17072 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 58 / Friday, March 25, 2022 / Notices 

Number, and, to the extent permitted by 

applicable law, the social security 

number for an individual, may be made 

in the event NMFS takes action to 

exclude a person under the 

nonprocurement debarment and 

suspension system using the System for 

Award Management Exclusions, as 

described in 2 CFR part 180, subpart E. 

(3) In accordance with the provisions 

of the Debt Collection Improvement Act 

of 1996, a person may not obtain any 

Federal financial assistance in the form 

of a loan (other than a disaster loan) or 

loan guarantee if the person has an 

outstanding debt (other than a debt 

under the Internal Revenue Code of 

1986) with any Federal agency which is 

in a delinquent status, as determined 

under standards prescribed by the 

Secretary of the Treasury. 

(4) A false statement on an 

application is grounds for denial or 

termination of funds and grounds for 

possible punishment by a fine or 

imprisonment as provided in 18 U.S.C. 

1001 and an event of a security default. 

50 CFR 253.12(c). 

(5) Recipients of Federal loans are 

subject to the applicable lobbying 

provisions of 31 U.S.C. 1352, 

‘‘Limitation on use of appropriated 

funds to influence certain Federal 

contracting and financial transactions.’’ 

Applicants must submit a completed 

Form CD–511, ‘‘Certification Regarding 

Lobbying.’’ 

(6) An applicant classified for tax 

purposes as an individual, limited 

liability company, partnership, 

proprietorship, corporation, or legal 

entity is required to submit a taxpayer 

identification number (TIN) (either 

social security number, employer 

identification number as applicable, or 

registered foreign organization number) 

on Form W–9, ‘‘Payers Request for 

Taxpayer Identification Number.’’ 

Recipients who either fail to provide 

their TIN or provide an incorrect TIN 

may have funding suspended until the 

requirement is met. 

(7) An audit of a Community 

Development loan may be conducted at 

any time; expenditures of or exceeding 

$750,000 during a non-Federal entity’s 

fiscal year in Federal awards must have 

a single or program-specific audit for 

that year. 50 CFR 253.25(d); 2 CFR 

200.501(a). Auditee responsibilities are 

set forth in 2 CFR 200.508. Auditors, 

selected pursuant to 2 CFR 200.509, 

shall have access to any and all 

personnel, accounts, books, documents, 

papers and records, supporting 

documentation and other information of 

the obligor or any other party to a 

financing, that the auditor(s) deem 

pertinent, whether written, printed, 

recorded, produced or reproduced by 

any mechanical, magnetic or other 

process or medium. 

III. Regulatory Determinations 

Neither the Administrative Procedure 

Act nor any other law requires prior 

notice and opportunity for public 

comment about this document (which 

concerns loans). Consequently, the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act does not 

require a regulatory flexibility analysis. 

This action is not a ‘‘regulation’’ for 

purposes of Executive Order 12866 

(Regulatory Planning and Review) nor 

does it constitute a policy that has 

federalism implications under Executive 

Order 13132 (Federalism). 

This notification contains and refers 

to collection-of-information 

requirements subject to the Paperwork 

Reduction Act. The application 

requirements contained in the 

notification have been approved under 

OMB control number 0648–0012. 

Notwithstanding any other provision of 

law, no person is required to respond to, 

nor shall any person be subject to a 

penalty for failure to comply with, a 

collection of information subject to the 

requirements of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act unless that collection of 

information displays a currently valid 

OMB control number. 

This action is subject to the National 

Environmental Policy Act. Pursuant to 

the NOAA Administrative Order 216– 

6A and the NOAA Companion Manual 

(CM), ‘‘Policy and Procedures for 

Compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act and Related 

Authorities’’ (effective January 13, 

2017), NMFS has determined that this 

action is categorically excluded from the 

requirement to prepare an 

environmental impact statement or 

environmental assessment under 

Categorical Exclusion D.1, at CM 

Appendix E. The action does not 

involve any of the extraordinary 

circumstances provided in NOAA’s 

NEPA procedures, and therefore does 

not require further analysis to determine 

whether the action may have significant 

effects (CM at 4.A). 

Dated: March 22, 2022. 

