89572 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 248 / Thursday, December 28, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 

Design Organization Approval (DOA). If 

approved by the DOA, the approval must 

include the DOA-authorized signature.’’ 

(9) This AD does not require compliance 

with paragraph (5) of EASA AD 2023–0190– 

E. 

Note 1 paragraph (h)(9): Accomplishing a 

balance correction other than with the 

replacement of tail rotor drive line parts 

could interfere with subsequent tail rotor 

drive line balancing inspections. Airbus 

Helicopters Emergency Alert Service Bulletin 

No. EC130–05A042, Revision 1, dated 

November 2, 2023, contains additional 

information regarding balance corrections. 

(10) This AD does not require compliance 

with paragraph (6) of EASA AD 2023–0190– 

E. 

(11) Instead of the credit allowed in 

paragraph (7) of EASA AD 2023–0190–E, you 

may take credit for the vibration 

measurements required by paragraph (1) of 

EASA AD 2023–0190–E that have been 

accomplished before the effective date of this 

AD using Airbus Helicopters Emergency 

Alert Service Bulletin No. EC130–05A042, 

Revision 0, dated December 14, 2022. 

(12) Instead of the credit allowed in 

paragraph (8) of EASA AD 2023–0190–E, you 

may take credit for accomplishing 

‘‘maintenance task B,’’ as defined in EASA 

AD 2023–0190–E and required by paragraph 

(3) of EASA AD 2023–0190–E, to satisfy the 

initial instance of ‘‘maintenance task B,’’ as 

defined in EASA AD 2023–0190–E and 

required by paragraph (2) of EASA AD 2023– 

0190–E. 

(13) This AD does not adopt the ‘‘Remarks’’ 

section of EASA AD 2023–0190–E. 

(i) No Reporting Requirement 

Although the service information 

referenced in EASA AD 2023–0190–E 

specifies to submit certain information to the 

manufacturer, this AD does not include that 

requirement. 

(j) Special Flight Permit 

Special flight permits may be issued in 

accordance with 14 CFR 21.197 and 21.199 

only to operate the helicopter to a 

maintenance location for the initial tail rotor 

drive shaft inspection, provided no 

passengers are onboard. 

(k) Alternative Methods of Compliance 

(AMOCs) 

(1) The Manager, International Validation 

Branch, FAA, has the authority to approve 

AMOCs for this AD, if requested using the 

procedures found in 14 CFR 39.19. In 

accordance with 14 CFR 39.19, send your 

request to your principal inspector or local 

Flight Standards District Office, as 

appropriate. If sending information directly 

to the manager of the International Validation 

Branch, send it to the attention of the person 

identified in paragraph (l)(1) of this AD. 

Information may be emailed to: 9-AVS-AIR730-AMOC@faa.gov. 

(2) Before using any approved AMOC, 

notify your appropriate principal inspector, 

or lacking a principal inspector, the manager 

of the local flight standards district office/ 

certificate holding district office. 

(l) Additional Information 

(1) For more information about this AD, 

contact Dan McCully, Aviation Safety 

Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Ave., Suite 410, 

Westbury, NY 11590; telephone (404) 474– 

5548; email william.mccully@faa.gov. 

(2) For Airbus Helicopters service 

information identified in this AD that is not 

incorporated by reference, contact Airbus 

Helicopters, 2701 North Forum Drive, Grand 

Prairie, TX 75052; phone (972) 641–0000 or 

(800) 232–0323; fax (972) 641–3775; or at 

airbus.com/en/products-services/helicopters/ 

hcare-services/airbusworld. You may view 

this service information at the FAA, Office of 

the Regional Counsel, Southwest Region, 

10101 Hillwood Parkway, Room 6N–321, 

Fort Worth, TX 76177. For information on 

the availability of this material at the FAA, 

call (817) 222–5110. 

(m) Material Incorporated by Reference 

(1) The Director of the Federal Register 

approved the incorporation by reference of 

the service information listed in this 

paragraph under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR 

part 51. 

(2) You must use this service information 

as applicable to do the actions required by 

this AD, unless this AD specifies otherwise. 

(i) European Union Aviation Safety Agency 

(EASA) Emergency AD 2023–0190–E, dated 

November 2, 2023. 

(ii) [Reserved] 

(3) For EASA material, contact EASA, 

Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 3, 50668 Cologne, 

Germany; telephone +49 221 8999 000; email 

ADs@easa.europa.eu; website 

easa.europa.eu. You may find the EASA 

material on the EASA website 

ad.easa.europa.eu. 

(4) You may view this service information 

at the FAA, Office of the Regional Counsel, 

Southwest Region, 10101 Hillwood Parkway, 

Room 6N–321, Fort Worth, TX 76177. For 

information on the availability of this 

material at the FAA, call (817) 222–5110. 

