[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 124 (Thursday, June 26, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36298-36299]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-14494]


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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 [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 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 
[email protected]. 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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