14688 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 49 / Tuesday, March 13, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

encouraged to provide information on 

any ancillary matters that may have a 

bearing on validity or infringement. 

(c) Denial for refusal to provide 

information. In the course of 

investigating a claim, it may become 

necessary for NASA to request 

information in the control and custody 

of the claimant that is relevant to the 

disposition of the claim. Failure of the 

claimant to respond to a request for 

such information shall be sufficient 

reason alone for denying a claim. 

§ 1245.203 Incomplete notice of 

infringement. 

(a) If a communication alleging patent 

infringement or copyright infringement 

is received that does not meet the 

requirements set forth in § 1245.202(a), 

the sender shall be advised in writing by 

the Agency Counsel for Intellectual 

Property: 

(1) That the claim for infringement 

has not been satisfactorily presented; 

and 

(2) Of the elements necessary to 

establish a claim. 

(b) A communication, in which no 

infringement is alleged in accordance 

with § 1245.202(a), such as a mere 

proffer of a license, shall not be 

considered a claim for infringement. 

§ 1245.204 Indirect notice of infringement. 

A communication by a patent or 

copyright owner to addressees other 

than those specified in § 1245.202(a), 

such as NASA contractors, including 

contractors operating Governmentowned facilities, alleging that acts of 

infringement have occurred in the 

performance of a Government contract, 

grant, or other arrangement, shall not be 

considered a claim within the meaning 

of § 1245.202(a) until such 

communication meets the requirements 

specified therein. 

§ 1245.205 Processing of administrative 

claims. 

(a) Filing and forwarding of claims. 

All communications regarding claims 

should be addressed to: Agency Counsel 

for Intellectual Property, Office of the 

General Counsel, National Aeronautics 

and Space Administration, Washington, 

DC 20546–0001. If any communication 

relating to a claim or possible claim of 

patent or copyright infringement is 

received by an agency, organization, 

office, or field installation within 

NASA, it shall be forwarded to the 

Agency Counsel for Intellectual 

Property. 

(b) Disposition and notification. The 

General Counsel, or designee, shall 

investigate and administratively settle, 

deny, or otherwise dispose of each 

claim. When a claim is denied, the 

Agency shall so notify the claimant or 

the claimant’s authorized representative 

and provide the claimant with the 

reasons for denying the claim. 

Disclosure of information shall be 

subject to applicable statutes, 

regulations, and directives pertaining to 

security, access to official records, and 

the rights of others. 

(c) Termination of claims. If, while an 

administrative claim for patent or 

copyright infringement is pending 

against NASA, the claimant brings suit 

for patent or copyright infringement 

against the United States in the Court of 

Federal Claims based on the same facts 

or transactions as the administrative 

claim, the administrative claim shall 

thereupon be automatically dismissed, 

with no further action being required of 

NASA. 

Charles F. Bolden, Jr., 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2012–6047 Filed 3–12–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Wage and Hour Division 

29 CFR Part 552 

RIN 1235–AA05 

Application of the Fair Labor 

Standards Act to Domestic Service 

AGENCY: Wage and Hour Division, 

Labor. 

ACTION: Extension of comment period. 

SUMMARY: This document extends the 

period for filing written comments until 

March 21, 2012 on the proposed 

revisions to the Application of the Fair 

Labor Standards Act to Domestic 

Service. On February 24, 2012, the 

Department published a document 

extending the comment period for the 

proposed revisions published on 

December 27, 2011 by an additional 14 

days. This document further extends the 

comment period to March 21, 2012. The 

Department of Labor (Department) is 

taking this action in order to provide 

interested parties additional time to 

submit comments. 

DATES: The agency must receive 

comments on or before March 21, 2012. 

The period for public comments, which 

was to close on March 12, 2012, will be 

extended to March 21, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN 1235–AA05, by either 

one of the following methods: 

Electronic comments: through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Mail: Mary Ziegler, Director, Division 

of Regulations, Legislation and 

Interpretation, Wage and Hour Division, 

U.S. Department of Labor, Room S– 

3502, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20210. 

