This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

25 

Vol. 80, No. 1 

Friday, January 2, 2015 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

The Department of Commerce will 

submit to the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) for clearance the 

following proposal for collection of 

information under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

35). 

Agency: National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

Title: National Oceanographic Data 

Center Send2NODC Web Application. 

OMB Control Number: 0648–0024. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Request: Regular 

(reinstatement with change of a 

previously approved information 

collection). 

Number of Respondents: 200. 

Average Hours per Response: 1 hour. 

Burden Hours: 300. 

Needs and Uses: This request is for 

reinstatement with change of a 

previously approved information 

collection. When creating a Request to 

Archive oceanographic data or 

information at the United States (U.S.) 

National Oceanographic Data Center 

(NODC), well-organized and complete 

metadata describing those data are 

needed for long term understanding and 

use of those data. The Send2NODC web 

application provides a web-based form 

for easily collecting required and 

optional descriptive metadata to 

describe oceanographic data in a way 

that supports Executive Order 12906 

and structures those metadata to 

conform to the internationally used 

ISO19115–2 Geospatial Metadata 

standard. Descriptive metadata informs 

the suitability of data for use by future 

data users and should provide critical 

context about how data were collected, 

what techniques and measurements 

were made, and data quality 

characterizations. Information about the 

data provider or other individuals is 

used only by NODC to contact the data 

provider with questions about 

submitted data, about the status of the 

data in the archival process, and to 

provide appropriate scientific 

recognition and attribution for 

submitted data. Send2NODC will be 

used by ocean scientists, principal 

investigators and their data managers. 

Change: Information submission is 

now generally web-based. 

Method of Collection 

Affected Public: Not-for-profit 

institutions; businesses or other forprofit organizations; state, local and 

tribal governments, federal government. 

Frequency: On occasion. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

This information collection request 

may be viewed at reginfo.gov. Follow 

the instructions to view Department of 

Commerce collections currently under 

review by OMB. 

Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to OIRA_Submission@

omb.eop.gov or fax to (202) 395–5806. 

Dated: December 29, 2014. 

Glenna Mickelson, 

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30765 Filed 12–31–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–HR–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Office of Administration 

[Docket No.: 141202999–4999–01] 

Commerce Alternative Personnel 

System 

AGENCY: Office of Administration, Office 

of Human Resources Management, 

Department of Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

expansion of employee coverage under 

the Commerce Alternative Personnel 

System, formerly the Department of 

Commerce Personnel Management 

Demonstration Project, published in the 

Federal Register on December 24, 1997. 

This coverage is extended to include 

employees located in the National 

Telecommunications and Information 

Administration (NTIA), employed under 

the First Responder Network Authority 

(FirstNet). FirstNet was created as an 

independent authority within the NTIA, 

Department of Commerce, to provide 

emergency responders with the first 

high-speed, nation-wide network 

dedicated to public safety. 

This notice also serves to make 

changes to the plan to accommodate the 

expansion of and modification to the 

Commerce Alternative Personnel 

System. These changes include the 

addition of specific occupational series, 

Commerce Alternative Personnel 

System Board composition, and the 

implementation of direct-hire authority 

on a limited basis for certain FirstNet 

positions in the ZP career path at the 

Pay Band IV and above. 

DATES: This notice expanding and 

modifying the Commerce Alternative 

Personnel System is effective January 2, 

2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Department of Commerce—Sandra 

Thompson, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, 14th and Constitution 

Avenue NW., Room 51020, Washington, 

DC 20230, (202) 482–0056 or Valerie 

Smith at (202) 482–0272. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Background 

The Office of Personnel Management 

(OPM) approved the Department of 

Commerce (DoC) demonstration project 

for an alternative personnel 

management system, and published the 

final plan in the Federal Register on 

Wednesday, December 24, 1997 (62 FR 

67434). The demonstration project was 

designed to simplify current 

classification systems for greater 

flexibility in classifying work and 

paying employees; establish a 

performance management and rewards 

system for improving individual and 

organizational performance; and 

improve recruiting and examining to 

attract highly-qualified candidates. The 

purpose of the project was to strengthen 

the contribution of human resources 

management and test whether the same 

innovations conducted under the 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology alternative personnel 

management system would produce 

similarly successful results in other DoC 

environments. The project was 

implemented on March 29, 1998. The 

project plan has been modified seven 

times to clarify certain DoC 


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26 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 1 / Friday, January 2, 2015 / Notices 

