[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 13, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19230-19231]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-07539]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

[Docket ID: DoD-2021-OS-0022]


Notice of Request for Comments on Executive Order ``America's 
Supply Chains''

AGENCY: Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Industrial 
Policy), Department of Defense (DoD).

ACTION: Notice of request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: On February 24, 2021, President Biden issued the Executive 
Order ``America's Supply Chains,'' which directs several Federal agency 
actions to secure and strengthen America's supply chains. One of these 
directions is for the Secretary of Defense (as the National Defense 
Stockpile Manager pursuant to the Strategic and Critical Materials 
Stock Piling Act), in consultation with the heads of appropriate 
agencies, shall submit a report, within 100 days, identifying risks in 
the supply chain for strategic and critical materials as well as policy 
recommendations to address these risks.

DATES: The due date for submitting comments is April 28, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number and 
title, by any of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    Mail: The DoD cannot receive written comments at this time due to 
the COVID-19 pandemic. Comments should be sent electronically to the 
docket listed above.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency 
name, docket number and title for this Federal Register document. The 
general policy for comments and other submissions from members of the 
public is to make these submissions available for public viewing on the 
internet at http://www.regulations.gov as they are received without 
change, including any personal identifiers or contact information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew D. Zolnowski, Office of the 
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy, at (703) 
697-0051 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On February 24, 2021, President Biden issued E.O. 14017, 
``America's Supply Chains.'' The E.O. published in the Federal Register 
on March 1, 2021 at 86 FR 11849-11854 (available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-03-01/pdf/2021-04280.pdf) (E.O. 
14017). E.O. 14017 focuses on the need for resilient, diverse, and 
secure supply chains to ensure U.S. economic prosperity and national 
security. Such supply chains are needed to address conditions that can 
reduce critical manufacturing capacity and the availability and 
integrity of critical goods, products, and services. In relevant part, 
E.O. 14017 directs that within 100 days, the Secretary of Defense (as 
the National Defense Stockpile Manager pursuant to the Strategic and 
Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C. 98 et seq.)), in 
consultation with the heads of appropriate agencies, shall submit a 
report identifying risks in the supply chain for strategic and critical 
materials and policy recommendations to address these risks.
    This notice requests comments and information from the public to 
assist the DoD in preparing the report required by E.O. 14017. In 
developing this report, the Secretary will consult with the heads of 
appropriate agencies, and will be advised by all relevant DoD 
Components.

Written Comments

    The DoD is particularly interested in comments and information 
directed to the policy objectives listed in E.O. 14017 as they affect 
the U.S. and global supply chains for strategic and critical materials. 
The Department is seeking input, from both consumers and producers of 
strategic and critical materials and downstream products containing 
these materials, as well as from those with relevant expertise, on the 
following topics:
    i. Increasing transparency in strategic and critical material 
supply chains;
    ii. Diversifying sources of supply for strategic and critical 
materials, including domestic sources and foreign allies/partners;
    iii. Diversifying production sources, such as primary extraction, 
co-production, and to include reclamation from mine, industrial, and 
end-of-life products;
    iv. Promoting environmental, health and safety, labor, fair trade 
and a level playing field in global markets;
    v. Establishing and strengthen manufacturing of value-added 
products, containing strategic and critical materials, which support 
the U.S. economy;
    vi. Methods to reduce exposure to price volatility and supply 
shocks in strategic and critical material supply chains;
    vii. Availability of material and manufacturing process substitutes 
for at-risk strategic and critical materials;
    viii. The availability of skilled labor and other personnel to 
sustain a competitive strategic and critical materials ecosystem, 
including the domestic education and manufacturing workforce skills;
    ix. The availability of manufacturing capabilities, such as single 
points of failure in supply chains or nonexistent, threatened, or 
single-point-of-failure capabilities, or single or dual suppliers;
    x. The spectrum of risk to supply disruption, taking into account 
the duration (i.e., short, medium, long), geographic scope (local, 
regional, global), intensity (magnitude of aggregate supply 
disruption), ability to meet projected demand at a specific supply 
chain node, and the probability of the disruption event;
    xi. The spectrum of risk to the development and maintenance of 
sustainable supply chains, such as violations of human rights and 
forced labor;
    xii. Research, development, and demonstration priorities to support 
production or and an advanced manufacturing base for strategic and 
critical materials;
    xiii. Policy recommendations or suggested executive, legislative, 
regulatory action to foster more resilient supply chains for strategic 
and critical materials while promoting stewardship of affected 
communities and the environment;
    xiv. Recommendations for long term research, development and 
demonstration (RD&D) investments necessary for reimagining a more 
sustainable and secure US critical materials supply chain of the 
future; or
    xv. Any additional comments relevant to the assessment of strategic 
and critical materials required by E.O. 14017.
    The DoD encourages commenters, when addressing the elements above, 
to

[[Page 19231]]

structure their comments using the same text as identifiers for the 
areas of inquiry to which their comments respond to assist the DoD in 
more easily reviewing and summarizing the comments received in response 
to these specific comment areas. For example, a commenter submitting 
comments responsive to (i), ``Increasing transparency in critical 
minerals and strategic material supply chains'', would use that same 
text as a heading in the public comment followed by the commenter's 
specific comments in this area. The Department encourages the use of an 
Executive Summary at the beginning of all comments and information to 
affect a more efficient departmental review of the submitted documents.

Requirements for Written Comments

    The http://www.regulations.gov website allows users to provide 
comments by filling in a ``Type Comment'' field, or by attaching a 
document using an ``Upload File'' field. The DoD prefers that comments 
be provided in an attached document. The Department prefers submissions 
in Microsoft Word (.doc files) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf files). If the 
submission is in an application format other than Microsoft Word or 
Adobe Acrobat, please indicate the name of the application in the 
``Type Comment'' field. Please do not attach separate cover letters to 
electronic submissions; rather, include any information that might 
appear in a cover letter within the comments. Similarly, to the extent 
possible, please include any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments in 
the same file, so that the submission consists of one file instead of 
multiple files. Comments (both public comments and non-confidential 
versions of comments containing business confidential information) will 
be placed in the docket and open to public inspection. Comments may be 
viewed on http://www.regulations.gov by entering docket number DoD-
2021-OS-0022 in the search field on the home page.
    All filers should name their files using the name of the person or 
entity submitting the comments. Anonymous comments are also accepted. 
Communications from agencies of the United States Government will not 
be made available for public inspection.
    Anyone submitting business confidential information should clearly 
identify the business confidential portion at the time of submission, 
file a statement justifying nondisclosure and referring to the specific 
legal authority claimed, and provide a non-confidential version of the 
submission. The non-confidential version of the submission will be 
placed in the public file on http://www.regulations.gov. For comments 
submitted electronically containing business confidential information, 
the file name of the business confidential version should begin with 
the characters ``BC''. Any page containing business confidential 
information must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' on the top 
of that page. The non-confidential version must be clearly marked 
``PUBLIC''. The file name of the non-confidential version should begin 
with the character ``P''. The ``BC'' and ``P'' should be followed by 
the name of the person or entity submitting the comments or rebuttal 
comments. If a public hearing is held in support of this assessment, a 
separate Federal Register notice will be published providing the date 
and information about the hearing. The Office of the Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of Defense (Industrial Policy) does not maintain a separate 
public inspection facility.

    Dated: April 6, 2021.
Aaron T. Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2021-07539 Filed 4-12-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5001-06-P