41116 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 131 / Monday, July 11, 2022 / Notices 

the registrability of a mark). When these 

entities provide legal advice, prepare 

trademark applications, or file 

submissions on behalf of others, they 

are likely engaging in unauthorized 

practice of law and unauthorized 

representation of others before the 

USPTO. Practice of law before the Office 

in trademark matters is described in 37 

CFR 11.5(b)(2). 

The USPTO has the authority to 

regulate the conduct of proceedings 

before the Office and the conduct of 

those who appear before the Office in 

proceedings, including practitioners and 

non-practitioners. See 5 U.S.C. 500(d)(2) 

(Federal agencies may sanction those 

‘‘individuals who appear in a 

representative capacity before the 

agency’’); 35 U.S.C. 2(b)(2)(A) (the 

USPTO has the authority to establish 

regulations that ‘‘shall govern the 

conduct of proceedings in the Office’’); 

and 35 U.S.C. 3(b)(2)(A) (the 

Commissioner for Trademarks has the 

authority to manage and direct all 

aspects of trademark operations). 

Some customers appear to rely on 

non-attorney entities for legal advice 

without realizing that the non-attorney 

entity cannot represent trademark 

applicants before the USPTO or that the 

entity’s behavior could undermine the 

validity of their application or 

registration. Furthermore, these nonattorney entities are also routinely 

providing signatures on trademark 

submissions that violate the USPTO’s 

rules. Under these rules, submissions 

must be personally signed, and 

therefore, signatures are non-delegable. 

37 CFR 2.193(a), 11.18; Trademark 

Manual of Examining Procedure 

§ 611.01(c). Authorizing someone who 

is not the signatory to sign a trademark 

submission jeopardizes the validity of 

the submission and may affect the 

validity of the entire application or 

registration. 

The USPTO has imposed sanctions 

and terminated pending applications 

that contain violations of USPTO rules, 

without regard to whether the applicant 

was aware of the rule violations 

perpetrated by those making 

submissions on their behalf. These 

trademark applicants have been misled 

and defrauded by actors filing 

submissions at the USPTO, purportedly 

on their behalf but clearly against the 

owner’s interest and, in most cases, 

without the owner’s knowledge. To 

discourage reliance on non-attorney 

entities and to adhere to the Lanham 

Act and the USPTO rules more closely, 

the USPTO is limiting user roles 

through the ID verification process for a 

USPTO.gov account to those authorized 

under USPTO rules to make trademark 

submissions filings for the owner (i.e., 

the owner and the owner’s 

representative authorized to practice 

law before the USPTO in trademark 

matters). 

Katherine K. Vidal, 

Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual 

Property and Director of the United States 

Patent and Trademark Office. 

[FR Doc. 2022–14435 Filed 7–8–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Office of the Secretary 

Intent To Prepare an Environmental 

Impact Statement for O’Brien Road 

Access Modernization (ORAM), Within 

the Fort Meade Complex, Maryland 

AGENCY: National Security Agency, 

Department of Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: Notice of intent; notice of public 

scoping; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The DoD announces its intent 

to prepare an Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) to assess the potential 

effects associated with proposed access 

and infrastructure upgrades at the 

National Security Agency’s (NSA) 

campus on Fort George G. Meade, 

Maryland (hereafter referred to as Fort 

Meade). The purpose of the proposed 

project is to increase efficiencies and 

capacity for required security processing 

of deliveries and traffic entering the 

NSA campus. Additionally, major 

construction projects have generated 

changes in Fort Meade traffic 

distribution, resulting in extensive 

delays for inspection and access. 

Publication of this notice begins a 

scoping process that identifies and 

determines the scope of environmental 

issues to be addressed in the EIS. This 

notice requests public participation in 

the scoping process and provides 

information on how to participate. 

DATES: The public is invited to provide 

comments on the scope of the EIS 

during a 45-day public scoping period. 

Comments will be accepted until 

August 25, 2022. 

In light of changing public health 

requirements, a narrated presentation 

will be made available in lieu of an inperson meeting. Information will be 

made available on the project website at 

https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/oram. 

For further information, see ‘‘Scoping 

Process’’ in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section below). 

ADDRESSES: Written comments 

regarding the scope of the EIS and 

comments on the scoping process may 

be submitted by any of the following 

methods: 

Mail: ORAM EIS, c/o: HDR 2650, Park 

Tower Drive, Suite 400, Vienna, VA 

22180; 

Email: ORAM@hdrinc.com. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Jeffrey Williams, Sr. Environmental 

Engineer, jdwill2@nsa.gov 301–688– 

2970. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background: NSA is a tenant DoD 

agency on Fort Meade, occupying 

approximately 840 acres of the 5,107.7 

acres of base property. Renovation and 

upgrade of inspection and access 

facilities for NSA is required to meet 

increased mission and security capacity. 

The existing Vehicle Control Inspection 

Facility (VCIF) and Vehicle Control 

Point 5 (VCP5) represent two significant 

entry points for access to the NSA 

campus. Both facilities require 

replacement due to process 

inefficiencies and insufficient capacity 

to meet current and future demand. 

Original sizing of the VCIF was to 

provide inspection facilities only for 

NSA deliveries and traffic. Post 9/11, a 

decision was made that NSA would 

inspect both Fort Meade and NSA 

deliveries. Additionally, major 

construction activities on Fort Meade 

have generated increases in traffic 

access and inspection throughout the 

installation. These conditions have 

resulted in extensive delays at the VCIF 

and traffic back-ups onto Maryland 

State Route 32. The design of VCP5 on 

O’Brien Road is also outdated and 

provides insufficient access capacity 

between the NSA campus and Fort 

Meade. Relocation of the Fort Meade 

Access Control Facility (ACF) on Mapes 

Road was included to facilitate the 

design and construction of the roadway 

system, as well as minimize 

environmental impacts. 

Proposed Action and Alternatives: 

The proposed action would consist of: 

construction of a new VCIF with 

adjacent visitor control center; 

construction of a new Mail Screening 

Facility (MSF) adjacent to the VCIF; 

construction of a new VCP5; 

reconfiguration of the Mapes Road ACF; 

roadway improvements to provide 

enhanced routing and separation of 

traffic between NSA and Fort Meade; 

and associated infrastructure including 

sidewalks, inspection canopies, dog 

kennels, surface parking areas, 

stormwater management facilities, 

utilities, and related infrastructure. 

It is anticipated that two build 

alternatives will be analyzed in detail 

through the EIS process that will 

involve distinct configurations of 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 131 / Monday, July 11, 2022 / Notices 41117 

project elements within the same 

general area on the NSA campus and 

Fort Meade. The No Action Alternative 

(not undertaking the proposed 

improvements) will also be analyzed in 

detail to provide a baseline for 

comparison with the action alternatives. 

This notice of intent is required by 40 

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 

1501.9 and briefly describes the 

Proposed Action and possible 

alternatives and our proposed scoping 

process. The EIS will comply with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), 

the Council on Environmental Quality 

regulations in 40 CFR parts 1500 

through 1508, and DoD Instruction 

4715.9 (Environmental Planning and 

Analysis). 

Significant Issues: Environmental 

issues to be analyzed in the EIS will 

include potential effects on air quality, 

stream and wetland resources, forests, 

cultural resources, hazardous waste and 

materials, and transportation. 

Consultations to be incorporated into 

the preparation of the Draft EIS will 

include, but are not necessarily limited 

to, consultation under Section 7 of the 

Endangered Species Act and Section 

106 of the National Historic 

Preservation Act. 

Scoping Process: Public scoping is an 

early and open process for identifying 

and determining the scope of issues to 

be addressed in the EIS. Scoping begins 

with this notice and continues through 

the 45-day public comment period. 

As part of the public scoping process, 

in lieu of a public scoping meeting, a 

narrated presentation about the project 

and how to provide scoping comments 

will be made available on August 3, 

2022, for a two-day period. The 

presentation will be made available on 

the project website at https://

www.nab.usace.army.mil/oram. 

Upon completion of the scoping 

process, DoD will prepare a Draft EIS, 

and will publish a Federal Register 

notice announcing its public 

availability. The Draft EIS is anticipated 

to be available for public review by mid2023. If you want the notice to be sent 

to you, please submit your request in 

writing (see ADDRESSES section in this 

notice). There will also be an 

opportunity to review and comment on 

the Draft EIS. Additionally, it is 

anticipated that a public meeting would 

be held after publication of the Draft EIS 

to present the Draft EIS and receive 

public comments regarding the 

document. NSA will consider all 

comments received and then prepare a 

Final EIS. As with the Draft EIS, NSA 

will announce the availability of the 

Final EIS and once again provide an 

opportunity for review and comment. 

