Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 78 / Monday, April 23, 2012 / Notices 24227 

Federal officials are paid at the rate set 

for positions at Level I of the Executive 

Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5312). During 

calendar year 2011, the pay for Level I 

positions was $199,700, as set forth in 

Schedule 5 to Executive Order 13561 of 

December 22, 2010 (75 FR 81817, 81822; 

December 29, 2010). 

The President’s proposal was in 

response to the fact that the existing 

statutory formula (enacted in 1997) has 

resulted in the reimbursement cap 

tripling since the mid-1990s: whereas 

the reimbursement ceiling for 1995 was 

$250,000, the statutory formula has 

resulted in substantial annual increases 

in the subsequent years, so that by FY 

2010 the reimbursement ceiling had 

reached $693,951. And, as this notice 

announces, the statutory formula has 

resulted in a reimbursement ceiling for 

FY 2011 of $763,029. This is an increase 

in just one year of nearly $70,000—and 

of 10%—in the amount that the 

taxpayers can be required to reimburse 

Federal contractors for the 

compensation that the contractors have 

decided to pay their executives. This 

rate of growth in the cap (both from 

1995 onward, and in this most recent 

year) has far outpaced the rate of 

inflation, the rate of growth of privatesector salaries generally, and the rate of 

growth of Federal salaries—forcing our 

taxpayers to reimburse contractors for 

levels of executive compensation that 

cannot be justified for Federal contract 

work. 

This is the direct result of the fact that 

the statutory formula sets the 

reimbursement ceiling, and increases it 

from one year to the next, by reference 

to considerations that have no 

relationship to the type of work that 

contractors are actually performing 

under Federal contracts that are costreimbursable or are otherwise costbased. As noted above, the formula 

under Section 39 requires that the 

reimbursement ceiling be set, and 

adjusted annually, by reference to the 

amount that equals the following: the 

median (50th percentile) amount of 

compensation, over a recent 12-month 

period, that all publicly-owned 

companies with annual sales over $50 

million have paid to their five most 

highly compensated employees in 

management positions at each home 

office and each segment. It is this 

formula, and not any comparable 

improvement in contractor performance 

(and the benefits that the taxpayers 

receive from these contracts), that has 

resulted in the one-year increase of 

$70,000 (10%) from FY 2010 to FY 

2011, and the tripling from 1995 to FY 

2011, in the amount that the taxpayers 

can be required to reimburse Federal 

contractors for the compensation that 

the contractors have chosen to pay to 

their senior executives. 

By proposing to replace the existing 

statutory formula with a reimbursement 

cap that is tied to the salary of a Cabinet 

official (such as the Secretary of 

Defense), the President’s Plan would 

bring parity between the amount that 

the American public pays for the senior 

executives of the Federal Government 

and for the senior executives of those 

contractors who perform work for the 

Federal Government on a costreimbursable or other cost-based 

arrangement. (As is the case with the 

current formula under Section 39 of the 

OFPP Act, the proposal in the 

President’s Plan would not impose any 

limits on the amount of compensation 

that a contractor pays to its executives; 

the proposed cap at the level of the 

salaries of Cabinet officials would limit 

only how much the taxpayers will 

reimburse the contractors for the 

compensation decisions that the 

contractors have chosen.) 

To date, Congress has not adopted the 

Administration’s proposal to replace the 

existing statutory formula for 

determining the reimbursement cap. 

However, in Section 803 of the recentlyenacted National Defense Authorization 

Act for FY 2012 (H.R. 1540; P.L. 112– 

81, December 31, 2011) (NDAA), 

Congress did extend the applicability of 

the existing cap to any contractor 

employee performing under a ‘‘covered 

contract’’ under 10 U.S.C. 2324 (which 

are contracts awarded by the 

Department of Defense, the Coast Guard, 

and NASA), with the exception that 

‘‘the Secretary of Defense may establish 

one or more narrowly targeted 

exceptions for scientists and engineers 

upon a determination that such 

exceptions are needed to ensure that the 

Department of Defense has continued 

access to needed skills and 

capabilities.’’ 

