Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 201 / Friday, October 17, 2014 / Notices 62469 

Affected Public: Students and parents 

applying for YCC program, YCC 

program staff, and students in YCC 

program. 

Form(s): Total annual respondents: 

4,000 students; 4,000 parents; and 244 

staff. 

Annual Frequency: One time for the 

consent, assent, and BIFs, one time for 

each round of site visits, and two times 

for the grantee survey. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this comment request will be 

summarized and/or included in the 

request for Office of Management and 

Budget approval of the information 

collection request; they will also 

become a matter of public record. 

Dated: October 8, 2014. 

James H. Moore, Jr., 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, U.S. 

Department of Labor. 

[FR Doc. 2014–24676 Filed 10–16–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–23–P 

MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE 

CORPORATION 

[MCC FR 14–08] 

Notice of Entering Into a Compact With 

the Republic of El Salvador 

AGENCY: Millennium Challenge 

Corporation. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 

610(b)(2) of the Millennium Challenge 

Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7701–7718), the 

Millennium Challenge Corporation 

(MCC) is publishing a summary of the 

Millennium Challenge Compact 

between the United States of America, 

acting through the Millennium 

Challenge Corporation, and the 

Republic of El Salvador. Representatives 

of the United States Government and El 

Salvador executed the Compact 

documents on September 30, 2014. The 

complete text of the Compact has been 

posted at http://www.mcc.gov/

documents/agreements/compact112906-elsalvador.pdf. 

Dated: October 14, 2014. 

Thomas G. Hohenthaner, 

Acting Vice President and General Counsel, 

Millennium Challenge Corporation. 

Summary of Millennium Challenge 

Compact With the Republic of El 

Salvador 

1. Overview 

The Millennium Challenge 

Corporation (‘‘MCC’’) has signed a fiveyear, $277 million compact with the 

Republic of El Salvador aimed at 

reducing poverty and accelerating 

economic growth (the ‘‘Compact’’). The 

Compact is intended to assist the 

Government of El Salvador (‘‘GoES’’) to 

strengthen the investment climate, 

enhance the role of public-private 

partnerships in delivering key services, 

and improve the country’s productivity 

and competitiveness in international 

markets. Through intensive policy 

reforms and an integrated set of 

investments in the institutional capital, 

human capital, and physical capital of 

El Salvador, MCC expects that the 

Compact will help set the foundation for 

lasting economic growth and poverty 

reduction. 

2. Background 

This Compact will build on GoES 

reforms and initiatives and is informed 

by consultations with over 200 

businesses. First, the Compact will 

invest in the institutional capital of El 

Salvador in order to enhance the 

investment climate by streamlining the 

regulatory environment and supporting 

the implementation of public-private 

partnerships. Second, the Compact will 

support policy reforms and invest in 

human capital to improve education 

quality and better match workforce 

skills with the demands of the labor 

market. Third, the Compact will invest 

in physical capital to reduce logistics 

and transportation costs by improving 

key road segments and border 

infrastructure in major transport 

corridors. 

The Compact’s three projects 

represent a total investment of $365.2 

million, of which MCC will contribute 

$277 million, and the GoES will commit 

$88.2 million—a 32 percent matching 

contribution that is well above the 15 

percent country contribution required 

for second compacts with lower-middle 

income countries. 

3. Program Overview and Budget 

Below is a summary describing the 

components of the Compact. The budget 

and expected impacts are preliminary 

based on due diligence and project 

appraisal. 