Brian Pawlak, 

Director, NMFS Office of Management and 

Budget. 

[FR Doc. 2022–06336 Filed 3–24–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB839] 

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 

Atlantic Shark Management Measures; 

2022 Research Fishery 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: On November 19, 2021, 

NMFS published a notice inviting 

qualified commercial shark permit 

holders to submit applications to 

participate in the 2022 Shark Research 

Fishery. The Shark Research Fishery 

allows for the collection of fisherydependent data for future stock 

assessments and cooperative research 

with commercial fishermen to meet the 

shark research objectives of the Agency. 

Every year, the permit terms and 

permitted activities (e.g., number of 

hooks and retention limits) specifically 

authorized for selected participants in 

the Shark Research Fishery are 

designated depending on the scientific 

and research needs of the Agency, as 

well as the number of NMFS-approved 

observers available. In order to inform 

selected participants of this year’s 

specific permit requirements and ensure 

all terms and conditions of the permit 

are met, NMFS is holding a meeting via 

conference call and webinar for selected 

participants. The date and time of that 

meeting is announced in this notice. 

DATES: A conference call will be held on 

March 31, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: A meeting will be 

conducted. See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION for information on how to 

access the meeting. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Guy 

DuBeck at (301) 427–8503 or Delisse 

Ortiz at (202) 930–1304. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Atlantic shark fisheries are managed 

under the authority of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens 

Act). The 2006 Consolidated Atlantic 

Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP), as amended, is 

implemented by regulations at 50 CFR 

part 635. Specifics regarding the 

commercial shark quotas and the shark 

research fishery can be found at 

§§ 635.27(b) and 635.32(f). 

The final rule for Amendment 2 to the 

2006 Consolidated HMS FMP (73 FR 

35778, June 24, 2008, corrected at 73 FR 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 58 / Friday, March 25, 2022 / Notices 17073 

40658, July 15, 2008) established, 

among other things, a shark research 

fishery to maintain time-series data for 

stock assessments and to meet NMFS’ 

research objectives. The shark research 

fishery gathers important scientific data 

and allows selected commercial 

fishermen the opportunity to earn more 

revenue from selling the sharks caught, 

including sandbar sharks. Only the 

commercial shark fishermen selected to 

participate in the shark research fishery 

are authorized to land/harvest sandbar 

sharks subject to the sandbar quota 

available each year. The 2022 base 

annual sandbar shark quota is 90.7 mt 

dressed weight (dw). The selected shark 

research fishery participants also may 

fish using the research large coastal 

shark (§ 635.27(b)(1)(iii)(B)), small 

coastal shark (§ 635.27(b)(1)(i)(C) and 

(b)(1)(ii)(D)), and pelagic shark quotas 

(§ 635.27(b)(1)(iii)(D)) subject to the 

retention limits at § 635.24. 

On November 19, 2021 (86 FR 64909), 

NMFS published a notice inviting 

qualified commercial shark directed and 

incidental permit holders to submit an 

application to participate in the 2022 

shark research fishery. NMFS received 

seven applications and selected five 

participants. In order to inform selected 

participants of this year’s specific 

permit requirements and to ensure all 

terms and conditions of the permit are 

met, per the requirements of 

§ 635.32(f)(4), NMFS is holding a 

mandatory permit holder meeting via 

conference call and webinar. 

Meeting Information 

The meeting will be held on March 

31, 2022, from 2 to 4 p.m. (EDT). For 

conference call and webinar 

information, please go to https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/event/publicmeeting-2022-shark-research-fishery. 

Selected participants are strongly 

encouraged to attend. Selected 

participants who are unable to attend 

will not be allowed to participate in the 

shark research fishery until they are able 

to discuss the terms and conditions of 

their shark research fishery permit with 

NMFS staff. Selected participants are 

encouraged to invite their captain, crew, 

or anyone else who may assist them in 

meeting the terms and conditions of the 

shark research fishery permit to the 

conference call. Other interested parties 

may call in and listen to the discussion. 

Dated: March 22, 2022. 