The effect of this new statutory 

provision is that, while the cap on 

reimbursement based on the Section 39 

formula is retained, it will now apply to 

more employees—essentially all 

employees performing covered contracts 

for the Department of Defense, Coast 

Guard, and NASA (with narrowly 

targeted exceptions). This means that, 

for the first time, there will be a 

statutory cap (at the Section 39 level) on 

reimbursement for employee 

compensation for all employees 

performing under covered contracts, 

rather than only for a limited number of 

executives as has been the rule under 

Section 39 until now. 

However, this broader application of 

the Section 39 cap does not apply to FY 

2011. That is because Section 803 of the 

NDAA provides that its amendments 

‘‘shall apply with respect to costs of 

compensation incurred after January 1, 

2012.’’ Accordingly, the benchmark 

compensation amount in this notice, for 

FY 2011, applies only to the same 

limited number of contractor executives 

as did the Section 39 caps for FY 2010 

and prior years. The broader application 

called for in Section 803 of the NDAA 

will be implemented through regulation 

and addressed in future notices. 

Questions concerning this 

memorandum may be addressed to 

Raymond Wong, OFPP, at 202–395– 

6805. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9747 Filed 4–20–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Proposal Review Panel for Social and 

Economic Sciences; Notice of Meeting 

In accordance with the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92– 

463 as amended), the National Science 

Foundation announces the following 

meeting: 

Name: Site visit review of the 

Nanoscale Science and Engineering 

Center (NSEC) at Arizona State 

University by the Division Social and 

Economic Sciences (#10748). 

Dates & Times: 

May 2, 2012; 7 p.m.–9 p.m. 

May 3, 2012: 7:45 a.m.–9:15 p.m. 

May 4, 2012: 8 a.m.–3:30 p.m. 

Place: Arizona State University, 

Tempe, AZ. 

Type of Meeting: Part open. 

Contact Person: Dr. Frederick Kronz, 

Program Director; Science, Technology 

and Society Program; Division of Social 

and Economic Sciences, Room 990, 

National Science Foundation, 4201 

Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22230, 

Telephone (703) 292–7283. 

Purpose of Meeting: To provide 

advice and recommendations 

concerning further support of the NSEC 

at the Arizona State University. 

Agenda: 

Wednesday, May 2, 2012 

7 p.m.–9 p.m. Closed—Executive 

Session 

Thursday, May 3, 2012 

7:45 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Open—Review 

of the NSEC 

4:15 p.m.–5:45 p.m. Closed— 

Executive Session 

5:45 p.m.–9:15 p.m. Open—Poster 

Session; Dinner 


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24228 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 78 / Monday, April 23, 2012 / Notices 

Friday, May 4, 2012 

8 a.m.–9 a.m. Closed—Executive 

session 

9 a.m.–10:30 a.m. Open—Review of 

the NSEC 

10:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. Closed— 

Executive Session, Draft and Review 

Report 

Reason for Late Notice: Scheduling 

complications and the necessity to 

proceed with the review. 

Reason for Closing: The work being 

reviewed may include information of a 

proprietary or confidential nature, 

including technical information; 

financial data, such as salaries and 

personal information concerning 

individuals associated with the MRSEC. 

These matters are exempt under 5 

U.S.C. 552 b(c), (4) and (6) of the 

Government in the Sunshine Act. 

Dated: April 18, 2012. 

Susanne Bolton, 

Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9694 Filed 4–20–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Proposal Review Panel for Social and 

Economic Sciences; Notice of Meeting 

In accordance with the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92– 

463 as amended), the National Science 

Foundation announces the following 

meeting: 

Name: Site visit review of the Nanoscale 

Science and Engineering Center (NSEC) at 

University of California—Santa Barbara by 

the Division of Social and Economic Sciences 

(10748). 

Dates & Times: May 6, 2012; 7 p.m.–9 p.m., 

May 7, 2012: 8 a.m.–9:15 p.m., May 8, 2012: 

8 a.m.–3:30 p.m. 

Place: University of California, Santa 

Barbara, California. 

Type Of Meeting: Part open. 

