Committee meetings are available to the public through the videoconference link above. Any interested member of the public may listen to the meeting. An open comment period will be provided to allow members of the public to make a statement as time allows. Per the Federal Advisory Committee Act, public minutes of the meeting will include a list of persons who are present at the meeting. If joining via phone, callers can expect to incur regular charges for calls they initiate over wireless lines, according to their wireless plan. The Commission will not refund any incurred charges. Closed captioning will be available for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or who have certain cognitive or learning impairments. To request additional accommodations, please email Angelica Trevino, Support Services Specialist, atrevino@usccr.gov at least 10 business days prior to the meeting.

Members of the public are entitled to make comments during the open period at the end of the meeting. Members of the public may also submit written comments; the comments must be received in the Regional Programs Unit within 30 days following the meeting. Written comments can be sent via email to Kayla Fajota (DFO) at kfajota@usccr.gov.

Records generated from this meeting may be inspected and reproduced at the Regional Programs Coordination Unit Office, as they become available, both before and after the meeting. Records of the meetings will be available via www.facadatabase.gov under the Commission on Civil Rights, Oregon Advisory Committee link. Committee documents can also be found at the following file sharing website: https://usccr.app.box.com/folder/271061562007?s=r6h92j9j27b78vvft9voq7b6kzdphlbl. Persons interested in the work of this Committee are directed to the Commission's website, http://www.usccr.gov, or may contact the Regional Programs Coordination Unit at atrevino@usccr.gov.

In accordance with the Government in Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. 552b), the Commission on Civil Rights is holding a meeting to discuss the Commission's business for the month of September. This business meeting is open to the public. Computer assisted real-time transcription (CART) will be provided. The web link to access CART (in English) on Friday, September 19, 2025, is https://www.streamtext.net/player?event=USCCR. Please note that CART is text-only translation that occurs in real time during the meeting and is not an exact transcript.

The final results of the investigation under review were determined by the United States Department of Commerce and were published in the Federal Register on August 12 (90 FR 38755).

Article 10.12 of Chapter 10 of USMCA provides a dispute settlement mechanism involving trade remedy determinations issued by the Government of the United States, the Government of Canada, and the Government of Mexico. Following a Request for Panel Review, a Binational Panel is composed to review the trade remedy determination being challenged and issue a binding Panel Decision. There are established USMCA Rules of Procedure for Article 10.12 (Binational Panel Reviews), which were adopted by the three governments for panels requested pursuant to Article 10.12(2) of USMCA which requires Requests for Panel Review to be published in accordance with Rule 40. For the complete Rules, please see https://can-mex-usa-sec.org/secretariat/agreement-accord-acuerdo/usmca-aceum-tmec/rules-regles-reglas/article-article-articulo_10_12.aspx?lang=eng .

The Rules provide that:

(a) A Party or interested person may challenge the final determination in whole or in part by filing a Complaint in accordance with Rule 44 no later than 30 days after the filing of the first Request for Panel Review (the deadline for filing a Complaint is October 14, 2025);

(b) A Party, an investigating authority or other interested person who does not file a Complaint but who intends to participate in the panel review shall file a Notice of Appearance in accordance with Rule 45 no later than 45 days after the filing of the first Request for Panel Review (the deadline for filing a Notice of Appearance is October 27, 2025);

(c) The panel review will be limited to the allegations of error of fact or law, including challenges to the jurisdiction of the investigating authority, that are set out in the Complaints filed in the panel review and to the procedural and substantive defenses raised in the panel review.

The SSC ES will meet via webinar to review ecosystem science topics identified by the Pacific Council for potential incorporation in the California Current Integrated Ecosystem Assessment Team's Ecosystem Status Report (ESR). These topics include incorporation of new data types and indices from glider surveys along the U.S. West Coast; a focused review of short reports on ESR indicators tailored to specific stocks that can support the development of new risk tables and updates to existing ones; and a review of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and its continued relevance as an indicator in the ESR. This review of science topics may potentially inform future annual reports to the Pacific Council on the state of the California Current Ecosystem. The SSC ES meeting is open to the public. A detailed meeting agenda will be available on the Pacific Council's website prior to the meeting.

Although non-emergency issues not contained in the meeting agenda may be discussed, those issues may not be the subject of formal action during this meeting. Action will be restricted to those issues specifically listed in this document and any issues arising after publication of this document that require emergency action under section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, provided the public has been notified of the intent to take final action to address the emergency.

Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed to Mr. Kris Kleinschmidt ( kris.kleinschmidt@pcouncil.org, (503) 820-2412) at least 10 days prior to the meeting date.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq. ) direct the Secretary of Commerce to allow, upon request, the incidental, but not intentional, taking of small numbers of marine mammals by U.S. citizens who engage in a specified activity (other than commercial fishing) within a specified geographical region if certain findings are made and either regulations are issued or, if the taking is limited to harassment, a notice of a proposed authorization is provided to the public for review.

An authorization for incidental takings shall be granted if NMFS finds that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s), will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the species or stock(s) for subsistence uses (where relevant), and if the permissible methods of taking and requirements pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring and reporting of such takings are set forth. NMFS has defined “negligible impact” in 50 CFR 216.103 as an impact resulting from the specified activity that cannot be reasonably expected to, and is not reasonably likely to, adversely affect the species or stock through effects on annual rates of recruitment or survival.

Except with respect to certain activities not pertinent here, the MMPA defines “harassment” as: any act of pursuit, torment, or annoyance which (i) has the potential to injure a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild (Level A harassment); or (ii) has the potential to disturb a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild by causing disruption of behavioral patterns, including, but not limited to, migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or sheltering (Level B harassment).

On January 19, 2021, we issued a final rule with regulations to govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to geophysical survey activities conducted by oil and gas industry operators, and those persons authorized to conduct activities on their behalf (collectively “industry operators”), in U.S. waters of the GOA  1 over the course of 5 years (86 FR 5322, January 19, 2021). The rule was based on our findings that the total taking from the specified activities over the 5-year period will have a negligible impact on the affected species or stock(s) of marine mammals and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of those species or stocks for subsistence uses, and became effective on April 19, 2021.

The regulations at 50 CFR 217.180 et seq. allow for the issuance of LOAs to industry operators for the incidental take of marine mammals during geophysical survey activities and prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species or stocks and their habitat (often referred to as mitigation), as well as requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking. Under 50 CFR 217.186(e), issuance of an LOA shall be based on a determination that the level of taking will be consistent with the findings made for the total taking allowable under these regulations and a determination that the amount of take authorized under the LOA is of no more than small numbers.

NMFS subsequently discovered that the 2021 rule was based on erroneous take estimates. We conducted another rulemaking using correct take estimates and other newly available and pertinent information relevant to the analyses supporting some of the findings in the 2021 final rule and the taking allowable under the regulations. We issued a final rule in April 2024, effective May 24, 2024 (89 FR 31488, April 24, 2024).

The 2024 final rule made no changes to the specified activities or the specified geographical region in which those activities would be conducted, nor to the original 5-year period of effectiveness. In consideration of the new information, the 2024 rule presented new analyses supporting affirmance of the negligible impact determinations for all species, and affirmed that the existing regulations, which contain mitigation, monitoring, and reporting requirements, are consistent with the “least practicable adverse impact” standard of the MMPA.

Echo plans to conduct a two-dimensional (2D) high-resolution seismic survey in lease block VR178 in the Vermillion area, with water depths ranging from approximately 29.3-29.9 meters (m). See section F of the LOA application for a map of the area. Echo plans to use a single, 20-cubic inch (in 3 ) (327.7 cubic centimeter (cm 3 ) airgun, in addition to three other high-resolution geophysical (HRG) acoustic sources. Please see the LOA application for additional detail.

Consistent with the preamble to the final rule, the survey effort proposed by Echo in its LOA request was used to develop LOA-specific take estimates based on the acoustic exposure modeling results described in the preamble (89 FR 31488, April 24, 2024). In order to generate the appropriate take number for authorization, the following information was considered: (1) survey type; (2) location (by modeling zone  2 ); (3) number of days; (4) source; and (5) month. 3 The acoustic exposure modeling performed in support of the rule provides 24-hour exposure estimates for each species, specific to each modeled source and survey type in each zone and month.

Exposure modeling results were generated using the single airgun proxy. Because those results assume use of a 90-in 3 (1,474.8 cm 3 ) airgun, the take numbers authorized through this LOA are considered conservative ( i.e., they likely overestimate take) due to differences in the sound source planned for use by Echo, as compared to those modeled for the rule.

The survey will take place over approximately 1.5 days with 1 day of sound source operation in Zone 2. The monthly distribution of survey days is not known in advance. Take estimates for each species are based on the month that produces the greatest value.

Based on the results of our analysis, NMFS has determined that the level of taking expected for this survey and authorized through the LOA is consistent with the findings made for the total taking allowable under the regulations. See table 1 in this notice and table 6 of the rule (89 FR 31488, April 24, 2024).

Under the rule, NMFS may not authorize incidental take of marine mammals in an LOA if it will exceed “small numbers.” In short, when an acceptable estimate of the individual marine mammals taken is available, if the estimated number of individual animals taken is up to, but not greater than, one-third of the best available abundance estimate, NMFS will determine that the numbers of marine mammals taken of a species or stock are small (see 89 FR 31535, May 24, 2024). For more information please see NMFS' discussion of small numbers in the 2021 final rule (86 FR 5438, January 19, 2021).

The take numbers for authorization, determined as described above in the Summary of Request and Analysis section, are used by NMFS in making the necessary small numbers determinations, through comparison with the best available abundance estimates (see discussion at 86 FR 5322, 5391, January 19, 2021). For this comparison, NMFS' approach is to use the maximum theoretical population, determined through review of current stock assessment reports (SAR; https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-stock-assessments ) and model-predicted abundance information ( https://seamap.env.duke.edu/models/Duke/GOM/ ). Information supporting the small numbers determinations is provided in table 1.

This request is for a revision and extension of a current information collection.

The success of fisheries management programs depends significantly on the availability of fishery data. As part of this fishery data, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) requires groundfish fishermen in the trawl and non-trawl fisheries to complete a logbook (see 50 CFR 660.13). The logbook used is a standard format developed by the Pacific Fishery Management Council to collect information necessary to effectively manage the fishery on a coast-wide basis. The logbook collects haul or set-level effort data including time, location, gear type, target strategy, and estimated pounds of fish caught per set. Each logbook entry represents a single fishing trip.

NMFS contracts with the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) to distribute and collect the logbook data. These data are used regularly by NMFS, the Council, the West Coast Groundfish Observer Program, NMFS Office of Law Enforcement, and the Coast Guard for fisheries management and enforcement.

Previously, the trawl logbook and non-trawl logbook information collections were separate, this revision would merge the non-trawl logbook information collection from 0648-0804 into the trawl logbook information collection. OMB Control Number 0648-0804 be discontinued upon approval of the revision to 0648-0782.

The non-trawl logbook is a fully electronic collection utilizing an application operated by PSMFC. The trawl logbook has both paper and electronic options, both administered by PSMFC.

