[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 101 (Friday, May 23, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30048-30049]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-11638]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Industry and Security


Establishment of the Emerging Technology and Research Advisory 
Committee

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is announcing the 
creation of and recruiting individuals for a technical 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) identifying emerging 
technologies and research and development activities that may be of 
interest from a dual-use perspective; (ii) prioritizing new and 
existing controls to determine which are of greatest consequence to 
national security from a deemed export perspective; and (iii) 
addressing the implications of dual-use export control requirements on 
research activities.

DATES: To respond to the recruitment notice, please send a copy of your 
resume by 5 p.m. EDT, June 24, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may submit their resume to Ms. Yvette 
Springer at [email protected] 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: [email protected].

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

[[Page 30049]]

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 comprise a 
maximum of 25 members and will feature a balanced membership that will 
include diverse points of view. It will consist of experts 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 one year. Each member will be 
required to hold a secret security 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 the individual identified under the ADDRESSES heading. This 
Notice of Recruitment will be open until June 24, 2008.

    Dated: May 20, 2008.
Yvette Springer,
Committee Liaison Officer.
 [FR Doc. E8-11638 Filed 5-22-08; 8:45 am]
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