[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 28, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53642-53644]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-21046]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Office of the Secretary
[Docket ID: DoD-2021-OS-0100]
Federal Register Notice of Request for Written Comments in
Support of the Department of Defense's One-Year Response to Executive
Order 14017, ``America's Supply Chains''
AGENCY: Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Industrial Policy (IndPol), Department of Defense (DoD).
ACTION: Notice of request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: On February 24, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive
Order (E.O.) titled America's Supply Chains, which directs six Federal
agencies to conduct a review of their respective industrial bases, with
the objective to use this assessment to secure and strengthen America's
supply chains. One of these directives is for the Secretary of Defense,
in consultation with the heads of appropriate agencies, to submit a
report on supply chains for the defense industrial base, including key
vulnerabilities and potential courses of action to strengthen the
defense industrial base. The effort will build on the E.O. report,
Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and Defense Industrial
Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States (released October
2018) and the Annual Industrial Capabilities Report, which is mandated
by the Congress.
DATES: The due date for filing comments is October 13, 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: 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: Brennan Grignon, Office of the Under
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Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment at (703) 692-4422
or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On February 24, 2021, President Biden issued E.O. 14017, America's
Supply Chains and it was published in the Federal Register on March 1,
2021 (86 FR 11849-11854) (available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-03-01/pdf/2021-04280.pdf). E.O. 14017 focuses on the need
for resilient, diverse, and secure supply chains to ensure U.S.
economic prosperity and national security across six sectors of the
economy. One of the E.O. 14017 directives is for the Secretary of
Defense, in consultation with the heads of appropriate agencies, to
submit a report within one year on supply chains for the defense
industrial base. This report will provide an assessment of key supply
chains, including their vulnerabilities and potential courses of action
to strengthen the defense industrial base. The E.O. 14017 effort will
build on the E.O. 13806 report, Assessing and Strengthening the
Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliency
of the United State (released October 2018) and the Annual Industrial
Capabilities Report, which is mandated by the Congress pursuant to 10
U.S.C. 2504.
This notice requests comments and information from the public to
assist the DoD's assessment of defense industrial base supply chains.
While conducting the assessment, the Secretary will consult with the
heads of appropriate agencies, and be advised by all relevant DoD
Components.
Written Comments
The DoD is interested in comments (both general inputs and specific
responses to the questions at the end of this section) that will help
the Department respond to E.O. 14017 by providing information about key
supply chain vulnerabilities and opportunities to address these
vulnerabilities. In particular, the Department selected the following
four (4) topics to focus on in the one-year report, and seeks comments
about supply chain vulnerabilities and opportunities in these areas.
These topics were selected based on critical vulnerabilities identified
through ongoing supply chain analysis efforts, including inputs from
the Armed Services, and are in alignment with the operational
priorities outlined in the Defense Planning Guidance for FY 2023-FY
2027:
i. Select kinetic capabilities: Includes Precision Guided Munitions
(PGMs), Hypersonics, and Directed Energy (DE). Key components (e.g.,
critical energetics, microelectronics) are almost exclusively produced
by foreign entities, including adversarial nations.
ii. Energy storage/batteries: Energy storage is critical to all
kinetic capabilities, and is an evolving requirement. Defense-unique
requirements with low domestic production volumes create supply chain
risk and high local costs.
iii. Microelectronics: Similar to energy storage, microelectronics
are vital components used in nearly all defense systems. Defense-
specific challenges arise from acquisition processes, obsolescence, and
the need for secure suppliers. The one-year effort will focus on
military-specific microelectronics requirements and the ongoing
challenges between commercial and defense requirements.
iv. Castings and forgings: Manufacturing is dependent on casting
and forging capabilities and capacity. An overall decrease in domestic
capability and capacity limits the industrial base's ability to
develop, sustain, or expand production. Expanding our domestic
capabilities will reinforce efforts to onshore commercial
manufacturing.
In addition to the topics listed above, the DoD requests input on
the following five (5) systemic enablers, as they relate to the topics
above. These enablers span all four (4) topic areas; they are critical
to mission success, and gaps or fragility in each can create
operational and strategic risk.
i. Workforce: Includes all persons needed for a focus area, from
skilled trades to specialty engineering degrees;
ii. Cyber posture: Includes cybersecurity, industrial security, and
counterintelligence;
iii. Interoperability: Requirements needed to support operations
with our allies, as well as the requirements to further enhance our
interoperability between and among DoD's systems and platforms;
iv. Small business: Focuses on addressing the barriers and
challenges to small businesses to enter, and stay in, the defense
ecosystem (both as primes and sub-contractors); and
v. Manufacturing: Includes core/traditional manufacturing modes and
new manufacturing technology, such as additive manufacturing.
In regards to the four (4) topics and five (5) systemic enablers
above, the DoD is particularly interested in soliciting information in
response to the following questions:
Question 1. From your perspective, how has the globalization of the
supply chain improved or complicated your ability to source DoD's
requirements?
Question 2. What are the one or two greatest challenges your firm/
association/industry faces operating in a distributed environment?
Question 3. Are there ways DoD can better support your efforts to
mitigate such challenges?
Question 3. How does the federal government effectively mitigate
supply chain risks?
Question 4. What can the government do differently to better
address supply chain risks and vulnerabilities in our major weapon
systems/platforms (e.g., PGMs) and critical components (e.g.,
microelectronics)?
Question 5. What can the government do differently to successfully
implement industrial base cybersecurity processes or protocols, attract
skilled labor, implement standards, and incentivize the adoption of
manufacturing technology?
To assist the DoD in more easily reviewing and summarizing the
comments received, the DoD encourages commenters to use the same text
as above to identify the areas of inquiry to which their comments
respond. For example, a commenter responding specifically to question 1
above would use ``Question 1'' as a heading followed by the commenter's
response. Alternatively, a commenter submitting comments more broadly
responsive to focus topic (i), ``Select kinetic capabilities,'' would
use that same text as a heading in the public comment followed by the
commenter's specific response in this area. The Department encourages
the use of an Executive Summary at the beginning of all comments to
enable a more efficient review of the submitted documents. The DoD will
review all comments but may not provide a formal response back to all
commenters.
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, preferably in Microsoft Word (.doc
files) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf files). If the submission is in a 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
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appear in a cover letter within the comments or executive summary.
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-0100 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. Requesters should first view the
Departments' web page, which can be found at https://open.defense.gov/
(see ``Electronic FOIA'' heading). The records related to this
assessment are made accessible in accordance with the regulations
published in part 4 of title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations (15
CFR 4.1 through 4.11).
Dated: September 23, 2021.
Aaron T. Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2021-21046 Filed 9-27-21; 8:45 am]
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