[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 95 (Tuesday, May 17, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28443-28444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-12053]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Docket No. DHS-2011-0029]


President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory 
Committee

AGENCY: National Protection and Programs Directorate, DHS.

ACTION: Committee Management; Notice of Partially Closed Federal 
Advisory Committee Meeting.

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SUMMARY: The President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory 
Committee (NSTAC) will meet on Thursday, June 2, 2011, in Washington, 
DC. The meeting will be partially closed to the public.

DATES: The NSTAC will meet in open session on Thursday, June 2, 2011, 
from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and in closed session on Thursday, June 2, 2011, 
from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

ADDRESSES: The public portion of the meeting will be held at the U.S.

[[Page 28444]]

Chamber of Commerce, 1615 H Street NW., Washington, DC. All visitors 
must pre-register to be admitted to the building. Please provide your 
name, telephone number and e-mail address by close of business on 
Friday, May 27, 2011, to Sue Daage at (703) 235-4964.
    For information on facilities or services for individuals with 
disabilities or to request special assistance at the meeting, contact 
[email protected] as soon as possible.
    We are inviting public comment on the issues to be considered by 
the committee as listed in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. 
Associated briefing materials that will be discussed at the meeting 
will be available at http://www.ncs.gov/nstac for review on May 18, 
2011. Comments must be submitted in writing no later than May 27, 2011, 
and must be identified by DHS-2011-0029 and may be submitted by one of 
the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include the docket number in the 
subject line of the message.
     Fax: (703) 235-4981, Attn: Sue Daage.
     Mail: Deputy Manager, National Communications System, 
National Protection and Programs Directorate, U.S. Department of 
Homeland Security, 245 Murray Lane, Mail Stop 0615, Arlington, VA 
20598-0615.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the words 
``Department of Homeland Security'' and the docket number for this 
action. Comments received will be posted without alteration at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received by the NSTAC, go to http://www.regulations.gov.
    A public comment period will be held during the open portion of the 
meeting on Thursday, June 2, 2011 from 4:25 p.m. to 4:55 p.m., and 
speakers are requested to limit their comments to three minutes. Please 
note that the public comment period may end before the time indicated, 
following the last call for comments. Contact Sue Daage at 703-235-4964 
to register as a speaker.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Madon, NSTAC Designated Federal 
Officer, Department of Homeland Security, telephone (703) 235-4900.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice of this meeting is given under the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. (Pub. L. 92-463). The 
NSTAC advises the President on matters related to national security and 
emergency preparedness (NS/EP) telecommunications policy.
    Agenda: The committee will meet in open session to receive 
briefings on the Federal Government's use of cloud computing; the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency's NS/EP communications 
requirements; the progress of the Government's implementation of NSTAC 
recommendations from the 2011 NSTAC Report to the President on 
Communications Resiliency and the 2009 NSTAC Report to the President on 
Commercial Satellite Mission Assurance; and the way forward for the 
committee's cloud computing effort.
    The committee will meet in a closed session to review information 
on implementation of the National Public Safety Broadband Network as 
well as secure communications for mobile devices.
    Basis for Closure: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552b(c), Government 
in the Sunshine Act, it has been determined that two meeting agenda 
items require closure as the disclosure of the information would not be 
in the public interest.
    The first of these agenda items relates to issues and concerns 
surrounding the Government's planning for implementation of the 
National Public Safety Broadband Network, a nationwide, interoperable 
network for public safety. The NSTAC will discuss the migration by 
public safety users from legacy Land Mobile Radio to 4G technologies 
for their mobile telecommunications needs. The discussion will include 
a review of the advantages of 4G technologies, and details of various 
risks. In examining those risks, the NSTAC will address the 
vulnerabilities the technologies can have, and how the Government can 
best plan to mitigate those vulnerabilities. Disclosure of these 
vulnerabilities would provide a road map to criminals who wish to 
intrude into the system, and perhaps cause the government to deviate 
from its planned implementation of this system. Therefore, this portion 
of the meeting is required to be closed pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
552b(c)(9)(B).
    Another agenda item will address secure communications for mobile 
devices. Government officials will share data with NSTAC members on 
initiatives, assessments, and future technical requirements for 
networks to be used by the government. The data to be shared includes 
specific vulnerabilities of various communications modalities and is 
not public information. Disclosure of this information to the public 
would provide criminals with the means to disrupt and hack into planned 
devices. Since this would undermine the ability of the United States to 
develop secure mobile networks, this portion of the meeting is required 
to be closed pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(9)(B).

    Dated: May 10, 2011.
James Madon,
Designated Federal Officer for the NSTAC.
[FR Doc. 2011-12053 Filed 5-16-11; 8:45 am]
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