Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 50 / Wednesday, March 14, 2012 / Notices 15139 

defendants, the plaintiff’s burden of 

proving damages, is, to an extent, 

lightened[,] [and] the State need only 

provide the court with some relevant 

data from which the district court can 

make a reasonable estimated calculation 

of the harm suffered.* * *’’) (citations 

and internal quotations omitted); id, 202 

F.3d at 89 rino do otherwise would be 

a perversion of fundamental principles 

of justice [and would] deny all relief to 

the injured person, and thereby relieve 

the wrongdoer from making any amends 

for his acts’’); New York v. Hendrickson 

Bros., Inc., 840 F.2d 1065, 1078 (2d Cir. 

1988) (‘‘The most elementary 

conceptions of justice and public policy 

require that the wrongdoer shall bear 

the risk of the uncertainty which his 

own wrong has created’) (quoting 

Bigelow v. RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., 

327 U.S. 251, 264 (1946)); Fishman v. 

Estate of Wirtz, 807 F.2d 520, 551 (7th 

Cir. Ill. 1986) (‘‘The concept of a 

‘yardstick’ measure of damages, that is, 

linking the plaintiffs experience in a 

hypothetical free market to the 

experience of a comparable firm in an 

actual free market, is also well 

accepted’’). 

CONCLUSION 

For the reasons stated above, the 

Court should direct DOJ to supplement 

the record to demonstrate why this 

settlement will prevent such violations 

in the future. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Peter McGowan 

General Counsel 

By: Sean Mullany, Assistant Counsel Of 

Counsel, Public Service Commission, 

Of the State of New York, Three 

Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 

12223–1350. 

Dated: December 30, 2011, Albany, New 

York 

[FR Doc. 2012–5952 Filed 3–13–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE M 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Comment Request; Generic 

Survey Clearance for the Directorate of 

Education and Human Resources 

(EHR) 

AGENCY: National Science Foundation. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The National Science 

Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans 

to request renewed clearance of this 

collection. In accordance with the 

requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

we are providing opportunity for public 

comment on this action. After obtaining 

and considering public comment, NSF 

will prepare the submission requesting 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) clearance of this collection for no 

longer than 3 years. 

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 of 

the proposed collection of information; 

(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, 

and clarity of the information on 

respondents, including through the use 

of automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology; 

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. 

DATES: Written comments should be 

received by May 14, 2012 to be assured 

of consideration. Comments received 

after that date will be considered to the 

extent practicable. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments 

regarding the information collection and 

requests for copies of the proposed 

information collection request should be 

addressed to Suzanne Plimpton, Reports 

Clearance Officer, National Science 

Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Rm. 

295, Arlington, VA 22030, or by email 

to splimpto@nsf.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Suzanne Plimpton on (703) 292–7556 or 

send email to splimpto@nsf.gov. 

Individuals who use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time, 

Monday through Friday. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title of Collection: EHR Generic 

Clearance. 

OMB Approval Number: 3145–0136. 

Expiration Date of Approval: July 31, 

2012. 

Abstract: The National Science 

Foundation (NSF) requests renewal of 

program accountability and 

communication data collections (e.g., 

surveys, face-to-face and telephone 

interviews, observations, and focus 

groups) that describe and track the 

impact of NSF funding that focuses on 

the Nation’s science, technology, 

engineering, and mathematics (STEM) 

education and STEM workforce. NSF 

funds grants, contracts, and cooperative 

agreements to colleges, universities, and 

other eligible institutions, and provides 

graduate research fellowships to 

individuals in all parts of the United 

States and internationally. 

The Directorate for Education and 

Human Resources (EHR), a unit within 

NSF, promotes rigor and vitality within 

the Nation’s STEM education enterprise 

to further the development of the 21st 

century’s STEM workforce and public 

scientific literacy. EHR does this 

through diverse projects and programs 

that support research, extension, 

outreach, and hands-on activities that 

service STEM learning and research at 

all institutional (e.g., pre-school through 

postdoctoral) levels in formal and 

informal settings; and individuals of all 

ages (birth and beyond). EHR also 

focuses on broadening participation in 

STEM learning and careers among 

United States citizens, permanent 

residents, and nationals, particularly 

those individuals traditionally 

underemployed in the STEM research 

workforce, including but not limited to 

women, persons with disabilities, and 

racial and ethnic minorities. 