OMB Control Number: 0648-0782.

Form Number(s): None.

Type of Review: Regular Submission (revision and extension of a currently approved collection).

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 338.

Estimated Time per Response: 0.5 hour for non-trawl form and 8 hours for trawl form.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 4,552 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $792.

Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.

Legal Authority: The regulations at § 660.13(a) specify reporting requirements for trawl and non-trawl logbooks.

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 be submitted within 30 days of the publication of this notice 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 either the title of the collection or the OMB Control Number 0648-0782.

The subject permit is requested under the authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq. ) and the regulations governing the taking and importing of marine mammals (50 CFR part 216).

The applicant requests a 10-year research permit to import and export parts from bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus ) to study historical ecology through stable isotope analysis. Parts from up to 50 dolphins per year may be imported and exported from foreign museums and scientific collections.

In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ), an initial determination has been made that the activity proposed is categorically excluded from the requirement to prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.

Concurrent with the publication of this notice in the Federal Register , NMFS is forwarding copies of the application to the Marine Mammal Commission and its Committee of Scientific Advisors.

Background: The Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled is an independent Federal agency operating as the U.S. AbilityOne Commission. It oversees the AbilityOne Program, which provides employment opportunities through Federal contracts for people who are blind or have significant disabilities in the manufacture and delivery of products and services to the Federal Government. The Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (41 U.S.C. chapter 85) authorizes the contracts.

Registration: Attendees not requesting speaking time should register not later than October 22, 2025. Attendees requesting speaking time must register not later than October 15, 2025, and use the comment fields in the registration form to specify the intended speaking topic(s). The registration link will be available on the Commission's home page, www.abilityone.gov, under News and Events.

Commission Statement: This regular quarterly meeting will include updates from the Commission Chairperson, Executive Director, and Acting Inspector General. The Commission will also recognize October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM).

Public Participation: The public engagement session will explore nontraditional and emerging service capabilities, including in the professional services category, that the Commission and AbilityOne Program participants should explore to create new employment opportunities for Americans who are blind or have significant disabilities. For the purposes of this session, emerging service capabilities include (1) a new or significantly improved ability to deliver a service, and/or (2) a nascent capability that is currently being tested or employed in the AbilityOne Program. Speakers are also invited to answer the question, “How can the AbilityOne Program identify and prepare for the service jobs of the future?”

The Commission looks forward to receiving comments and suggestions on this important topic. During registration, you may choose to submit comments, or you may request speaking time at the meeting. The Commission may invite some attendees who submit advance comments to discuss their comments during the meeting. Comments submitted will be reviewed by staff and the Commission members before the meeting. Comments posted in the chat box during the meeting will be shared with the Commission members after the meeting. The Commission is not subject to the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 552(b); however, the Commission published this notice to encourage the broadest possible public participation in its meeting.

Personal Information: Speakers should not include any information that they do not want publicly disclosed.

This notice is published pursuant to 41 U.S.C. 8503(a)(2) and 41 CFR 51-2.3. Its purpose is to provide interested persons an opportunity to submit comments on the proposed actions.

In accordance with 41 CFR 51-5.3(b), the Committee intends to add these services requirement to the Procurement List as a mandatory purchase only for contracting activities and locations listed, with the proposed qualified nonprofit agencies as the authorized source of supply. Prior to adding the service to the Procurement List, the Committee will consider other pertinent information, including information from Government personnel and relevant comments from interested parties regarding the Committee's intent to geographically limit this services requirement.

The following services(s) are proposed for addition to the Procurement List for delivery by the nonprofit agencies listed:

Title: Process for a Swap Execution Facility or Designated Contract Market to Make a Swap Available to Trade (OMB Control No. 3038-0099). This is a request for extension of a currently approved information collection.

Abstract: The collection of information is needed to help determine which swaps should be subject to the trade execution requirement set forth in section 2(h)(8) of the Commodity Exchange Act. A swap execution facility (“SEF”) or designated contract market (“DCM”) that submits a determination that a swap is available to trade must address at least one of several factors demonstrating that the swap is suitable for trading pursuant to the trade execution requirement. The Commission uses the collection of information to facilitate the application of the trade execution requirement and requirements associated with methods of swap execution under Parts 37 and 38 of the Commission's regulations.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. On July 3, 2025, the Commission published in the Federal Register notice of the proposed extension of this information collection and provided 60 days for public comment on the proposed extension, 90 FR 29533 (60-Day Notice). The Commission received one comment from a member of the public. The comment id not address the Commission's request for comment on ways to minimize burden and improve the utility of the collection. The comment suggested erroneously that “CFTC is not associated with rule making and the OMB identification number is not correct or associated with the OMB master number.” This collection is, however, associated with the Commission regulations establishing a process for swap execution facilities and designated contract markets to make a swap “available to trade” for purposes of the trade execution requirement. Moreover, the collection has received approval from OMB.

Burden Statement: Sections 37.10 and 38.12 of the Commission's regulations include information collection requirements within the meaning of the PRA. These regulations permit a SEF or DCM to submit a determination that a swap is available to trade to the Commission via filing procedures set forth in Part 40 of the Commission's regulations. The Commission estimates the burden of reviewing the prescribed factors and data to make a determination for this collection to be 16 hours per response.

Respondents/Affected Entities: SEFs, DCMs.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 3.

Estimated Average Burden Hours per Respondent: 16.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 48.

Frequency of Collection: On occasion.

There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection.

The OMB is particularly interested in comments which:

• Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of CNCS, including whether the information will have practical utility;

• Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions;

• Propose ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

• Propose ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

A 60-day Notice requesting public comment was published in the Federal Register on May 2, 2025 at 90 FR 18840. The comment period ended July 1, 2025. One comment was received in response to that notice; the comment stated that the collection of information is necessary. AmeriCorps has decreased the estimated number of respondents, resulting in a decrease in the estimated annual burden hours.

Title of Collection: NCCC Service Project Application.

OMB Control Number: 3045-0010.

Type of Review: Renewal.

Respondents/Affected Public: Businesses and organizations (Current and prospective AmeriCorps NCCC project sponsors).

Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 500.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 4,125.

Abstract: The AmeriCorps NCCC Service Project Application is completed by organizations interested in sponsoring an AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) team. Each year, AmeriCorps NCCC engages teams of members in projects in communities across the United States. Service projects, which typically last from six to eight weeks, address critical needs in natural and other disasters, infrastructure improvement, environmental stewardship and conservation, energy conservation, and urban and rural development. Members construct and rehabilitate low-income housing, respond to natural disasters, clean up streams, help communities develop emergency plans, and address other local needs. The currently approved information collection is due to expire on September 30, 2025.

Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of information, to search data sources, to complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the information. All written comments will be available for public inspection on regulations.gov .

The Department, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed, revised, and continuing collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's information collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format. The Department is soliciting comments on the proposed information collection request (ICR) that is described below. The Department is especially interested in public comment addressing the following issues: (1) is this collection necessary to the proper functions of the Department; (2) will this information be processed and used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden accurate; (4) how might the Department enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (5) how might the Department minimize the burden of this collection on the respondents, including through the use of information technology. Please note that written comments received in response to this notice will be considered public records.

Title of Collection: Independent Living Services for Older Individuals Who are Blind Annual Report (7-OB).

OMB Control Number: 1820-0608.

Type of Review: A revision of a currently approved ICR.

Respondents/Affected Public: State, Local, and Tribal Governments.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 56.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 280.

Abstract: RSA uses this form to meet the specific data collection requirements of Section 752 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended by the Workforce Innovation Act (WIOA) and implementing regulations at 34 CFR 367.31(c). Each Designated State Agency (DSA) that administers the ILOIB program is required to submit the RSA-7-OB report annually to the RSA Commissioner within 120 days of the end of the reported fiscal year.

On June 3 and July 14, 2025, the Department published NIAs for each of the aforementioned programs in the Federal Register . The Department is withdrawing these NIAs following the U.S. Solicitor General's July 2025 determination that the Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) programs violate the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause. As a result, the Department of Justice has declined to defend the programs in ongoing litigation.

The Department agrees that the racial quotas in the HSI programs are unconstitutional and, consequently, has decided to cancel the DHSI competition. In addition, due to similar issues with all MSI programs, including ANNH Part A, AANAPISI Part A, and NASNTI Part A, the Department is also canceling these competitions.

Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to Executive Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79.

Accessible Format: On request to the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT , individuals with disabilities can obtain this notice and the NIA in an accessible format. The Department will provide the requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file, braille, large print, audiotape, compact disc, or other accessible format.

Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this document is the document published in the Federal Register . You may access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov . At this site, you can view this document, as well as all other Department documents published in the Federal Register , in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the site.

You may also access Department documents published in the Federal Register by using the article search feature at www.federalregister.gov . Specifically, through the advanced search feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published by the Department.

Deadline Update: The Department is extending the deadline date for the receipt of corrections, notices of change of address or institution, or requests for a duplicate FAFSA Submission Summary to September 29, 2025. Further, the Department is extending the deadline for an institution to receive an Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) or FAFSA Submission Summary to September 30, 2025, or the student's last date of enrollment for the 2024-25 award year, whichever is earlier. In addition, we removed all references to identity verification reporting requirements for V4/V5 Verification Tracking Groups since, as noted in electronic announcement GENERAL-25-36, reporting verification of identity is not required for the 2024-25 award year. For verification purposes, verification documents must be received by the institution no later than 120 days after the student's last date of enrollment for the 2024-2025 award year or September 30, 2025, whichever is earlier. These dates were updated in Table A below.

Table A—2024-2025 Award Year Deadline Dates by Which a Student Must Submit the FAFSA, by Which the Institution Must Receive the Student's Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) or FAFSA Submission Summary, and by Which the Institution Must Submit Verification Outcomes for Certain Students.

Table A provides information and deadline dates for receipt of the FAFSA, corrections to and signatures for the FAFSA, ISIRs, and FAFSA Submission Summary, and verification documents.

The deadline date for the receipt of a FAFSA by the Department's FAFSA Processing System (FPS) is June 30, 2025, regardless of the method that the applicant uses to submit the FAFSA. The deadline date for the receipt of corrections, notices of change of address or institution, or requests for a duplicate FAFSA Submission Summary is September 29, 2025.

For all title IV, HEA programs, an ISIR or FAFSA Submission Summary for the student must be received by the institution no later than the student's last date of enrollment for the 2024-2025 award year or September 30, 2025, whichever is earlier. Note that a FAFSA must be submitted and an ISIR or FAFSA Submission Summary received for the dependent student for whom a parent is applying for a Direct PLUS Loan.

