30920 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 110 / Thursday, June 10, 2021 / Notices 

Type of Request: New information 

collection. 

Number of Respondents: 36. 

Average Hours per Response: 60 

hours. 

Burden Hours: 2,160 hours. 

Needs and Uses: In 2012, the Next 

Generation 911 (NG911) Advancement 

Act of 2012 (Middle Class Tax Relief 

and Job Creation Act of 2012, Pub. L. 

112–96, Title VI, Subtitle E (codified at 

47 U.S.C. 942)) enacted changes to this 

program. It reauthorized the 911 

Implementation Coordination Office 

(ICO), a joint effort between the National 

Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

(NHTSA) and the National 

Telecommunications and Information 

Administration (NTIA). It delineated the 

responsibilities of the ICO to include a 

joint program to establish and facilitate 

coordination and communication 

between Federal, State, and local 

emergency communications systems, 

emergency personnel, public safety 

organizations, telecommunications 

carriers, and telecommunications 

equipment manufacturers and vendors 

involved in the implementation of 911 

services. 

The NG911 Advancement Act 

provided funding for grants to be used 

for the implementation and operation of 

911 services, E911 services, migration to 

an IP-enabled emergency network, and 

adoption and operation of NG911 

services and applications; the 

implementation of IP-enabled 

emergency services and applications 

enabled by NG911 services, including 

the establishment of IP backbone 

networks and the application layer 

software infrastructure needed to 

interconnect the multitude of 

emergency response organizations; and 

training public safety personnel, 

including call-takers, first responders, 

and other individuals and organizations 

who are part of the emergency response 

chain in 911 services. In August 2019, 

NTIA and NHTSA made $109,250,000 

in grant awards to 36 agencies. 

The information collected for the 

closeout of this grant program will 

include various reporting requirements. 

The closeout performance report is a 

new collection instrument. All grantees 

will submit the closeout performance 

report, tangible property report and final 

financial report in accordance with 2 

CFR part 200, the Uniform 

Administrative Requirements, Cost 

Principles, and Audit Requirements for 

Federal Awards (OMB Uniform 

Guidance). It is important for NTIA and 

NHTSA to have this information so that 

they can effectively administer the grant 

program and account for the 

expenditure of funds. 

Affected Public: Under this proposed 

effort, all grantees are required to submit 

the required report electronically via 

email. Reporting entities are the 36 

grantees, making the total maximum 

number of respondents 36. 

Frequency: One time. The reporting 

entities will be required to submit the 

Closeout Performance Report, Tangible 

Property Report and a final financial 

report. 

Respondents’ Obligation: Mandatory. 

Legal Authority: 47 U.S.C. 942. 

This information collection request 

may be viewed at www.reginfo.gov. 

Follow the instructions to view the 

Department of Commerce collections 

currently under review by OMB. 

Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be 

submitted within 30 days of the 

publication of this notice on the 

following website www.reginfo.gov/ 

public/do/PRAMain. Find this 

particular information collection by 

selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day 

Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or 

by using the search function and 

entering the title of the collection. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Chief Information Officer, Commerce 

Department. 

[FR Doc. 2021–12224 Filed 6–9–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–WL–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Patent and Trademark Office 

[Docket No. PTO–C–2021–0016] 

New Implementation Date for Patent 

Practitioner Registration Statement 

and Continuing Legal Education 

Certification 

AGENCY: United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, Department of 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of revised 

implementation date. 

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) is 

delaying the implementation of the 

biennial mandatory registration 

statement required from registered 

patent practitioners and individuals 

granted limited recognition to practice 

before the USPTO in patent matters 

until November 1, 2024. However, 

beginning in the spring of 2022, 

registered patent practitioners and 

individuals granted recognition to 

practice before the USPTO in patent 

matters may voluntarily certify that they 

have completed six credit hours of 

continuing legal education (CLE) in the 

preceding 24 months. 

DATES: New Implementation Date: The 

USPTO anticipates that the registration 

statement will first be collected on 

November 1, 2024. The voluntary 

certification of CLE will commence in 

the spring of 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

William Covey, Deputy General Counsel 

and Director OED, at 571–272–4097. 