Instructions: Please submit one copy 

of your comments by only one method. 

All submissions received must include 

the agency name (Wage and Hour 

Division) and Regulatory Information 

Number identified above for this 

rulemaking (1235–AA05). All comments 

received will be posted without change 

to http://www.regulations.gov, including 

any personal information provided. 

Consequently, prior to including any 

individual’s personal information such 

as Social Security Number, home 

address, telephone number, email 

addresses and medical data in a 

comment, the Department urges 

commenters carefully to consider that 

their submissions are a matter of public 

record and will be publicly accessible 

on the Internet. It is the commenter’s 

responsibility to safeguard his or her 

information. Because we continue to 

experience delays in receiving mail in 

the Washington, DC area, commenters 

are strongly encouraged to transmit their 

comments electronically via the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at http:// 

www.regulations.gov or to submit them 

by mail early. For additional 

information on submitting comments 

and the rulemaking process, see the 

‘‘Public Participation’’ heading of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mary Ziegler, Director, Division of 

Regulations, Legislation, and 

Interpretation, Wage and Hour Division, 

U.S. Department of Labor, Room S– 

3510, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 

693–0406 (this is not a toll free number). 

Copies of this notice of proposed 

rulemaking may be obtained in 

alternative formats (Large Print, Braille, 

Audio Tape, or Disc), upon request, by 

calling (202) 693–0023. TTY/TDD 

callers may dial toll-free (877) 889–5627 

to obtain information or request 

materials in alternative formats. 

Questions of interpretation and/or 

enforcement of regulations issued by 

this agency or referenced in this 

document may be directed to the nearest 

Wage and Hour Division District Office. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 49 / Tuesday, March 13, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 14689 

Locate the nearest office by calling the 

Wage and Hour Division’s toll-free help 

line at (866) 4US–WAGE ((866) 487– 

9243) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. in your 

local time zone, or log onto the Wage 

and Hour Division’s Web site for a 

nationwide listing of Wage and Hour 

District and Area Offices at: http:// 

www.dol.gov/whd/america2.htm. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Electronic Access and Filing 

Comments 

Public Participation: This notice of 

proposed rulemaking is available 

through the Federal Register and the 

http://www.regulations.gov Web site. 

You may also access this document via 

the Department’s Web site at http:// 

www.dol.gov/federalregister. To 

comment electronically on federal 

rulemakings, go to the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, which will allow 

you to find, review, and submit 

comments on federal documents that are 

open for comment and published in the 

Federal Register. Please identify all 

comments submitted in electronic form 

by the RIN docket number (1235– 

AA05). Because of delays in receiving 

mail in the Washington, DC area, 

commenters should transmit their 

comments electronically via the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, or submit them by 

mail early to ensure timely receipt prior 

to the close of the comment period. 

Submit one copy of your comments by 

only one method. 

II. Request for Comment 

The Department is proposing to revise 

the Fair Labor Standards Act minimum 

wage, overtime and recordkeeping 

regulations pertaining to the exemptions 

for companionship services and live-in 

domestic services. The Department 

proposes to amend the regulations to 

revise the definitions of ‘‘domestic 

service employment’’ and 

‘‘companionship services.’’ The 

Department also proposes to more 

specifically describe the type of 

activities and duties that may be 

considered ‘‘incidental’’ to the provision 

of companionship services. In addition, 

the Department proposes to amend the 

recordkeeping requirements for live-in 

domestic workers. Finally, the 

Department proposes to amend the 

regulation pertaining to employment by 

a third party of companions and live-in 

domestic workers. This change would 

continue to allow the individual, family, 

or household employing the worker’s 

services to apply the companionship 

and live-in exemptions and would deny 

all third party employers the use of such 

exemptions. 