Except for students selected for Verification Tracking Groups V4 and V5, verification documents must be received by the institution no later than 120 days after the student's last date of enrollment for the 2024-2025 award year or September 30, 2025, whichever is earlier. For all title IV, HEA programs except for (1) Direct PLUS Loans that will be made to parent borrowers, and (2) Direct Unsubsidized Loans that will be made to dependent students who have been determined by the institution, pursuant to section 479A(a) of the HEA, to be eligible for such a loan without providing parental information on the FAFSA, the ISIR or FAFSA Submission Summary must have an official Student Aid Index (SAI) and the ISIR or FAFSA Submission Summary must be received by the institution no later than the earlier of the student's last date of enrollment for the 2024-2025 award year or September 30, 2025. For the two exceptions mentioned above, the ISIR or FAFSA Submission Summary must be received by the institution by the same dates noted in this paragraph but the ISIR or FAFSA Submission Summary is not required to have an official SAI.

For a student who is requesting aid through the Pell Grant, FSEOG, or FWS programs or for a student requesting Direct Subsidized Loans, who does not meet the conditions for a late disbursement under 34 CFR 668.164(j), a valid ISIR or valid FAFSA Submission Summary must be received by the institution by the student's last date of enrollment for the 2024-2025 award year or September 30, 2025, whichever is earlier. Additionally, for the 2024-2025 Award Year, the Department is providing additional flexibilities for students who applied via the paper FAFSA form and were enrolled only for the 2024 summer term. An institution that receives an ISIR for a student who was enrolled for the summer term and is no longer enrolled, and who, if not for the delay of the processing of paper FAFSA forms, would have otherwise been eligible to receive title IV program funds, may still award and disburse the funds, subject to all other late disbursement requirements. For this exception to apply, the ISIR or FAFSA Submission Summary must have an Application Receipt Date on or before the student's last date of enrollment for the summer term but the ISIR or FAFSA Submission Summary is not required to have an official SAI.

In accordance with 34 CFR 668.164(j)(4)(i), an institution may not make a late disbursement of title IV, HEA program funds later than 180 days after the date of the institution's determination that the student was no longer enrolled. Table A provides that, to make a late disbursement of title IV, HEA program funds, an institution must receive a valid ISIR or valid FAFSA Submission Summary no later than 180 days after its determination that the student was no longer enrolled, but not later than September 30, 2025.

Table B—2024-2025 Award Year Deadline Dates By Which an Institution Must Submit Disbursement Information For the Pell Grant, Direct Loan, and TEACH Grant Programs.

For the Pell Grant, Direct Loan, and TEACH Grant programs, Table B provides the earliest disbursement date, the earliest dates for institutions to submit disbursement records to the Department's Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System, and deadline dates by which institutions must submit disbursement and origination records.

For the 2024-25 Award Year, an institution must submit Pell Grant, Direct Loan, and TEACH Grant disbursement records to COD, no later than November 30, 2024 or 15 days after making the disbursement or becoming aware of the need to adjust a previously reported disbursement, whichever is later. In accordance with 34 CFR 668.164(a), title IV, HEA program funds are disbursed on the date that the institution: (a) credits those funds to a student's account in the institution's general ledger or any subledger of the general ledger; or (b) pays those funds to a student directly. Title IV, HEA program funds are disbursed even if an institution uses its own funds in advance of receiving program funds from the Department.

An institution's failure to submit disbursement records within the required timeframe may result in the Department rejecting all or part of the reported disbursement. Such failure may also result in an audit or program review finding or the initiation of an adverse action, such as a fine or other penalty for such failure, in accordance with subpart G of the General Provisions regulations in 34 CFR part 668.

Deadline Dates for Enrollment Reporting by Institutions.

In accordance with 34 CFR 674.19(f), 682.610(c), 685.309(b), and 690.83(b)(2), upon receipt of an enrollment report from the Secretary, institutions must update all information included in the report and return the report to the Secretary in a manner and format prescribed by the Secretary and within the timeframe prescribed by the Secretary. Consistent with the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Enrollment Reporting Guide, the Secretary has determined that institutions must report at least every two months. Institutions may find the NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Guide in the “Knowledge Center” via Federal Student Aid's (FSA) Partner Connect website at: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center .

Other Sources for Detailed Information .

We publish a detailed discussion of the FAFSA application process in the Application and Verification Guide volume of the 2024-2025 Federal Student Aid Handbook and in Volume 6 of the 2024-2025 FAFSA Specifications Guide .

Information on the institutional reporting requirements for the Pell Grant, Direct Loan, Federal Work-Study, and TEACH Grant programs is included in the 2024-2025 Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) Technical Reference . Also, see the NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Guide .

You may access these publications by visiting the “Knowledge Center” via FSA's Partner Connect website at: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center .

Additionally, the 2024-2025 award year reporting deadline dates for the Federal Perkins Loan, FWS, and FSEOG programs were published in the Federal Register on January 23, 2024 (89 FR 4284).

Applicable Regulations: The following regulations apply:

(1) Student Assistance General Provisions, 34 CFR part 668.

(2) Federal Pell Grant Program, 34 CFR part 690.

(3) William D. Ford Direct Loan Program, 34 CFR part 685.

(4) Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant Program, 34 CFR part 686.

(5) Federal Work-Study Programs, 34 CFR part 675.

(6) Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant Program, 34 CFR part 676.

Accessible Format: On request to the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT , individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an accessible format. The Department will provide the requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file, braille, large print, audiotape, or compact disc, or other accessible format.

Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this document is the document published in the Federal Register . You may access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov . At this site you can view this document, as well as all other Department documents published in the Federal Register , in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the site.

You may also access Department documents published in the Federal Register by using the article search feature at www.federalregister.gov . Specifically, through the advanced search feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published by the Department.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1070a, 1070b-4, 1070g, 1070h, 1087a-1087j, 1087aa-1087ii, and 1087-51-1087-58.

On August 30, 2024, the Department published NIAs for each of the aforementioned programs in the Federal Register . The Department is withdrawing these NIAs and cancelling the competition for FY 2025 new award funding under these programs. This decision ensures that all priorities and requirements for Department programs align with the objectives established by the Trump Administration.

Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to Executive Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79.

Accessible Format: On request to the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT , individuals with disabilities can obtain this notice and the NIA in an accessible format. The Department will provide the requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file, braille, large print, audiotape, compact disc, or other accessible format.

Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this document is the document published in the Federal Register . You may access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov . At this site, you can view this document, as well as all other Department documents published in the Federal Register , in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the site.

You may also access Department documents published in the Federal Register by using the article search feature at www.federalregister.gov . Specifically, through the advanced search feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published by the Department.

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the extended collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

This information collection request contains:

(1) OMB No.: 1910-5177;

(2) Information Collection Request Titled: Department of Energy Recognition for 50001 Ready and ISO 50001 Certification Information Collection Request. This information collection request was formerly titled “Department of Energy Superior Energy Performance 50001 Program Certification and 50001 Ready Recognition Information Collection Request” and is being retitled to reflect updated DOE recognition pathways for energy management systems implementation;

(3) Type of Review: Revision;

(4) Purpose: This Information Collection Request applies to the Department of Energy (DOE) voluntary recognition pathways for 50001 Ready and ISO 50001 certification for industrial companies, as well as commercial and institutional organizations. The information collection remains necessary to ensure that DOE's recognition offerings continue to deliver energy benefits and value to participants. 50001 Ready recognition is provided to facilities that self-attest their implementation of an energy management system based on the ISO 50001 international energy management system standard. DOE also recognizes organizations and facilities that achieved third-party certification to the ISO 50001 standard.

This request for information consists of a voluntary data collection process for facilities and organizations seeking recognition for ISO 50001-based energy management system implementation and certification: to manage participation, respond to participants, track recognition cycles, and recognize achievements of its participants.

DOE is proposing revisions to this collection, including the removal of three forms associated with the former Superior Energy Performance 50001 (SEP 50001) program, which was an accredited certification scheme under the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) National Accreditation Board (ANAB). The SEP 50001 Application collected information required to enroll a facility planning to pursue ISO 50001 and SEP 50001 certification. The SEP 50001 Energy Performance Improvement Report collected information from SEP 50001 Verification Bodies to confirm the outcomes of facility certifications. The SEP 50001 Scorecard collected information from facilities that requested elevated levels of recognition for energy management achievements exceeding ISO 50001 and SEP 50001 requirements.

With the conclusion of SEP 50001, this collection is adding two brief attestation forms that enable ISO 50001-certified facilities and organizations to engage DOE and request recognition. Users self-select a form based on the number of ISO 50001-certified facilities requesting DOE recognition. Individual facilities will use the ISO 50001 Certification Recognition Attestation Form for single sites. Organizations with multiple sites will use the ISO 50001 Certification Recognition Attestation Form for multi-site.

Facilities and multisite organizations that seek recognition for 50001 Ready or ISO 50001 certification provide background data and basic facility energy use, energy consumption, and energy performance. Background data includes contact information and basic information about the entity requesting DOE recognition. Organizations will self-select which recognition they are requesting and submit one of the following: the 50001 Ready Attestation Form, the ISO 50001 Certification Recognition Form for single sites, or the ISO 50001 Certification Recognition Form for multisite. This data is primarily used to track basic information on recognized facilities and respond to participants' inquiries.

Basic facility information about energy use, energy consumption, and energy performance is collected in the 50001 Ready Energy Performance Improvement Report. This information is used to administer the recognitions, manage recognition cycles, track the results of ISO 50001-based energy management systems implementation, and enable DOE to evaluate its technical resources and recognition pathways and identify potential improvements to remain relevant to users. DOE's online system, the 50001 Ready Navigator, enables participants to submit all forms electronically. Responses to the DOE's Information Collection Request will be voluntary.

(5) Annual Estimated Number of Respondents: 400;

(6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: 400;

(7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: 300;

(8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $20,425.

Statutory Authority: Accelerating Investment in Industrial Energy Efficiency. Executive Order 13624, 77 FR 54779 (Aug. 30, 2012); 42 U.S.C. 16191.

This document of the Department of Energy was signed on September 15, 2025, by Abraham Shultz, Director, Industrial Technologies Office, pursuant to delegated authority from the Secretary of Energy. That document with the original signature and date is maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes only, and in compliance with requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to sign and submit the document in electronic format for publication, as an official document of the Department of Energy. This administrative process in no way alters the legal effect of this document upon publication in the Federal Register .

Large-scale electricity demand growth is occurring at a pace and scale that presents significant challenges to the U.S. electric grid. In several regions, planned and proposed data centers, semiconductor fabrication plants, manufacturing facilities, and other large loads are driving multi-gigawatt increases in electric demand. Many of these new loads are highly location-specific, have accelerated timelines, and depend on rapid interconnection of reliable electricity supply.

This growth has exposed gaps in existing infrastructure, including limited transmission capacity, grid congestion, aging grid infrastructure, and delays in interconnection processes for both load and new generation. Long-lead times for transmission and generation development, along with regulatory, permitting, planning, and operational challenges, are threatening the ability of critical projects to meet demand.

President Trump has issued several executive orders related to energy dominance and AI, aiming to establish American leadership on these issues:

• Executive Order 14154: Unleashing American Energy (Jan. 20, 2025): This order establishes a policy to protect the United States's economic and national security and military preparedness by ensuring that an abundant supply of reliable energy is readily accessible in every state and territory of the Nation.

• Executive Order 14179: Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence (Jan. 23, 2025): This order establishes a policy of the United States to sustain and enhance America's global artificial intelligence (AI) dominance in order to promote human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security.

• Executive Order 14262: Strengthening the Reliability and Security of the United States Electric Grid (April 8, 2025): This order focuses on strengthening the reliability and security of the U.S. electric grid to meet growing electricity demand.

• Executive Order 14302: Reinvigorating America's Nuclear Industrial Base (May 23, 2025): This order establishes a policy of the United States to expedite and promote to the fullest possible extent the production and operation of nuclear energy to provide affordable, reliable, safe, and secure energy to the American people.

In support of these policies, DOE is considering actions to strengthen the Federal role in accelerating critical generation and transmission projects to ensure the electric grid can accommodate and enable this growth.

DOE seeks to identify large-scale generation, transmission, and grid infrastructure projects that can accelerate speed to power to support manufacturing, industrial, and AI/data center electricity demand growth and would benefit from DOE coordination, technical assistance, and financial support. Specifically, DOE is seeking to identify projects that:

• Enable a minimum incremental load of 3 gigawatt (GW).

• Support up to 20 GW of incremental load.

• Include, but are not limited to:

○ New inter-regional transmission to support incremental load serving capability (must be at least 1,000 MVA);

○ Reconductoring of existing lines to support incremental load serving capability (must be at least 500 MVA);

○ Bringing retired thermal generation facilities back into service or otherwise using the existing interconnection capacity to provide reliable power generation; and

○ Construction of new generation or portfolios of new generation assets.

In addition, DOE administers a number of funding programs and authorities that may be leveraged to support grid infrastructure, power system investments, and expansion of generation, transmission, and distribution capacity to serve large electric loads.

These programs and authorities include:

• Transmission Facilitation Program (TFP): The Grid Deployment Office administers borrowing authority to support the build out of new interregional transmission lines across the country, authorized by 42 U.S.C. 18713. Through this program, DOE serves as an “anchor customer” by entering into capacity contracts for new, upgraded, or expanded transmission lines. Through the TFP, DOE takes long-term financial positions in transmission capacity to de-risk large transmission projects and help overcome the financial hurdles in the development of large-scale new transmission lines and upgrading existing transmission.

• Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program: GRIP provides funding to enhance optimization and accelerate the deployment of transformative projects that strengthen the reliability and resilience of power system infrastructure, authorized by 42 U.S.C. 17386,18711, and 18712. DOE offers competitive funding to support transmission projects, improve system optimization, and deploy advanced grid technologies. Eligible activities include substation upgrades, grid hardening, advanced control systems, and innovative approaches to enhance reliability and improve transmission, storage, and other regional energy infrastructure.

• Loans and Loan Guarantees: DOE's Loan Programs Office (LPO) administers a portfolio of energy projects and advanced technology facilities across the country through Title 17 and other authorities supporting grid infrastructure and electricity generation projects, including high-voltage transmission, generation, grid upgrades, and integrated systems that support load growth.

• Technical Assistance: DOE also provides key decision-makers and electric industry stakeholders with technical assistance and access to advanced modeling and analytical capabilities of the DOE National Laboratories to address grid modernization and infrastructure investment challenges.

Through this RFI, DOE seeks to develop and refine Federal funding and technical assistance programs to help state and local governments, utilities, grid operators, large load customers, and other stakeholders address grid infrastructure constraints and meet new demand in a timely and efficient manner.

DOE requests the interested parties provide the requested information and answers to the questions below. DOE also encourages respondents to submit data, case studies, or other available materials that provide actionable insight to support this RFI.

a. Please identify any specific large-scale generation, transmission, and grid infrastructure proposed projects (under development, in planning, or construction-ready) that should be considered and prioritized by DOE for siting and permitting support, technical assistance, and/or Federal funding (see Section V of this document, “Confidential Business Information,” regarding protection of information and how to submit confidential or proprietary information). Please include detailed project information for each project, including but not limited to:

i. Project region, name, geographical location, and description, including detailed maps or geospatial data of the project, if available.

ii. Project type and size ( e.g., 100-mile 500 kV transmission line, 1.1 GW nuclear plant, 20 GW data center/grid corridor, etc.).

iii. Current development stage ( e.g., conceptual, environmental planning and permitting, financing, construction-ready).

iv. A description of how the project is critical to meeting confirmed or anticipated large electric loads.

v. A description of how DOE financial assistance, loan guarantees, or technical assistance could support the project.

vi. Estimated cost and project timeline.

vii. Any prior tribal engagements (if applicable).

viii. Size and characteristics of the load(s) the project is intended to serve.

ix. Likely clients/project partners.

x. Amount of funding/capital raised.

xi. Siting and permitting status.

xii. Interconnection status.

xiii. A description of any Federal, state, or local barriers or dependences to project completion.

xiv. A description of whether the project has engaged with any DOE programs ( e.g., LPO financing, GRIP, TFP, etc.).

DOE is interested in identifying geographic areas or zones where targeted Federal investment in transmission, generation, or grid infrastructure could unlock or accelerate large-scale economic activity tied to electric load growth. These may include regions experiencing substantial near-term demand from data centers, manufacturing, or other large load users, as well as areas with untapped development potential constrained by inadequate grid infrastructure.

a. Are there specific geographic areas or high-priority zones ( e.g., data center corridors, semiconductor clusters, industrial parks, port complexes, etc.) where:

i. Major electric loads are expected or already committed?

ii. Grid constraints (transmission, generation, or other grid infrastructure) are limiting or delaying economic development?

iii. DOE investment (financial assistance, loan guarantees, siting and permitting support, technical assistance, etc.) could be targeted to unlock high-value or private investment?

b. For each specific high-priority zone, please identify the characteristics of the geographic area that support prioritization by DOE, including:

i. Amount of confirmed or anticipated electric load.

ii. Availability of energy supply and electricity generation capacity.

iii. Generation, transmission, or grid infrastructure projects in development that could serve large electric loads.

iv. Grid constraints that may be alleviated with DOE investment and technical assistance.

v. Existence of other infrastructure to support build out ( e.g., water resources, telecommunications, etc.).

vi. Any existing planning efforts by states, local jurisdictions, electric utilities, grid operators to identify and designate investment zones or corridors.

a. In what specific ways can DOE support the development and deployment of large-scale generation and transmission projects? Please provide concrete examples and suggestions in areas such as:

i. Financial incentives ( e.g., grants, loans, tax credits, etc.).

ii. Technical assistance and expertise.

iii. Research and development.

iv. Streamlining environmental review and permitting processes.

v. Facilitating stakeholder collaboration.

vi. Addressing supply chain and workforce vulnerabilities.

b. What specific authorities, programs, or initiatives within DOE are best positioned to provide this support?

c. How should DOE prioritize or structure its financial and technical support to advance high-impact generation, transmission, and grid infrastructure projects to serve large electric loads?

i. How can Federal support best de-risk early-stage infrastructure investment to attract private or other public capital?

d. Are there gaps in capital availability ( e.g., for utilities, project developers, or certain types of infrastructure) that DOE funding could help bridge?

e. What forms of technical assistance or planning support ( e.g., power flow modeling, capacity expansion planning, load forecasting, interconnection studies, technology operational assessments, technology implementation roadmaps, etc.) would help states, utilities, and project developers more effectively use Federal funding to meet demand?

f. How should DOE coordinate funding across its offices to support large-scale electric load growth?

g. What additional coordination is needed between DOE and other Federal agencies ( e.g., U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Defense, Department of the Treasury, Department of Transportation, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, etc.) to align funding, permitting, or policy with emerging electric load challenges?

i. Are there successful examples of interagency coordination that should be expanded to address grid capacity and load growth?

h. How can DOE effectively leverage public-private partnerships to accelerate the development of these projects?

i. What are the most critical data gaps or information needs that DOE should address to better understand and support these projects?

a. What types of new electric load are driving demand increases in your service area or region?

b. Please provide any available projections or forecasts of the scale, timing, and location of this expected growth.

a. What generation, transmission, or distribution constraints are limiting the ability to serve this demand?

b. What are the primary challenges and barriers to expanding infrastructure and deploying large-scale generation and transmission projects? Please consider factors such as:

i. Siting and permitting;

ii. Financing and investment;

iii. Construction timelines;

iv. Supply chain constraints;

v. Workforce availability;

vi. Interconnection queues;

vii. State and Federal regulatory and policy uncertainty;

viii. Technology integration;

ix. Community engagement and acceptance.

Please share any further insights, recommendations, or examples of effective practices related to grid infrastructure expansion to support large electric loads.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to SpeedtoPowerRFI@hq.doe.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. (ET) on November 21, 2025. Responses must be provided as Portable Document Format (PDF) file attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25 MB be compressed ( i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. PDF file attachments should be no more than 15 pages in length. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

Please identify your answers by responding to a specific question or topic if applicable. Respondents may respond to as many or as few questions or topics as they wish. DOE will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. A response to this RFI will not be viewed as a binding commitment to develop or pursue the project or ideas discussed.

Respondents must provide the following information at the start of their response to this RFI:

• Company/institution name;

• Company/institution point of contact;

• Contact's address, phone number, and email address;

• Company/institution's primary area of expertise or focus relevant to this RFI ( e.g., electricity generation, transmission, state energy policy, project development, etc.).

This is a request for information only. This RFI does not constitute a funding opportunity, grant program, or regulatory proposal. This RFI is not accepting applications for financial assistance or financial incentives. DOE may or may not issue a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) based on consideration of the input received from this RFI.

This RFI is not a NOFO; therefore, DOE is not accepting applications at this time. DOE may issue a NOFO in the future based on or related to the content and responses to this RFI; however, DOE may also elect not to issue a NOFO. There is no guarantee that a NOFO will be issued as a result of this RFI. Responding to this RFI does not provide any advantage or disadvantage to potential applicants if DOE chooses to issue a NOFO regarding the subject matter. Final details, including the anticipated award size, quantity, and timing of DOE funded awards, will be subject to Congressional appropriations and direction.

Any information obtained as a result of this RFI is intended to be used by the Government on a non-attribution basis for planning and strategy development; this RFI does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or abstracts. Your response to this notice will be treated as information only. DOE will review and consider all responses in its formulation of program strategies for the identified materials of interest that are the subject of this request. DOE will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to this RFI. Respondents are advised that DOE is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. Responses to this RFI do not bind DOE to any further actions related to this topic.

Because information received in response to this RFI may be used to structure future programs and NOFOs and/or otherwise be made available to the public, respondents are strongly advised to NOT include any information in their responses that might be considered business sensitive, proprietary, or otherwise confidential. If, however, a respondent chooses to submit business sensitive, proprietary, or otherwise confidential information, it must be clearly and conspicuously marked as such in the response.

Responses containing confidential, proprietary, or privileged information must be conspicuously marked as described below. Failure to comply with these marking requirements may result in the disclosure of the unmarked information under the Freedom of Information Act or otherwise. The U.S. Federal Government is not liable for the disclosure or use of unmarked information and may use or disclose such information for any purpose.

