sea transshipment of coral reef 

ecosystem management unit species. 

The permit application form provides 

basic information about the permit 

applicant, vessel, fishing gear and 

method, target species, projected fishing 

effort, etc., for use by NMFS and the 

Western Pacific Fishery Management 

Council in determining eligibility for 

permit issuance. The information is 

important for understanding the nature 

of the fishery and provides a link to 

participants. It also aids in the 

enforcement of Fishery Ecosystem Plan 

measures. 

II. Method of Collection 

Information is submitted to NMFS, in 

the form of paper permit application 

forms. 

III. Data 

OMB Control Number: 0648–0463. 

Form Number: None. 

Type of Review: Regular submission 

(extension of a current information 

collection). 

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations and individuals or 

households. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

12. 

Estimated Time Per Response: 2 

hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 30. 

Estimated Total Annual Cost to 

Public: $100 in recordkeeping/reporting 

costs. 

IV. Request 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 through the 

use of automated collection techniques 

or 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 also will become a matter of public 

record. 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES