92714 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 226 / Friday, November 22, 2024 / Notices 

1https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/ 

uploads/2018/06/a11.pdf. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Office of the Secretary 

[Docket No. DOI–2024–0009; 245D0102DM, 

DS600000, DLSN00000.000000.DX6CS25] 

Request for Information on Proposed 

Conflict of Interest Disclosure Policy 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of request for public 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Department of the 

Interior (DOI) is developing a conflict of 

interest (COI) disclosure policy and 

corresponding term and condition for 

financial assistance awards (i.e., grants 

and cooperative agreements) to address 

undue foreign influence in DOIsupported research and development 

(R&D). DOI is soliciting public comment 

on its proposed policy and 

accompanying award term and 

condition to ensure government 

resources are managed with integrity to 

the greatest public benefit. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

January 21, 2025. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted through the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at http://

www.regulations.gov. Type in DOI– 

2024–0009 in the search bar. Follow the 

instructions on the website for 

submitting comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cara 

Whitehead, Director, Office of Grants 

Management, (202) 603–5735, Cara_

Whitehead@ios.doi.gov. Mailing 

address: Department of the Interior, 

1849 C Street NW, Mail Stop 3023 MIB, 

Washington, DC 20240. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

December 17, 2020, the U.S. 

Government Accountability Office 

(GAO) published GAO–21–130, Federal 

Research: Agencies Need to Enhance 

Policies to Address Foreign Influence in 

Research. The report alerted agencies of 

the need to develop conflict of interest 

policies to assess risks and protect U.S. 

investments in scientific research from 

undue foreign influences. 

DOI plans to develop a conflict-ofinterest policy to define core terms, 

require financial assistance award 

recipients to maintain written and 

enforceable policies, and mandate 

covered individuals to identify, 

disclose, manage, reduce, or eliminate 

COI. The policy will address required 

actions by DOI in instances where the 

covered individual intentionally fails to 

disclose COI information and will 

include a term and condition which will 

be incorporated into the DOI financial 

assistance award terms and conditions. 

The DOI Office of Grants Management 

intends to implement the policy for all 

R&D competitive and non-competitive 

grant and cooperative agreements after 

obtaining and considering public 

comment. 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment, including your 

personal identifying information, may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

If you submit a comment at https://

www.regulations.gov, your entire 

comment, including any personal 

identifying information, will be posted 

on the website. If you submit a 

hardcopy comment that includes 

personal identifying information, such 

as your address, phone number, or 

email address, you may request at the 

top of your document that we withhold 

this information from public review. 

However, we cannot guarantee that we 

will be able to do so. 

Definitions 

Conflict of interest is a situation in 

which an individual, or the individual’s 

spouse or dependent children, has a 

significant financial interest or financial 

relationship that could directly and 

significantly affect the design, conduct, 

reporting, or funding of research or 

other award-related activities. 

Conflict of commitment is a situation 

in which an individual accepts or incurs 

conflicting obligations between or 

among multiple employers or other 

entities. Conflict of commitment 

includes conflicting commitments of 

time and effort, including obligations to 

dedicate time in excess of one 

organization’s funding, policies, or 

commitments in favor of another 

organization’s priorities. Conflict of 

commitment also includes obligations to 

improperly share information with, or to 

withhold information from, an employer 

or DOI, as well as other conflicting 

obligations that threaten research 

security and integrity. Such conflicts are 

also described as an organizational 

conflict of interest. 

Covered individual or senior/key 

person is an individual who (a) 

contributes in a substantive, meaningful 

way to the scientific development or 

execution of a research and 

development project proposed to be 

carried out with a research and 

development award from a Federal 

research agency or (b) is designated as 

a covered individual by the Federal 

research agency concerned. As defined 

by the National Security Presidential 

Memorandum—33 (NSPM–33) 

Implementation Guidance, this means 

principal investigators (Pis) and other 

senior/key persons seeking or receiving 

Federal research and development 

funding (i.e., extramural funding) and 

researchers at Federal agency 

laboratories and facilities (i.e., 

intramural researchers, whether or not 

federally employed), including 

Government-owned, contractor-operated 

laboratories and facilities. A covered 

individual may also include a current or 

former DOI employee. 

Financial Interest can be anything of 

monetary value, whether or not the 

value is easily measurable. 

Intramural Researcher is an agency 

employee who conducts research 

supported by the agency in which they 

are employed. 

Investigator is a principal investigator 

(PI) and any other person, regardless of 

title or position, who is responsible for 

the purpose, design, funding, conduct or 

reporting of a project funded or 

proposed to be funded by DOI. 

Principal Investigator (PI) means a 

principal investigator of a project 

funded under a DOI financial assistance 

award; PI is included in the definitions 

of senior/key personnel and 

Investigator. 

Research and development (R&D) 

includes basic research, applied 

research, and experimental 

development. Basic research is 

experimental or theoretical work 

undertaken primarily to acquire new 

knowledge of the underlying 

foundations of phenomena and 

observable facts. Applied research is 

original investigation undertaken in 

order to acquire new knowledge and 

directed primarily towards a specific 

practical aim or objective. Experimental 

development is creative and systematic 

work, drawing on knowledge gained 

from research and practical experience, 

which is directed at producing new 

products or processes or improving 

existing products or processes. Like 

research, experimental development 

will result in gaining additional 

knowledge. Experimental development 

includes the production of materials, 

devices, and systems or methods, 

including the design, construction, and 

testing of experimental prototypes. 

Experimental development also 

includes technology demonstrations in 

cases where a system or component is 

being demonstrated at scale for the first 

time, and it is realistic to expect 

additional refinements to the design 

(feedback R&D) following the 

demonstration.1


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 226 / Friday, November 22, 2024 / Notices 92715 

Significant financial interest is 

anything of monetary value, including, 

but not limited to, salary or other 

payments for services (e.g., consulting 

fees or honoraria); an existing loan; 

equity interest (e.g., stocks, stock 

options or other ownership interests); 

and intellectual property rights (e.g., 

patents, copyrights, and royalties from 

such rights), but does not include the 

following: 

1. Salaries, royalties or other 

remuneration from the applicant 

organization; 

2. Any ownership interests in the 

applicant organization if the 

organization is a commercial or forprofit entity; 

3. Income from investment portfolio 

such as mutual funds and retirement 

account if the investigator does have 

direct control of the investment 

decisions in the portfolio; 

4. Income from seminars, lectures, or 

teaching engagements sponsored by a 

public or non-profit entity; 

5. Income from service on advisory 

committees or review panels for a 

public or nonprofit entity; 

6. An equity interest that, when 

aggregated for the covered individual 

and the covered individual’s spouse and 

dependent children, meets both of the 

following tests: does not exceed $10,000 

in value as determined through 

reference to public prices or other 

reasonable measures of fair market 

value, and does not represent more than 

a 5 percent ownership interest in any 

single entity; 

7. An existing or offered loan or other 

financing to the covered individual or 

covered individual or covered 

individual’s spouse and dependent 

children not exceeding $10,000 in the 

aggregate; or 

8. Salaries, royalties or other 

payments that, when aggregated for the 

covered individual and the covered 

individual’s spouse and dependent 

children, are not expected to exceed 

$10,000 during the prior 12-month 

period. 

Responsibilities of Non-Federal Entities 

Regarding Conflict of Interest 

Each non-Federal Entity shall: 

1. Maintain a current, written, 

enforced policy addressing COI which 

aligns with the DOI COI policy. 

2. Ensure that each subrecipient 

develops and implements a policy 

which corresponds with the DOI COI 

policy if the non-Federal entity 

implements the DOI award through one 

or more subrecipients. 

3. Designate a non-Federal entity 

official to solicit and review disclosures 

of significant financial interests from 

each covered individual who is 

planning to participate in, or is 

participating in, the project funded 

under a DOI award, including 

disclosures of subrecipient 

investigators. 

4. Disclose to DOI any potential or 

actual conflict of interest and submit 

common disclosure forms for the 

Biographical Sketch Common Form and 

the Current and Pending (Other) 

Support Common Form for PIs and 

other senior/key personnel, program 

officers, and intramural researchers with 

the application for competitive and noncompetitive DOI grant and cooperative 

agreement awards, per NSPM-disclosure 

requirements indicated in the NSPM–33 

Implementation Guidance. 

5. Require each investigator who is 

planning to participate in the DOI award 

to disclose to the non-Federal entity’s 

designated official the investigator’s 

significant financial interests (and those 

of the investigator’s spouse and 

dependent children) no later than the 

time of application for the DOI award. 

Disclosures must be updated during the 

period of the award, either annually or 

upon learning of new reportable 

significant financial interests. 

6. Require investigators engaged in 

subaward activities to comply with the 

COI policies of the pass-through entity. 

Management of Conflict of Interest 

Prior to the non-Federal entity’s 

expenditure of any funds under a DOI 

award, the designated official of a nonFederal entity shall review all 

investigator disclosures of significant 

financial interests, identify whether any 

of the disclosures relate to the project 

funded under the DOI award, and 

determine whether an actual or 

potential COI exists. In instances where 

a COI may exist, the non-Federal entity 

must develop and implement a 

management plan which manages, 

reduces, or eliminates the COI. 

Conditions or restrictions of which one 

or more may be imposed to eliminate an 

actual or potential COI include but are 

not limited to: 

1. Public disclosure of any COI (e.g., 

when presenting or publishing the 

project); 

2. For projects involving human 

subjects, disclosure of any COI directly 

to participants; 

3. Appointment of an independent 

monitor or oversight committee capable 

of taking measures to protect the 

purpose, design, conduct, and reporting 

of the project against bias resulting from 

any COI; 

4. Modification of the project plan; 

5. Change of personnel or personnel 

responsibilities, or disqualification of 

personnel from participation in all or a 

portion of the project; 

6. Reduction or elimination of the 

financial interest (e.g., sale of an equity 

interest) creating the COI; or 

7. Severance of relationship(s) that 

create the COI. 

DOI will review the Biographical 

Sketch Common Form and the Current 

and Pending (Other) Support Common 

submitted by the non-Federal entity to 

assess qualifications and any conflict of 

interest or commitment which may 

impact the proposed project activities. 

Reporting of Financial Conflict of 

Interest 

Prior to the non-Federal entity’s 

expenditure of any funds under a DOIfunded project, the non-Federal entity 

must inform the DOI financial 

assistance officer identified in the 

award(s), in writing, of any COI which 

cannot be satisfactorily managed, 

mitigated, or eliminated in accordance 

with the non-Federal entity’s policy. 

Any conflict of interest identified by 

the non-Federal entity during the course 

of an ongoing project funded under a 

DOI award must be reported to DOI by 

the non-Federal entity within 60 days of 

the identified COI that cannot be 

managed, mitigated, or eliminated. 

Notifications must include sufficient 

information to enable DOI to understand 

the nature and extent of the COI and 

assess the appropriateness of the nonFederal entity’s management plan. The 

notification shall include, but is not 

limited to, the following information: (a) 

DOI award number; (b) Name of PI or 

contact PI; (c) Name of the investigator 

with the COI; (d) Name of the entity in 

which the investigator’s interest has 

created a COI; (e) Nature of any 

applicable financial interest (e.g., 

equity, loan, consulting fee, travel 

reimbursement, honorarium) and/or 

applicable external relationships or 

activities; (f) Value of any applicable 

financial interest or a statement that the 

interest is one whose value cannot be 

readily determined through reference to 

public prices or other reasonable 

measures of fair market value; and (g) A 

description of how the financial interest 

relates to the project funded under a 

DOI award and the basis for the nonFederal entity’s determination that there 

is a conflict with such project. 

Remedies 

Upon notification to DOI of a COI 

which cannot be managed, mitigated, or 

eliminated by the non-Federal entity or 

upon DOI independently learning of 

this, the DOI financial assistance officer 

must report the COI to the DOI Office of 

the Solicitor, Branch of Acquisitions 


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92716 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 226 / Friday, November 22, 2024 / Notices 

and Intellectual Property, to review and 

take appropriate action, as necessary. 

DOI will consider and take 

appropriate actions, as necessary, such 

as requiring and enforcing a corrective 

action plan and imposing specific award 

conditions under 2 CFR 200.208 as 

necessary. As appropriate, DOI will also 

utilize available remedies for noncompliance and terminations provisions 

pursuant to 2 CFR 200.339 through 

200.343, as appropriate under the 

circumstances. Available remedies 

include but are not limited to: (a) 

temporarily withholding payment; (b) 

disallowing all or part of the cost of an 

award activity; (c) wholly or partly 

suspending or terminating the award; 

(d) initiating referrals for consideration 

of suspension or debarment 

proceedings, and (e) withholding further 

Federal awards for the project or 

program. 

Conflict of Interest Award Term and 

Conditions 

DOI’s COI financial assistance award 

term and condition will be revised as 

follows: 

The DOI COI policy for financial 

assistance can be found at the Office of 

Grants Management website. This 

policy is applicable to all non-Federal 

entities applying for, or that receive, 

DOI funding by means of a financial 

assistance award (e.g., a grant or 

cooperative agreement) and, through the 

implementation of this policy by the 

entity, to each investigator who is 

planning to participate in, or is 

participating in, the project funded 

wholly or in part under the DOI 

financial assistance award. 