Please direct media inquiries to the 

USPTO’s Office of the Chief 

Communications Officer at 571–272– 

8400. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to the final rule, Setting and Adjusting 

Patent Fees During Fiscal Year 2020, 85 

FR 46932 (Aug. 3, 2020), registered 

patent practitioners and individuals 

granted limited recognition to practice 

before the USPTO in patent matters may 

be required to biennially submit a 

mandatory registration statement. See 

37 CFR 11.11(a)(2). The final rule also 

provided that registered patent 

practitioners and individuals granted 

limited recognition to practice before 

the USPTO in patent matters who have 

completed six credits of CLE in the 

preceding 24 months (including five 

hours of CLE in patent law and practice 

and one hour of CLE in ethics) may 

voluntarily certify such completion to 

the OED Director. 37 CFR 11.11(a)(3)(i). 

In the final rule, the USPTO anticipated 

that practitioners would first be 

required to submit a registration 

statement in the spring of 2022, and that 

patent practitioners would make the 

voluntary CLE certification, if desired, 

when submitting the registration 

statement. 85 FR 46932, at 46948. 

On October 9, 2020, the USPTO 

published proposed CLE guidelines 

with a request for comments in the 

Federal Register, seeking public input 

on the guidelines. 85 FR 64128. The 

request for comments closed on January 

7, 2021. The USPTO received 26 

comments, addressing both the 

proposed CLE guidelines and the 

provisions of the final patent fee rule 

which establish the biennial electronic 

registration statement. 

After considering numerous factors, 

the USPTO has decided to delay the 

implementation of the registration 

statement. The decision to delay is 

based, in part, on the USPTO’s 

consideration of public comments 

received regarding the registration 

statement in response to the request for 

public comments on the proposed CLE 

guidelines. The USPTO’s decision is 

also based on a close analysis of 

operational priorities and budget. The 

USPTO notes that delaying 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 110 / Thursday, June 10, 2021 / Notices 30921 

1To qualify as an MSI for the purpose of the Early 

Career Mentoring Program, the institution must 

Continued 

implementation of the registration 

statement will allow the Office to 

conserve resources by integrating the 

registration statement with other 

USPTO information systems. Based on 

these considerations, the USPTO 

anticipates that the registration 

statement will first be collected on 

November 1, 2024. Once a new date for 

collection of the registration statement 

is certain, the public will be given at 

least 120 days advance notice. 

However, as stated in the 2020 patent 

fee rule, the USPTO will proceed with 

the voluntary CLE certification 

beginning in the spring of 2022. Prior to 

the implementation of the registration 

statement (i.e., prior to November 1, 

2024), registered patent practitioners 

and individuals granted limited 

recognition to practice in patent matters 

before the Office may voluntarily certify 

their CLE completion in accordance 

with 37 CFR 11.11(a)(3)(i) by logging 

into the Office of Enrollment and 

Discipline Information System— 

Customer Interface (OEDIS–CI), 

available at https://oedci.uspto.gov/ 

OEDCI/SignInServlet. As registered 

patent practitioners and individuals 

granted limited recognition to practice 

in patent matters before the USPTO 

already use the OEDIS–CI system to 

update other information with OED, the 

USPTO believes that it will be efficient 

and convenient for practitioners to make 

the voluntary CLE certification, if they 

wish, through this same system. The 

USPTO will issue more specific 

guidance and instructions for making 

the certification in subsequent months. 

Andrew Hirshfeld, 

Commissioner for Patents, Performing the 

Functions and Duties of the Under Secretary 

of Commerce for Intellectual Property and 

Director of the United States Patent and 

Trademark Office. 

[FR Doc. 2021–12149 Filed 6–9–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Applications for New Awards; 

Education Research and Special 

Education Research Grant Programs 

AGENCY: Institute of Education Sciences, 

Department of Education. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Education 

(Department) is issuing a notice inviting 

applications for new awards for fiscal 

year (FY) 2022 for the Education 

Research and Special Education 

Research Grant Programs, Assistance 

Listing Numbers (ALNs) 84.305A, 

84.305B, 84.305D, 84.305R, 84.305S, 

and 84.324X. This notice relates to the 

approved information collection under 

OMB control number 4040–0001. 

DATES: The dates when applications are 

available and the deadlines for 

transmittal of applications invited under 

this notice are indicated in the chart at 

the end of this notice and in the 

Requests for Applications (RFAs) that 

are posted at the following websites: 

https://ies.ed.gov/funding, www.ed.gov/ 

programs/edresearch/index.html, and 

www.ed.gov/programs/ 

specialedresearch/index.html. 

ADDRESSES: For the addresses for 

obtaining and submitting an 

application, please refer to our Common 

Instructions for Applicants to 

Department of Education Discretionary 

Grant Programs, published in the 

Federal Register on February 13, 2019 

(84 FR 3768) and available at 

www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019- 

02-13/pdf/2019-02206.pdf. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

contact person associated with a 

particular research competition is listed 

in the chart at the end of this notice, as 

well as in the relevant RFA and 

application package. 

If you use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 

telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay 

Service (FRS), toll free, at 1–800–877– 

8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Full Text of Announcement 

I. Funding Opportunity Description 

Purpose of Program: In awarding 

these grants, the Institute of Education 

Sciences (IES) intends to provide 

national leadership in expanding 

knowledge and understanding of (1) 

developmental and school readiness 

outcomes for infants and toddlers with 

or at risk for a disability, (2) education 

outcomes for all learners from early 

childhood education through 

postsecondary and adult education, and 

(3) employment and wage outcomes 

when relevant (such as for those 

engaged in career and technical, 

postsecondary, or adult education). The 

IES research grant programs are 

designed to provide interested 

individuals and the general public with 

reliable and valid information about 

education practices that support 

learning and improve academic 

achievement and access to education 

opportunities for all learners. These 

interested individuals include parents, 

educators, learners, researchers, and 

policymakers. In carrying out its grant 

programs, IES provides support for 

programs of research in areas of 

demonstrated national need. 

Competitions in This Notice: IES is 

announcing seven research 

competitions through two of its centers: 

The IES National Center for Education 

Research (NCER) is announcing five 

competitions—one competition in each 

of the following areas: Education 

research; education research training; 

systematic replication in education; 

statistical and research methodology in 

education; and using longitudinal data 

to support State education recovery 

policymaking. 

The IES National Center for Special 

Education Research (NCSER) is 

announcing two competitions for 

research to accelerate pandemic 

recovery in special education. 

NCER Competitions 

The Education Research Competition. 

Under this competition, NCER will 

consider only applications that address 

one of the following topics: 

• Career and Technical Education. 

• Civics Education and Social 

Studies. 

• Cognition and Student Learning. 

• Early Learning Programs and 

Policies. 

• Effective Instruction. 

• English Learners. 

• Improving Education Systems. 

• Postsecondary and Adult 

Education. 

• Literacy. 

• Science, Technology, Engineering, 

and Mathematics (STEM) Education. 

• Social and Behavioral Context for 

Academic Learning. 

Note: While NCER is not now 

establishing a separate, stand-alone 

topic area within the Education 

Research Grants competition inviting 

research related to COVID–19 as 

authorized under the American Rescue 

Plan Act of 2021 (ARP), we invite 

applications to the standing topics listed 

above designed to accomplish this 

purpose. If you intend to submit a 

project in one of the topic areas 

identified above that is specifically 

intended to address COVID–19 learning 

loss, we ask that you express or state 

this intention clearly in your proposal 

and on item 4(b) of the SF424 Federal 

Application Assistance Form. 

The Research Training Programs in 

the Education Sciences Competition. 

Under this competition, NCER will 

consider only applications that address 

one of the following topics: 

• Early Career Mentoring Program for 

Faculty at Minority-Serving Institutions 

(MSIs).1


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