Demonstration Project authorities, and 

to extend and expand the project: 64 FR 

52810 (September 30, 1999); 68 FR 

47948 (August 12, 2003); 68 FR 54505 

(September 17, 2003); 70 FR 38732 (July 

5, 2005); 71 FR 25615 (May 1, 2006); 71 

FR 50950 (August 28, 2006); 74 FR 

22728 (May 14, 2009). With the passage 

of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2008, Public Law 110–161, on December 

26, 2007, the project was made 

permanent (extended indefinitely) and 

renamed the Commerce Alternative 

Personnel System (CAPS). 

CAPS provides for modifications to be 

made as experience is gained, results are 

analyzed, and conclusions are reached 

on how the system is working. This 

notice announces that the DoC expands 

CAPS to include NTIA FirstNet, in all 

duty locations, as a participating 

organization; and implements FirstNet’s 

use of direct-hire authority under 5 

U.S.C. 3304(a)(3) to fill specific 

scientific and engineering positions 

announced through this register in the 

ZP career path. This notice also serves 

to announce that the DoC modifies 

CAPS to add the following occupational 

series: 0089—Emergency Management 

series; 0306—Government Information 

series; 1109—Grants Management 

series; and 0905—General Attorney 

series. The addition of the 0905— 

General Attorney series is for specific 

use by FirstNet only. Only Attorneys 

employed under the FirstNet 

organization will be covered under 

CAPS. 

The DoC will follow the CAPS plan as 

published in the Federal Register on 

December 24, 1997, and subsequent 

modifications as listed in the 

Background Section of this notice. 

Kevin E. Mahoney, 

Director for Human Resources Management 

and Chief Human Capital Officer. 

Table of Contents 

I. Executive Summary 

II. Basis for CAPS Expansion 

III. Changes to the Project Plan 

I. Executive Summary 

CAPS is designed to (1) improve 

hiring and allow DoC to compete more 

effectively for high-quality candidates 

through direct hiring, selective use of 

higher entry salaries, and selective use 

of recruitment incentives; (2) motivate 

and retain staff through higher pay 

potential, pay-for-performance, more 

responsive personnel systems, and 

selective use of retention incentives; (3) 

strengthen the manager’s role in 

personnel management through 

delegation of personnel authorities; and 

(4) increase the efficiency of personnel 

systems through the installation of a 

simpler and more flexible classification 

system based on pay banding through 

reduction of guidelines, steps, and 

paperwork in classification, hiring, and 

other personnel systems, and through 

automation. 

The current participating 

organizations include 7 offices of the 

Chief Financial Officer/Assistant 

Secretary for Administration in the 

Office of the Secretary; the Bureau of 

Economic Analysis; the Institute for 

Telecommunications Sciences— 

National Telecommunications and 

Information Administration; and 11 

units of the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration: Office of 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, 

National Marine Fisheries Service, the 

National Environmental Satellite, Data, 

and Information Service, National 

Weather Service—Space Environment 

Center, National Ocean Service, 

Program Planning and Integration 

Office, Office of the Under Secretary, 

Marine and Aviation Operations, Office 

of the Chief Administrative Officer, 

Office of the Chief Financial Officer, 

and the Workforce Management Office. 

This amendment modifies the 

December 24, 1997, Federal Register 

notice. Specifically, it expands DoC 

CAPS to include NTIA, FirstNet as a 

participating organization and enables 

FirstNet to hire, after public notice is 

given, any qualified applicants in the ZP 

career path series as defined in the Basis 

for CAPS Expansion section without 

regard to 5 U.S.C. 3309–3318, 5 CFR 

part 211, or 5 CFR part 337, subpart A 

on a limited basis; it also adds 

additional occupational series as 

defined in the Background section. 

II. Basis for CAPS Expansion 

A. Purpose 

CAPS is designed to provide 

managers at the lowest organizational 

level the authority, control, and 

flexibility to recruit, retain, develop, 

recognize, and motivate its workforce, 

while ensuring adequate accountability 

and oversight. 

The expansion of coverage to include 

NTIA, FirstNet, along with the 

implementation of direct-hire authority, 

should improve FirstNet’s ability to 

recruit and compete more effectively for 

high-quality personnel. Section 

3304(a)(3) of Title 5, United States Code, 

provides agencies with the authority to 

appoint candidates directly to jobs for 

which the Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM) determines that 

there is a severe shortage of candidates 

or a critical hiring need. 

OPM’s direct-hire authority enables 

agencies to hire, after public notice is 

given, any qualified applicant without 

regard to 5 U.S.C. 3309–3318, 5 CFR 

part 211, or 5 CFR part 337, subpart A. 

This notice implements FirstNet’s use of 

direct-hire authority to fill up to 21 

positions in the ZP career path in the 

following series: 0850—Electrical 

Engineering; 0855—Electronics 

Engineering; 0854—Computer 

Engineering; or 1550—Computer 

Science; and up to 56 positions in the 

ZP—0089, Emergency Management 

series. The use of direct-hire authority 

to fill these positions will not exceed 77 

positions in the ZP career path at any 

one time. NTIA, FirstNet will track the 

number of hires made under direct-hire 

authority, ensuring numbers specified 

for the occupational series are not 

exceeded. 

In 1997, with the approval of the 

DoC’s Demonstration Project (62 FR 

67434), OPM concurred that some 

occupations in the ZP career path at the 

Pay Band III and above constitute a 

shortage category, and some 

occupations for which there is a special 

rate under the General Schedule pay 

system constitute a shortage category. 

Past recruitment efforts have 

demonstrated a critical shortage of 

candidates possessing specialized 

technical expertise in 4G Long Term 

Evaluation (LTE) technologies and 

mobile systems, as well as expertise in 

public safety organizational operations 

and infrastructure capabilities. FirstNet 

will use direct-hire authority to recruit 

Electronics Engineers, Electrical 

Engineers, Computer Engineers, and 

Computer Scientists in the ZP career 

path, Pay Band IV or higher, with efforts 

focused on recruiting individuals with 

technical expertise in 4G LTE 

technologies and development of mobile 

systems. This expertise is critical in 

order to test, evaluate, deploy, and 

operate a nation-wide public safety 

broadband network. 

DoC FirstNet will use direct-hire 

authority to fill 0089—Emergency 

Management Specialist (Public Safety) 

positions in the ZP career path, Pay 

Band IV or higher, with efforts focused 

on formulation, development, and 

engagement of public safety officials in 

planning and implementing the nationwide public safety broadband network. 

FirstNet will implement direct-hire 

authority to hire individuals with public 

safety experience in preventing, 

protecting, responding, or mitigating 

emergency events. It is imperative for 

the success of public safety to foster 

cooperation among various State, local, 

and tribal public safety officials to 

ensure requirements are captured for the 

development of the public safety 

network. To achieve FirstNet’s statutory 


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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 1 / Friday, January 2, 2015 / Notices 27 

requirements and program goals, it is 

critical to recruit and retain individuals 

with public safety sector knowledge and 

experience in order to provide technical 

advice on preparedness and response 

activities associated with natural and/or 

man-made disasters and the 

organizational and infrastructure 

challenges faced responding to and 

recovering from emergency incidents. 

DoC’s CAPS allows for modifications 

of procedures if no new waiver from law 

or regulation is added. Given that this 

expansion and modification is in 

accordance with existing law and 

regulation and CAPS is a permanent 

alternative personnel system, the DoC is 

authorized to make the changes 

described in this notice. 

B. Participating Employees 

Employee notification of this 

expansion will be accomplished by 

providing a full set of briefings to 

employees and managers and providing 

them electronic access to all CAPS 

policies and procedures, including the 

seven previous Federal Register 

Notices. Employees will also be 

provided a copy of this Federal Register 

notice upon approval. Subsequent 

supervisor training and informational 

briefings for all employees will be 

accomplished prior to the 

implementation date of the expansion. 

