Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 16, 2016 / Notices 7833 

will be held on March 3, 2016, as 

follows: The policy discussion session 

(open to the public) will convene at 

10:30 a.m. until approximately 11:30 

a.m., followed by the discussion of 

specific grant applications and programs 

before the Council (closed to the public) 

from 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. 

Digital Humanities: Room 4089 

Education Programs: Room P002 

Preservation and Access: Room 2002 

Public Programs/Federal/State 

Partnership: Room P003 

Research Programs: Room 4002 

In addition, the Humanities Medal 

Committee (closed to the public) will 

meet from 2:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. in 

Room 4002. 

The plenary session of the National 

Council on the Humanities will convene 

on March 4, 2016, at 9:00 a.m. in the 

Conference Center at Constitution 

Center. The agenda for the morning 

session (open to the public) will be as 

follows: 

A. Minutes of the Previous Meeting 

B. Reports 

1. Chairman’s Remarks 

2. Deputy Chairman’s Remarks 

3. Presentation by guest speaker Mannie 

Jackson 

4. Congressional Affairs Report 

5. Budget Report 

6. Reports on Policy and General Matters 

a. Digital Humanities 

b. Education Programs 

c. Preservation and Access 

d. Public Programs 

e. Federal/State Partnership 

f. Research Programs 

The remainder of the plenary session 

will be for consideration of specific 

applications and therefore will be 

closed to the public. 

As identified above, portions of the 

meeting of the National Council on the 

Humanities will be closed to the public 

pursuant to sections 552b(c)(4), 

552b(c)(6) and 552b(c)(9)(b) of Title 5 

U.S.C., as amended. The closed sessions 

will include review of personal and/or 

proprietary financial and commercial 

information given in confidence to the 

agency by grant applicants, and 

discussion of certain information, the 

premature disclosure of which could 

significantly frustrate implementation of 

proposed agency action. I have made 

this determination pursuant to the 

authority granted me by the Chairman’s 

Delegation of Authority to Close 

Advisory Committee Meetings dated 

July 19, 1993. 

Please note that individuals planning 

to attend the public sessions of the 

meeting are subject to security screening 

procedures. If you wish to attend any of 

the public sessions, please inform NEH 

as soon as possible by contacting Ms. 

Katherine Griffin at (202) 606–8322 or 

kgriffin@neh.gov. Please also provide 

advance notice of any special needs or 

accommodations, including for a sign 

language interpreter. 

Dated: February 8, 2016. 

Elizabeth Voyatzis, 

Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2016–03063 Filed 2–12–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7536–01–P 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Sunshine Act Meeting; National 

Science Board 

The National Science Board’s 

Committee on Education and Human 

Resources (CEH), pursuant to NSF 

regulations (45 CFR part 614), the 

National Science Foundation Act, as 

amended (42 U.S.C. 1862n–5), and the 

Government in the Sunshine Act (5 

U.S.C. 552b), hereby gives notice of the 

scheduling of a teleconference for the 

transaction of National Science Board 

business, as follows: 

DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, February 17, 

2016 at 5:00–6:00 p.m. EST. 

SUBJECT MATTER: Committee Chair’s 

opening remarks; approval of minutes of 

November 19, 2015 meeting; update and 

discussion of recent CEH activities 

regarding the ‘‘grand challenges in 

STEM’’ activity; and Committee Chair’s 

closing remarks. 

STATUS: Open. 

This meeting will be held by 

teleconference. A public listening line 

will be available. Members of the public 

must contact the Board Office (call 703– 

292–7000 or send an email message to 

nationalsciencebrd@nsf.gov) at least 24 

hours prior to the teleconference for the 

public listening number. Please refer to 

the National Science Board Web site for 

additional information and schedule 

updates (time, place, subject matter or 

status of meeting) which may be found 

at http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/notices/. 

Point of contact for this meeting is Matt 

Wilson (mbwilson@nsf.gov). 

Kyscha Slater-Williams, 

Program Specialist to the National Science 

Board. 

[FR Doc. 2016–03126 Filed 2–11–16; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Comment Request 

AGENCY: National Science Foundation. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The National Science 

Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans 

to request renewal of the Generic 

Clearance of the National Center for 

Science & Engineering Statistics Survey 

Improvement Projects (3145–0174). In 

accordance with the requirement of 

section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–13), 

we are providing opportunity for public 

comment on this action. After obtaining 

and considering public comment, NSF 

will prepare the submission requesting 

that OMB approve clearance of this 

collection for three years. 

Comments: Comments are invited on 

(a) whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

NSF, including whether the information 

shall have practical utility; (b) the 

accuracy of the NSF’s estimate of the 

burden of the proposed collection of 

information; (c) ways to enhance the 

quality, use, and clarity of the 

information on respondents, including 

through the use of automated collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology; and (d) ways to minimize 

the burden of the collection of 

information on those who are to 

respond, including through the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. 

DATES: Written comments on this notice 

must be received by April 18, 2016 to 

be assured of consideration. Comments 

received after that date will be 

considered to the extent practicable. 

For Additional Information or 

Comments: Contact Suzanne H. 

Plimpton, Reports Clearance Officer, 

National Science Foundation, 4201 

Wilson Boulevard, Suite 295, Arlington, 

Virginia 22230; telephone (703) 292– 

7556; or send email to splimpto@

nsf.gov. Individuals who use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877– 

8339, which is accessible 24 hours a 

day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year 

(including federal holidays). You also 

may obtain a copy of the data collection 

instrument and instructions from Ms. 

