80962 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 193 / Friday, October 4, 2024 / Notices 

granted by MSHA applies, for a period 

of not less than 60 consecutive days and 

a copy shall be made available to all 

miners’ representatives. 

(k) The proposed radios will be 

available for inspection and testing 

during MSHA’s investigation. As other 

radios are acquired, if the petition is 

granted, such radios shall be made 

available for MSHA inspection. The 

radios shall be made available for 

MSHA testing during the investigation. 

(l) The Motorola radio is rated IP 66 

and IP 68. It is powered by a lithium 

cell. Two such radios have been 

purchased by Peabody and are available 

at Gateway North for examination and 

testing by MSHA. Peabody has not, 

itself, tested such radios because it is 

presumed that MSHA will intend to 

conduct tests at the mine and would be 

unlikely to accept Peabody’s results. 

(m) The miners at Gateway North 

Mine are not currently represented by a 

labor organization and this petition is 

posted at the mine. 

In support of the proposed alternative 

method, the petitioner has also 

submitted manufacturer product 

specification sheets for MSHA-approved 

permissible radios indicating they are 

no longer available and manufacturer 

product specification sheets for the 

proposed Motorola R–7 Portable TwoWay Radio. 

The petitioner asserts that the 

alternative method in the petition will 

at all times guarantee no less than the 

same measure of protection afforded to 

the miners by the standard. 

Song-ae Aromie Noe, 

Director, Office of Standards, Regulations, 

and Variances. 

[FR Doc. 2024–22931 Filed 10–3–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4520–43–P 

MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE 

CORPORATION 

[MCC FR 24–09] 

Notice of Entering Into a Compact With 

the Republic of Sierra Leone 

AGENCY: Millennium Challenge 

Corporation. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

provisions of the Millennium Challenge 

Act of 2003, as amended, the 

Millennium Challenge Corporation 

(MCC) is publishing a summary of the 

Millennium Challenge Compact 

(Compact) between the United States of 

America and the Republic of Sierra 

Leone. Representatives of the United 

States of America and the Republic of 

Sierra Leone executed the Compact on 

September 27, 2024. The complete text 

of the Compact has been posted at: 

https://www.mcc.gov/resources/doc/ 

compact-sierra-leone/. 

(Authority: 22 U.S.C. 7709 (b)(3)) 

Dated: September 30, 2024. 

Peter E. Jaffe, 

Vice President, General Counsel, and 

Corporate Secretary. 

Summary of Sierra Leone Compact 

Overview of MCC Sierra Leone 

Compact 

The Millennium Challenge 

Corporation (MCC), on behalf of the 

United States of America, has signed a 

five-year Compact with the Republic of 

Sierra Leone aimed at reducing poverty 

through economic growth. MCC funding 

of $480,669,000, together with a 

voluntary contribution of $14,200,000 

from the Government of Sierra Leone, 

will support economic growth in Sierra 

Leone through investments in the 

energy sector to address the constraints 

of insufficient availability of affordable 

and reliable electricity. The Compact 

will address these constraints through 

three projects: (1) the Transmission 

Backbone Project; (2) the Distribution 

and Access Project; and (3) the Power 

Sector Reform Project. 

Background and Context 

Sierra Leone’s economy suffers from a 

power sector that cannot serve its 

existing customer base or keep up with 

future business and household demand. 

This is due to limited and high-cost 

supply, low capacity and poor 

reliability of the transmission and 

distribution networks, and the 

ineffectiveness of sector policies and 

institutions. These bottlenecks 

negatively impact current customers, 

most of whom are in the capital city, 

and prevent Sierra Leone from 

expanding electricity service to the 70% 

of the population without electricity. As 

the economy grows and the grid 

expands, load forecasts suggest demand 

will more than double by the end of the 

compact term. 

Meeting this demand will require 

large investments in foundational 

infrastructure and institutional 

capabilities. The need to simultaneously 

address multiple sector constraints, 

combined with the long lead times 

required to plan, finance, and construct 

large scale infrastructure, poses a major 

coordination challenge for public and 

private investment in the sector. This 

coordination challenge is magnified by 

the lack of capacity at sector institutions 

to reassess, update, and execute against 

sector planning documents—as well as 

sector wide issues with transparency 

and governance. As a result, much 

needed public and private investment is 

all too often delayed, withdrawn, or 

exceedingly costly due to the risks and 

uncertainties involved. 

Given this sector context, the 

Compact strengthens the foundations of 

a reliable electricity sector through 

investments in transmission and 

distribution infrastructure, development 

of a strong enabling environment for 

independent power producers, and 

substantial capacity building support for 

the utilities and key sector institutions. 

Project Summaries 

The compact program consists of 

three projects: 

(1) The Transmission Backbone 

Project ($226,702,000) will expand 

Sierra Leone’s transmission network to 

increase network coverage, increase the 

throughput capacity needed to evacuate 

increasing electricity supply, and 

increase reliability of service. With less 

than 500 miles of transmission lines 

currently in Sierra Leone, the country’s 

extremely limited grid means most 

citizens do not have access to power. 

This project connects a high-voltage 

West African Power Pool transmission 

line to the capital city. The project also 

builds and operationalizes a main and 

back up transmission dispatch center 

critical for network reliability and 

integration into the regional power 

marketplace. Technical assistance 

supports critical capacity development 

for the transmission utility in 

transmission operations and 

maintenance. 

(2) The Distribution and Access 

Project ($123,634,000) is designed to 

increase reliability of the grid, improve 

the financial viability of the distribution 

utility, and make strategic investments 

in connecting new customers to the grid 

and regularizing existing connections. 

This project refurbishes critical 

components of the distribution network 

in the capital city where 80% of power 

is consumed in Sierra Leone and 

reduces both technical and commercial 

losses through the provision of new 

meters and organizational change. 

Access investments include distribution 

line and substation expansion as well as 

direct connections to select end users, 

driven by socioeconomic data and 

planned transmission expansion. In 

addition, this project will involve the 

construction and operationalization of a 

main and a back-up distribution 

dispatch center to improve the 

Electricity Distribution and Supply 

Authority’s operations and maintenance 

performance. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 193 / Friday, October 4, 2024 / Notices 80963 

(3) The Power Sector Reform Project 

($50,490,000) is designed to improve 

sector financial sustainability, reduce 

the cost of service, and improve 

regulation by investing in priority sector 

reforms and capacity-building for key 

sector actors, including the utilities, 

regulator, and Ministry of Energy. The 

project includes embedded support to 

key sector institutions such as the 

regulator, the Electricity and Water 

Regulatory Commission, and the 

Ministry of Energy (especially its 

planning functions) to help them 

develop the capabilities needed to 

shepherd sector development over the 

coming decade. This support is 

intended to help Sierra Leone 

implement its Power Sector Reform 

Roadmap and Action Plan, including 

achieving improvements on key sector 

performance indicators targeting 

improved sector financial sustainability, 

reduced cost of service while fostering 

cost recovery for supplied electricity, 

and improved regulation. Additionally, 

this project seeks to spur private sector 

financed generation through project 

preparation support, transaction 

advisory services, and de-risking 

mechanisms. 

Compact Budget 

The table below presents the overall 

compact budget of approximately $495 

million, which includes MCC funding 

under the Compact of up to 

$480,669,000 and a voluntary 

Government of Sierra Leone 

contribution of $14,200,000. 

Component Amount 

1. Transmission Backbone Project ...................................................................................................................................................... $226,702,000 

Activity 1.1: Transmission Dispatch Center ................................................................................................................................. 23,447,000 

Activity 1.2: Southern Transmission Corridor ............................................................................................................................... 170,900,000 

Activity 1.3: Bumbuna-Freetown Line Upgrade ........................................................................................................................... 24,390,000 

Activity 1.4: EGTC Capacity Building ........................................................................................................................................... 7,965,000 

2. Distribution and Access Project ...................................................................................................................................................... 123,634,000 

Activity 2.1: Distribution Dispatch Center ..................................................................................................................................... 30,554,000 

Activity 2.2: Distribution Refurbishment ....................................................................................................................................... 44,335,000 

Activity 2.3: Access ...................................................................................................................................................................... 26,850,000 

Activity 2.4: EDSA Capacity Building ........................................................................................................................................... 21,895,000 

3. Power Sector Reform Project .......................................................................................................................................................... 50,490,000 

Activity 3.1: MIAA ......................................................................................................................................................................... 25,250,000 

Activity 3.2: Financial Sustainability ............................................................................................................................................. 8,300,000 

Activity 3.3: Policy & Planning ...................................................................................................................................................... 10,420,000 

Activity 3.4: Cross-Cutting Capacity Activity ................................................................................................................................ 6,520,000 

4. Monitoring and Evaluation ............................................................................................................................................................... 7,800,000 

5. Program Administration and Oversight ........................................................................................................................................... 72,043,000 

Total MCC Compact Funding ....................................................................................................................................................... 480,669,000 

Total MCC Compact Funding .............................................................................................................................................................. 480,669,000 

Government of Sierra Leone Contribution .......................................................................................................................................... 14,200,000 

Total Program Funding ................................................................................................................................................................. 494,869,000 

[FR Doc. 2024–22902 Filed 10–3–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9211–03–P 

NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE 

ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES 

National Endowment for the Arts 

National Council on the Arts 214th 

Meeting 

AGENCY: National Endowment for the 

Arts, National Foundation on the Arts 

and Humanities. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 10(a)(2) of 

the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as 

amended, notice is hereby given that a 

meeting of the National Council on the 

Arts will be held open to the public by 

videoconference. Additional sessions 

will be closed to the public for reasons 

stated below. 

DATES: See the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section for meeting time 

and date. The meeting is located in 

eastern time and the ending time is 

approximate. 

ADDRESSES: The National Endowment 

for the Arts, Constitution Center, 400 

Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC 

20560. This meeting will be held by 

videoconference. Public portions of the 

meeting will be webcast. Please see 

arts.gov for the most up-to-date 

information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Liz 

Auclair, Office of Public Affairs, 

National Endowment for the Arts, 

Washington, DC 20506, at 202/682– 

5744. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

meeting will take place on October 24 

and 25, 2024.The meeting on October 

25, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., 

will be open to the public by 

videoconference. If, in the course of the 

open session discussion, it becomes 

necessary for the Council to discuss 

non-public commercial or financial 

information of intrinsic value, the 

Council will go into closed session 

pursuant to subsection (c)(4) of the 

Government in the Sunshine Act, 5 

U.S.C. 552b, and in accordance with the 

March 11, 2022 determination of the 

Chair. Additionally, discussion 

concerning purely personal information 

about individuals, such as personal 

biographical and salary data or medical 

information, may be conducted by the 

Council in closed session in accordance 

with subsection (c) (6) of 5 U.S.C. 552b. 

The meeting session that occurs on 

October 24, 2024, will be closed to the 

public for the aforementioned reasons. 

Detailed Meeting Information: 

Closed Session: October 24, 2024; 

11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Location: 

Videoconference. 

Open Session: October 25, 2024; 11:00 

a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Location: 

Videoconference. 

There will be opening remarks and 

voting on recommendations for grant 

funding and rejection, updates from 

NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, and 

presentations about the state of the 

nation’s Local Arts Agency field. This 

session will be held open to the public 

by videoconference. To view the 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES