60-Day FR notice

Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 209 / Monday, October 29, 2018 / Notices
This announcement of the
membership of the National Science
Foundation’s Senior Executive Service
Performance Review Board is made in
compliance with 5 U.S.C. 4314(c)(4).
Dated: October 24, 2018.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science
Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2018–23589 Filed 10–26–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555–01–P

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Agency Information Collection
Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
National Science Foundation.
Notice and request for
comments.

AGENCY:
ACTION:

Under the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, and as part of its
continuing effort to reduce paperwork
and respondent burden, the National
Center for Science and Engineering
Statistics (NCSES) within the National
Science Foundation (NSF) is inviting
the general public or other Federal
agencies to comment on this proposed
continuing information collection. The
NCSES will publish periodic summaries
of the proposed projects.
DATES: Written comments on this notice
must be received by December 28, 2018
to be assured consideration. Comments
received after that date will be
considered to the extent practicable.
Send comments to the address listed in
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance
Officer, National Science Foundation,
2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite
W18253, Alexandria, Virginia 22314;
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).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments: Comments are invited on
(a) whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
NCSES, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(b) the accuracy of the NCSES’s estimate
of the burden of the proposed collection
of information; (c) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected, including
through the use of automated collection

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SUMMARY:

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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 collection
techniques or other forms of information
technology.
Title of Collection: Survey of Earned
Doctorates.
OMB Approval Number: 3145–0019.
Expiration Date of Approval: May 31,
2020.
Type of Request: Intent to seek
approval to renew an information
collection for three years.
Abstract: Established within NSF by
the America COMPETES
Reauthorization Act of 2010 § 505,
codified in the NSF Act of 1950, as
amended, NCSES serves as a central
Federal clearinghouse for the collection,
interpretation, analysis, and
dissemination of objective data on
science, engineering, technology, and
research and development for use by
practitioners, researchers, policymakers,
and the public.
The Survey of Earned Doctorates
(SED) is part of NCSES’ survey system
that collects data on individuals in an
effort to provide information on science
and engineering education and careers
in the United States. The SED has been
conducted annually since 1958 and is
jointly sponsored by the National
Science Foundation, National Institutes
of Health, U.S. Department of
Education, and National Endowment for
the Humanities in order to avoid
duplication. It is an accurate, timely
source of information on one of our
Nation’s most important resources—
highly educated individuals.
Data are obtained primarily via Web
survey from each person earning a
research doctorate at the time they
receive the degree. Data are collected on
their field of specialty, educational
background, sources of support in
graduate school, debt level,
postgraduation plans, and demographic
characteristics. The Federal government,
universities, researchers, and others use
the information extensively. NCSES
publishes statistics from the survey in
several reports, primarily in the annual
publication series Doctorate Recipients
from U.S. Universities. These reports are
available on the NCSES website. The
survey will be collected in conformance
with the Privacy Act of 1974. Responses
from individuals are voluntary. NCSES
will ensure that all individually
identifiable information collected will
be kept strictly confidential and will be
used only for research or statistical
purposes.

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Use of the Information: Results from
the SED are used to assess
characteristics of the doctorate
population and trends in doctoral
education and degrees by researchers,
policy makers, universities, and
government agencies. Data from the
survey are published annually on the
NCSES website in a publication series
reporting on all fields of study, titled
Doctorate Recipients from U.S.
Universities. Information from the SED
is also included in other series available
online: Science and Engineering
Indicators; and Women, Minorities, and
Persons with Disabilities in Science and
Engineering. In addition, access to
tabular data from selected variables is
available through Integrated Data Tool,
an online table-generating tool on the
NCSES website.
Expected Respondents: The SED is a
census of all individuals receiving a
research doctorate from an accredited
U.S. academic institution in the
academic year beginning 1 July and
ending 30 June of the subsequent year.
As such, the population for the 2020
SED consists of all individuals receiving
a research doctorate in the 12-month
period beginning 1 July 2019 and
ending 30 June 2020. Likewise, the
population for the 2021 SED consists of
all individuals receiving a research
doctorate in the 12-month period
beginning 1 July 2020 and ending 30
June 2021. A research doctorate is a
doctoral degree that (1) requires
completion of an original intellectual
contribution in the form of a
dissertation or an equivalent
culminating project (e.g., musical
composition) and (2) is not primarily
intended as a degree for the practice of
a profession. The most common
research doctorate degree is the Ph.D.
Recipients of professional doctoral
degrees, such as MD, DDS, JD, DPharm,
and PsyD, are not included in the SED.
The 2020 and 2021 SED are expected to
include about 606 separately reporting
doctoral programs from among
approximately 446 eligible research
doctorate-granting institutions.
Estimate of Burden: A total response
rate of 91.4% of the 54,664 persons who
earned a research doctorate from a U.S.
institution was obtained in academic
year 2017. This level of response rate
has been consistent for several years.
Based on the historical trend, in 2020
approximately 58,000 individuals are
expected to receive research doctorates
from U.S. institutions. Using the past
response rate, the number of SED
respondents in 2020 is estimated to be
52,780 (58,000 doctorate recipients ×
0.91 response rate). Similarly, the
number of individuals expected to earn