Plimpton. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title of Collection: Generic Clearance 

of the National Center for Science & 

Engineering Statistics Improvement 

Projects. 

OMB Control Number: 3145–0174. 

Expiration Date of Current Approval: 

May 31, 2016. 

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7834 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 16, 2016 / Notices 

Type of Request: Intent to seek 

approval to extend an information 

collection for three years. 

Abstract. Established within the 

National Science Foundation by the 

America COMPETES Reauthorization 

Act of 2010 § 505, codified in the 

National Science Foundation Act of 

1950, as amended, the National Center 

for Science & Engineering Statistics 

(NCSES) serves as a central Federal 

clearinghouse for the collection, 

interpretation, analysis, and 

dissemination of objective data on 

science, engineering, technology, 

research and development for use by 

practitioners, researchers, policymakers, 

and the public. NCSES conducts about 

a dozen nationally representative 

surveys to obtain the data for these 

purposes. The Generic Clearance will be 

used to ensure that the highest quality 

data are obtained from these surveys. 

State of the art methodology will be 

used to develop, evaluate, and test 

questionnaires and survey concepts as 

well as to improve survey methodology. 

This may include field or pilot tests of 

questions for future large scale surveys, 

as needed. The Generic Clearance will 

also be used to test and evaluate data 

dissemination tools and methods, in an 

effort to improve access for data users. 

Use of the Information. The purpose 

of these studies is to use the latest and 

most appropriate methodology to 

improve NCSES surveys, evaluate new 

data collection efforts, and evaluate data 

dissemination tools and mechanisms. 

Methodological findings may be 

presented externally in technical papers 

at conferences, published in the 

proceedings of conferences, or in 

journals. Improved NCSES surveys, data 

collections, and data dissemination will 

help policymakers in decisions on 

research and development funding, 

graduate education, and the scientific 

and technical workforce, as well as 

contributing to reduced survey costs. 

Expected Respondents. The 

respondents will be from industry, 

academia, nonprofit organizations, 

members of the public, and State, local, 

and Federal governments. Respondents 

will be either individuals or 

institutions, depending on the topic 

under investigation. Qualitative 

procedures will generally be conducted 

in person, online (using Skype, Webex, 

or other conferencing tools), or over the 

phone. Quantitative procedures may be 

conducted using mail, Web, email, or 

phone modes, depending on the topic 

under investigation. Up to 8,680 

respondents will be contacted across all 

projects. No respondent will be 

contacted more than twice in one year 

under this generic clearance. Every 

effort will be made to use technology to 

limit the burden on respondents from 

small entities. 

Both qualitative and quantitative 

methods will be used to improve 

NCSES’s current data collection 

instruments and processes and to 

reduce respondent burden, as well as to 

develop new surveys and new or 

improved data dissemination tools. 

Qualitative methods include, but are not 

limited to expert review; exploratory, 

cognitive, and usability interviews; 

focus groups; and respondent 

debriefings. Cognitive and usability 

interviews may include the use of 

scenarios, paraphrasing, card sorts, 

vignette classifications, and rating tasks. 

Quantitative methods include, but are 

not limited to, telephone surveys; 

behavior coding, split panel tests, and 

field tests. 

Estimate of Burden. NCSES estimates 

that a total reporting and recordkeeping 

burden of 11,180 hours will result from 

activities to improve its surveys. The 

calculation is shown in Table 1. 

TABLE 1—POTENTIAL SURVEYS FOR IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS, WITH THE NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS AND BURDEN

HOURS

Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

hours 

Graduate Student Survey ........................................................................................................................................ 2000 2500 

SESTAT Surveys (National Survey of College Graduates; Survey of Doctorate Recipients) ................................ 1000 500 

Early Career Doctorate Survey ............................................................................................................................... 500 1000 

Survey of Earned Doctorates .................................................................................................................................. 600 600 

Higher Education Research & Development Survey .............................................................................................. 300 540 

State Government Research & Development Survey ............................................................................................. 150 300 

Survey of Nonprofit Research Activities .................................................................................................................. 230 415 

Business Research & Development and Innovation Survey .................................................................................. 50 150 

Microbusiness Survey .............................................................................................................................................. 250 500 

Survey of Scientific & Engineering Facilities ........................................................................................................... 400 400 

Innovation Survey .................................................................................................................................................... 1500 3000 

Public Understanding of Science & Engineering Survey ........................................................................................ 550 125 

Data dissemination tools and mechanisms ............................................................................................................. 150 150 

Other surveys and projects not specified ................................................................................................................ 1000 1000 

Total .................................................................................................................................................................. 8,680 11,180 

Dated: February 3, 2016. 

Suzanne H. Plimpton, 

Reports Clearance Officer, National Science 

Foundation. 

[FR Doc. 2016–03029 Filed 2–12–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 40–38367–ML; ASLBP No. 16– 

945–01–MLA–BD01] 

Rare Element Resources, Inc.; 

Establishment of Atomic Safety and 

Licensing Board 

Pursuant to delegation by the 

Commission, see 37 FR 28,710 (Dec. 29, 

1972), and the Commission’s 

regulations, see, e.g., 10 CFR 2.104, 

2.105, 2.300, 2.309, 2.313, 2.318, 2.321, 

notice is hereby given that an Atomic 

Safety and Licensing Board (Board) is 

being established to preside over the 

following proceeding: 

RARE ELEMENT RESOURCES, INC. 

(Bear Lodge Project) 

This proceeding involves an 

application by Rare Element Resources, 

Inc. for a license to possess and use 

source material associated with its Bear 

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