COMPACT BUDGET OVERVIEW

Project MCC 

Funding 

GoES 

Funding 

Total 

investment 

Portion of 

budget 

(percent) 

Millions of US$ 

Investment Climate Project .............................................................................. 42.4 50.0 92.4 25.3 

Human Capital Project ..................................................................................... 100.7 15.0 115.7 31.7

Logistical Infrastructure Project ....................................................................... 109.6 15.7 125.3 34.3 

Monitoring and Evaluation ............................................................................... 4.3 ........................ 4.3 1.2 

Program Administration ................................................................................... 20.0 7.5 27.5 7.5 

Total .......................................................................................................... $277.0 $88.2 $365.2 100 

4. Summary of Projects and Activities 

Investment Climate Project 

The constraints to economic growth 

analysis and consultations with 

investors identified excessive ‘‘red tape’’ 

and discretionary application of rules as 

negatively affecting the investment 

climate in El Salvador. Firms also 

identified the need for key public 

infrastructure to increase productivity, 

but tight fiscal constraints and weak 

institutional capacity limit the ability of 

the GoES to provide such infrastructure. 

The Investment Climate Project seeks to 

address these deficiencies in El 

Salvador’s investment climate by 

improving the regulatory environment 

and the GoES’s capacity to provide key 

public services in partnership with the 

private sector through the following two 

activities: 

• The Regulatory Improvement 

Activity will prioritize and promote 

investment climate reforms with the 

goal of creating a more efficient and 

profitable business environment. MCC 

will support the development of an 

institutional framework and system, 

including an independent institution 

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62470 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 201 / Friday, October 17, 2014 / Notices 

focused on continuous regulatory 

improvement and the prioritization and 

implementation of a select set of 

reforms. The reforms will focus on areas 

critical to El Salvador’s competitiveness 

in international markets and may 

include trade facilitation, border 

crossing and customs procedures, 

environmental permitting, and 

harmonization of municipal and 

national regulations. The regulatory 

improvement institution will also 

consider the extent to which regulations 

can be improved to reduce the potential 

for corruption. In designing and 

implementing reforms, the institution 

will ensure that the proposed reforms 

are consistent with the GoES’s 

obligations under international trade 

and investment agreements, including 

the Dominican Republic-Central 

America Free Trade Agreement. As part 

of the activity, the GoES will commit to 

review, simplify and potentially 

eliminate regulations early in the 

Compact implementation process. Such 

concrete demonstrations of high level 

commitment to the reform process will 

be necessary to achieve a dramatic 

change in the perceptions of the 

business climate in El Salvador. 

• The Partnership Development 

Activity seeks to enable the GoES to 

partner with private enterprise in 

innovative ways to provide critical 

public services in the face of tight fiscal 

constraints. The GoES has recently 

passed several laws to facilitate private 

investment and trade. Most notably, the 

GoES legislature unanimously passed a 

law in May 2013 and subsequent 

reforms in May 2014 to facilitate publicprivate partnerships (‘‘PPPs’’) in the 

provision of key public services. MCC 

will invest in capacity building to 

properly develop, implement, and 

monitor such partnerships under this 

law. MCC will make available funding 

for transaction advisory services to 

develop and tender PPPs for two key 

infrastructure projects. Projects 

currently under review are the 

expansion of the El Salvador 

International Airport and a wind farm. 

MCC and the GoES are also sponsoring 

the El Salvador Investment Challenge 

(‘‘ESIC’’), a program to more efficiently 

and transparently allocate limited GoES 

resources to public goods needed to 

support private investment in the 

international trade of goods and 

services. The ESIC generated 74 

investment project proposals in its 

initial call for proposals, of which 13 are 

being evaluated for the next phase of 

development. The GoES plans to 

institutionalize the ESIC as an 

instrument for attracting private 

investment and will contribute up to 

$50 million to the ESIC during the term 

of the Compact. 

The estimated economic rate of return 

(‘‘ERR’’) for the Investment Climate 

Project is 18.56 percent, using a 

weighted estimate of the calculated 

ERRs for each activity. 

Human Capital Project 

The quality of education in El 

Salvador is below what the country 

requires to be competitive in world 

markets. The Human Capital Project is 

designed to improve the quality of 

education and to better match the 

supply of skills of students coming out 

of secondary school with the demand of 

a labor market oriented towards 

international trade. The project consists 

of the following two activities: 

• The Education Quality Activity 

supports complementary interventions 

to provide Salvadoran students the 

benefits of competency-based education, 

increased classroom time, teachers 

trained in requisite subject-matters and 

pedagogical skills, and an institutional 

and physical environment conducive to 

learning. MCC’s investment will 

strengthen the national education 

system by reforming the laws, policies, 

and operations that govern continuous 

professional development for teachers, 

student assessment, and information 

systems. The activity will strengthen 

and expand the implementation of the 

full-time inclusive school model, which 

increases classroom time from 25 to 40 

hours per week, in an estimated 400 

schools grouped in 45–55 clusters, 

focusing resources on grades 7–12. The 

curriculum improvement component 

will focus on English, mathematics, 

science and information technology, 

and other 21st century skills. 

• The Technical, Vocational 

Education and Training (‘‘TVET’’) 

System Reform Activity seeks to 

harmonize the skills supplied by private 

and public TVET providers with the 

skills demanded by the labor market. 

The activity will strengthen the national 

TVET governance system by supporting 

legal, policy, and operational reforms 

within the system. MCC will support 

the establishment of a public entity 

governed by a board comprised of an 

equal number of public and private 

sector representatives to provide the 

legal and institutional framework for an 

integrated TVET system. The activity 

will also fund TVET curricula 

development with participation from 

the private sector, career counseling, 

and job-matching services. It will also 

fund the establishment of a framework 

and standards for accreditation of TVET 

training organizations and certification 

of teachers and students. The activity 

will also strengthen the capacity of the 

TVET system for identifying labor 

market trends that will inform the 

strategic direction of the TVET system, 

including the establishment of a 

monitoring and evaluation (‘‘M&E’’) 

framework and a labor market 

observatory. 

The estimated ERR for the Human 

Capital Project is 11.35 percent. 

Logistical Infrastructure Project 

The constraints analysis identified 

transportation and logistics as main 

factors contributing to the productivity 

and competitiveness of Salvadoran 

exports. Consultations with businesses 

during Compact development also 

highlighted certain transportation and 

logistics deficiencies, including the 

need to expand and rehabilitate key 

road segments in the coastal zone of El 

Salvador. The Logistical Infrastructure 

Project is comprised of two activities 

designed to reduce logistical and 

transportation costs and relieve 

bottlenecks at critical sections along the 

logistical corridor that connects the 

main border crossing with Honduras at 

El Amatillo, the Ports of La Union and 

Acajutla, and the international airport: 

• The Coastal Highway Expansion 

Activity seeks to relieve congestion at 

the most transited segment (27 

kilometers) of El Salvador’s coastal 

highway by expanding this road from 

two to four lanes. The coastal highway 

is one of the two most important 

logistical corridors in the country and 

connects the country’s major logistical 

nodes along the Southern coastal zone 

of the country, including its two sea 

ports (La Union and Acajutla) and the 

international airport. 

• The Border Crossing Infrastructure 

Activity seeks to relieve the freight and 

passenger traffic congestion at the 

border crossing into Honduras at El 

Amatillo by improving a 5.7 kilometer 

road leading to the border and 

modernizing the border-crossing 

facilities on the Salvadoran side. MCC 

will invest in the construction of control 

stations at the border, including 

buildings, internal access and 

connecting roads, parking areas, water 

and sanitation, and other infrastructure 

components that may be necessary for 

the effective functioning of these 

stations. 

The estimated ERR for the Logistical 

Infrastructure Project is 20.31 percent, 

using a weighted estimate of the 

calculated ERRs for each activity. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 201 / Friday, October 17, 2014 / Notices 62471 

5. Program Logic, Expected Results, and 

Beneficiaries 

In order for El Salvador to be 

competitive and raise productivity in 

internationally-traded goods and 

services, the factors of production in El 

Salvador must be competitive on world 

markets. Those factors include human 

capital, physical capital, and often 

logistics/transportation. The 

institutional environment can also affect 

productivity. As a result, the Compact 

takes a multi-pronged approach to 

enhance El Salvador’s competitiveness 

in these factors of productivity. 

