100990 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 240 / Friday, December 13, 2024 / Notices 

Pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 1114(b), the 

MERHC BoA reports annually to the 

Secretary of Defense and the Deputy 

Secretary of Defense on the actuarial 

status of the Fund and shall furnish its 

advice and opinion on matters referred 

to it by the Secretary of Defense. 

Pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 1114(c), the 

MERHC BoA reviews valuations of the 

Fund under 10 U.S.C. 1115(c) and 

reports periodically, not less than once 

every four years to the President and 

Congress on the status of the Fund. The 

MERHC BoA shall include in such 

reports recommendations for such 

changes as in the MERHC BoA’s 

judgment are necessary to protect the 

public interest and maintain the Fund 

on a sound actuarial basis. 

The MERHC BoA, pursuant to 10 

U.S.C. 1114(a)(1) and (2), shall consist 

of three members who shall be 

appointed by the Secretary of Defense 

from among qualified professional 

actuaries who are members of the 

Society of Actuaries. MERHC BoA 

members will serve for a term of 15- 

years, except that a MERHC BoA 

member appointed to fill a vacancy 

occurring before the end of the term of 

which the predecessor was appointed 

shall serve only until the end of such 

term. A MERHC BoA member may serve 

after the end of the term until a 

successor has taken office. Of the 

members of the Board, one each shall be 

appointed for terms ending five, ten, 

and 15 years respectively, after the date 

of appointment, as designated by the 

Secretary of Defense at the time of 

appointment. 

MERHC BoA members who are not 

full-time or permanent part-time Federal 

civilian officers or employees, or activeduty members of the Uniformed 

Services, shall be appointed as experts 

or consultants pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 3109 

to serve as special government 

employee members and are entitled, 

pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 1114(a)(3), to 

receive pay at the daily equivalent of the 

annual rate of basic pay of the highest 

rate of basic pay under the General 

Schedule of subchapter 53 of title 5 

U.S.C., for each day the member is 

engaged in the performance of duties 

vested in the MERHC BoA. MERHC BoA 

members who are full-time or 

permanent part-time Federal civilian 

officers or employees, or members of the 

uniformed Services, shall be appointed 

pursuant to 41 CFR 102–3.130(a) to 

serve as regular government employee 

members. 

Each MERHC BoA member is 

appointed to exercise their own 

judgment on behalf of the DoD, without 

representing any particular point of 

view, and to discuss and deliberate in 

a manner that is free from conflict of 

interest. 

The public or interested organizations 

may submit written statements to the 

MERHC BoA membership about its 

mission and functions. Written 

statements may be submitted at any 

time or in response to the stated agenda 

of planned meeting of the MERHC BoA. 

All written statements shall be 

submitted to the DFO for the MERHC 

BoA, and this individual will ensure 

that the written statements are provided 

to the membership for their 

consideration. 

Dated: December 9, 2024. 

Aaron T. Siegel, 

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison 

Officer, Department of Defense. 

[FR Doc. 2024–29338 Filed 12–12–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6001–FR–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Navy 

Notice of Public Meetings for HawaiiCalifornia Training and Testing 

Environmental Impact Statement/ 

Overseas Environmental Impact 

Statement (ID# EISX–007–17–USN– 

1724283453) 

AGENCY: Department of the Navy (DoN), 

Department of Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 

Council on Environmental Quality 

implementing regulations, and 

Presidential Executive Order 12114, the 

DoN (including both the United States 

[U.S.] Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps 

[USMC]), as the lead agency, jointly 

with the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army, 

and U.S. Air Force, has prepared and 

filed with the U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency a Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement/ 

Overseas Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS/OEIS) for HawaiiCalifornia Training and Testing (HCTT) 

activities. The Draft EIS/OEIS includes 

an analysis of the potential 

environmental effects associated with 

conducting at-sea training and testing 

activities, and modernization and 

sustainment of ranges (collectively 

referred to as ‘‘military readiness 

activities’’) within the HCTT Study 

Area. 