If your response contains confidential, proprietary, or privileged information, you must include a cover sheet marked as follows identifying the specific pages containing confidential, proprietary, or privileged information:

Pages [List Applicable Pages] of this response may contain confidential, proprietary, or privileged information that is exempt from public disclosure. Such information shall be used or disclosed only for the purposes described in this RFI [Enter RFI Number]. The Government may use or disclose any information that is not appropriately marked or otherwise restricted, regardless of source.

In addition, (1) the header and footer of every page that contains confidential, proprietary, or privileged information must be marked as follows: “Contains Confidential, Proprietary, or Privileged Information Exempt from Public Disclosure” and (2) every line and paragraph containing proprietary, privileged, or trade secret information must be clearly marked with double brackets or highlighting.

Federal employees are subject to the non-disclosure requirements of a criminal statute, the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. 1905. The Government may seek the advice of qualified non-Federal personnel. The Government may also use non-Federal personnel to conduct routine, nondiscretionary administrative activities. The respondents, by submitting their response, consent to DOE providing their response to non-Federal parties. Non-Federal parties given access to responses must be subject to an appropriate obligation of confidentiality prior to being given the access. Submissions may be reviewed by support contractors and private consultants.

This document of the Department of Energy was signed on July 01, 2025, by Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy. That document with the original signature and date is maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes only, and in compliance with requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to sign and submit the document in electronic format for publication, as an official document of the Department of Energy. This administrative process in no way alters the legal effect of this document upon publication in the Federal Register .

Title: Cash Management Agreements.

OMB Control No.: 1902-0267.

Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-604 information collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting requirements.

Abstract: This collection of information is authorized by the following statutory provisions:

• Sections 8 and 10 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717g and 717i);

• Sections 301 and 304 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 835 and 825c); and

• Sections 20(1) and 20(5) of the Interstate Commerce Act (49 App. U.S.C. 20(1) and 20(5)).

Cash management or “money pool” programs typically concentrate affiliates' cash assets in joint accounts for the purpose of providing financial flexibility and lowering the cost of borrowing. In a 2002 investigation, FERC staff found that balances in cash management programs affecting FERC-regulated entities totaled approximately $16 billion. Additionally, other investigations revealed large transfers of funds (amounting to more than $1 billion) between regulated pipeline affiliates and non-regulated parents whose financial conditions were precarious. The Commission found that these and other fund transfers and the enormous (mostly unregulated) pools of money in cash management programs could detrimentally affect regulated rates.

To protect customers and promote transparency, the Commission issued Order No. 634-A (2003) requiring entities to formalize in writing and file with the Commission their cash management agreements. 1 At that time, the Commission obtained OMB clearance for this new reporting requirement under the FERC-555 information collection (OMB Control No. 1902-0098). Now, the Commission includes these reporting requirements for cash management agreements under the FERC-604 information collection (OMB Control No. 1902-0267). The Commission implements these reporting requirements in accordance with 18 CFR 141.500, 260.400, and 357.5.

Type of Respondents: Public utilities, natural gas companies, and oil pipeline companies.

Estimate of Annual Burden:   2 The Commission estimates the annual public reporting burden for the information collection as:

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 4314(c)(4), the names and position titles of the EEOC PRB members are set forth below:

Section 1102 of the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-85) added section 524 to the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 360n). In section 524 of the FD&C Act, Congress encouraged development of new human drug and biological products for prevention and treatment of tropical diseases by offering additional incentives for obtaining FDA approval of such products. Under section 524 of the FD&C Act, the sponsor of an eligible human drug application for a tropical disease (as defined in section 524(a)(3) of the FD&C Act) shall receive a priority review voucher upon approval of the tropical disease product application (as defined in section 524(a)(4) of the FD&C Act).

Section 908 of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (Pub. L. 112-144) added section 529 of the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 360ff). In section 529 of the FD&C Act, Congress encouraged development of new human drugs and biological products for prevention and treatment of certain rare pediatric diseases by offering additional incentives for obtaining FDA approval of such products. Under section 529 of the FD&C Act, the sponsor of an eligible human drug application for a rare pediatric disease (as defined in section 529(a)(3) of the FD&C Act) shall receive a priority review voucher upon approval of the rare pediatric disease product application (as defined in section 529(a)(4) of the FD&C Act). 1

Section 3086 of the 21st Century Cures Act (Pub. L. 114-255) added section 565A to the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 360bbb-4a). In section 565A of the FD&C Act, Congress encouraged development of material threat MCMs by offering additional incentives for obtaining FDA approval of such products. Under section 565A of the FD&C Act, the sponsor of an eligible material threat MCM application (as defined in section 565A(a)(4) of the FD&C Act) shall receive a priority review voucher upon approval of the material threat MCM application. 2

The recipient of a priority review voucher may either use the voucher for a future human drug application submitted to FDA under section 505(b)(1) of the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 355(b)(1)) or section 351(a) of the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act) (42 U.S.C. 262(a)), or transfer (including by sale) the voucher to another party. The voucher may be transferred repeatedly until it ultimately is used for a human drug application submitted to FDA under section 505(b)(1) of the FD&C Act or section 351(a) of the PHS Act. As further described below, a priority review is a review conducted with a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date of 6 months after the receipt or filing date, depending on the type of application. Information regarding review goals for FY 2026 is available at: https://www.fda.gov/media/151712/download .

The sponsor that uses a priority review voucher is entitled to a priority review of its eligible human drug application, but must pay FDA a priority review user fee in addition to any other fee required by PDUFA. FDA published information on its website about how the priority review voucher program operates. 3   4   5

This notice establishes the FY 2026 priority review fee rate for use of tropical disease, rare pediatric disease, and material threat MCM priority review vouchers at $1,962,472 and outlines FDA's process for implementing the collection of priority review user fees. This rate is effective on October 1, 2025, and will remain in effect through September 30, 2026.

FDA interprets section 524(c)(2) (tropical disease priority review user fee), section 529(c)(2) (rare pediatric disease priority review user fee), and section 565A(c)(2) (material threat MCM priority review user fee) of the FD&C Act as requiring that FDA determine the amount of each priority review user fee for each fiscal year based on the difference between the average cost incurred by FDA in the review of a human drug application subject to priority review in the previous fiscal year, and the average cost incurred by FDA in the review of a human drug application that is not subject to priority review in the previous fiscal year.

A priority review is a review conducted within a timeframe prescribed in FDA commitments for such reviews made in connection with PDUFA reauthorization for FYs 2023-2027, known as PDUFA VII. For the FYs 2023 through 2027, FDA has committed to a goal date to review and act on 90 percent of the applications granted priority review status within the expedited timeframe of 6 months after receipt or filing date (filing date for new molecular entity (NME) new drug application (NDA) and original biologics license application (BLA) submissions; receipt date for priority non-NME original NDA submissions). Normally, an application for a human drug or biological product will qualify for priority review if the product is intended to treat a serious condition and, if approved, would provide a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness. An application that does not receive a priority designation receives a standard review. A priority review involves a more intensive level of effort and a higher level of resources than a standard review.

FDA is setting a fee for FY 2026, which is to be based on standard cost data from the previous fiscal year, FY 2025. However, the FY 2025 submission cohort has not been closed out yet, thus the cost data for FY 2025 are not complete. The latest year for which FDA has complete cost data is FY 2024. Furthermore, because FDA has never tracked the cost of reviewing applications that get priority review as a separate cost subset, FDA estimated this cost based on other data that the Agency has tracked. The Agency expects all applications that received priority review would contain clinical data. The application categories with clinical data for which FDA tracks the cost of review are (1) NDAs for an NME with clinical data and (2) BLAs.

The total cost for FDA to review NME NDAs with clinical data and BLAs in FY 2024 was $290,420,610. There was a total of 76 applications in these 2 categories (38 NME NDAs with clinical data and 38 BLAs). ( Note: These numbers exclude the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief NDAs; no investigational new drug review costs are included in this amount.) Of these applications, 42 (19 NDAs and 23 BLAs) received priority review and the remaining 34 (19 NDAs and 15 BLAs) received standard reviews. Because a priority review compresses a review that ordinarily takes 10 months into 6 months, FDA estimates that a multiplier of 1.67 (10 months divided by 6 months) should be applied to nonpriority review costs in estimating the effort and cost of a priority review as compared to a standard review. This multiplier is consistent with published research on this subject, which supports a priority review multiplier in the range of 1.48 to 2.35 (Ref. 1). Using FY 2024 figures, the costs of a priority and standard review are estimated using the following formula:

For the FY 2026 fee, FDA will need to adjust the FY 2024 incremental cost by the average amount by which FDA's average costs increased in the 3 years prior to FY 2025, to adjust the FY 2024 amount for cost increases in FY 2025. That adjustment, published in the Federal Register setting the FY 2026 PDUFA fees, is 5.0313 percent for the most recent year, not compounded. Increasing the FY 2024 incremental priority review cost of $1,868,464 by 5.0313 percent (or 0.050313) results in an estimated cost of $1,962,472 (rounded to the nearest dollar). This is the priority review user fee amount for FY 2026 that must be submitted in connection with a priority review voucher for a human drug application in FY 2026, in addition to any PDUFA fee that is required for such an application.

The fee rate for FY 2026 is set in Table 1:

Sections 524(c)(4)(B), 529(c)(4)(B), and 565A(c)(4)(B) of the FD&C Act specify that the human drug application for which the sponsor requests the use of a priority review voucher will be considered incomplete if the priority review user fee and all other applicable user fees are not paid in accordance with FDA payment procedures. In addition, FDA may not grant a waiver, exemption, reduction, or refund of any fees due and payable under these sections of the FD&C Act (see sections 524(c)(4)(C), 529(c)(4)(C), and 565A(c)(4)(C)). FDA may not collect priority review voucher fees for any fiscal year “except to the extent provided in advance in appropriation Acts.” (Section 524(c)(5)(B), 529(c)(5)(B), and 565A(c)(6)) of the FD&C Act.)

The priority review fee established in the new fee schedule must be paid for any application received on or after October 1, 2025, submitted with a priority review voucher. As noted in section II, this fee must be paid in addition to any PDUFA fee that is required for the application. The sponsor would need to follow normal requirements for timely payment of any PDUFA fee for the human drug application. For more information regarding payment of PDUFA application fees generally, please see section 736(a)(1) of the FD&C Act. 6

All three priority review vouchers have a notification requirement. To comply with this requirement, the sponsor must notify FDA not later than 90 days prior to submission of the human drug application that is the subject of a priority review voucher of an intent to submit the human drug application, including the estimated submission date. See sections 524(b)(4), 529(b)(4)(B)(i), and 565A(b)(3)(A) of the FD&C Act.

Under sections 524(c)(4)(A) (tropical disease priority review user fee) and 565A(c)(4)(A) (material threat MCM priority review user fee) of the FD&C Act, the priority review user fee is due ( i.e., the obligation to pay the fee is incurred) upon submission of a human drug application for which the priority review voucher is used. 7

Under section 529(c)(4)(A) (rare pediatric disease priority review user fee) of the FD&C Act, the priority review user fee is due ( i.e., the obligation to pay the fee is incurred) when a sponsor notifies FDA of its intent to use the voucher. Upon receipt of this notification, FDA will issue an invoice to the sponsor for the rare pediatric disease priority review voucher fee. The invoice will include instructions on how to pay the fee via wire transfer, electronic check, or online payments.