(5) You may view this material at the 

National Archives and Records 

Administration (NARA). For information on 

the availability of this material at NARA, 

visit www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ 

ibr-locations or email fr.inspection@nara.gov. 

Issued on December 22, 2023. 

Caitlin Locke, 

Director, Compliance & Airworthiness 

Division, Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–28720 Filed 12–26–23; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology 

15 CFR Part 231 

[Docket No. 231218–0308] 

RIN 0693–AB70 

Preventing the Improper Use of CHIPS 

Act Funding; Revised Definition of 

‘‘Material Expansion’’ 

AGENCY: CHIPS Program Office, 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology, Department of Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce 

(the Department), through the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology, 

is amending the definition of ‘‘material 

expansion’’ in the September 25, 2023 

final rule, Preventing the Improper Use 

of CHIPS Act Funding, to clarify that the 

construction of new semiconductor 

manufacturing facilities falls within the 

scope of the rule. 

DATES: This final rule is effective on 

December 28, 2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Vikram Viswanathan at (240) 309–9040 

or askchips@chips.gov. Please direct 

media inquiries to the CHIPS Press 

Team at press@chips.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The CHIPS Act, 15 U.S.C. 4651, et 

seq., established a semiconductor 

incentives program (CHIPS Incentives 

Program) to incentivize, through Federal 

funding, investments in the 

construction, expansion, and 

modernization of facilities and 

equipment in the United States for the 

fabrication, assembly, testing, advanced 

packaging, production, or research and 

development of semiconductors, 

materials used to manufacture 

semiconductors, or semiconductor 

manufacturing equipment. The CHIPS 

Incentives Program is administered by 

the CHIPS Program Office (CPO) within 

the National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST) of the Department. 

On March 23, 2023, CPO published a 

proposed rule that requested comment 

on defined terms used in the Act 

(including terms that will be used in 

required agreements with covered 

entities), identified the types of 

transactions that are prohibited under 

the Expansion Clawback and 

Technology Clawback sections of the 

Act, and provided a description of the 

proposed process for notification of 

certain transactions to the Secretary (88 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 248 / Thursday, December 28, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 89573 

1 The provisions of this amendment implement 

the Expansion Clawback provisions of the Act and 

are also thus exempt from the rulemaking 

provisions of the APA pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 

4652(a)(6)(A)(iii). 

FR 17439). After considering extensive 

public comments, on September 25, 

2023, CPO published a final rule 

Preventing the Improper Use of CHIPS 

Act Funding (88 FR 65600). Among 

other issues, the final rule addressed the 

Expansion Clawback, which prohibits 

the covered entity and members of its 

affiliated group from engaging in any 

significant transaction involving the 

material expansion of semiconductor 

manufacturing capacity in a foreign 

country of concern. The final rule also 

addressed the exceptions to this general 

prohibition. 

The definition of ‘‘material 

expansion,’’ which is used both in the 

general prohibition and in one of the 

exceptions, focused on the expansion of 

‘‘existing’’ semiconductor 

manufacturing facilities, which created 

confusion as to whether the 

construction of entirely new 

semiconductor fabrication facilities fell 

within the scope of the final rule. This 

update to the final rule clarifies that 

new facilities are included within the 

scope of the final rule. 

Changes From the Final Rule 

Definition of Material Expansion 

The final rule defines ‘‘material 

expansion’’ as an ‘‘increase of the 

semiconductor manufacturing capacity 

of an existing facility by more than five 

percent of the capacity memorialized in 

the required agreement due to the 

addition of a cleanroom, production line 

or other physical space, or a series of 

such additions.’’ 15 CFR 231.108. 

Defining material expansion in 

relation to ‘‘an existing facility’’ had the 

unintended effect of suggesting that the 

construction of new semiconductor 

facilities fell outside the scope of the 

Expansion Clawback. Such an 

interpretation would be inconsistent 

with the CHIPS Act and the general 

restrictions of the Expansion Clawback, 

which significantly limit the ability of 

covered entities to expand their 

semiconductor manufacturing capacity 

in foreign countries of concern. Indeed, 

CPO made clear in the proposed rule 

and in the preamble to the final rule that 

the restrictions of the Expansion 

Clawback were intended to apply to the 

construction of a new facility. In the 

preamble of the proposed rule, CPO 

noted that the term ‘‘material 

expansion’’ included ‘‘the construction 

of new facilities and the addition of new 

semiconductor manufacturing capacity 

and uses a quantitative measure of 5 

percent of existing capacity to provide 

clear and predictable scoping.’’ 88 FR 

17439, 17441 (emphasis added). 