By streamlining the business 

environment, improving the quality of 

education, and reducing transportation 

and logistics costs, MCC’s investments 

are intended to increase the 

productivity of current firms involved 

in the trade of international goods and 

services, which is expected to increase 

current production (and subsequently, 

employment). Firms are then expected 

to invest new revenues in more 

productive technology to realize greater 

returns on future production. Higher 

employment and output are expected 

over time through this self-reinforcing 

feedback loop which is enabled by 

greater productivity in traded goods and 

services. 

The expected beneficiaries of the 

Regulatory Improvement Activity are 

the firms operating in El Salvador 

(currently more than 25,000) that will 

experience cost savings as a result of 

regulatory reforms. The potential 

expansion of the El Salvador 

International Airport under the 

Partnership Development Activity is 

expected to decrease delays and travel 

costs for travelers, while the wind farm 

project would increase the GoES’s 

ability to attract investment for 

renewable energy. The beneficiaries of 

the ESIC are expected to be those firms 

whose proposals are selected for grant 

funding, workers who realize net 

income gains associated with 

employment as a result of the projects, 

and third parties who benefit from the 

public investment. 

MCC expects the Human Capital 

Project to directly benefit students in 

grades 7–12 in general and technical 

education, who realize higher incomes 

as a result of more years of education. 

In particular, the project is expected to 

contribute to preventing or postponing 

the dropout of approximately 176,000 

students. Direct beneficiaries of the 

TVET System Reform Activity are 

expected to be TVET students who 

receive higher incomes as a result of 

receiving skills that are better matched 

to labor market needs. Additional 

beneficiaries of the project include 

students who do not attend a full-time 

inclusive school but receive increased 

incomes as a result of improved quality 

of education that result from the 

implementation of reforms at the 

national level. Communities may also 

experience reductions in crime as a 

result of the full-time inclusive school 

model, due to increased permanence in 

school and lowered social vulnerability 

of students. 

The beneficiaries for the Logistical 

Infrastructure Project are the estimated 

171,159 individuals living within five 

kilometers of either side of the project 

sites. Because of the nature of the 

activities as key logistical thoroughfares, 

benefits in the form of reduced vehicle 

operating costs and travel time are 

expected to accrue to individuals and 

firms that travel along those corridors. 

6. 2006 El Salvador Compact Update 

and Sustainability Information 

In November 2006, the Millennium 

Challenge Corporation signed a fiveyear, $460.94 million compact (the 

‘‘2006 Compact’’) with the GoES to 

improve the economic opportunities of 

Salvadorans through strategic 

investments in agricultural production, 

rural business development, education, 

and transportation infrastructure. The 

2006 Compact consisted of the 

following three projects: 

1. The Connectivity Project, to reduce 

travel cost and time within the Northern 

Zone, 

2. The Human Development Project, 

to increase the human and physical 

capital of residents of the Northern Zone 

and further employment and business 

opportunities, and 

3. The Productive Development 

Project, to increase production and 

employment through technical 

assistance, credit guarantees, and capital 

investments. 

The 2006 Compact entered into force 

on September 20, 2007 and closed on 

September 20, 2012. 

Key Achievements of the Compact are 

as follows: 

• Connectivity Project: A total of 

223.32 kilometers of road, including 

three large bridges, and 20 smaller 

bridges were constructed in northern El 

Salvador to help improve connectivity 

for farmers and local producers with the 

rest of the country. This east-west road 

in the north stretches close to the 

borders with Guatemala to the west and 

Honduras to the east, and the 

improvements have reduced travel time 

across the Northern Zone from 12 hours 

to 6.5 hours. 

• Human Development Project: 

Electrification: An estimated 35,412 

households now have electricity in their 

homes, thanks to the installation of new 

power lines and solar power systems, 

helping to increase the percentage of 

households with electricity connections 

in the Northern Zone from 78 percent in 

2007 to 90 percent in 2011. 

Water and Sanitation: MCC funded 

about 272 kilometers of water pipes as 

part of the 2006 Compact’s investment 

in water and basic sanitation that 

helped connect 7,624 households to 

potable water. 

Education: MCC funded the 

construction of a new technical 

community college, improvements to a 

teacher training center, and the 

expansion and rehabilitation of 20 high 

schools. The rehabilitation of the high 

schools alone is expected to benefit 

more than 9,700 students every year. 

• Productive Development Project: 

MCC funding assisted an estimated 

17,500 producers through the provision 

of training, seeds, equipment, and 

technical assistance. The project 

provided 30 loans to small and mediumsized businesses in the Northern Zone 

to develop new or expand investments 

in the agriculture, tourism and 

handicrafts value chains. These loans 

totaled $5.7 million, of which 

approximately 20 percent went to 

women-owned businesses. 

Sustainability: 

Although no contribution was 

required from El Salvador during the 

implementation of the 2006 Compact, 

the GoES contributed substantially in 

parallel to the Compact to enhance the 

success of the program. 

The Connectivity Project: In the final 

year of compact implementation (2012), 

the GoES also carried out two road 

maintenance reforms, increasing annual 

road maintenance funding by about $26 

million (∼37% increase). At the end of 

the five years, the GoES allocated an 

additional $13 million to complete two 

remaining segments of the Northern 

Transnational Highway. During the 

four-month closure period, all activities 

under the 2006 Compact were 

successfully completed. 

The Human Development Project’s 

activities were extensions of existing 

GoES programs, built on the National 

Plan for Education 2021 and designed to 

strengthen and install permanent 

capacities in key Salvadoran ministries 

and institutions. In addition, the 

Ministry of Education agreed to fund 

infrastructure and equipment 

maintenance and continued an 

agreement with the Gloria de Kriete 

Foundation to fund scholarship for 

secondary education through 2014. 

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62472 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 201 / Friday, October 17, 2014 / Notices 

The Productive Development Project 

was designed to transition producers to 

higher-profit activities, generate new 

investment, expand markets and sales, 

and create new jobs in ways that 

stimulate sustainable economic growth 

and poverty reduction. Actions 

accomplished to ensure sustainability of 

investments made under the Productive 

Development Project included the 

establishment of contracts between 

beneficiaries and supported 

cooperatives and major retailers for the 

purchase of horticulture and dairy 

products. The Ministry of Agriculture 

also incorporated the project’s 

beneficiaries into its national Family 

Agriculture Plan, its signature 

agriculture extension service aimed at 

improving the profitability of individual 

and small and medium-sized producers. 

Environmental and Social 

Sustainability: 

As part of an effort to ensure 

environmental and social sustainability, 

all Projects included consultations with 

the public regarding various aspects of 

their implementation. The design of the 

Projects, including their major activities, 

was included in a strategic 

environmental assessment that was 

completed prior to implementation. The 

sustainability of the projects was also 

enhanced by the institutional capacity 

building and training in environmental 

management acquired through the close 

cooperation among the environmental 

units of the implementing agencies, the 

Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), 

and MCC. The Salvadoran Ministry of 

Environment (MARN) received Compact 

funding support to offset the additional 

regulatory costs associated with the 

Projects. Over the course of the 

Compact, collaboration improved 

between MARN and the environment 

units of the implementing agencies. 

The GoES and private sector and civil 

society organizations have consistently 

worked to ensure the sustainability of 

the 2006 Compact and we expect them 

to continue to support these 

investments going forward. 

[FR Doc. 2014–24773 Filed 10–16–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9211–03–P 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Federal-Commercial Spectrum Data; 

Workshop 

AGENCY: The National Coordination 

Office (NCO) for Networking and 

Information Technology Research and 

Development (NITRD). 

ACTION: Notice—Federal-Commercial 

Spectrum Data: Understanding 

Information Exchange Needs, Issues, 

and Approaches. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Wendy Wigen at 703–292–4873 or 

wigen@nitrd.gov. Individuals who use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time, 

Monday through Friday. 

DATES: October 21, 2014. 

SUMMARY: Representatives from Federal 

research agencies, private industry, and 

academia will identify R&D in the area 

of spectrum data requirements that will 

promote progress toward more efficient 

spectrum utilization and sharing. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Overview 

The Wireless Spectrum Research and 

Development Senior Steering Group 

(WSRD SSG) will hold its next 

workshop, Federal-Commercial 

Spectrum Data: Understanding 

Information Exchange Needs, Issues, 

and Approaches, on October 21, from 

8:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., at the National 

Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd. 

Room I–1235, Arlington, VA. Dynamic 

information sharing and management 

creates innovative opportunities in 

many areas including network and 

business intelligence, devices, 

applications, public safety operations 

and security; but developing the next 

generation of spectrum management 

tools is complex. It requires consensus 

among stakeholders on several 

important issues such as: The purpose 

of collecting and sharing information, 

the type and minimal amount of data 

needed, how to get it into the SAS, the 

necessary level of security, and 

enforcement. 

The NTIA and the FCC are increasing 

their efforts to identify and make 

available new spectral bands with the 

understanding that this will necessitate 

the use of spectrum sharing techniques. 

To ensure success, it is critical to first 

determine the spectrum data 

requirements of the stakeholders in 

order to create new policy and develop 

new techniques and procedures for 

dynamic spectrum usage. The event 

agenda and information about the 

webcast will be available the week of 

the event at: http://www.nitrd.gov/

nitrdgroups/index.php?title=Wireless_

Spectrum_Research_and_Development_

(WSRD)#title 

Background 

The Presidential Memorandum, 

Presidential Memorandum on 

Unleashing the Wireless Broadband 

Revolution (http://www.whitehouse.gov/ 

the-press-office/presidentialmemorandum-unleashing-wirelessbroadband-revolution), released on June 

14, 2013, directed the implementation 

of ‘‘policies for sharing with authorized 

non-federal parties of classified, 

sensitive, or proprietary data regarding 

assignments, utilization of spectrum, 

system configurations, business plans, 

and other information’’. The 

Presidential Council of Advisors on 

Science and Technology (PCAST) 

released a report (http:// 

www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ 

microsites/ostp/pcast_spectrum_report_

final_july_20_2012.pdf) in July 2012 

that advocated setting up Spectrum 

Access System (SAS) databases, with a 

uniform interface analogous to the 

Internet’s Domain Naming System 

(DNS), to provide federal information 

and access restrictions. 

Over the past three years, the WSRD 

has held a series of workshops that 

addressed the challenge defined in these 

documents. Information gathered from 

this workshop will be instrumental in 

helping the WSRD SSG develop 

recommendations that will be released 

in a workshop report prepared for the 

Office of Science and Technology 

Policy. 

Submitted by the National Science 

Foundation for the National 

Coordination Office (NCO) for 

Networking and Information 

Technology Research and Development 

(NITRD) on October 14, 2014. 

Suzanne H. Plimpton, 

Reports Clearance Officer, National Science 

Foundation. 

[FR Doc. 2014–24741 Filed 10–16–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Advisory Committee for Computer and 

Information Science and Engineering: 

Notice of Meeting 

In accordance with the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92– 

463, as amended), the National Science 

Foundation (NSF) announces the 

following meeting: 

Name: Advisory Committee for 

Computer and Information Science and 

Engineering (CISE) (1115). 

Date/Time: November 13, 2014: 12:30 

p.m. to 5:30 p.m., November 14, 2014: 

8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 

Place: National Science Foundation, 

4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1235, 

Arlington, Virginia 22230. 

Type of Meeting: Open. 

Contact Person: Carmen Whitson, 

National Science Foundation, 4201 

Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1105, 

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