Payment must be made in U.S. currency by electronic check, wire transfer, or credit card. 8 The preferred payment method is online using electronic check (Automated Clearing House (ACH) also known as eCheck) or credit card (Discover, VISA, MasterCard, American Express). Secure electronic payments can be submitted using the User Fees Payment Portal at https://userfees.fda.gov/pay . ( Note: Only full payments are accepted. No partial payments can be made online.) Once you search for your invoice, select “Pay Now” to be redirected to Pay.gov . Note that electronic payment options are based on the balance due. Payment by credit card is available for balances that are less than $25,000. If the balance exceeds this amount, only the ACH option is available. Payments must be made using U.S. bank accounts as well as U.S. credit cards.

FDA has partnered with the U.S. Department of the Treasury to use Pay.gov , a web-based payment application, for online electronic payment. The Pay.gov feature is available on the FDA website after the user fee identification (ID) number is generated.

If paying by wire transfer, please reference your invoice number/unique user fee ID number when completing your transfer. (For rare pediatric disease priority review, please use your invoice number issued by FDA upon receipt of notification. For all other priority reviews, please use the unique user fee ID number generated for the Pay.gov feature.) The originating financial institution may charge a wire transfer fee. If the financial institution charges a wire transfer fee, it is required to add that amount to the payment to ensure that the invoice is paid in full. The account information is as follows: U.S. Dept. of the Treasury, TREAS NYC, 33 Liberty St., New York, NY 10045, Account Number: 75060099, Routing Number: 021030004, SWIFT: FRNYUS33. If needed, FDA's tax identification number is 53-0196965.

The following reference is on display with the Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852, 240-402-7500, and is available for viewing by interested persons between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday; it is not available electronically at https://www.regulations.gov as this reference is copyright protected. FDA has verified the website address as of the date this document publishes in the Federal Register , but websites are subject to change over time.

Funding Opportunity Title: FY 2024 National Anti-Drug Coalitions Training and Workforce Development Cooperative Agreement (Short Title: Coalitions Training Cooperative Agreement), Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) SP-24-003.

Assistance Listing Number: 93.243.

Authority: Sections 509, 516, and 520A of the Public Health Service Act, as amended.

Justification: CADCA is the only national organization that provides training and technical assistance solely focused on community anti-drug coalitions annually through their national leadership conference and mid-year training institute. CADCA's reach of more than 5,000 community coalitions and long-history of training and technical assistance to thousands of members of community coalitions dedicated to preventing substance use means they are uniquely positioned to carry out the activities included in this supplemental funding. This is not a formal request for application. Assistance will only be provided to the one (1) Coalitions Training Cooperative Agreement grant recipient funded in FY 2024.

Funding Opportunity Title: FY 2023 Historically Black Colleges and Universities Center for Excellence (HBCU-CFE) grant TI-23-015.

Assistance Listing Number: 93.243.

Authority: The HBCU-CFE award is authorized under the Public Health Service Act, Section 509; 42 U.S.C 290bb-2 and Section 520A; 42 U.S.C 290bb-32.

Justification: SAMHSA is proposing a single source supplemental award to Clark University, the current grantee operating the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Center for Excellence (CFE), to support expanded activities aligned with Executive Order 14283. Clark University has demonstrated a strong track record of success in leading the HBCU CFE, including activities such as: bi-monthly educational webinars for future leaders in healthcare, the 988 Call for the Culture Suicide Prevention Initiative, and the Pre-Career Footsteps Mentoring Corp Leaders Program. These activities all support outreach, training, and retention with the purpose of preparing HBCU students to enter the behavioral health workforce.

As the established infrastructure for SAMHSA's engagement with HBCUs, the HBCU CFE at Clark University is uniquely positioned to rapidly scale and implement the proposed activities without duplication of effort or delay. The grantee has existing relationships with HBCU leadership, behavioral health faculty, and student networks, as well as the administrative capacity to manage the proposed planning convenings, curriculum development, and interagency coordination. In addition, Clark Atlanta University has continuously built on a strong foundation of bonds with other HBCUs across the nation that can be utilized when coordinating curriculum development. Awarding this supplement to the current grantee ensures continuity, leverages existing investments, and maximizes the impact of the $350,000 in funding to advance behavioral health outcomes and workforce development across HBCUs.

This is not a formal request for application. Assistance will only be provided to one HBCU CFE grant recipient funded in FY 2023 under the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Center for Excellence (HBCU-CFE) grant TI-23-015 based on the receipt of a satisfactory application and associated budget that is approved by a review group.

Funding Opportunity Title: FY 2024 Prevention Technology Transfer Centers Cooperative Agreements SP-24-002.

Assistance Listing Number: 93.243.

Authority: Section 509 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended.

Justification: Eligibility for this supplemental funding is limited to the ten PTTC Regional Centers and the PTTC National Coordinating Center funded under the PTTC Cooperative Agreements funding announcement SP-24-002. The PTTCs will continue providing training/technical assistance services and quality improvement activities to the substance misuse prevention workforce including professionals/pre-professionals, organizations, and others in the prevention community. This supplemental funding will allow PTTCs to expand efforts to develop and deliver resources to the prevention field, allowing for a focused effort to SAMHSA prevention grant recipients. The PTTCs will continue working directly with SAMHSA and across the PTTC Network on activities aimed at improving implementation and delivery of effective substance misuse prevention interventions. The PTTCs will continue providing prevention skills trainings and technical assistance services that are: tailored to meet the needs of recipients and the prevention field, based in prevention science, and use evidence-based and promising practices. The PTTC National Coordinating Center (NCC) will continue serving as the focal point and providing leadership, infrastructure, and support for the ten PTTC Regional Centers.

This is not a formal request for application. Assistance will only be provided to the eleven Prevention Technology Transfer Centers Cooperative Agreements grant recipients funded in FY 2024 under the Prevention Technology Transfer Centers Cooperative Agreements SP-24-002.

Pursuant to section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1187, the Secretary of Homeland Security (the Secretary), [1] in consultation with the Secretary of State, may designate certain countries for participation in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) if certain requirements are met. Those requirements include, among others:

(1) a rate of nonimmigrant visitor visa refusals for citizens or nationals of the country below the statutorily established threshold;

(2) certification by the government seeking designation for VWP participation that it issues machine-readable passports that comply with internationally accepted standards;

(3) a determination by the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, that the country's designation would not negatively affect U.S. law enforcement and security interests;

(4) an agreement to report, or make available through INTERPOL or other designated means authorized by the Secretary, information about the theft or loss of passports to the U.S. government within the designated timeframe;

(5) the country's government's acceptance for repatriation of any citizen, former citizen, or national not later than three weeks after the issuance of a final order of removal; and

(6) an agreement with the United States to share information regarding whether citizens and nationals of the country traveling to the United States represent a threat to the security or welfare of the United States or its citizens.

The INA also sets forth requirements for countries' continued VWP eligibility and, where appropriate, probation, suspension, or termination of program countries. See INA section 217(c)-(f), 8 U.S.C. 1187(c)-(f).

Citizens and nationals of VWP countries may apply for admission to the United States at U.S. ports of entry as nonimmigrant visitors for business or pleasure for a period of ninety days or less without first obtaining a nonimmigrant visa, provided they are otherwise eligible for admission under applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. To travel to the United States under the VWP, an alien must, without limitation:

(1) be seeking entry as a visitor for business or pleasure for ninety days or less;

(2) be a citizen or national of a VWP country;

(3) present a valid unexpired electronic and machine-readable passport that meets program requirements and is issued by a designated VWP country to the air or vessel carrier before departure;

(4) execute the required immigration forms;

(5) if arriving at a port of entry into the U.S. by air or sea, arrive on an authorized carrier;

(6) not represent a threat to the welfare, health, safety or security of the United States;

(7) not have failed to comply with the conditions of any previous admission as a nonimmigrant visitor;

(8) possess a round-trip transportation ticket;

(9) obtain an approved travel authorization via Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA);

(10) waive the right to review or appeal a decision regarding admissibility at the port of entry or to contest, other than on the basis of an application for asylum, any action for removal; and

(11) meet other program requirements.

Hungary was designated for participation in the VWP on November 17, 2008. See 73 FR 67711 (Nov. 17, 2008).

Pursuant to DHS regulations, a travel authorization issued under ESTA is generally valid for a period of two years from the date of issuance for all citizens and nationals of that VWP country. See 8 CFR 217.5(d)(1). However, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may increase or decrease the ESTA travel authorization validity period and eligibility for a designated VWP country. See 8 CFR 217.5(d)(3); see also INA section 217(h)(3)(C)(i), 8 U.S.C. 1187(h)(3)(C)(i) (“[T]he Secretary of Homeland Security may revoke any such determination [of an ESTA travel authorization validity period] or shorten the period of eligibility under any such determination at any time and for any reason.”). [2] DHS publishes notice of any changes to ESTA travel authorization validity periods in the Federal Register and updates the ESTA website to reflect the specific ESTA travel authorization validity period. See 8 CFR 217.5(d)(3).

DHS conducts the statutorily required review of each VWP country at least once every two years to evaluate the effects that continuing the country's designation in the program will have on U.S. national security, law enforcement, and immigration enforcement interests. See INA section 217(c)(5)(A), 8 U.S.C. 1187(c)(5)(A). Prior administrations reduced the validity period of ESTA travel authorizations for Hungarian travelers and limited the validity of an ESTA for Hungarian travelers to a single use. See 88 FR 50759 (Aug. 2, 2023).

DHS, in consultation with DOS, has since determined that Hungary has sufficiently addressed the vulnerabilities that led to the ESTA restrictions and has confidence in its ability to continue to partner with DHS to meet all VWP security requirements. DHS, therefore, is extending the ESTA validity period to two years, and allowing multiple entries for applications received beginning September 30, 2025.

Consistent with DHS's statutory obligations to review each VWP country's compliance with all program requirements every two years, DHS will review Hungary's implementation of all VWP requirements and report findings to Congress. The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, also retains the authority to suspend or terminate Hungary's designation as VWP country.

United States citizenship confers rights, privileges, and responsibilities that are vital to the security and safety of the United States, unification around a common American identity, and dedication to the common welfare of the American people. The ability to become a naturalized citizen is the most meaningful immigration benefit the United States can bestow on an alien. In order to become a United States citizen, an alien must be willing and able to accept all of the responsibilities of being a United States citizen in return for certain rights and privileges. The rights of U.S. citizenship include the right to vote and the right to hold public office. The responsibilities of U.S. citizenship include serving on federal juries and most state juries, supporting and defending the United States and the U.S. Constitution, bearing loyalty to the United States and abjuring allegiance to any other country, and serving in the military or performing civilian service when called upon by the government. 1

In recognition that aliens applying for naturalization must be willing and able to carry out these rights and responsibilities, Congress, among other things, required that such aliens must demonstrate English proficiency, knowledge of the fundamentals of American history, and U.S. government and civics. 2

Demonstration of English and civics knowledge is essential to showing an alien's commitment to fulfill the rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship and to actively assimilate into American society. Understanding the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, engaging with the government, and fully contributing to the democratic process all rely on a basic understanding of U.S. government and civics. Further, knowledge of U.S. government and civics enables naturalized citizens to more fully engage with local and federal government agencies and be active and responsible members of their local communities, furthering the success of our democracy.

Section 312 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1423, outlines the civics requirements for naturalization. 3 Candidates for naturalization must have “knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the history, and of the principles and form of government, of the United States.” See INA sec. 312(a)(2), 8 U.S.C. 1423(a)(2). 4 Under INA sec. 312(b)(3), special consideration is provided for the civics test for aliens who are over the age of 65 when they file their naturalization application and have been living in the United States for periods totaling at least 20 years subsequent to lawful admission for permanent residence. In addition, INA sec. 332(a), 8 U.S.C. 1443(a), provides specific authority for administering the civics test. Specifically, the INA states that the Secretary “shall make such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this part and is authorized to prescribe the scope and nature of the examination of applicants for naturalization as to their admissibility to citizenship.” INA sec. 332(b), 8 U.S.C. 1443(b), provides authority to “promote instruction and training in citizenship responsibilities of applicants for naturalization.” DHS develops and administers these tests pursuant to its regulations in 8 CFR part 312.

The language in INA secs. 312 and 332, 8 U.S.C. 1423 and 1443, as well as the Secretary's broad general authority under INA sec. 103(a), 8 U.S.C. 1103(a), and the Homeland Security Act, 5 authorize the Secretary to issue regulations and delegate certain duties to any organizational unit, including USCIS, to administer the immigration and naturalization of aliens, 6 and to develop, revise, and administer the naturalization test.

Consistent with the above authority and delegation, USCIS is responsible for assessing an alien's knowledge of civics through testing. 7 As discussed previously, USCIS's authority to administer the civics test also extends to developing and revising the test, as USCIS deems appropriate and necessary. 8

The civics test has been administered in some form since the early 1900s. As far back as 1908, the former Immigration Service and the Courts determined that a person could not establish the naturalization requirement of showing an attachment to the Constitution unless he or she had some understanding of its provisions. 9 However, without a standard test, local judges or magistrates administered their own test. 10

In the 1930s, the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) under INS Commissioner D.W. MacCormack made reforming naturalization testing a major initiative under his tenure. Commissioner MacCormack issued instructions to create a definite and uniform procedure for examining aliens for citizenship and stressed that the examinations were meant to demonstrate the attachment to the principles of the Constitution rather than memorization of facts, and that the examination be uniform, fair, and devoid of “trick questions.”  11 The Nationality Act of 1940 expanded the agency's authority to test naturalization candidates' knowledge of the Constitution and U.S. Government. 12

The Internal Security Act of 1950 put into place what can be considered the modern educational requirements for naturalization, by amending the Nationality Act of 1940 to make knowledge of U.S. history and civics an explicit requirement for naturalization. 13 These amendments were carried forward essentially without change into the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) when it was enacted in 1952. 14 INS policy in 1950 maintained the civics test as primarily an oral quiz, with the degree of questioning determined by the alien's education, background, and interactions with the examiner. 15

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) mandated that aliens legalized under INA 245A meet basic citizenship skills. 16 Aliens who qualified under IRCA could choose to demonstrate their understanding of U.S. history and government by taking a course prescribed in IRCA. For all other aliens, including those aliens who qualified under IRCA who chose not to take a prescribed course, INS developed the “100 civics questions,” based on content from the Federal Textbooks on Citizenship. 17

In years past, the standardization and meaningfulness of the naturalization test came under scrutiny for several reasons, including the lack of standard content, instruments, protocols, or scoring rubrics. 18 In response, the INS began a revision process in 1997 and published an updated naturalization test in 2000 that standardized test questions; however, INS did not at that time standardize the manner in which the test was administered. 19 Since then, USCIS has actively worked to continue standardizing the naturalization civics test and to ensure the test is transparent. USCIS revised the test in 2008 and then again on December 1, 2020. 20 USCIS rescinded the December 1, 2020 revisions on February 22, 2021, when USCIS announced it was reverting to the 2008 Naturalization Civics Test beginning on March 1, 2021. 21

In 2018, after closely examining the 2008 Naturalization Civics Test, USCIS determined that the test could be improved and initiated a revision process. The revision included an expansion of the bank of testing questions, rewording/revising of questions, and adding questions to ensure adequate familiarity with American history and principles and form of U.S. government. These revisions culminated in the 2020 Naturalization Civics Test. 22

The 2020 Naturalization Civics Test fulfills the statutory requirement that an alien must demonstrate “a knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the history, and of the principles and form of government, of the United States” as required under sec. 312 of the INA and further outlined in 8 CFR part 312.

The 2020 Naturalization Civics Test increased the general bank of civics test questions from 100 to 128, the number of test questions for the exam to 20 (from 10), and the number of correct answers needed to pass the civics test to 12 (from 6). Officers asked all 20 questions, and the alien had to answer 12 questions correctly. The test was administered by an officer who asked the alien questions from a computer-generated list of 20 questions selected randomly at prescribed levels of difficulty from the bank of 128 questions. With the 2020 Naturalization Civics Test, USCIS aimed to standardize the administration of the Naturalization Civics Test and ensure that the test provided a meaningful assessment of an alien's knowledge and understanding of U.S. history and government, and that it was uniform and fair for all aliens applying for naturalization. 23

Although the 2020 Naturalization Civics Test increased the number of questions in the questions bank from 100 to 128, approximately 75 percent of the content came from the 2008 Naturalization Civics Test. 24 This included some questions that were taken verbatim from the 2008 Naturalization Civics Test, as well as content that was revised or recontextualized. Some questions from the 2008 version of the civics test no longer appeared in the 2020 Naturalization Civics Test and approximately 25 percent of the test constituted new content.

Before full implementation, USCIS conducted a pilot of the 2020 Naturalization Civics Test in the summer of 2020. 25 The pilot test reviewed the effectiveness and difficulty level of some of the questions with volunteers. USCIS recruited community-based organizations (CBOs) that offered adult citizenship education courses to lawful permanent residents preparing for the naturalization test as volunteers to participate in the pilot test. 26 USCIS then worked with the CBOs to help identify students who would volunteer to take the pilot test. The pilot test was administered remotely to students who volunteered to participate in the pilot test. USCIS asked participants the civics test questions orally and then captured their answers on a digital testing platform. The pilot test was originally intended to be administered in-person, but due to restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, it was converted to a virtual pilot test. Based on the data and results from the pilot test, USCIS edited questions and answer choices, 27 and identified the 20 questions from which to select 10 questions for the aliens over the age of 65 who had at least 20 years of residence as lawful permanent residents (LPRs). 28 The pilot helped USCIS determine the language and grammatical structure of individual test items and assign linguistic and cognitive weights to each test item. 29

On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order (E.O.) 14161, Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats. 30 The E.O. directs the Secretary to “[e]valuate the adequacy of programs designed to ensure the proper assimilation of lawful immigrants into the United States, and recommend any additional measures to be taken that promote a unified American identity and attachment to the Constitution, laws, and founding principles of the United States[.]”

Consistent with this directive, USCIS is reimplementing the 2020 Naturalization Civics Test with some modifications (discussed in this section) (“2025 Naturalization Civics Test”) as a measure to promote a unified American identity and attachment to the Constitution, laws, and founding principles of the United States. For the reasons discussed previously, USCIS believes that the 2020 Naturalization Civics Test made important improvements, and thus better fulfills the statutory requirement that an alien must demonstrate “a knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the history, and of the principles and form of government, of the United States” as required under INA sec. 312 and further outlined in 8 CFR part 312.

The 2020 Naturalization Civics Test was announced on November 13, 2020, and was administered from December 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021, including to aliens whose naturalization applications were already pending as of the date of implementation. After a change in administration, USCIS gradually reverted to the 2008 Naturalization Civics Test. USCIS announced the reversion on February 22, 2021. 31 The reversion to the 2008 Naturalization Civics Test was based on a preliminary “determination that the 2020 civics test development process, content, testing procedures, and implementation schedule may inadvertently create potential barriers to the naturalization process [and that the reversion was] consistent with the framework of the Executive Order on Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems.”  32 This prior determination was not supported by data or other evidence that the revised 2020 Naturalization Civics Test had or would create such barriers, and the revised test was in place for too short a time for USCIS to gather sufficient data from its administration to be able to make a reasonable assessment of possible impacts.

USCIS believes that the 2020 Naturalization Civics Test development process and the pilot test made critical updates to the accuracy and relevance of the civics test. USCIS also believes that the changes in the test and process ensured that the administration of the test is standardized, methodical, and fair. USCIS believes that the 2020 Naturalization Civics test better ascertains the understanding and knowledge necessary to qualify for naturalization than the 2008 Naturalization Civics test. In addition, USCIS believes that the publication of this notice in the Federal Register , the advance publication of study materials (as discussed in the next section), along with the implementation schedule based on the date on which a naturalization application is filed, will provide the public, and specifically aliens applying for naturalization, sufficient time to adapt to the new test, while also preserving the reliance interests of aliens who may have already prepared for the 2008 Naturalization Civics Test. USCIS also believes that these implementation improvements will address the underlying concerns that led to the reversion to the 2008 Naturalization Civics Test.

As discussed previously, when USCIS initially implemented the 2020 Naturalization Civics Test, USCIS administered a 20-question test of which the alien had to answer 12 test questions correctly. This was a change from the 2008 Naturalization Civics Test where USCIS administered a 10-question test of which the alien had to answer six questions correctly. In implementing the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test, USCIS will resume administering 20-question tests using the same bank of 128 questions and answers that it used for the 2020 Naturalization Civics Test. USCIS believed and continues to believe that administering a 20-question test is necessary to more comprehensively assess an alien's knowledge of U.S. history and government by ensuring that each test covers a broader set of topics.

USCIS, however, is making a modification in the administration of the test. When USCIS initially implemented the 2020 Naturalization Civics Test, officers were required to orally ask all 20 test questions regardless of whether the alien had already answered a sufficient number to either pass or fail the test. This was a change from the 2008 Naturalization Civics Test where the officers were only required to orally ask questions until the alien either passed or failed the test. In implementing the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test, officers will only be required to ask questions until the alien either passes or fails the test. This is the only difference from the 2020 Naturalization Civics Test. Therefore, when an alien answers 12 questions correctly, the officer will stop administering the test. Similarly, when an alien answers nine questions incorrectly thus failing the test, the officer will stop administering the test. The implementation of the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test, as discussed in this notice, is a procedural change and will not change the passing score.