Further, the definition in the proposed 

rule provides: ‘‘Material expansion 

means the addition of physical space or 

equipment that has the purpose or effect 

of increasing semiconductor 

manufacturing capacity of a facility by 

more than five percent or a series of 

such expansions which, in the aggregate 

during the applicable term of a required 

agreement, increase the semiconductor 

manufacturing capacity of a facility by 

more than five percent of the existing 

capacity when the required agreement 

was entered into.’’ Id. at 17447. This 

definition used the term ‘‘facility’’ 

generally, resulting in an interpretation 

that a facility may be either new or 

existing. 

Commenters also understood that the 

Expansion Clawback was intended to 

address the construction of new 

semiconductor facilities. CPO received 

27 comment submissions, and a 

significant portion of those comments 

related to material expansion. 

Numerous commenters noted that the 

intent of the CHIPS Act was to allow 

existing facilities in a foreign country of 

concern to continue to operate so that 

ongoing operations would not be 

undermined and so funding recipients 

and could realize the value of their prior 

investments. Commenters did not raise 

significant concerns with placing 

restrictions on the construction of new 

facilities, and in some instances 

suggested that the definition of material 

expansion be modified to clarify that it 

was triggered by new construction 

(‘‘material expansion means building 

new cleanroom space that does not exist 

on the date of the [award];’’ material 

expansion should apply to ‘‘building 

new clean room/physical space’’). There 

was a general understanding that the 

Expansion Clawback was intended to 

address new construction. 

In the final rule, CPO provided 

explanations that reflect the intent for 

the Expansion Clawback to address the 

construction of new facilities. In 

response to comments on the definition 

of Significant Renovations, CPO noted 

that ‘‘[w]ithout the concept of 

significant renovations, covered entities 

could evade the expansion prohibition 

simply by significantly expanding an 

existing facility rather than constructing 

a new facility.’’ 88 FR 65600, 65607. 

This response assumes that the 

construction of new facilities was 

addressed by the Expansion Clawback, 

and that the concept of significant 

renovations was needed to prevent 

circumvention of that prohibition. 

In this rule, the modified definition of 

‘‘material expansion’’ better reflects the 

intended scope of the Expansion 

Clawback. 

Classification 

Administrative Procedure Act (APA) 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2), the 

provisions of the APA requiring notice 

of proposed rulemaking and the 

opportunity for public participation are 

inapplicable to this rule, which places 

certain limitations on funding 

recipients, because it relates to ‘‘public 

property, loans, grants, benefits, or 

contracts.’’ 1Additionally, although it 

was not required to do so, the 

Department, through the March 23, 

2023, proposed rule, provided advance 

notice and opportunity for public 

comment on the definition of the term 

‘‘material expansion.’’ 

This final rule simply corrects an 

inadvertent omission in the definition of 

‘‘material expansion,’’ thereby 

accurately reflecting the Department’s 

explanation and discussion of public 

comments in the September 25, 2023, 

final rule. Additional advance notice 

and opportunity for comment would 

neither provide new information to the 

public nor inform any agency decisionmaking regarding the defined term. 

Finally, additional opportunity for 

public comment would be contrary to 

the public interest, under 5 U.S.C. 

553(b)(B), because this rule provides 

clarity to applicants and awardees. 

Executive Order 13132 

This rule does not contain policies 

with federalism implications as that 

term is defined in Executive Order 

13132. 

Executive Order 12866 

The Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) has determined that this final 

rule is significant for purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

Because a notice of proposed 

rulemaking and an opportunity for 

public comment are not required to be 

given for this rule by 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2), 

the analytical requirements of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, 

et seq., are not applicable. Accordingly, 

no regulatory flexibility analysis is 

required and none has been prepared. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This action does not contain a 

collection of information requirement 

for the purposes of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.). 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES
89574 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 248 / Thursday, December 28, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 231 

Business and industry, Computer 

technology, Exports, Foreign Trade, 

Government contracts, Grant Programs, 

Investments (US investments abroad), 

National defense, Research, Science & 

Technology, and Semiconductor chip 

products. 

For reasons set out in the preamble, 

15 CFR part 231 is amended as follows: 

PART 231—CLAWBACKS OF CHIPS 

FUNDING 

■ 1. The authority citation for 15 CFR 

part 231 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 4651, et seq. 

■ 2. Revise § 231.108 to read as follows: 

§ 231.108 Material expansion. 

Material expansion means: 

(1) with respect to an existing facility, 

the increase of the semiconductor 

manufacturing capacity of that facility 

by more than five percent of the 

capacity memorialized in the required 

agreement due to the addition of a 

cleanroom, production line or other 

physical space, or a series of such 

additions; or 

(2) any construction of a new facility 

for semiconductor manufacturing. 

Tamiko Ford, 

NIST Executive Secretariat. 

[FR Doc. 2023–28627 Filed 12–27–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of Foreign Assets Control 

31 CFR Part 587 

Publication of Russian Harmful 

Foreign Activities Sanctions 

Regulations Web General License 78 

AGENCY: Office of Foreign Assets 

Control, Treasury. 

ACTION: Publication of a web general 

license. 

SUMMARY: The Department of the 

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets 

Control (OFAC) is publishing one 

general license (GL) issued pursuant to 

the Russian Harmful Foreign Activities 

Sanctions Regulations: GL 78, which 

was previously made available on 

OFAC’s website. 

DATES: GL 78 was issued on December 

1, 2023. See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION for additional relevant 

dates. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

OFAC: Assistant Director for Licensing, 

202–622–2480; Assistant Director for 

Regulatory Affairs, 202–622–4855; or 

Assistant Director for Compliance, 202– 

622–2490. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Availability 

This document and additional 

information concerning OFAC are 

available on OFAC’s website: https://

ofac.treasury.gov. 

Background 

On December 1, 2023, OFAC issued 

GL 78 to authorize certain transactions 

otherwise prohibited by the Russian 

Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions 

Regulations, 31 CFR part 587. GL 78 was 

made available on OFAC’s website 

(https://ofac.treasury.gov) when it was 

issued. The text of this GL is provided 

below. 

OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL 

Russian Harmful Foreign Activities 

Sanctions Regulations 

31 CFR Part 587 

General License No. 78 

Authorizing Limited Safety and 

Environmental Transactions Involving 

Certain Persons or Vessels Blocked on 

December 1, 2023 

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of 

this general license, all transactions 

prohibited by Executive Order (E.O.) 14024 

that are ordinarily incident and necessary to 

one of the following activities involving the 

blocked persons or vessels described in 

paragraph (b) are authorized through 12:01 

a.m. eastern standard time, February 29, 

2024, provided that any payment to a 

blocked person must be made into a blocked 

account in accordance with the Russian 

Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions 

Regulations (RuHSR): 

(1) The safe docking and anchoring of any 

of the blocked vessels listed in paragraph (b) 

of this general license (‘‘blocked vessels’’) in 

port; 

(2) The preservation of the health or safety 

of the crew of any of the blocked vessels; or 

(3) Emergency repairs of any of the blocked 

vessels or environmental mitigation or 

protection activities relating to any of the 

blocked vessels. 

(b) The authorization in paragraph (a) of 

this general license applies to the following 

blocked persons and vessels listed on the 

Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially 

Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons 

List and any entity in which any of the 

following persons own, directly or indirectly, 

individually or in the aggregate, a 50 percent 

or greater interest: 

(1) Sterling Shipping Incorporated 

(registered owner of NS Champion; IMO 

9299719); 

(2) Streymoy Shipping Limited (registered 

owner of Viktor Bakaev, IMO 9610810); and 

(3) HS Atlantica Limited (registered owner 

of HS Atlantica, IMO 9322839). 

(c) This general license does not authorize: 

(1) The entry into any new commercial 

contracts involving the property or interests 

in property of any blocked persons, including 

the blocked entities and vessels described in 

paragraph (b) of this general license, except 

as authorized by paragraph (a); 

(2) The offloading of any cargo onboard 

any of the blocked vessels, including the 

offloading of crude oil or petroleum products 

of Russian Federation origin, except for the 

offloading of cargo that is ordinarily incident 

and necessary to address vessel emergencies 

authorized pursuant to paragraph (a) of this 

general license; 

(3) Any transactions related to the sale of 

crude oil or petroleum products of Russian 

Federation origin; 

(4) Any transactions prohibited by 

Directive 2 under E.O. 14024, Prohibitions 

Related to Correspondent or PayableThrough Accounts and Processing of 

Transactions Involving Certain Foreign 

Financial Institutions; 

(5) Any transactions prohibited by 

Directive 4 under E.O. 14024, Prohibitions 

Related to Transactions Involving the Central 

Bank of the Russian Federation, the National 

Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation, and 

the Ministry of Finance of the Russian 

Federation; or 

(6) Any transactions otherwise prohibited 

by the RuHSR, including transactions 

involving the property or interests in 

property of any person blocked pursuant to 

the RuHSR, other than transactions involving 

the blocked persons or vessels in paragraph 

(b) of this general license, unless separately 

authorized. 

Gregory T. Gatjanis, 

Associate Director, Office of Foreign Assets 

Control. 

Dated: December 1, 2023. 

Bradley T. Smith, 

Director, Office of Foreign Assets Control. 

[FR Doc. 2023–28670 Filed 12–27–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–AL–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

33 CFR Part 117 

[Docket No. USCG–2023–0183 

RIN 1625–AA09 

Drawbridge Operation Regulation; 

River Rouge, Detroit, MI 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is altering 

the operations of all movable bridges 

over the River Rouge, Detroit, MI to 

improve communications and establish 

winter hours. 

DATES: This rule is effective January 29, 

2024. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES