[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 227 (Monday, November 26, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60393-60395]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-25680]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Industry and Security


Procedures for Participating in User Testing of the New Commerce 
232 Exclusion Process Portal

AGENCY: Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Technology 
Evaluation, U.S. Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice on procedures for requesting participation in user 
testing phase.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce has developed an online portal that 
will replace the use of the Federal rulemaking portal (http://www.regulations.gov) for persons submitting exclusion requests, 
objections to exclusion requests, rebuttals, and surrebuttals in 
connection with duties or quotas imposed pursuant to Section 232 of the 
Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (``232''). In order to improve 
the 232 exclusion process, the Department of Commerce plans to 
transition to the new Commerce 232 portal sometime in late 2018 to 
early 2019. This notice describes the process for the public to submit 
requests to participate in the public testing phase of the new Commerce 
232 portal, and the procedures for attending the public testing.

DATES: The public testing will be held on December 6 and 7, 2018 at the 
U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 6872A, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20230. Each public testing day will be broken into a 
morning session from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and an afternoon session from 1 
p.m. to 4 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Coyne, System & Application 
Support Division, Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, [email protected]. For more information about the 
section 232 program, including the regulations and the text of previous 
investigations, see www.bis.doc.gov/232.
    For questions regarding the December 6 and 7 public testing, please 
contact [email protected], (202) 482-5642, or (202) 482-
4757.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Two components of the Department of Commerce, the Bureau of 
Industry and Security (BIS) and the International Trade Administration 
(ITA), have developed a new Commerce 232 portal to facilitate parties' 
ability to make 232 exclusion-related submissions, and the Department 
of Commerce's management of the 232 exclusion process. The new Commerce 
232 portal will replace the use of the Federal rulemaking portal 
(http://www.regulations.gov) for parties submitting exclusion requests, 
objections to exclusions requests, rebuttals, and surrebuttals under 
the 232 exclusion process. The new portal will streamline the exclusion 
process for external parties, including importers and domestic 
manufacturers, by replacing the data collection point with web-based 
forms, which will enhance data integrity and quality controls. In 
addition, this new system will allow parties to more easily view all 
exclusion

[[Page 60394]]

request, objection, rebuttal, and surrebuttal documents in one, web-
based system. Finally, parties will be able to track submission 
deadlines in this same system. The new portal will also allow for 
better collaboration between government agencies processing 232 
exclusion requests.
    The Department of Commerce plans to transition to the new Commerce 
232 portal sometime in late 2018 to early 2019, once testing is 
completed and any final updates are made. This notice describes the 
process for the public to submit requests to participate in the public 
testing phase of the new Commerce 232 portal, and the procedures for 
attending the public testing.
    Once the Commerce 232 portal is ready to be implemented, the 
Department of Commerce will publish a rule making changes to the 232 
exclusion process in Supplements No. 1 (for steel exclusion requests) 
and 2 (for aluminum exclusion requests) to Part 705. The public will 
have an opportunity to submit comments on the new portal once the rule 
is published. As much as possible, the Department of Commerce seeks 
input from the public on the new Commerce 232 portal prior to it going 
live, and believes allowing parties that will use the new portal to 
test it and provide feedback to the development team prior to 
implementation will be beneficial to both the Department and the public 
users of the system.
    Location for public testing. The public testing will occur in 
Washington, DC. See the ADDRESSES section for the physical address. 
There will be no remote testing available, so parties who wish to 
participate must attend the public testing in person.
    Dates and times. The public testing will occur on December 6 and 7, 
2018. Each public testing day will be broken into a morning session 
from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and an afternoon session from 1:00 p.m. to 
4:00 p.m. Each party will be allowed to test the system for one hour 
and testing during each window will be limited to three parties at a 
time. For example, during the 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. window, up to three 
parties can test the system at the same time.
    Facilities and items to bring. The public testing will be done on 
government provided computers. Parties selected to participate are 
encouraged to bring examples of past exclusions, objections to 
exclusions, rebuttals, or surrebuttals they may have submitted or 
intend to submit in the near future to use in the testing environment. 
However, this is not required in order to participate in the public 
testing.
    Foreign persons are not eligible to participate in the testing. 
People selected to participate in the testing of the Commerce 232 
portal will be limited to citizens of the United States, lawful 
permanent residents of the United States, or any other protected 
individuals as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).
    Costs to participate. There is no fee to participate in the public 
testing and participants will not be compensated for their time. In 
addition, participants will be responsible for all travel-related costs 
to attend the public testing.
    Limit on number of participants. The public testing will be limited 
to thirty-six people because of the size limitations of the testing 
room and to provide sufficient opportunities for the development team 
to interact with those testing the Commerce 232 portal and providing 
feedback. Organizations may request more than one person from their 
organization to attend the public testing, but such requests will only 
be accommodated if there is space available.

Procedures To Request Participation in the Public Testing

    Email requesting approval. Parties who wish to attend the public 
testing must send an email to [email protected] to request 
approval to participate. Anyone wishing to attend this public testing 
must submit the email request no later than 5:00 p.m. (EST), November 
29, 2018. The subject line of the email should be ``Request to attend 
public testing of Commerce 232 portal.''
    Information to include in email request: The following information 
must be included in the text of the email: (1) Full name of the person 
that wishes to attend the public testing and a telephone number and 
email for this person; (2) name of the person's organization, or state 
``individual'' if not affiliated with an organization; (3) if 
applicable, identify the number of employees in the organization and 
the type of organization, e.g., manufacturer or distributor; (4) 
indicate whether the organization or individual has submitted any 
exclusions, objections to exclusions, rebuttals, or surrebuttals either 
for their own organization or on behalf of another organization; (5) if 
applicable, provide an estimate for the number of each type of 232 
submission, including specifying whether the submissions were for steel 
and/or aluminum, (6) if applicable, identify any special accommodations 
that may be needed (see below under Special Accommodations); and (7) 
identify any other factors that you believe make you a good candidate 
to participate in the public testing of the Commerce 232 portal.

Selection Process

    The Department of Commerce will accommodate as many parties as 
possible, space permitting. If thirty-six or fewer people submit 
requests to participate, the Department will likely approve all 
requesters, unless there is some reason why a requester may not be 
suitable. If more than thirty-six people request to participate, the 
Department will put greater weight on those that have submitted 232 
submissions and will seek to have as representative a sample of public 
testers as possible (e.g., small and mid-size enterprises, as well as 
large organizations, and those from the steel and aluminum industries). 
If there are two equally situated individuals or organizations, the 
Department will generally use the date of the request to determine the 
organization or individual to be approved, favoring the requester whose 
request was submitted earlier.
    Each person selected to participate in the public testing will be 
notified by the Department of Commerce no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern 
Standard Time on Friday, November 30, 2018.

Procedures for Attending the Public Testing

    Visitor Access Requirement: For participants attending the 
training, please note that federal agencies can only accept a state-
issued driver's license or identification card for access to federal 
facilities if such license or identification card is issued by a state 
that is compliant with the REAL ID Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-13), or by 
a state that has an extension for REAL ID compliance. The main entrance 
of the Department of Commerce is on 14th Street, NW between 
Pennsylvania Avenue and Constitution Avenue, across from the Ronald 
Reagan Building. Upon entering the building, please go through security 
and check in at the guard's desk. BIS and ITA staff will meet and 
escort visitors to the public testing room. Admittance to the room for 
the public testing will be available beginning at 8:30 a.m. (EST) on 
December 6 and 7, 2018 and the public testing will start promptly at 
9:00 a.m. (EST) on December 6 and 7, 2018.
    Acknowledgement for Participation in Testing Environment: Because 
the individuals and organizations selected to participate in the public 
testing of the Commerce 232 portal will be participating in a testing 
environment,

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all selected participants on the first day of the testing will be 
required to acknowledge that their suggestions and comments may not be 
incorporated into the final version for technical or other reasons.

Special Accommodations

    This public testing is physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be received by the Department of Commerce no 
later than November 29, 2018 and should be included in the email 
requesting participation in the public testing referenced above.

    Dated: November 20, 2018.
Matthew S. Borman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Export Administration.
[FR Doc. 2018-25680 Filed 11-23-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-33-P