[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 33 (Thursday, February 19, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8891-8892]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-03328]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No. USCG-2015-0016]


Cooperative Research and Development Agreement: Western Rivers e-
AtoN Technology Demonstration

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of intent; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces its intent to enter into a 
cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) to prepare for a 
demonstration, the ``Ohio River eNav Technology Demonstration'' of 
electronic navigation (eNav) technology to be conducted by the Coast 
Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Oceanic 
Atmospheric Administration. The eNav demonstration will involve the 
transmission of navigation safety and environmental information via 
automatic identification system (AIS) technology to the electronic 
charting system (ECS) displays on bridges of commercial vessels that 
are operating in the test area. The purpose of the demonstration is to 
identify the extent to which mariners would benefit from the 
distribution of e-AtoN information; and the policy changes, the 
infrastructure, and level of effort needed by the Coast Guard and its 
partner agencies to operate and maintain this technology.
    The geographic area to be covered by the Ohio River eNav Technology 
Demonstration includes the Ohio River from Markland Lock (north of 
Louisville, KY) to the mouth of the Ohio River, and reaches of the 
Mississippi River within 45 statute miles of its confluence with the 
Ohio River. The Coast Guard needs end user participants, who are 
commercial operators that regularly operate in the Ohio River eNav 
Technology Demonstration test area, to receive the information via AIS. 
While the Coast Guard is currently considering partnering with Rose 
Point Navigation Systems (Rose Point), and CNS, Inc. (CNS), it solicits 
public comment on the possible participation of other parties in the 
proposed CRADA, and the nature of that participation.

DATES: Comments must be submitted to the online docket via http://www.regulations.gov, or reach the Docket Management Facility, on or 
before 30 days after date of publication in the Federal Register.
    Synopses of proposals regarding future CRADAs must reach the Coast 
Guard (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) on or before March 23, 
2015.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments using one of the listed methods, and see 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for more information on public comments.
     Online--http://www.regulations.gov following Web site 
instructions.
     Fax--202-493-2251.
     Mail or hand deliver--Docket Management Facility (M-30), 
U.S. Department of Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Hours 
for hand delivery are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays (telephone 202-366-9329).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice 
or wish to submit proposals for future CRADAs, contact Arden C. Turner, 
Project Official, E&W Branch, U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development 
Center, 1 Chelsea Street, New London, CT 06320, telephone 860-271-2623, 
email [email protected] . If you have questions on viewing or 
submitting material to the docket, call Cheryl Collins, Program 
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-9826, toll free 1-800-
647-5527.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We encourage you to submit comments and related material on this 
notice. All comments received will be posted, without change, to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any personal information you have 
provided.
    Do not submit detailed proposals for future CRADAs to the Docket 
Management Facility. Instead, submit them directly to the Coast Guard 
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) .
    Comments should be marked with docket number USCG-2015-0016 and 
should provide a reason for each suggestion or recommendation. You 
should provide personal contact information so that we can contact you 
if we have questions regarding your comments; but please note that all 
comments will be posted to the online docket without change and that 
any personal information you include can be searchable online (see the 
Federal Register Privacy Act notice regarding our public dockets, 73 FR 
3316, Jan. 17, 2008).
    Mailed or hand-delivered comments should be in an unbound 8\1/2\ x 
11 inch format suitable for reproduction. The Docket Management 
Facility will acknowledge receipt of mailed comments if you enclose a 
stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope with your submission.
    Documents mentioned in this notice, and all public comments, are in 
our online docket at http://www.regulations.gov and can be viewed by 
following the Web site's instructions. You can also view the docket at 
the Docket Management Facility (see the mailing address under 
ADDRESSES) between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

Discussion

    CRADAs are authorized under 15 U.S.C. 3710(a).\1\ A CRADA promotes 
the transfer of technology to the private sector for commercial use, as 
well as specified research or development efforts that are consistent 
with the mission of the Federal parties to the CRADA. The Federal party 
or parties agree with one or more non-Federal parties to share research 
resources, but the Federal party does not contribute funding.
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    \1\ The statute confers this authority on the head of each 
Federal agency. The Secretary of DHS's authority is delegated to the 
Coast Guard and other DHS organizational elements by DHS Delegation 
No. 0160.1, para. II.B.34.
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    CRADAs are not procurement contracts. Care is taken to ensure that 
CRADAs are not used to circumvent the contracting process. CRADAs have 
a specific purpose and should not be confused with other types of 
agreements such as procurement contracts, grants, and cooperative 
agreements.
    Under the proposed CRADA, the Coast Guard's Research and 
Development Center (R&DC) will collaborate with one or more non-Federal 
participants to ensure that commercial vessel pilots who operate in the 
Ohio River Technology Demonstration Test Area are equipped with an ECS 
capability that accept AIS inputs to navigate; and to ensure that 
parties who have indicated their willingness to participate in the 
Technology Demonstration can receive and display the eNav information 
distributed by the Coast Guard during the eNav Technology 
Demonstration.