DATES: The 60-day public comment 

period begins December 13, 2024, and 

ends February 11, 2025. The comment 

period includes an additional 15 

calendar days (from the required 45 

days) to allow the public more time to 

review and comment during the holiday 

season. In support of NEPA 

requirements, in-person public meetings 

in California and Hawaii and a virtual 

public meeting will be held in January 

2025 to provide an overview of the Draft 

EIS/OEIS and answer questions from the 

public. Each meeting will also provide 

an opportunity to learn about how the 

military services are complying with the 

Section 106 process of the National 

Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and to 

comment on potential effects on historic 

properties. The public can submit 

comments during the Draft EIS/OEIS 

public review and comment period at 

one of the in-person public meetings, 

electronically via the project website 

(www.nepa.navy.mil/hctteis/), or via 

U.S. postal mail. Public comments on 

the Draft EIS/OEIS must be postmarked 

or received online by 11:59 p.m. Hawaii 

standard time (HST) Tuesday, February 

11, 2025, for consideration in the Final 

EIS/OEIS. 

Three in-person public meetings will 

be held as follows: 

1. January 13, 2025, from 4 to 7 p.m. 

Pacific standard time (PST) at 

Portuguese Hall, 2818 Avenida de 

Portugal, San Diego, CA; 

2. January 15, 2025, from 4 to 7 p.m. 

HST at Ke1ehi Lagoon Memorial, 

Weinberg Hall, 2685 N Nimitz Highway, 

Honolulu, HI; 

3. January 16, 2025, from 4 to 7 p.m. 

HST at Kauai Veterans Center, 3215 

Kauai Veterans Memorial Highway, 

Lihue, HI. 

One virtual public meeting will be 

held on January 22, 2025, from 3 to 4 

p.m. HST/5 to 6 p.m. PST/8 to 9 p.m. 

Eastern Standard Time (EST). 

ADDRESSES: Comments on the Draft EIS/ 

OEIS may be provided at the in-person 

public meetings, electronically through 

the project website at: 

www.nepa.navy.mil/hctteis/, or by U.S. 

postal mail to: Naval Facilities 

Engineering Systems Command Pacific; 

Attention: HCTT EIS/OEIS Project 

Manager; 258 Makalapa Drive, Suite 

100, Pearl Harbor, HI 96860–3134. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: U.S. 

Pacific Fleet Command, Attention: Ms. 

Heather Paynter, Environmental Public 

Affairs Specialist, 808–474–8441, CPFEnvironmental-PA@us.navy.mil, or visit 

the project website: 

www.nepa.navy.mil/hctteis/. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet is the 

DoN’s lead action proponent. 

Additional DoN action proponents 

include Naval Sea Systems Command, 

Naval Air Systems Command, Naval 

Information Warfare Systems Command, 

Office of Naval Research, Naval 


khammond on DSK9W7S144PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 240 / Friday, December 13, 2024 / Notices 100991 

1 10 United States Code (U.S.C.), sections 8062 

(Navy), 8063 (USMC), 7062 (U.S. Army), 9062 (U.S. 

Air Force) and 14 U.S.C. 101 and 102 (USCG). 

Facilities Engineering Expeditionary 

Warfare Center, and the USMC. In 

addition, the EIS/OEIS includes certain 

activities by the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. 

Army, and U.S. Air Force when those 

activities are similar to DoN or USMC 

activities and are scheduled on DoNcontrolled at-sea ranges. 

Proposed military readiness activities 

are similar to those analyzed in the 2018 

Hawaii-Southern California Training 

and Testing (HSTT) EIS/OEIS and the 

at-sea activities in the 2022 Point Mugu 

Sea Range (PMSR) EIS/OEIS and are 

consistent with activities that have been 

conducted off Hawaii and California for 

more than 80 years. 

The Draft EIS/OEIS includes an 

analysis of military readiness activities 

using new information, including an 

updated acoustic analysis, updated 

marine mammal density data, and 

evolving and emergent best available 

science. 