On December 15, 2011, President 

Obama announced that the Department 

of Labor was proposing the rule 

changes. The Department posted a 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

(NPRM), complete with background 

information, economic impact analyses 

and proposed regulatory text, on its Web 

site that day. The Department published 

the NPRM in the Federal Register on 

December 27, 2011 (76 FR 81190), 

requesting public comments on the 

proposed revisions to the regulations 

pertaining to the exemption for 

companionship services and live-in 

domestic services. Interested parties 

were requested to submit comments on 

or before February 27, 2012. On 

February 24, 2012, the Department 

published a document in the Federal 

Register extending the original 

comment period by 14 days to March 

12, 2012 (77 FR 11021). 

The Department has received requests 

to extend the period for filing public 

comments from members of Congress 

and various business organizations. 

Because of the interest that has been 

expressed in this matter, the Department 

has decided to provide an additional 

extension of the period for submitting 

public comment until March 21, 2012. 

Dated: March 8, 2012. 

Nancy J. Leppink, 

Deputy Administrator, Wage and Hour 

Division. 

[FR Doc. 2012–6136 Filed 3–9–12; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4510–27–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

33 CFR Part 117 

[Docket No. USCG–2012–0126] 

Drawbridge Operation Regulation; 

Berwick Bay (Atchafalaya River), 

Morgan City, LA 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of temporary deviation 

from regulations. 

SUMMARY: The Commander, Eighth 

Coast Guard District, has issued a 

temporary deviation from the regulation 

governing the operation of the 

Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) 

Railway Company vertical lift span 

bridge across Berwick Bay, mile 0.4, 

(Atchafalaya River, mile 17.5) at Morgan 

City, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. The 

deviation is necessary to perform 

scheduled maintenance to the bridge. 

This deviation allows the bridge to 

remain in the closed-to-navigation 

position on two dates occurring in 

March of 2012. 

DATES: This deviation is effective from 

7:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 15, 2012 

through 11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 22, 

2012. 

ADDRESSES: Documents mentioned in 

this preamble as being available in the 

docket are part of docket USCG–2012– 

0126 and are available online by going 

to http://www.regulations.gov, inserting 

USCG–2012–0126 in the ‘‘Keyword’’ 

box and then clicking ‘‘Search’’. They 

are also available for inspection or 

copying at the Docket Management 

Facility (M–30), U.S. Department of 

Transportation, West Building Ground 

Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, 

between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If 

you have questions on this rule, call or 

email Kay Wade, Bridge Branch Office, 

Coast Guard; telephone 504–671–2128, 

email Kay.B.Wade@uscg.mil. If you have 

questions on viewing the docket, call 

Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, 

Docket Operations, telephone 202–366– 

9826. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BNSF 

Railway Company has requested a 

temporary deviation from the operating 

schedule of the vertical lift span railroad 

bridge across Berwick Bay, mile 0.4 

(Atchafalaya River, mile 17.5), at 

Morgan City, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. 

The vertical lift span bridge has a 

vertical clearance of 6.4 feet above high 

water, elevation 8.2 feet Mean Sea Level 

in the closed-to-navigation position. 

Vessels able to pass underneath the 

bridge in the closed-to-navigationposition may do so. 

In accordance with 33 CFR 117.5, the 

bridge currently opens on signal for the 

passage of vessels. This deviation allows 

the vertical lift span of the bridge to 

remain in the closed-to-navigation 

position from 7:30 a.m. through 

11:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 15, 2012 

and Thursday, March 22, 2012. 

To avoid becoming a safety hazard, 

the closures are necessary in order to 

cut and weld worn rails and chipping 

Conley joints. This maintenance is 

essential for the continued safety and 

operation of the bridge. Notices will be 

published in the Eighth Coast Guard 

District Local Notice to Mariners and 

will be broadcast via the Coast Guard 

Broadcast Notice to Mariners System. 

Navigation on the waterway consists 

of tugs with tows, fishing vessels and 

recreational craft, including sailboats 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with RULES