[Federal Register: June 26, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 124)]
[Notices]
[Page 36298-36299]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26jn08-25]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of Industry and Security
Emerging Technology and Research Advisory Committee; Notice of
Recruitment of Private-Sector Members Date Extension
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is announcing the
creation of and recruiting individuals for a technical
[[Page 36299]]
advisory committee that will review and provide recommendations to the
Department of Commerce on emerging technology and research issues. The
Emerging Technology and Research Advisory Committee (ETRAC) will advise
the Department and other agency officials on (i) the identification of
emerging technologies and research and development activities that may
be of interest from a dual-use perspective; (ii) the prioritization of
new and existing controls to determine which are of greatest
consequence to national security; (iii) the potential impact of dual-
use export control requirements on research activities; and (iv) the
threat to national security posed by unauthorized export technologies.
DATES: To respond to the recruitment notice, please send a copy of your
resume to the individual identified under the ADDRESSES heading. This
Notice of Recruitment has been extended until July 22, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may submit their resume to Ms. Yvette
Springer at Yspringer@bis.doc.gov or mail to U.S. Department of
Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, 14th Street and Constitution
Ave., NW., Room 1093, Washington, DC 20230.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Crawford, Office of Technology
Evaluation, Bureau of Industry and Security, telephone: (202) 482-4933
or e-mail: mcrawfor@bis.doc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
BIS is proposing the establishment of a technical advisory
committee, the Emerging Technology and Research Advisory Committee
(ETRAC), under the terms of section 5(h) of the Export Administration
Act of 1979, as amended (EAA), 50 U.S.C. app. 2401-2420 (2000), the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1701-1707
(2007), and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (5 U.S.C. app. 2
(2005)), which will provide an important vehicle for gathering
necessary data as part of the Department's efforts to ensure that
export controls continue to apply to sensitive items and keep pace with
technological and research innovation without stifling U.S.
competitiveness.
BIS's decision to establish the ETRAC drew on three sources: Public
comments submitted to BIS last year regarding the Commerce Control List
(CCL), the report recently issued by the Deemed Export Advisory
Committee (DEAC), a Federal advisory committee charged with making
recommendations to the Secretary regarding BIS's deemed export policy
and a new Presidential directive calling for BIS to regularly reassess
and update the CCL.
First, in response to a notice of inquiry, ``Request for Public
Comments on a Systematic Review of the Commerce Control List,''
published in the Federal Register on July 17, 2007, BIS received public
comments stating that the CCL was not keeping pace with technology and
suggesting that university experts play a greater role in updating the
list.
Second, on December 20, 2007, the DEAC submitted its final report,
The Deemed Export Rule in the Era of Globalization, to the Secretary of
Commerce. The DEAC recommended that BIS create a panel of outside
experts in the fields of science and engineering to conduct a ``zero-
based'' annual review of the list of technologies on the CCL subject to
deemed export licensing policy. The DEAC also suggested that the
Department increase the focus on and ``build higher fences around those
elements of technical knowledge that could have the greatest
consequences in the national/homeland security sphere by systematically
reviewing the Commerce Control List, with advice from independent
experts, to eliminate those items and technologies that have little or
no such consequences.''
The DEAC's recommendations contained in the report constitute a
written request from representatives of a substantial segment of an
industry that produces goods or technology subject to export controls,
a requirement under section 5(h) of the EAA for the establishment of a
technical advisory committee. Specifically, the DEAC's members were
senior officials with significant experience in business, educational
research, and national homeland security matters related to scientific
and engineering knowledge. As such, they represented a substantial
segment of an affected industry that produces items subject to export
controls, namely, the U.S. technology community, which is engaged in
producing technical data and providing technical assistance.
Finally, the President issued a Dual-Use Trade Reform directive on
January 22, 2008 that called for export controls to be constantly
reassessed to ensure that they control the export and reexport of
sensitive items while minimizing their impact on U.S. economic
competitiveness and innovation. In order to meet this objective, the
President directed the Secretary of Commerce to develop a regularized
process that would consider input by technical advisory committees in
the review and updating of the CCL.
The ETRAC will be charged with identifying emerging technologies
and research and development activities that may be of interest from a
dual-use perspective, prioritizing new and existing controls related to
deemed exports to determine which are of greatest consequence to
national security, and examining how research is performed to
understand the impact that the Export Administration Regulations have
on academia, federal laboratories, and industry.
Emerging Technology and Research Advisory Committee (ETRAC): Notice
of Recruitment of Members. The membership is drawn from both private
and public sectors, based on the description below as well as the draft
charter.
BIS is recruiting members for the ETRAC. The ETRAC will consist of
a maximum of 25 members and will feature a balanced membership that
will include diverse points of view. It will consist of experts drawn
equally from academia, federal laboratories, and industry to ensure a
comprehensive discussion of emerging technologies and research and
development activities and their implications with regard to national
and economic security. ETRAC members will be appointed by the Secretary
of Commerce and serve a term of not more than four consecutive years.
Each member must be able to qualify for a Secret clearance prior to
appointment. These clearances are necessary so that members may be
permitted access to sensitive intelligence and law enforcement
information related to the ETRAC's mission. The ETRAC will also reach
out to other government and non-government experts to ensure a broad
and thorough review of the issues. To respond to the recruitment
notice, please send a copy of your resume to Ms. Yvette Springer at
Yspringer@bis.doc.gov. This Notice of Recruitment has been extended
until July 22, 2008.
Dated: June 23, 2008.
Yvette Springer,
Committee Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. E8-14494 Filed 6-25-08; 8:45 am]
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