[[Page 8892]]

    We anticipate that the Coast Guard's contributions under the 
proposed CRADA will include the following:
    (1) Provide the ECS manufacturers with summaries and formats of the 
information that will be distributed in the Ohio River eNav Technology 
Demonstration.
    (2) Test the ECS equipment with the format upgrades in the RDC Test 
Laboratory prior to the Demonstration and provide feedback to 
manufacturers. Also, provide non-Federal participants with access to 
the RDC Test Laboratory data output stream to evaluate the data 
displays on their equipment.
    (3) Deploy an eNav system that distributes navigation and safety 
information to marine users in the Technology Demonstration Test Area 
on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
    (4) Conduct the Ohio River eNav Technology Demonstration. During 
the Demonstration, record the information distributed through the AIS 
and the information received by participating mariners' AIS receivers. 
Collate and analyze the information collected by participating vessels 
to quantify system performance. Collect anecdotal information on 
mariners' responses to the technology and its benefits.
    We anticipate that the non-Federal participants' contributions 
under the proposed CRADA will include the following:
    (1) Configure their software to enable the receipt and display of 
eNav information on ECS devices located on vessel bridges of customers 
who are participating in the Ohio River eNav Technology Demonstration.
    (2) Provide the Coast Guard with the latest version of its ECS 
software to support the RDC Test Laboratory evaluation.
    (3) The RDC and its federal partners may finalize some AIS message 
types after the Ohio River Technology Demonstration has started. As 
their resources permit, the non-Federal participants will update their 
software and distribute them to their customers and the RDC after the 
Demonstration has started.
    (4) At the conclusion of the Demonstration, the RDC and the non-
Federal participants will jointly document the CRADA effort in a white 
paper format, to document the features developed by the ECS 
manufacturers, their installation on the test vessels, and the results 
of the Ohio River eNav Technology Demonstration.
    The Coast Guard reserves the right to select for CRADA participants 
all, some, or no proposals submitted for this CRADA. The Coast Guard 
will provide no funding for reimbursement of proposal development 
costs. Proposals and any other material submitted in response to this 
notice will not be returned. Proposals submitted are expected to be 
unclassified and have no more than five single-sided pages (excluding 
cover page, DD 1494, JF-12, etc.). The Coast Guard will select 
proposals at its sole discretion on the basis of:
    (1) Existence of commercial customers who routinely operate in the 
Ohio River eNav Technology Demonstration study area, who are equipped 
with an ECS capability that accept AIS inputs to navigate, and who are 
willing to participate in the Demonstration.
    (2) How well respondents address the following criteria:
    (a) Technical capability to support the non-Federal party 
contributions described; and
    (b) Resources available for supporting the non-Federal party 
contributions described.
    Currently, the Coast Guard is considering CNS and Rose Point for 
participation in this CRADA. This consideration is based on the fact 
that the Coast Guard has identified CNS and Rose Point as customers in 
the Demonstration area that use ECS with AIS input capability. However, 
the Coast Guard does not wish to exclude other viable participants from 
this CRADA.
    This is a technology transfer/development effort. Presently, the 
Coast Guard has no plan to procure an ECS capability. Since the goal of 
this CRADA is to identify and investigate the advantages, 
disadvantages, required technology enhancements, performance, costs, 
and other issues associated with using ECS capabilities, non-Federal 
CRADA participants will not be excluded from any future Coast Guard 
procurements based solely on their participation in this CRADA. Special 
consideration will be given to small business firms/consortia, and 
preference will be given to business units located in the U.S.
    This notice is issued under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 15 
U.S.C. 3710(a).

    Dated: January 26, 2015.
Dennis C. Evans,
Captain, USCG, Commanding Officer, U.S. Coast Guard Research and 
Development Center.
[FR Doc. 2015-03328 Filed 2-18-15; 8:45 am]
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