The HCTT Study Area (hereafter 

referred to as the ‘‘Study Area’’) consists 

primarily of the Hawaii Study Area, the 

California Study Area, and the transit 

corridor connecting the two. The Study 

Area includes the at-sea components of 

the range complexes (Hawaii Range 

Complex, Southern California [SOCAL] 

Range Complex, PMSR, Northern 

California [NOCAL] Range Complex), 

DoN pierside locations and port transit 

channels, bays, harbors, inshore 

waterways, amphibious approach lanes, 

and civilian ports where training and 

testing activities occur. The HCTT 

Study Area differs from the HSTT Study 

Area in that HCTT includes an 

expanded SOCAL Range Complex; 

special use airspace (Proposed Warning 

Area [W]-293 and Proposed W–294) 

corresponding to the expanded SOCAL 

Range Complex; new testing sea space 

between Proposed W–293 and PMSR; 

two existing training and testing ranges, 

the PMSR and NOCAL Range Complex; 

areas along the Southern California 

coastline from approximately Dana 

Point to Port Hueneme; and four 

amphibious approach lanes providing 

land access from the NOCAL Range 

Complex and PMSR. While the overall 

boundaries of the Hawaii portion of the 

Study Area have not changed from the 

2018 HSTT EIS/OEIS, nearshore areas, 

such as Kaneohe Bay or Marine Corps 

Training Area Bellows, are proposed to 

be used more frequently or for new 

training or testing activities, such as 

mine warfare training. 

The purpose of the Proposed Action 

is to conduct military readiness 

activities, comprised of training, testing, 

and modernization and sustainment of 

ranges, within the Study Area to ensure 

U.S. military services are able to 

organize, train, and equip service 

members and personnel, needed to meet 

their respective national defense 

missions in accordance with their 

Congressionally mandated 

requirements.1 Training and testing 

activities that include the use of active 

sonar, explosives, or other sources of 

underwater sound would employ 

mitigation measures to potentially 

reduce or avoid adverse effects on 

marine species. Range modernization 

and sustainment activities include new 

special use airspace in Southern 

California, installation and maintenance 

of underwater ranges in Southern 

California and Hawaii, deployment of 

seafloor cables and connected 

instrumentation south and west of San 

Clemente Island in the California Study 

Area and northeast of Oahu and west of 

Kauai in the Hawaii Study Area, 

installation and maintenance of mine 

warfare and other training areas offshore 

of Hawaii and Southern California, and 

installation and maintenance of 

underwater platforms in Hawaii and 

Southern California. 

Potential effects on environmental 

resources resulting from activities 

included in the two Action Alternatives 

and the No Action Alternative were 

evaluated in accordance with 40 CFR 

1502.16. Resources evaluated include, 

but are not limited to, biological 

(including marine mammals, reptiles, 

fishes, vegetation, invertebrates, 

habitats, birds, and other protected 

species), sediments and water quality, 

air quality, cultural, socioeconomics 

and environmental justice, and public 

health and safety. The Draft EIS/OEIS 

also includes an analysis of measures 

that would avoid, minimize, or mitigate 

environmental effects potentially 

resulting from military readiness 

activities. Direct, indirect, and 

cumulative effects on these resource 

areas are analyzed in the Draft EIS/ 

OEIS. 

The DoN, as the lead action 

proponent, is coordinating and 

consulting with appropriate Federal 

agencies as required by the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), 

NHPA, Endangered Species Act (ESA), 

National Marine Sanctuaries Act, 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, 

Clean Water Act, Rivers and Harbors 

Act, Coastal Zone Management Act, 

Clean Air Act, and other laws and 

regulations determined to be applicable 

to the project. As part of this process, 

the military services are seeking the 

issuance of regulatory permits and 

authorizations under MMPA and ESA to 

support at-sea military readiness 

activities within the Study Area, 

beginning in December 2025. The 

National Marine Fisheries Service 

(NMFS) is a cooperating agency in the 

preparation of the EIS/OEIS. In the rulemaking process, NMFS will consider the 

potential effects of the Proposed Action 

on the marine environment. The EIS/ 

OEIS will support NMFS’ rule-making 

process to issue MMPA authorizations. 