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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 209 / Monday, October 29, 2018 / Notices

research doctorates in 2021 is estimated
to be about 59,000; hence, the number
of respondents in 2021 is estimated to
be 53,690 (59,000 × 0.91).
Based on the average Web survey
completion time for the 2018 SED (19
minutes) and the extension of a few
questions to an additional subset of
respondents, NCSES estimates that, on
average, 21 minutes per respondent will
be required to complete the 2020 or
2021 SED questionnaire. The annual
respondent burden for completing the
SED is therefore estimated at 18,473
hours in 2020 (52,780 respondents × 21
minutes) and 18,792 hours in 2021
(based on 53,690 respondents). In
addition to the actual questionnaire, the
SED requires the collection of
administrative data from participating
academic institutions. The Institutional
Coordinator at the institution helps
distribute the Web survey link (and
paper surveys when necessary), track
survey completions, and submit
information to the SED survey
contractor. Based on focus groups
conducted with Institutional
Coordinators, it is estimated that the
SED demands no more than 1% of the
Institutional Coordinator’s time over the
course of a year, which computes to 20
hours per year per Institutional
Coordinator (40 hours per week × 50
weeks per year × .01). With about 606
programs expected to participate in the
SED in 2020 and 2021, the estimated
annual burden to Institutional
Coordinators of administering the SED
is 12,120 hours. Therefore, the total
annual information burden for the SED
is estimated to be 30,593 (18,473 +
12,120) hours in 2020 and 30,912
(18,792 + 12,120) hours in 2021.
Dated: October 24, 2018.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science
Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2018–23561 Filed 10–26–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 40–9059; NRC–2018–0158]

Water Remediation Technology, LLC
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Environmental assessment and
finding of no significant impact;
issuance.

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AGENCY:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is considering
renewal of Water Remediation
Technology, LLC (WRT) Source

SUMMARY:

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Materials License No. SUC–1591, as
well as WRT’s request to expand the
scope of its licensed activities. License
SUC–1591 was originally issued by the
NRC on January 25, 2007, and is a
performance-based, multisite license
that authorizes WRT to use its ion
exchange technology to remove uranium
from community drinking water systems
(CWSs). WRT submitted its request for
license renewal and to expand the scope
of licensed activities on December 21,
2016, and on January 16, 2018, WRT
revised its application to request a 20year renewal term.
The final environmental
assessment (EA) referenced in this
document is available on October 29,
2018.

DATES:

Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2018–0158 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of
information regarding this document.
You may obtain publicly-available
information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to
http://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2018–0158. Address
questions about docket IDs in
Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301–287–9127; email:
Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this document.
• NRC’s Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. To begin the search, select
‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.’’ For
problems with ADAMS, please contact
the NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR)
reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301–
415–4737, or by email to pdr.resource@
nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number
for the document referenced (if it is
available in ADAMS) is provided the
first time that it is mentioned in this
document.
• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and
purchase copies of public documents at
the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
ADDRESSES:

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

James Park, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555–0001; telephone: 301–415–
6954, email: James.Park@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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I. Introduction
The NRC is considering the renewal
of WRT’s Source Materials License No.
SUC–1591 for a 20-year term and
amending the license to expand the
scope of authorized licensed activities.
Therefore, as required by part 51 of Title
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR), the NRC performed an EA.
Based on the results of this EA, the NRC
has determined not to prepare an
environmental impact statement (EIS)
for the license renewal and for the
expansion of the scope of the authorized
licensed activities, and is issuing a
finding of no significant impact.
License SUC–1591 was originally
issued by the NRC on January 25, 2007
(ADAMS Accession No. ML062960463),
to R.M.D. Operations, LLC (RMD), the
predecessor of WRT. License SUC–1591
is a performance-based, multisite
license that authorizes WRT to use its
ion exchange technology to remove
uranium from CWSs. WRT operates in
several NRC ‘‘Agreement States,’’ where
WRT’s activities are subject to
applicable State law and regulation due
to the NRC’s relinquishment of certain
categories of its regulatory authority to
the Agreement State.1 Currently, WRT
does not operate in any non-Agreement
States, where its activities would be
subject to NRC jurisdiction.
II. Summary of Environmental
Assessment
The NRC staff’s EA is available online
in the ADAMS Public Documents
collection at http://www.nrc.gov/
reading-rm/adams.html (ADAMS
Accession No. ML18255A117). This
section is a summary of the EA.
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed action is the NRC staff’s
approval or disapproval of WRT’s
application to renew its license for an
additional 20-year term and to expand
the scope of licensed activities. The
proposed action is in accordance with
the licensee’s application dated
December 21, 2016 (ADAMS Accession
No. ML16358A447), and with its
January 16, 2018, request to extend the
license renewal term from 10 to 20 years
(ADAMS Accession No. ML18016B080).
Renewal of its NRC license would allow
WRT to continue using its ion exchange
1 Under Section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act, as
amended (42 U.S.C. 2021), the NRC is authorized
to relinquish certain prescribed categories of its
regulatory authority to a State, provided that the
State’s governor enter into a duly authorized
agreement with the NRC in accordance with Section
274. Presently, there are 38 Agreement States
(Wyoming became the 38th Agreement State on
September 30, 2018). Of these Agreement States,
WRT operates in California, Colorado, Georgia,
Nebraska, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Virginia.

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