[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 95 (Friday, May 15, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29467-29468]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-10382]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No. USCG-2020-0041]


National Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee; Initial 
Solicitation for Members

AGENCY: U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security.

ACTION: Request for applications.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is requesting applications from persons in 
interested in membership on the National Merchant Marine Personnel 
Advisory Committee (``Committee''). This recently established Committee 
will advise the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on 
matters relating to personnel in the United States merchant marine, 
including the training, qualifications, certification, documentation, 
and fitness of mariners. Please read the notice for description of 
Committee positions we are seeking to fill.

DATES: Your completed application should reach the Coast Guard on or 
before July 14, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Applicants should send a cover letter expressing interest in 
an appointment to the National Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory 
Committee and a resume detailing their experience. We will not accept a 
biography.
    Applications should be submitted: via one of the following methods:
     By Email: Megan.C.Johns@uscg.mil. Subject Line: N-MERPAC 
(preferred).
     By Fax: 202-372-4908; ATTN: Megan Johns Henry, Alternate 
Designated Federal Officer; or
     By Mail: Megan Johns Henry, Alternate Designated Federal 
Officer, Commandant (CG-MMC-2), U.S. Coast Guard Stop 7509, 2703 Martin 
Luther King Jr. Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20593-7509.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Megan Johns Henry, Alternate 
Designated Federal Officer of the Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory 
Committee; Telephone 202-372-2357; or Email at Megan.C.Johns@uscg.mil.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Merchant Marine Personnel 
Advisory Committee is a Federal advisory committee. It will operate 
under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. 
Appendix, and the administrative provisions in Section 601 of the Frank 
LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018 (specifically, 46 U.S.C. 
15109).
    The Committee was established on December 4, 2019, by the Frank 
LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018, which added section 
15103, National Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee, to Title 
46 of the U.S. Code. The Committee will advise the Secretary of 
Homeland Security on matters relating to personnel in the United States 
merchant marine, including the training, qualifications, certification, 
documentation, and fitness of mariners.
    The Committee is required to meet at least once a year in 
accordance with 46 U.S.C. 15109(a). We expect the Committee to meet at 
least twice a year, but it may meet more frequently. The meetings are 
generally held in cities that have high concentrations of maritime 
personnel and related marine industry businesses.
    All members serve at their own expense and receive no salary or 
other compensation from the Federal Government. Members may be 
reimbursed, however, for travel and per diem in accordance with Federal 
Travel Regulations.
    Under provisions in 46 U.S.C. 15109(f)(6), if you are appointed as 
a member of the Committee, your membership term will expire on December 
31 of the third full year after the effective date of your appointment. 
The Secretary may require an individual to have passed an appropriate 
security background examination before appointment to the Committee, 46 
U.S.C. 15109(f)(4).
    In this initial solicitation for Committee members, we will 
consider applications for all positions, which include:
     United States citizens holding active licenses or 
certificates issued under 46 U.S.C. chapter 71 or merchant mariner 
documents issued under 46 U.S.C. chapter 73, including:
    [cir] Three credentialed deck officers who represent merchant 
marine deck officers, of which: (1) Two shall be endorsed for oceans 
route of unlimited

[[Page 29468]]

tonnage; (2) one with an endorsement for an inland or river route of 
limited or unlimited tonnage; (3) two deck officers endorsed as Master 
of Towing Vessels; (4) one with significant tanker experience and; (5) 
to the extent practicable, one shall represent labor and one shall 
represent management.
    [cir] Three credentialed engineering officers, of which: (1) Two 
shall be endorsed as Chief Engineer of unlimited horsepower; (2) one 
endorsed as either a Chief Engineer of limited horsepower or Designated 
Duty Engineer; and; (3) to the extent practicable, one shall represent 
labor and one shall represent management.
    [cir] Two credentialed with ratings: (1) One of which shall be 
endorsed as able bodied seamen; and (2) one shall be endorsed as a 
qualified member of the engine department; and
    [cir] One credentialed deck officer endorsed as first class pilot 
who represents merchant marine pilots;
     Six marine educators, including:
    [cir] Three marine educators who represent the maritime academies, 
of which: (1) Two represent the State maritime academies (and are 
jointly recommended by such academies); and (2) one represents either 
the State or United States Merchant Marine Academy;
    [cir] Three marine educators who represent other maritime training 
institutions, and of which one may also represent the small vessel 
industry:
     Two individuals who represent shipping companies employed 
in ship operation management; and,
     Two individuals who represent the general public.
    If you are selected as a member drawn from the general public, you 
will be appointed and serve as a Special Government Employee as defined 
in section 18 U.S.C. 202(a). As a candidate for appointment as a 
Special Government Employee, applicants are required to complete a 
Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 450) for new 
entrants and if appointed as a member must submit Form 450 annually. 
The Coast Guard may not release the reports or the information in them 
to the public except under an order issued by a Federal Court or as 
otherwise provided under the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C 552a). Only the 
Designated U.S. Coast Guard Ethics Official or his or her designee may 
release a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report. Applicants can 
obtain this form by going to the website of the Office of Government 
Ethics (www.oge.gov), or by contacting or emailing the individual 
listed above in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. Applications 
for members who will serve to represent the general public must be 
accompanied by a completed OGE Form 450.
    Registered lobbyists are not eligible to serve on Federal Advisory 
Committees in an individual capacity. See ``Revised Guidance on 
Appointment of Lobbyists to Federal Advisory Committees, Boards and 
Commissions'' (79 FR 47482, August 13, 2014). Registered lobbyists are 
``lobbyists,'' as defined in 2 U.S.C. 1602, who are required by 2 
U.S.C. 1603 to register with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk 
of the House of Representatives.
    The Department of Homeland Security does not discriminate in 
selection of Committee members based on race, color, religion, sex, 
national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender 
identity, marital status, disabilities and genetic information, age, 
membership in an employee organization, or any other non-merit factor. 
The Department of Homeland Security strives to achieve a widely diverse 
candidate pool for all of its recruitment selections.
    If you are interested in applying to become a member of the 
Committee, send your cover letter and resume to Megan Johns Henry, 
Alternate Designated Federal Officer of the National Merchant Marine 
Personnel Advisory Committee via one of the transmittal methods in the 
ADDRESSES section by the deadline in the DATES section of this notice. 
If you send your application to us via email, we will send you an email 
confirming receipt of your application.

    Dated: May 7, 2020.
Jeffrey G. Lantz,
Director of Commercial Regulations and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2020-10382 Filed 5-14-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-04-P