The DOI COI policy establishes 

standards that provide a reasonable 

expectation that the design, conduct, 

and reporting of projects funded wholly 

or in part under DOI financial assistance 

awards will be free from bias resulting 

from financial conflict of interest or 

conflict of commitment. The recipient is 

subject to the requirements of the DOI 

COI policy and within each award for 

financial assistance, the recipient must 

certify that it is, compliant with all 

requirements in the DOI COI policy. The 

recipient must pass-through the 

requirements of the DOI COI policy to 

any subrecipient non-Federal entity. 

Authority 

The authority for this action is the 

Department’s Financial Assistance 

Regulations at 2 CFR part 1402. 

Cara Whitehead, 

Director, Office of Grants Management, 

Department of the Interior. 

[FR Doc. 2024–27421 Filed 11–21–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4334–63–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[BLM_AK_FRN_MO4500181119] 

Notice of Availability of the Record of 

Decision and Approved Resource 

Management Plan for the Central 

Yukon Resource Management Plan/ 

Environmental Impact Statement, 

Alaska 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) announces the 

availability of the Record of Decision 

(ROD) and Approved Resource 

Management Plan (RMP) for the Central 

Yukon planning area of Alaska, located 

in Central and Northern Alaska. The 

State Director, Alaska, signed the ROD 

on November 12, 2024, which 

constitutes the decision of the BLM and 

makes the Approved RMP effective 

immediately. 

DATES: The State Director, Alaska, 

signed the ROD/Approved RMP on 

November 12, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: The ROD/Approved RMP is 

available online at the BLM National 

Environmental Policy Act Register at 

https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/ 

project/35315/510. Printed copies of the 

ROD/Approved RMP will also be 

available for public inspection within 

weeks of publication of this notice at the 

following locations: 

BLM Fairbanks District Office, 222 

University Avenue, Fairbanks, AK 

99709, telephone: (907) 474–2200. 

BLM Alaska Public Information 

Center, James M. Fitzgerald Federal 

Building, 222 West 7th Avenue, 

Anchorage, AK 99513, telephone: (907) 

271–5960. 

Alaska Resources Library & 

Information Services, 3211 Providence 

Drive, Suite 111, Anchorage, AK 99508, 

telephone: (907) 272–7547. 

Printed copies can be provided upon 

request by contacting the BLM Alaska 

Public Information Center listed above. 

A copy of the Protest Resolution 

Report is available at: https://

www.blm.gov/programs/planning-andnepa/public-participation/protestresolution-reports. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Melinda Bolton, BLM Alaska State 

Office; telephone: (907) 271–3342, 

email: mbolton@blm.gov. Individuals in 

the United States who are deaf, 

deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a 

speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, 

TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 

telecommunications relay services for 

contacting Ms. Bolton. Individuals 

outside the United States should use the 

relay services offered within their 

country to make international calls to 

the point-of-contact in the United 

States. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Approved RMP replaces the Utility 

Corridor RMP (1991), the original 

Central Yukon RMP (1986), and 

portions of the Southwest Management 

Framework Plan (1981), and provides 

RMP-level decisions for unplanned 

lands west of Fairbanks. The Approved 

RMP provides a consolidated direction 

under one RMP to address land and 

resource use and development on BLMmanaged public lands within the 

planning area. 

The Approved RMP and ROD set forth 

a comprehensive framework for future 

public land management actions in the 

Central Yukon region of Alaska. The 

planning area consists of about 55.7 

million acres of land, including 

approximately 13.3 million acres of 

public lands administered by the BLM 

Central Yukon Field Office. 

The Approved RMP will guide 

management of these public lands for 

the next 15 to 20 years for the benefit 

of current and future generations as part 

of the BLM’s multiple-use mission. This 

planning effort is updating management 

decisions for public land uses and 

resources, including subsistence 

resources, mineral exploration and 

development, and recreation. 

The Central Yukon Proposed RMP/ 

Final EIS evaluated six alternatives for 

managing the planning area. 

Alternatives B, C1, C2 (preferred 

alternative from the Draft RMP/EIS), and 

D were developed using input from the 

public, Tribes, stakeholders, and 

cooperating agencies. Alternative E is 

the BLM’s Approved RMP. This 

alternative was developed after 

considering public comments on the 

Draft RMP/EIS and provided in the 

Alaska National Interest Lands 

Conservation Act section 810 hearings, 

internal BLM discussions, governmentto-government consultation, and 

cooperating agency input. 


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