[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 129 (Friday, July 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 55586]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14794]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; 
Ecosystem Questionnaire for States and Territories To Inform CHIPS R&D 
Facility Site Selection Process

    The Department of Commerce will submit the following information 
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
emergency review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, on or after the date of publication of this 
notice. We invite the general public and other Federal agencies to 
comment on proposed, and continuing information collections, which 
helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements 
and minimize the public's reporting burden.
    Agency: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
    Title: Ecosystem Questionnaire for States and Territories to Inform 
CHIPS R&D Facility Site Selection Process.
    OMB Control Number 0693-XXXX.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Emergency submission, New Information Collection 
Request.
    Number of Respondents: 56.
    Average Hours per Response: 10 hours.
    Burden Hours: 560 hours.
    Needs and Uses: CHIPS R&D is seeking to collect information needed 
for implementation of the CHIPS Act of 2022 (Division A of Pub. L. 117-
167) (the Act). The Act tasks the Secretary of Commerce with carrying 
out sections 9904 and 9906 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National 
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 4652, 4654, 
and 4656). This statute aims to catalyze long-term growth in the 
domestic semiconductor industry in support of U.S. economic resilience 
and national security. This information collection is needed in 
conjunction with a multi-phase site selection process that will be used 
to identify a flagship research and development prototyping and 
packaging facility that is anticipated to become the lynchpin of both 
the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) and the National 
Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP), the two largest 
research and development programs established by Congress through the 
CHIPS Act of 2022. The information is important for the Department of 
Commerce and Natcast--the purpose-built nonprofit entity which serves 
as the operator of the NSTC, and which is anticipated to serve as the 
operator of this flagship facility--in order to establish at the outset 
of the site selection process which states and/or territories have 
existing semiconductor ecosystems that could support this facility.
    Both the NSTC and NAPMP have a need to expeditiously identify 
facilities in order to accomplish their statutory missions. The NSTC is 
required to ``to conduct advanced semiconductor manufacturing, design 
and packaging research, and prototyping that strengthens the entire 
domestic ecosystem.'' 15 U.S.C. 4656(c)(2)(A). The NSTC is expected to 
``significantly reduce the time and cost of moving from design idea to 
commercialization through access to shared facilities, digital assets 
and technical expertise for advancing design, prototyping, 
manufacturing, packaging, and scaling of semiconductors and 
semiconductor-related products'' (https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2023/04/26/NSTC-Vision-Strategy-Fact-Sheet.pdf). The NAPMP is 
expected to ``include an Advanced Packaging Piloting Facility (APPF) 
where successful development efforts will be transitioned and validated 
for scaled transition to U.S. manufacturing. This is a key facility for 
technology transfer to high-volume manufacturing'' (https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2023/11/19/NAPMP-Vision-Paper-20231120.pdf, pg. 3).
    The information collection will take the form of an Ecosystem 
Questionnaire for States and Territories to Inform CHIPS R&D Facility 
Site Selection Process. The Questionnaire will pose identical questions 
to Economic Development Organizations (EDOs) in all 56 states and 
territories. This collection is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act 
as the RFI would pose identical questions to all 56 states and 
territories. See 5 CFR 1320.3(c)(4) and (k)). The Ecosystem 
Questionnaire will request information regarding the extent to which a 
state or territory can demonstrate: the presence of entities from the 
semiconductor value chain; a semiconductor workforce and current 
workforce development programs; semiconductor-related advanced 
education and research programs; significant state, local, and private 
investment in the semiconductor ecosystem; and state incentives for 
semiconductor research and development. The Ecosystem Questionnaire is 
also structured to be as minimally burdensome as possible, both because 
responses are predominantly requested in the form of multiple-choice 
answers, and because the information the Questionnaire solicits should 
be easily available to EDOs. This will be a one-time collection of 
information to all 56 states and territories. Only states or 
territories that submit responses to the Ecosystem Questionnaire will 
be considered for selection of this facility.
    Affected Public: State and local governments.
    Frequency: Once.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.

Legal Authority

    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view the Department of 
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should by 11:59 p.m. EST on July 12, 2024 on the following 
website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function and entering 
the title of the collection.

Peter Robbins,
Attorney-Advisor, Office of the General Counsel for Legislation and 
Regulation, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2024-14794 Filed 7-3-24; 8:45 am]
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