The Final EIS and a Record of Decision 

on the Proposed Action are expected in 

late 2023. 

Dated: June 30, 2022. 

Aaron T. Siegel, 

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison 

Officer, Department of Defense. 

[FR Doc. 2022–14726 Filed 7–8–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meetings 

AGENCY: U.S. Election Assistance 

Commission (EAC). 

ACTION: Sunshine Act notice; notice of 

public roundtable agenda. 

SUMMARY: U.S. Election Assistance 

Commission Roundtable Discussion: 

Disability and the Digital Divide in The 

Voting Process. 

DATES: Tuesday, July 26, 2022, 11:00 

a.m. Eastern. 

ADDRESSES: Virtual via Zoom. 

The roundtable discussion is open to 

the public and will be livestreamed on 

the U.S. Election Assistance 

Commission YouTube Channel: https:// 

www.youtube.com/channel/ 

UCpN6i0g2rlF4ITWhwvBwwZw. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kristen Muthig, Telephone: (202) 897– 

9285, Email: kmuthig@eac.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose: In accordance with the 

Government in the Sunshine Act 

(Sunshine Act), Public Law 94–409, as 

amended (5 U.S.C. 552b), the U.S. 

Election Assistance Commission (EAC) 

will conduct a virtual roundtable 

discussion on a new study analyzing the 

digital divide between citizens with and 

without disabilities during the 2020 

through 2022 election period. 

Agenda: The U.S. Election Assistance 

Commission (EAC) will hold a 

roundtable discussion on a new study 

released by the EAC and the Program for 

Disability Research at Rutgers 

University. The report highlights new 

data on computer and internet use, 

sources of information on the voting 

process used in 2020, accessibility of 

information sources, preferred ways of 

getting an answer to a question about 

the voting process, trust in information 

sources, sources of information on 

candidates and issues, expectations 

about voting and information sources in 

2022, and knowledge of rights for 

accessible information. 

The event will include presentations 

of the findings from professors Lisa 

Schur and Douglas Kruse from Rutgers 

University. 

The full agenda will be posted in 

advance on the EAC website: https://

www.eac.gov. 

Background: In February 2021, the 

EAC released the ‘‘Disability and Voting 

Accessibility in the 2020 Elections,’’ a 

comprehensive national report 

identifying advancements and gaps in 

accessibility for voters with disabilities. 

The study focused on polling place 

access, mail and absentee voting 

accessibility, election administration 

challenges, COVID–19 obstacles, and 

community involvement. In July 2021, 

the EAC released ‘‘The Fact Sheet: 

Disability and Voter Turnout in the 

2020 Elections,’’ a supplemental report 

with Rutgers University that used data 

from the federal government’s Current 

Population Survey Voting and 

Registration Supplement for November 

2020 to calculate disability turnout and 

identify trends. 

Status: This roundtable discussion 

will be open to the public. 

Amanda Joiner, 

Acting General Counsel, U.S. Election 

Assistance Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2022–14836 Filed 7–7–22; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee 

AGENCY: Office of Nuclear Energy, 

Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of open meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces an 

open meeting of the Nuclear Energy 

Advisory Committee. The Federal 

Advisory Committee Act requires that 

public notice of this meeting be 

announced in the Federal Register. 

DATES: Tuesday, August 2, 2022; 9:00 

a.m.–4:30 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: Hilton Washington DC 

National Mall The Wharf, 480 L’Enfant 

Plaza SW, Washington, DC 20024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Luke Branscum, Designated Federal 

Officer, U.S. Department of Energy, 

1000 Independence Ave. SW, 

Washington, DC 20585; (202) 586–4290; 

email: Luke.Branscum@

nuclear.energy.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose of the Committee: The 

Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee 

provides advice and recommendations 

to the Assistant Secretary for Nuclear 

Energy on national policy and scientific 

aspects of nuclear issues of concern to 

DOE. 


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