These changes balance the need of USCIS to ascertain the aliens' knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of American history, and of the principles and form of government of the United States with the time available for each interview, and take into account feedback USCIS received in response to the initial implementation of the 2020 Naturalization Civics Test. 33

In advance of the implementation of the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test, USCIS will update the Naturalization Test and Study Materials  34 and Resources for Educational Programs  35 that aliens may consult to study for the test. These study guide materials will also include the bank of 128 possible civics test questions, from which 20 test questions will be randomly selected for each individual test, along with the answers to those questions. USCIS will also temporarily retain on its website the study materials for the 2008 Naturalization Civics Test to help aliens applying for naturalization who will be administered the 2008 Naturalization Civics Test based on their application filing date to prepare for the civics test.

To address any reliance interests that aliens applying for naturalization may have as related to the 2008 Naturalization Civics Test, and to ensure sufficient time for the public to become familiar with the revised content, and for aliens to adequately prepare for the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test, USCIS will implement the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test as follows:

1. Aliens who have already filed a naturalization application, or who file a naturalization application less than 30 days after this notice is published in the Federal Register , will take the 2008 Naturalization Civics Test;

2. Aliens who file a naturalization application 30 days or more after this notice is published in the Federal Register will take the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test; and

3. With respect to aliens who qualify for special consideration because they are age 65 or older and have resided in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident for at least 20 years, USCIS will continue to administer a test with 10 questions from a specially selected bank of 20 test questions from either the 2008 or 2025 Naturalization Civics Test. 36 Specifically, aliens who have already filed a naturalization application, or who file a naturalization application less than 30 days after this notice is published in the Federal Register , will be administered a test with questions from the 2008 Naturalization Civics Test, while aliens who file a naturalization application 30 days or more after this notice is published in the Federal Register will be administered a test with questions from the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test. Regardless of their filing date, these aliens will only need to answer six questions correctly to achieve a passing score.

Most aliens who will be subject to the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test will not be tested until at least 3 months after the publication of this notice in the Federal Register based on the 30-day delay and interview scheduling times. USCIS believes that the 30-day delay before use of the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test, along with the timing of when the alien files the application for naturalization, allows sufficient notice for aliens applying for naturalization to prepare for the test. 37

This notice informs the public that HUD is seeking approval from OMB for the information collection described in Section A.

Title of Information Collection: Alternative Inspections—Housing Choice Voucher Program.

OMB Approval Number: 2577-0287.

Type of Request: Reinstatement without change of a previously approved collection.

Form Number: N/A.

Description of the need for the information and proposed use: A public housing agency (PHA) may comply with inspection requirements in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program by relying on an alternative inspection method consistent with the requirements stated in the program regulations. If the inspection method is not one conducted for another housing program (HOME Investment Partnerships program, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, or that performed by HUD), the PHA must submit a request to HUD's Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) for approval of the alternative method. The submission must include a copy of the inspection method the PHA is requesting to use and an analysis that shows that the alternative method meets or exceeds Housing Quality Standards (HQS), as defined in 24 CFR 982.3. Also, PHAs with approved alternative inspection methods must monitor changes to the standards and requirements of this method, and, if changes are made, they must submit to HUD a copy of the revised standards and requirements along with a revised comparison to HQS. All submissions from PHAs for alternate inspection methods for review and HUD appeal should be emailed to REAC at NSPIREV_AlternateInspection@hud.gov.

Respondents: State, local, or Tribal governments.

This notice is soliciting comments from members of the public and affected parties concerning the collection of information described in Section A on the following:

(1) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;

(2) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information;

(3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(4) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

HUD encourages interested parties to submit comment in response to these questions.

Section 2 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507.

In its April 4, 2025, notice of intent (NOI), Docket No. BOEM-2020-0018 (90 FR 14866), BOEM announced its intent to prepare a supplemental EIS (Unique Identification Number DOI-BOEM-AK-2025-0001-EIS) for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Lease Sale 258 in the Cook Inlet Planning Area, Alaska. BOEM amends its April 4, 2025, NOI to notify the public that, since the initial NOI was issued, the Council of Environmental Quality rescinded its NEPA implementing regulations effective April 11, 2025, 90 FR 10610 (Feb. 25, 2025). On July 3, 2025, DOI issued an interim final rule partially rescinding its NEPA implementing regulations and announcing that the remainder of its NEPA procedures will be maintained in a handbook separate from the Code of Federal Regulations, 90 FR 29498 (July 3, 2025). DOI's handbook of NEPA procedures is available at https://www.doi.gov/oepc/national-environmental-policy-act-nepa.

BOEM was required to hold Cook Inlet Lease Sale 258 (Lease Sale 258) by the end of December 2022, as directed in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Pub. L. 117-169, enacted Aug. 16, 2022). On October 28, 2022, the NOA of the Cook Inlet Lease Sale 258 final EIS was published in the Federal Register (87 FR 65247). Subsequently, on November 22, 2022, the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management signed the record of decision (ROD), and BOEM published the NOA in the Federal Register on November 29, 2022 (87 FR 73322). On December 30, 2022, BOEM held Lease Sale 258, receiving one bid on one block, resulting in the issuance of one lease.

On December 21, 2022, plaintiffs Cook Inletkeeper, et al., filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska under the Administrative Procedure Act alleging several violations of NEPA. On July 16, 2024, the Court ruled partially in favor of the plaintiffs and remanded without vacatur the Lease Sale 258 final EIS and ROD to BOEM to prepare a supplemental EIS to address three deficiencies identified by the Court. The three deficiencies identified by the Court are summarized as follows: (1) failure to consider a reasonable range of alternatives, specifically with respect to alternatives that would offer for lease a reduced number of blocks and meaningfully reduce overall impacts; (2) failure to take the requisite “hard look” at the impact of vessel noise from Lease Sale 258 on Cook Inlet beluga whales; and (3) failure to consider the cumulative impacts on Cook Inlet beluga whales separately from other marine mammals.

As a result of the Court's decision, BOEM announced its intent to prepare a supplemental EIS for Lease Sale 258 in its NOI published on April 4, 2025. The supplemental EIS will provide additional analyses to address the deficiencies identified by the Court. At the completion of the supplemental EIS process, the Secretary of the Interior or his designee will issue a modified ROD.

Consistent with section 3.6 of the DOI NEPA handbook and DOI's NEPA implementing regulations at 43 CFR part 46, DOI has determined that scoping and circulation of a draft supplemental EIS for public comment is not required, as the Court has determined the scope of the supplemental EIS.

Authority: This amended NOI is published pursuant to Department of the Interior regulations (43 CFR part 46) implementing the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ).

In accordance with the PRA and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), all information collections require approval under the PRA. We may not conduct, or sponsor and you are not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burdens, we invite the public and other Federal agencies to comment on new, proposed, revised, and continuing collections of information. This helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public understand our information collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format.

We are especially interested in public comment addressing the following:

(1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether or not the information will have practical utility;

(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

(3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(4) How might the agency minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of response.

Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Abstract: The authority and responsibility to regulate oil and gas well-workover operations has been delegated to BSEE. The regulations at 30 CFR part 250, subpart F, “Oil and Gas Well-Workover Operations,” are the subject of this collection. This request also covers any related notices to lessees and operators that BSEE issues to clarify, supplement, or provide additional guidance on some aspects of the regulations.

BSEE uses the information collected to analyze and evaluate planned well-workover operations to ensure that these operations result in personnel safety and protection of the environment. BSEE will use this evaluation in making decisions to approve, disapprove, or to require modification to the proposed well-workover operations.

Specifically, BSEE uses the information collected to:

• review log entries of crew meetings to verify that safety procedures have been properly reviewed.

• review well-workover procedures relating to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) to ensure the safety of the crew in the event of encountering H2S.

• review well-workover diagrams and procedures to ensure the safety of well-workover operations.

• verify that the crown block safety device is operating and can be expected to function and avoid accidents.

• verify that the blowout preventer equipment is in compliance with the latest well control regulations and American Petroleum Institute Standard 53.

• assure that the well-workover operations are conducted on a well casing that is structurally competent.

Title of Collection: 30 CFR part 250, subpart F, “Oil and Gas Well-Workover Operations.”

OMB Control Number: 1014-0001.

Form Number: None.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Respondents/Affected Public: Potential respondents include Federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil, gas, and sulfur lessees and/or operators and holders of pipeline rights-of-way.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: Currently there are approximately 60 oil and gas drilling and production operators in the OCS. Not all the potential respondents will submit information in any given year, and some may submit multiple times.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 1,933.

Estimated Completion Time per Response: Varies from 1 hours to 6.5 hours, depending on activity.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 5,284.

Respondent's Obligation: Responses are mandatory or are to retain/maintain benefits.

Frequency of Collection: Submissions are generally on occasion.

Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: We have identified no non-hour cost burdens associated with this collection of information.

An agency may not conduct, or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. ).

Background. —On August 4, 2025, the Commission determined that the domestic interested party group response to its notice of institution (90 FR 18694, May 1, 2025) of the subject five-year reviews was adequate and that the respondent interested party group response was inadequate. The Commission did not find any other circumstances that would warrant conducting full reviews. 1 Accordingly, the Commission determined that it would conduct expedited reviews pursuant to section 751(c)(3) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(c)(3)).

For further information concerning the conduct of these reviews and rules of general application, consult the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, part 201, subparts A and B (19 CFR part 201), and part 207, subparts A, D, E, and F (19 CFR part 207).

Staff report. —A staff report containing information concerning the subject matter of the reviews has been placed in the nonpublic record, and will be made available to persons on the Administrative Protective Order service list for these reviews on September 19, 2025. A public version will be issued thereafter, pursuant to § 207.62(d)(4) of the Commission's rules.

Written submissions. —As provided in § 207.62(d) of the Commission's rules, interested parties that are parties to the reviews and that have provided individually adequate responses to the notice of institution, 2 and any party other than an interested party to the reviews may file written comments with the Secretary on what determinations the Commission should reach in the reviews. Comments are due on or before 5:15 p.m. on September 26, 2025, and may not contain new factual information. Any person that is neither a party to the five-year reviews nor an interested party may submit a brief written statement (which shall not contain any new factual information) pertinent to the reviews by September 26, 2025. However, should the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) extend the time limit for its completion of the final results of its reviews, the deadline for comments (which may not contain new factual information) on Commerce's final results is three business days after the issuance of Commerce's results. If comments contain business proprietary information (BPI), they must conform with the requirements of §§ 201.6, 207.3, and 207.7 of the Commission's rules. The Commission's Handbook on Filing Procedures, available on the Commission's website at https://www.usitc.gov/documents/handbook_on_filing_procedures.pdf, elaborates upon the Commission's procedures with respect to filings.

In accordance with §§ 201.16(c) and 207.3 of the rules, each document filed by a party to the reviews must be served on all other parties to the reviews (as identified by either the public or BPI service list), and a certificate of service must be timely filed. The Secretary will not accept a document for filing without a certificate of service.

Determination. —The Commission has determined these reviews are extraordinarily complicated and therefore has determined to exercise its authority to extend the review period by up to 90 days pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1675(c)(5)(B).

Authority: These reviews are being conducted under authority of title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930; this notice is published pursuant to § 207.62 of the Commission's rules.