Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 22 / Thursday, February 1, 2024 / Notices 6509 

3. Support the establishment of a 

robust, sustainable, domestic capacity 

for advanced packaging materials and 

substrate R&D, prototyping, 

commercialization, and manufacturing; 

and 

4. Promote a skilled and diverse 

pipeline of workers for a sustainable 

domestic advanced packaging industry. 

Funded activities are expected to 

include, but not necessarily be limited 

to, basic and applied research, substrate 

and demonstration device development 

and production, commercial viability 

and domestic manufacturing 

preparation, integrated workforce 

education and training, and pilot-level 

substrate production. 

To ensure that funded R&D meets the 

above objectives, CHIPS R&D expects to 

define aggressive technical targets (e.g., 

substrate wiring, via pitches, and 

number of levels on both sides of the 

substrate) for applicants to achieve. 

CHIPS R&D will also encourage 

proposals for advanced substrates that 

incorporate one or more passive or 

active components embedded in the 

substrate for enhanced functionality. 

Whereas traditional boards, silicon or 

glass interposers and small area 

substrates are not expected to be in 

scope for this NOFO, composite 

substrates using fan-out wafer-level 

packaging, including flexible and 

biocompatible substrates, are expected 

to be entertained. CHIPS R&D will 

further expect that substrates be 

compatible with direct attach at fine 

pitch of advanced node CMOS, legacy 

nodes, and non-silicon dielets. Substrate 

proposals will be strongly encouraged to 

incorporate embedded substrate features 

and active and passive devices and 

through substrate vias. CHIPS R&D will 

further expect applicants to define nontechnical targets related to advanced 

packaging education and workforce 

development and to demonstrating both 

the commercial viability and the 

potential for the domestic production of 

innovations funded under the NOFO. 

Eligibility: CHIPS R&D expects eligible 

applicants and subrecipients will 

include for-profit organizations; nonprofit organizations; accredited 

institutions of higher education 

including community and technical 

colleges; state, local, territorial, and 

Indian tribal governments. 

Applicants must be incorporated in 

the United States (including U.S. 

territories). Eligible applicants may only 

submit one concept paper and one full 

application under this NOFO. Full 

applications will only be accepted from 

applicants invited after the concept 

paper stage. Entities may not be 

included as subrecipients on more than 

two applications. 

Entities that operate Federally Funded 

Research and Development Centers 

(FFRDCs) may be eligible to receive this 

funding as sub-subrecipients to an 

eligible applicant to the extent allowed 

by law, based on the unique and 

specific needs of the project. 

Foreign organizations may participate 

as members of a project team, as subsubrecipients or contractors, subject to 

CHIPS R&D approval based on a written 

justification that the foreign partner’s 

involvement is essential to advancing 

program objectives, among other 

considerations. 

R&D Collaboration: CHIPS R&D 

expects that applicants assembling 

teams comprising one or more 

subrecipients may be best suited to 

collectively provide the full range of 

expertise and capabilities needed to 

achieve the program objectives and to 

successfully strengthen U.S. materials 

and substrates innovation. Equally 

important, these types of partnerships 

can promote inventiveness, clarify 

future demand, improve transparency 

and security, solidify business and 

domestic manufacturing plans 

(including plans for technology 

adoption by defense and commercial 

partners), help educate the future 

workforce, mitigate the risk of future 

chip shortages or oversupply, and 

support a more productive, efficient, 

and self-sustaining semiconductor 

ecosystem. 

CHIPS R&D therefore encourages 

applications that demonstrate 

collaboration across the innovation, 

manufacturing, supply chain, and 

customer landscape. 

Application Process and Award 

Information: The envisioned application 

process consists of a mandatory concept 

paper and a required full application. 

CHIPS R&D anticipates a due date for 

concept papers of approximately 35 

days after the date of NOFO publication. 

Full applications will only be accepted 

from applicants invited to apply after 

the concept paper stage. Submissions 

from entities other than those 

specifically invited to submit a full 

application will not be reviewed or 

considered in any way. 

To provide the public with an 

opportunity to learn more about the 

NOFO before the concept paper 

deadline, CHIPS R&D expects to host a 

Proposers Day after NOFO release to 

familiarize potential applicants with the 

NOFO objectives and program structure. 

CHIPS R&D will announce details 

regarding the date and location of the 

Proposers Day via the CHIPS R&D 

website at https://www.nist.gov/chips/ 

chips-RD-funding-opportunities. This 

event will be for informational purposes 

only. Attendance is not a prerequisite 

for submitting a concept paper or 

application. 

Competition Information: Once the 

open competition has been announced, 

further information may be found at 

https://www.nist.gov/chips/chips-RDfunding-opportunities. 

System for Award Management: In 

anticipation of the NOFO, CHIPS R&D 

encourages potential applicants to 

complete the following steps, which are 

required to submit applications for 

Federal assistance: 

• Register with the System for Award 

Management (SAM) at https://

www.sam.gov. CHIPS R&D strongly 

encourages applicants to register for 

SAM.gov as early as possible. While this 

process ordinarily takes between three 

days and two weeks, in some 

circumstances it can take six or more 

months to complete due to information 

verification requirements. Recipients 

will be required to maintain an active 

registration in SAM and re-validate 

registration annually. 

• Register for a Grants.gov (https://

www.grants.gov/) account. It is 

advisable also to go to ‘‘manage 

subscriptions’’ on Grants.gov and sign 

up to receive automatic updates when 

amendments to a funding opportunity 

are posted. 

Disclaimer. This NOI does not 

constitute a solicitation. No applications 

may be submitted in response to this 

NOI. Any inconsistency between 

information within this NOI and the 

eventual NOFO announcing the CHIPS 

NAPMP Materials and Substrates award 

competition shall be resolved in favor of 

the NOFO. 

Authority. DOC CHIPS activities were 

authorized by Title XCIX—Creating 

Helpful Incentives to Produce 

Semiconductors for America of the 

William M. (Mac) Thornberry National 

Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

Year 2021 (Pub. L. 116–283, often 

referred to as the CHIPS Act). 

Tamiko Ford, 

NIST Executive Secretariat. 

[FR Doc. 2024–02026 Filed 1–31–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING 

COMMISSION 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities Under OMB Review 

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
6510 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 22 / Thursday, February 1, 2024 / Notices 

1 17 CFR 145.9. 

2 44 U.S.C. 3512, 5 CFR 1320.5(b)(2)(i) and 

1320.8(b)(3)(vi). See also 46 FR 63035 (Dec. 30, 

1981). 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(‘‘PRA’’), this notice announces that the 

Information Collection Request (‘‘ICR’’) 

abstracted below has been forwarded to 

the Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs (‘‘OIRA’’), of the Office of 

Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’), for 

review and comment. The ICR describes 

the nature of the information collection 

and its expected costs and burden. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before March 4, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be 

submitted within 30 days of this 

notice’s publication to OIRA, at https:// 

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 

Please find this particular information 

collection by selecting ‘‘Currently under 

30-day Review—Open for Public 

Comments’’ or by using the website’s 

search function. Comments can be 

entered electronically by clicking on the 

‘‘comment’’ button next to the 

information collection on the ‘‘OIRA 

Information Collections Under Review’’ 

page, or the ‘‘View ICR—Agency 

Submission’’ page. A copy of the 

supporting statement for the collection 

of information discussed herein may be 

obtained by visiting https://

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 

In addition to the submission of 

comments to https://Reginfo.gov as 

indicated above, a copy of all comments 

submitted to OIRA may also be 

submitted to the Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission (the 

‘‘Commission’’ or ‘‘CFTC’’) by clicking 

on the ‘‘Submit Comment’’ box next to 

the descriptive entry for OMB Control 

No. 3038–0082, at https://

comments.cftc.gov/FederalRegister/ 

PublicInfo.aspx. 

Or by either of the following methods: 

• Mail: Secretary of the Commission, 

Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 

1155 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 

20581. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as 

Mail above. 

Please submit your comments using 

only one method. 

All comments must be submitted in 

English, or if not, accompanied by an 

English translation. Comments 

submitted to the Commission should 

include only information that you wish 

to make available publicly. If you wish 

the Commission to consider information 

that you believe is exempt from 

disclosure under the Freedom of 

Information Act, a petition for 

confidential treatment of the exempt 

information may be submitted according 

to the procedures established in § 145.9 

of the Commission’s regulations.1 The 

Commission reserves the right, but shall 

have no obligation, to review, prescreen, filter, redact, refuse or remove 

any or all of your submission from 

https://www.cftc.gov that it may deem to 

be inappropriate for publication, such as 

obscene language. All submissions that 

have been redacted or removed that 

contain comments on the merits of the 

ICR will be retained in the public 

comment file and will be considered as 

required under the Administrative 

Procedure Act and other applicable 

laws, and may be accessible under the 

Freedom of Information Act. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christina McGlosson, Acting Director, 

Whistleblower Office, Commodity 

Futures Trading Commission, (202) 

418–5051; email: cmcglosson@cftc.gov, 

and refer to OMB Control No. 3038– 

0082. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: The Whistleblower Provision of 

section 23 of the Commodity Exchange 

Act (OMB Control No. 3038–0082). This 

is a request for extension of a currently 

approved information collection. 

Abstract: 17 CFR 165.3(a) requires the 

submission of information to the 

Commission on a Form TCR. The Form 

TCR, ‘‘Tip, Complaint, or Referral,’’ and 

the instructions thereto, are designed to 

capture basic identifying information 

about a complainant and elicit sufficient 

information to determine whether the 

conduct alleged suggests a violation of 

the Commodity Exchange Act. 17 CFR 

165.7(b)(1) requires the submission of 

information to the Commission on a 

Form WB–APP. The Form WB–APP, 

‘‘Application for Award for Original 

Information Provided Pursuant to 

Section 23 of the Commodity Exchange 

Act,’’ and the instructions thereto, are 

designed to elicit sufficient information 

to determine whether and to what 

extent a claimant qualifies for a 

whistleblower award. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a person is not required to 

respond to, a collection of information 

unless it displays a currently valid OMB 

control number.2 On November 21, 

2023, the Commission published in the 

Federal Register notice of the proposed 

extension of this information collection 

and provided 60 days for public 

comment on the proposed extension, 88 

FR 81064 (‘‘60-Day Notice’’). The 

Commission received one comment 

requesting individual staff feedback on 

each submission received, in addition to 

the automated reply currently sent by 

the CFTC as notice of receipt. We 

appreciate the comment but would like 

to clarify that determinations on the 

submitted applications (including their 

supplements) are provided in due 

course according to the procedures 

outlined in 17 CFR part 165. Given the 

non-public nature of investigations, it 

would not be feasible for the CFTC to 

provide individual feedback on each 

submission received. 

Burden Statement: The respondent 

burden for this collection is estimated to 

be as follows: 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

1800 per year. 

Estimated Average Burden Hours per 

Respondent: 0.5 hour. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 900 hours. 

Frequency of Collection: Once. 

There are no capital costs or operating 

and maintenance costs associated with 

this collection. 

(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) 

Dated: January 29, 2024. 

Robert Sidman, 

Deputy Secretary of the Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2024–01973 Filed 1–31–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6351–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Project No. 5679–041] 

Energy Stream, LLC; Notice of Intent 

To Prepare an Environmental 

Assessment 

On July 15, 2022, Energy Stream, LLC 

filed an application for a subsequent 

license for the 512-kilowatt M.S.C. 

Hydroelectric Project (M.S.C. Project or 

project; FERC No. 5679). The M.S.C. 

Project is located on the Quinebaug 

River, in Windham County, 

Connecticut. 

In accordance with the Commission’s 

regulations, on November 14, 2023, 

Commission staff issued a notice that 

the project was ready for environmental 

analysis (REA notice). Based on the 

information in the record, including 

comments filed on the REA notice, staff 

does not anticipate that licensing the 

project would constitute a major federal 

action significantly affecting the quality 

of the human environment. Therefore, 

staff intends to prepare an 

Environmental Assessment (EA) on the 

application to license the M.S.C. Project. 

The EA will be issued and circulated 

for review by all interested parties. All 


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