Contact Person: Dr. Frederick Kronz, 

Program Director; Science, Technology, and 

Society Program; Division of Social and 

Economic Sciences, Room 990, National 

Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, 

Arlington, VA 22230, Telephone (703) 292– 

7283. 

Purpose of Meeting: To provide advice and 

recommendations concerning further support 

of the NSEC at the University of California, 

Santa Barbara. 

Agenda: 

Sunday, May 6, 2012 

7 p.m.–9 p.m. Closed—Executive Session 

Monday, May 7, 2012 

8 a.m.–4 p.m. Open—Review of the NSEC 

4 p.m.–5:30 p.m. Closed—Executive 

Session 

5:30 p.m.–9 p.m. Open—Poster Session; 

Dinner 

Tuesday, May 8, 2012 

8 a.m.–9 a.m. Closed—Executive session 

9 a.m.–10:30 a.m. Open—Review of the 

NSEC 

10:45 a.m.–4:15 p.m. Closed—Executive 

Session, Draft and Review Report 

Reason for Closing: The work being 

reviewed may include information of a 

proprietary or confidential nature, including 

technical information; financial data, such as 

salaries and personal information concerning 

individuals associated with the MRSEC. 

These matters are exempt under 5 U.S.C. 552 

b(c), (4) and (6) of the Government in the 

Sunshine Act. 

Dated: April 18, 2012. 

Susanne Bolton, 

Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9695 Filed 4–20–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2010–0202] 

Condition Monitoring Techniques for 

Electric Cables Used in Nuclear Power 

Plants 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC or the Commission) 

is issuing a new guide regulatory guide, 

(RG) 1.218, ‘‘Condition Monitoring 

Techniques for Electric Cables Used in 

Nuclear Power Plants.’’ This guide 

describes techniques that the staff of the 

NRC considers acceptable for condition 

monitoring of electric cables for nuclear 

power plants. RG 1.218 is not intended 

to be prescriptive, instead it provides a 

description of many available 

techniques for testing cables of various 

configurations typically found in a 

nuclear power plant and discusses the 

potential suitability and known 

limitations of each. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2010–0202 when contacting the 

NRC about the availability of 

information regarding this document. 

You may access information related to 

this document, which the NRC 

possesses and is publicly available, 

using the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2010–0202. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Carol 

Gallagher; telephone: 301–492–3668; 

email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. 

• NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS): You may access publicly 

available documents online in the NRC 

Library at http://www.nrc.gov/readingrm/adams.html. To begin the search, 

select ‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and 

then select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS 

Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS, 

please contact the NRC’s Public 

Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 

1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by 

email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The 

ADAMS accession number for each 

document referenced in this notice (if 

that document is available in ADAMS) 

is provided the first time that a 

document is referenced. Regulatory 

Guide 1.218, is available in ADAMS 

under Accession No. ML103510447. 

The regulatory analysis may be found in 

ADAMS under Accession No. 

ML103510458. 

• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and 

purchase copies of public documents at 

the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. 

Regulatory guides are not 

copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 

required to reproduce them. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Richard Jervey, U. S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 

0001, telephone: (301) 251–7404 or 

email Richard.Jervey@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The NRC is issuing a new guide in the 

NRC’s ‘‘Regulatory Guide’’ series. This 

series was developed to describe and 

make available to the public information 

such as methods that are acceptable to 

the NRC staff for implementing specific 

parts of the agency’s regulations, 

techniques that the staff uses in 

evaluating specific problems or 

postulated accidents, and data that the 

staff needs in its review of applications 

for permits and licenses. 

RG 1.218, ‘‘Condition Monitoring 

Techniques for Electric Cables Used in 

Nuclear Power Plants’’, was issued for 

public comment with a temporary 

identification as Draft Regulatory Guide, 

DG–1240. This guide describes 

techniques that the staff of the NRC 

considers acceptable for condition 

monitoring of electric cables for nuclear 

power plants. RG 1.218 is not intended 

to be prescriptive, instead it provides a 

description of many available 

techniques for testing cables of various 

configurations typically found in a 

nuclear power plant and discusses the 

potential suitability and known 

limitations of each. 

II. Further Information 

DG–1240, was published in the 

Federal Register on June 15, 2010, for 


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