Ngagne Jafnar Gueye, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–06354 Filed 3–24–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Patent and Trademark Office 

[Docket No.: PTO–P–2021–0037] 

Third Extension of the Modified 

COVID–19 Prioritized Examination Pilot 

Program for Patent Applications 

AGENCY: Patent and Trademark Office, 

Department of Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) is 

extending the modified COVID–19 

Prioritized Examination Pilot Program, 

which provides prioritized examination 

of certain patent applications. Requests 

that are compliant with the pilot 

program’s requirements and are filed on 

or before June 30, 2022, will be 

accepted. The USPTO will evaluate 

whether to terminate or further extend 

the program during this extension 

period. 

DATES: The COVID–19 Prioritized 

Examination Pilot Program is extended 

as of March 25, 2022, to run until June 

30, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robert A. Clarke, Director, Office of 

Patent Legal Administration (571–272– 

7735; robert.clarke@uspto.gov). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 

14, 2020, the USPTO published a notice 

on the implementation of the COVID–19 

Prioritized Examination Pilot Program. 

See COVID–19 Prioritized Examination 

Pilot Program, 85 FR 28932 (May 14, 

2020) (COVID–19 Track One Notice). On 

September 3, 2021, the USPTO 

published a notice extending the 

program to December 31, 2021, and 

modifying it by removing the limit on 

the number of patent applications that 

could receive prioritized examination. 

See Modification of COVID–19 

Prioritized Examination Pilot Program, 

86 FR 49522 (September 3, 2021). On 

December 30, 2021, the USPTO 

published a notice extending the 

program to March 31, 2022. See 

Extension of the Modified COVID–19 

Prioritized Examination Pilot Program, 

86 FR 74406 (December 30, 2021) 

(Second Extension Notice). 

The COVID–19 Track One Notice 

indicated that an applicant may request 

prioritized examination without 

payment of the prioritized examination 

fee and associated processing fee if: (1) 

The patent application’s claim(s) 

covered a product or process related to 

COVID–19, (2) the product or process 

was subject to an applicable Food and 

Drug Administration (FDA) approval for 

COVID–19 use, and (3) the applicant 

met other requirements noted in the 

COVID–19 Track One Notice. As of 

February 7, 2022, 225 patents had 

issued from applications granted 

prioritized status under the pilot 

program. The average total pendency, 

including time consumed by continued 

examination, from filing date to issue 

date for those applications was 298 

days. The shortest pendency from filing 

date to issue date for those applications 

was 75 days. 

The Second Extension Notice 

indicated that the pilot program would 

expire on March 31, 2022. In the current 

notice, the USPTO is further extending 

the pilot program by setting the 

expiration date as June 30, 2022. The 

Office will evaluate whether to 

terminate or further extend the program 

during this third extension period. If the 

USPTO determines that an additional 

extension of the pilot program is 

appropriate, the agency will publish a 

subsequent notice to the public. 

Unless the pilot program is further 

extended by a subsequent notice, 

following the expiration of this 

extension, the pilot program will be 

terminated, and patent applicants 

interested in expediting the prosecution 

of their patent application may instead 

seek to use the Prioritized Examination 

(Track One) Program. Patent 

applications accorded prioritized 

examination under the pilot program 

will not lose that status merely because 

the application is still pending after the 

date the pilot program is terminated but 

will instead retain prioritized 

examination status until that status is 

terminated for one or more reasons, as 

described in the COVID–19 Track One 

Notice. 

The Track One Program permits an 

applicant to have a patent application 

advanced out of turn (accorded special 

status) for examination under 37 CFR 

1.102(e) if the applicant timely files a 

request for prioritized (Track One) 

examination accompanied by the 

appropriate fees and meets the other 

conditions of 37 CFR 1.102(e). See 

Manual of Patent Examining Procedure 

708.02(b)(2). The current fee schedule is 

available at www.uspto.gov/learningand-resources/fees-and-payment/usptofee-schedule. 

The Track One Program does not have 

the restrictions of the COVID–19 

Prioritized Examination Pilot Program 

on the types of inventions for which 

special status may be sought, as the 

Track One Program does not require a 

connection to any particular technology. 

Moreover, under the Track One 

Program, an applicant can avoid delays 

associated with the determination of 

whether a patent application presents a 


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