The military services distributed the 

Draft EIS/OEIS to government agencies 

they are consulting with and to federally 

recognized Tribes and other 

stakeholders. The Draft EIS/OEIS is 

available for public review on the 

project website at www.nepa.navy.mil/ 

hctteis/ and at these public libraries: 

1. Billie Jean King Main Library, 200 

W Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90802. 

2. City of San Diego Central Library, 

330 Park Blvd., San Diego, CA 92101. 

3. Coast Community Branch of 

Mendocino County Library, 225 Main 

St., Point Arena, CA 95468. 

4. Coronado Public Library, 640 

Orange Ave., Coronado, CA 92118. 

5. E.P. Foster Library, 651 E Main St., 

Ventura, CA 93001. 

6. Los Angeles Central Library, 630 W 

5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071. 

7. Monterey Public Library, 625 

Pacific St., Monterey, CA 93940. 

8. San Luis Obispo Library, 995 Palm 

St., San Luis Obispo, CA 93403. 

9. Hawaii State Library, 478 S King 

St., Honolulu, HI 96813. 

10. Hilo Public Library, 300 

Waianuenue Ave., Hilo, HI 96720. 

11. Kahului Public Library, 90 School 

St., Kahului, HI 96732. 

12. Kailua-Kona Public Library, 75– 

138 Hualalai Road, Kailua-Kona, HI 

96740. 

13. Lihue Public Library, 4344 Hardy 

St., Lihue, HI 96766. 

14. Molokai Public Library, 15 Ala 

Malama Ave., Kaunakakai, HI 96748. 

The public involvement process is 

helpful in identifying public concerns 

and local issues to be considered during 

the development of the EIS/OEIS and 

encouraging comments on the 

environmental analysis. Federal, State, 

and local agencies; federally recognized 

Tribes and Tribal groups; Native 

Hawaiian Organizations; 

nongovernmental organizations; and 

interested persons are encouraged to 

provide substantive comments on the 

Proposed Action and the environmental 

analysis, as well as the project’s 

potential to affect historic properties as 

it relates to Section 106 of the NHPA. 

All comments provided at the in-person 

public meetings, electronically via the 


khammond on DSK9W7S144PROD with NOTICES
100992 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 240 / Friday, December 13, 2024 / Notices 

project website, or mailed to the address 

provided in the ADDRESSES section will 

be considered during the development 

of the Final EIS/OEIS. 

In-person public meetings will 

include an open-house information 

session, a short presentation by DoN 

representatives, and a public oral 

comment session. The presentation will 

begin at approximately 5 p.m. local 

time. DoN representatives will be 

available during the open-house 

information sessions to answer 

questions and clarify information 

related to the Draft EIS/OEIS. Attendees 

will be able to submit oral and written 

comments during the in-person public 

meetings. Oral comments from the 

public will be recorded by a court 

reporter and each speaker’s comments 

will be limited to three (3) minutes. 

Equal weight will be given to oral and 

written statements. 

During the virtual public meeting, 

DoN representatives will provide a short 

presentation and answer questions 

submitted by the public. Questions 

concerning the Draft EIS/OEIS will be 

accepted in advance through January 15, 

2025, via the question form on the 

project website. Questions may also be 

submitted in writing during the 

meeting. Please note that questions 

submitted as part of the question-andanswer session are not official public 

comments; public comments should be 

submitted at the in-person public 

meetings, electronically via the project 

website (www.nepa.navy.mil/hctteis/), 

or via U.S. postal mail. An audio-only 

option will be available for the virtual 

public meeting. The project website has 

more information on attending the 

virtual public meeting. 

A virtual open house presentation 

will also be available on the project 

website to provide more information 

about the Proposed Action, its purpose 

and need, potential effects on 

environmental resource areas from the 

Proposed Action, the NEPA and NHPA 

Section 106 processes, and public 

involvement opportunities. The public 

can view the virtual open house 

presentation at the project website 

anytime during the Draft EIS/OEIS 

public review and comment period. 

Dated: December 6, 2024. 