III. Changes to the Project Plan 

The CAPS at DoC, published in the 

Federal Register on December 24, 1997 

(62 FR 67434), is amended as follows: 

1. The following organization will be 

added to the project plan, Section II D— 

Participating Organizations: 

National Telecommunications and 

Information Administration (NTIA), 

First Responder Network Authority 

(FirstNet) 

2. The following series are added to 

Table 2: 

Administrative (ZA) Career Path 

0306, Government Information Series 

1109, Grants Management Series 

0905, General Attorney Series 

(Authorized use by FirstNet only) 

Scientific and Engineering (ZP) Career 

Path 

0089, Emergency Management Series 

3. Section III Personnel System 

Changes, (B) Staffing: Add a new 

subsection titled: ‘‘Direct-Hire 

Authority: Critical Shortage 

Occupations’’ and the information 

under this subsection is as follows: DoC 

FirstNet uses direct-hire procedures for 

categories of occupations that require 

skills that are in short supply. The 

following occupations constitute a 

shortage category, at the Pay Band IV 

and above in the ZP Career Path: 

Electronics Engineers, Electrical 

Engineers, Computer Engineers, 

Computer Scientists, and Emergency 

Management Specialists (Public Safety). 

Any positions in these categories may 

be filled by FirstNet through direct-hire 

procedures in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 

3304(a)(3). DoC FirstNet advertises the 

availability of job opportunities in 

direct-hire occupations by posting on 

the OPM USAJOBS Web site. DoC 

FirstNet will follow internal direct-hire 

procedures for accepting applications. 

4. A new subsection titled: ‘‘Referral 

Procedures for Direct-Hire’’ is added 

and the information under this 

subsection is as follows: After public 

notice is given, a qualified candidate 

may be referred without regard to 5 

U.S.C. 3309–3318, 5 CFR part 211, or 5 

CFR part 337, subpart A. 

5. Section VII Project Management: 

The Commerce Alternative Personnel 

System Board will expand to include 

additional board members representing 

the major operating units included in 

CAPS. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30754 Filed 12–31–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–EA–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

Antidumping or Countervailing Duty 

Order, Finding, or Suspended 

Investigation; Opportunity To Request 

Administrative Review 

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Brenda E. Waters, Office of AD/CVD 

Operations, Customs Liaison Unit, 

Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th 

Street and Constitution Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20230, telephone: (202) 

482–4735. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Each year during the anniversary 

month of the publication of an 

antidumping or countervailing duty 

order, finding, or suspended 

investigation, an interested party, as 

defined in section 771(9) of the Tariff 

Act of 1930, as amended (‘‘the Act’’), 

may request, in accordance with 19 CFR 

351.213, that the Department of 

Commerce (‘‘the Department’’) conduct 

an administrative review of that 

antidumping or countervailing duty 

order, finding, or suspended 

investigation. 

All deadlines for the submission of 

comments or actions by the Department 

discussed below refer to the number of 

calendar days from the applicable 

starting date. 

Respondent Selection 

In the event the Department limits the 

number of respondents for individual 

examination for administrative reviews 

initiated pursuant to requests made for 

the orders identified below, the 

Department intends to select 

respondents based on U.S. Customs and 

Border Protection (‘‘CBP’’) data for U.S. 

imports during the period of review. We 

intend to release the CBP data under 

Administrative Protective Order 

(‘‘APO’’) to all parties having an APO 

within five days of publication of the 

initiation notice and to make our 

decision regarding respondent selection 

within 21 days of publication of the 

initiation Federal Register notice. 

Therefore, we encourage all parties 

interested in commenting on respondent 

selection to submit their APO 

applications on the date of publication 

of the initiation notice, or as soon 

thereafter as possible. The Department 

invites comments regarding the CBP 

data and respondent selection within 

five days of placement of the CBP data 

on the record of the review. 

If the Department limits the number 

of respondents selected for individual 

examination in the administrative 

review of the antidumping duty order 

on Wooden Bedroom Furniture from the 

People’s Republic of China (A–570– 

890), it intends to select respondents 

based on volume data contained in 

responses to quantity and value 

questionnaires. Further, due to the 

unique circumstances present in 

administering this order, for the 

purposes of this segment of the 

proceeding, i.e., the 2013 review period, 

the Department has decided to require 

that all parties filing separate rate 

applications or certifications respond to 

the Q&V questionnaire and certain 

additional questions. The Q&V 

questionnaire, the additional questions, 

and the Separate Rate Application and 

Separate Rate Certification will be 

included in a document package that 

will be available on the Department’s 

Web site. Responses to the additional 

questions and to the Separate Rate 

Application and Separate Rate 

Certification are due unless otherwise 

noted by the Department. 

In the event the Department decides 

it is necessary to limit individual 

examination of respondents and 


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