At the request of OMB an EHR 

Generic Clearance was established in 

1995 to integrate management, 

monitoring, and evaluation information 

pertaining to the NSF’s Education and 

Training (ET) portfolio in response to 

the Government Performance and 

Results Acts (GPRA) of 1993. Under this 

generic survey clearance (OMB 3145– 

0136), data from the NSF administrative 

databases are incorporated with findings 

gathered through initiative-, divisional- 

, and program-specific data collections. 

The scope of the EHR Generic Clearance 

primarily covers descriptive information 

gathered from education and training 

projects that are funded by NSF. Most 

programs subject to EHR Generic data 

collection are funded by the EHR 

Directorate, but some are funded in 

whole or in part by disciplinary 

directorates or multi-disciplinary or 

cross-cutting programs. Since 2001 in 

accordance with OMB’s Terms of 

Clearance (TOC), NSF primarily uses 

the data from the EHR Generic 

Clearance for program planning, 

management, and audit purposes to 

respond to queries from the Congress, 

the public, NSF’s external merit 

reviewers who serve as advisors, 

including Committees of Visitors 

(COVs), and the NSF’s Office of the 

Inspector General. 

OMB has limited the collection to 

three categories of descriptive data: (1) 

Staff and project participants (data that 

are also necessary to determine 

individual-level treatment and control 

groups for future third-party study); (2) 

project implementation characteristics 

(also necessary for future use to identify 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
15140 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 50 / Wednesday, March 14, 2012 / Notices 

well-matched comparison groups); and 

(3) project outputs (necessary to 

measure baseline for pre- and postNSF-funding-level impacts). 

Use of the Information: This 

information is required for effective 

administration, communication, 

program and project monitoring and 

evaluation, and for measuring 

attainment of NSF’s program, project, 

and strategic goals, and as identified by 

the President’s Accountability in 

Government Initiative; GPRA, and the 

NSF’s Strategic Plan. The Foundation’s 

FY 2006–2011 Strategic Plan describes 

four strategic outcome goals of 

Discovery, Learning, Research 

Infrastructure, and Stewardship. NSF’s 

complete strategic plan may be found at: 

http://www.nsf.gov/publications/ 

pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf0648. 

Since the EHR Generic Clearance 

research is primarily used for 

accountability purposes, including 

responding from queries from COVs and 

other scientific experts, a census rather 

than sampling design typically is 

necessary. At the individual project 

level funding can be adjusted based on 

individual project’s responses to some 

of the surveys. Some data collected 

under the EHR Clearance serve as 

baseline data for separate research and 

evaluation studies. 

In order to conduct program- or 

portfolio-level evaluations, however, 

both experimental and quasiexperimental evaluation research 

studies on STEM education 

interventions require researchers to 

identify individual-level and 

organization- or project-level control 

and treatment groups or comparison 

groups. NSF-funded contract or grantee 

researchers and evaluators in part may 

identify control, comparison, or 

treatment groups for NSF’s ET portfolio 

using some of the descriptive data 

gathered through OMB 3145–0136 to 

conduct well-designed, rigorous 

research and portfolio evaluation 

studies. 

In accordance with the 2001, 2005, 

2008, and 2011 OMB Terms of 

Clearances, NSF requests separate 

stand-alone clearance (and separately 

announces for comment in the Federal 

Register) any program or portfolio 

research or evaluation. 

Respondents: Individuals or 

households, not-for-profit institutions, 

business or other for profit, and Federal, 

State, local or tribal government. 

Number of Respondents: 8,494. 

Burden of the Public: The total 

estimate for this collection is 65,868 

annual burden hours. This figure is 

based on the previous 3 years of 

collecting information under this 

clearance and anticipated collections. 