A.J. Gioiello, 

Lieutenant Commander, Judge Advocate 

General’s Corps, U.S. Navy, Federal Register 

Liaison Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2024–29123 Filed 12–12–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3810–FF–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

[Docket No.: ED–2024–SCC–0108] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission to the Office of 

Management and Budget for Review 

and Approval; Comment Request; 

School Pulse Panel 2024–25 Data 

Collection 

AGENCY: Institute of Education Sciences 

(IES), Department of Education (ED). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 

1995, the Department is proposing a 

revision of a currently approved 

information collection request (ICR). 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before January 

13, 2025. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

recommendations for proposed 

information collection requests should 

be submitted within 30 days of 

publication of this notice. Click on this 

link www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain to access the site. Find this 

information collection request (ICR) by 

selecting ‘‘Department of Education’’ 

under ‘‘Currently Under Review,’’ then 

check the ‘‘Only Show ICR for Public 

Comment’’ checkbox. Reginfo.gov 

provides two links to view documents 

related to this information collection 

request. Information collection forms 

and instructions may be found by 

clicking on the ‘‘View Information 

Collection (IC) List’’ link. Supporting 

statements and other supporting 

documentation may be found by 

clicking on the ‘‘View Supporting 

Statement and Other Documents’’ link. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

specific questions related to collection 

activities, please contact Carrie Clarady, 

(202) 245–6347. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Department is especially interested in 

public comment addressing the 

following issues: (1) is this collection 

necessary to the proper functions of the 

Department; (2) will this information be 

processed and used in a timely manner; 

(3) is the estimate of burden accurate; 

(4) how might the Department enhance 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (5) how 

might the Department minimize the 

burden of this collection on the 

respondents, including through the use 

of information technology. Please note 

that written comments received in 

response to this notice will be 

considered public records. 

Title of Collection: School Pulse Panel 

2024–25 Data Collection. 

OMB Control Number: 1850–0969. 

Type of Review: Revision of a 

currently approved ICR. 

Respondents/Affected Public: State, 

Local, and Tribal Governments. 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Responses: 53,955. 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Burden Hours: 10,175. 

Abstract: The School Pulse Panel is an 

ongoing study conducted by the 

National Center for Education Statistics 

(NCES), part of the Institute of 

Education Sciences (IES), within the 

United States Department of Education, 

to collect extensive data on current and 

emerging issues concerning students 

and staff in U.S. public primary, middle, 

high, and combined-grade schools. 

Specifically, the survey will ask school 

leaders about topics such as staffing, 

college and career readiness, artificial 

intelligence, tutoring, summer and afterschool programs, facilities, and learning 

strategies and recovery, among other 

topics. The SPP has become one of the 

nation’s main sources of timely and 

reliable data on issues concerning the 

education environment, as reported by 

principals in U.S. public schools. 

The preliminary activities for the 

2024–25 data collection was formally 

cleared in January 2024 (OMB# 1850– 

0969 v.12) and the SPP monthly data 

collection package was formally cleared 

in June 2024 (OMB# 1850–0969 v.13). A 

change request (v.14) was cleared in 

June 2024 to make changes to the 2024– 

25 preliminary activities package in 

order to modify the July 2024 

communication materials and screener 

survey. A change request (v.15) was 

cleared in August 2024 to make changes 

to the August 2024, September 2024, 

and October 2024 instruments, informed 

by cognitive testing results with school 

staff. A 30-day public comment period 

package (v.16) was cleared in October 

2024 that included new items (within 

the scope of the research domains 

previously established) to be collected 

on the November 2024, December 2024, 

and January 2025 instruments, as well 

as planned items for the rest of the 

study year, through June 2025. A change 

request (v.17) was cleared in November 

2024 to make changes to the December 

2024, January 2025, and February 2025 

instruments, informed by cognitive 

testing results with school staff. 

The new revision (v.18) is focused on 

a 30-day public comment period on new 

items (within the scope of the research 

domains previously established) to be 

collected on the March 2025-June 2025 

School Pulse Panels. These items are 

considered very close to final and will 

go through minimal testing with school 

personnel to examine any 


khammond on DSK9W7S144PROD with NOTICES