The average annual reporting burden is 

between 1.5 and 72 hours per 

‘‘respondent,’’ depending on whether a 

respondent is a direct participant who is 

self-reporting or representing a project 

and reporting on behalf of many project 

participants. 

Dated: March 9, 2012. 

Suzanne H. Plimpton, 

Reports Clearance Officer, National Science 

Foundation. 

[FR Doc. 2012–6185 Filed 3–13–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Notice of Buy American Waiver Under 

the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 

AGENCY: National Science Foundation 

(NSF). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: NSF is hereby granting a 

limited exemption of section 1605 of the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), Public Law 

111–5, 123 Stat. 115, 303 (2009), with 

respect to the purchase of the 

deformable mirror system that will be 

used in the Advanced Technology Solar 

Telescope (ATST). This system is 

required in order to achieve the 

requisite spatial resolution to study the 

finest details of magnetic features in the 

solar atmosphere. 

DATED: March 14, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: National Science 

Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., 

Arlington, Virginia 22230. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Anna-Lee Misiano, Division of 

Acquisition and Cooperative Support, 

703–292–4339 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with section 1605(c) of the 

Recovery Act and section 176.80 of Title 

2 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the 

National Science Foundation (NSF) 

hereby provides notice that on March 6, 

2012 the NSF Chief Financial Officer, in 

accordance with a delegation order from 

the Director of the agency, granted a 

limited project exemption of section 

1605 of the Recovery Act (Buy 

American provision) with respect to the 

deformable mirror system (DMS) that 

will be used in the ATST. The basis for 

this exemption is section 1605(b)(2) of 

the Recovery Act, in that deformable 

mirrors of satisfactory quality that meet 

the specifications required for 

diffraction-limited observations of the 

sun are not produced by vendors in the 

United States in sufficient and 

reasonably available commercial 

quantities. The total cost of DMS, 

approximately $3 million, represents 

approximately 2 percent of the total 

$146 million Recovery Act award 

provided for construction of the ATST 

and about 1 percent of the total project 

cost. 

I. Background 

The Recovery Act appropriated $400 

million to NSF for several projects being 

funded by the Foundation’s Major 

Research Equipment and Facilities 

Construction (MREFC) account. The 

ATST is one of NSF’s MREFC projects. 

Section 1605(a) of the Recovery Act, the 

Buy American provision, states that 

none of the funds appropriated by the 

Act ‘‘may be used for a project for the 

construction, alteration, maintenance, or 

repair of a public building or public 

work unless all of the iron, steel, and 

manufactured goods used in the project 

are produced in the United States.’’ 

The ATST construction is being 

funded under a cooperative agreement 

awarded to the Association of 

Universities for Research in Astronomy 

(AURA) that began in 2009. The project 

is currently under construction. 

Subsections 1605(b) and (c) of the 

Recovery Act authorize the head of a 

Federal department or agency to waive 

the Buy American provision if the head 

of the agency finds that: (1) Applying 

the provision would be inconsistent 

with the public interest; (2) the relevant 

goods are not produced in the United 

States in sufficient and reasonably 

available quantities and of a satisfactory 

quality; or (3) the inclusion of the goods 

produced in the United States will 

increase the cost of the project by more 

than 25 percent. If the head of the 

Federal department or agency waives 

the Buy American provision, then the 

head of the department or agency is 

required to publish a detailed 

justification in the Federal Register. 

Finally, section 1605(d) of the Recovery 

Act states that the Buy American 

provision must be applied in a manner 

consistent with the United States’ 

obligations under international 

agreements. 

II. Finding That Relevant Goods Are 

Not Produced in the United States in 

Sufficient and Reasonably Available 

Quality 

The science goals of the ATST require 

that the telescope operate at the socalled diffraction limit in order to 

resolve spatial features in the solar 

atmosphere with sizes of order 20 to 30 

kilometers. Comparing this size to the 

average distance to the sun of about 

150,000,000 kilometers leads to the 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES