81 FR 38723 - Limited Purpose Cooperative Research and Development Agreement-UAS Research With the University of Massachusetts Amherst

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 114 (June 14, 2016)

The Coast Guard announces its intent to enter into a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with several companies to evaluate small unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS) and their airborne sensors, to determine their potential for use in a maritime environment by a first responder and DHS operational components. The Coast Guard will conduct flight testing and evaluation of SUAS under a wide variety of simulated but realistic and relevant real-world maritime operational scenarios, such as law enforcement, search and rescue, and maritime environmental response. While the Coast Guard is currently considering partnering with the University of Massachusetts Amherst, it solicits public comment on the possible participation of other parties in the proposed CRADA, and the nature of that participation. The Coast Guard also invites other potential non-Federal participants, who have the interest and capability to bring similar contributions to this type of research, to consider submitting proposals for consideration in similar CRADAs.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 114 (Tuesday, June 14, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38723-38725]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-14073]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No. USCG-2016-0445]


Limited Purpose Cooperative Research and Development Agreement--
UAS Research With the University of Massachusetts Amherst

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of intent; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces its intent to enter into a 
cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with several 
companies to evaluate small unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS) and their 
airborne sensors, to determine their potential for use in a maritime 
environment by a first responder and DHS operational components. The 
Coast Guard will conduct flight testing and evaluation of SUAS under a 
wide variety of simulated but realistic and relevant real-world 
maritime operational scenarios, such as law enforcement, search and 
rescue, and maritime environmental response. While the Coast Guard is 
currently considering partnering with the University of Massachusetts 
Amherst, it solicits public comment on the possible participation of 
other parties in the proposed CRADA, and the nature of that 
participation. The Coast Guard also invites other potential non-Federal 
participants, who have the interest and capability to bring similar 
contributions to this type of research, to consider submitting 
proposals for consideration in similar CRADAs.

DATES: Comments must be submitted to the online docket via http://www.regulations.gov, or reach the Docket Management Facility, on or 
before July 14, 2016.
    Synopses of proposals regarding future CRADAs must reach the Coast 
Guard (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) on or before July 14, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments using one of the listed methods, and see 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for more information on public comments.
     Online--http://www.regulations.gov following Web site 
instructions.
     Fax--202-493-2251.

[[Page 38724]]

     Mail or hand deliver--Docket Management Facility (M-30), 
U.S. Department of Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Hours 
for hand delivery are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays (telephone 202-366-9329).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice 
or wish to submit proposals for future CRADAs, contact Dr. Andrew 
Niccolai, Project Official, Aviation Branch, U.S. Coast Guard Research 
and Development Center, 1 Chelsea Street, New London, CT 06320, 
telephone 860-271-2670, email [email protected]. If you have 
questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Cheryl 
Collins, Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-9826, 
toll free 1-800-647-5527.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We encourage you to submit comments and related material on this 
notice. All comments received will be posted, without change, to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any personal information you have 
provided.
    Do not submit detailed proposals for future CRADAs to the Docket 
Management Facility. Instead, submit them directly to the Coast Guard 
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
    Comments should be marked with docket number USCG-2016-0445 and 
should provide a reason for each suggestion or recommendation. You 
should provide personal contact information so that we can contact you 
if we have questions regarding your comments; but please note that all 
comments will be posted to the online docket without change and that 
any personal information you include can be searchable online (see the 
Federal Register Privacy Act notice regarding our public dockets, 73 FR 
3316, Jan. 17, 2008).
    Mailed or hand-delivered comments should be in an unbound 8\1/2\ x 
11 inch format suitable for reproduction. The Docket Management 
Facility will acknowledge receipt of mailed comments if you enclose a 
stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope with your submission.
    Documents mentioned in this notice, and all public comments, are in 
our online docket at http://www.regulations.gov and can be viewed by 
following the Web site's instructions. You can also view the docket at 
the Docket Management Facility (see the mailing address under 
ADDRESSES) between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

Discussion

    CRADAs are authorized under 15 U.S.C. 3710(a).\1\ A CRADA promotes 
the transfer of technology to the private sector for commercial use, as 
well as specified research or development efforts that are consistent 
with the mission of the Federal parties to the CRADA. The Federal party 
or parties agree with one or more non-Federal parties to share research 
resources, but the Federal party does not contribute funding.
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    \1\ The statute confers this authority on the head of each 
Federal agency. The Secretary of DHS's authority is delegated to the 
Coast Guard and other DHS organizational elements by DHS Delegation 
No. 0160.1, para. II.B.34.
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    CRADAs are not procurement contracts. Care is taken to ensure that 
CRADAs are not used to circumvent the contracting process. CRADAs have 
a specific purpose and should not be confused with other types of 
agreements such as procurement contracts, grants, and cooperative 
agreements.
    Under the proposed CRADA, the Coast Guard's Research and 
Development Center (R&DC) will collaborate with one or more non-Federal 
participants. Together, the R&DC and the non-Federal participants will 
evaluate SUAS and their airborne sensors to determine their potential 
for use in a maritime environment by a first responder and DHS 
operational components.
    We anticipate that the Coast Guard's contributions under the 
proposed CRADA will include the following:
    (1) The R&D Center will define the objectives of the evaluation to 
be conducted during this CRADA in a series of Assessment Plans that 
will guide the execution of simulated but realistic and relevant real-
world maritime operational scenarios that will determine the sUAS' 
ability to contribute to USCGC's mission effectiveness in the areas of: 
(A) Counter GPS Jamming/Spoofing for sUAS; (B) Sense & Avoid Systems 
for UAS; (C) UAS Traffic Monitoring Systems; and (D) NUSTAR standards 
for airworthiness certifications;
    (2) Provide the SUAS test range, test range support, facilities, 
and all approvals required for a 5 day demonstration under the CRADA;
    (3) Conduct the privacy threshold analysis required for the 
demonstration;
    (4) Conduct the privacy impact assessment required for the 
demonstration;
    (5) Coordinate any required spectrum approval for the SUAS;
    (6) Coordinate and receive any required interim flight clearance 
for the demonstration;
    (7) Provide any required airspace coordination and de-confliction 
for the demonstration test plan;
    (8) Collect and analyze demonstration test plan data; and
    (9) Develop a demonstration final report documenting the 
methodologies, findings, conclusions, and recommendations of this CRADA 
work.
    We anticipate that the non-Federal participants' contributions 
under the proposed CRADA will include the following:
    (1) Provide the faculty, students, and professional researchers 
with the required competencies, skill sets, and laboratory facilities 
to collaborate on these topic areas;
    (2) Provide technically mature, flight proven sUAS, their fully-
integrated sensors, and sUAS operators. Those operators shall operate 
the sUAS;
    (3) Supply access to wind tunnels, engineering/manufacturing 
laboratories, and modeling and simulation software to meet evaluation 
objectives in determining sUAS mission effectiveness; and
    (4) Provide personnel to collect data, analyze the data, and then 
compile the results in a series of collaborative reports.
    The Coast Guard reserves the right to select for CRADA participants 
all, some, or no proposals submitted for this CRADA. The Coast Guard 
will provide no funding for reimbursement of proposal development 
costs. Proposals and any other material submitted in response to this 
notice will not be returned. Proposals submitted are expected to be 
unclassified and have no more than five single-sided pages (excluding 
cover page, DD 1494, JF-12, etc.). The Coast Guard will select 
proposals at its sole discretion on the basis of:
    (1) How well they communicate an understanding of, and ability to 
meet, the proposed CRADA's goal; and
    (2) How well they address the following criteria:
    (a) Technical capability to support the non-Federal party 
contributions described; and
    (b) Resources available for supporting the non-Federal party 
contributions described.
    Currently, the Coast Guard is considering the University of 
Massachusetts Amherst for participation in this CRADA, because the 
University of Massachusetts Amherst has demonstrated the ability to 
operate

[[Page 38725]]

SUAS in a maritime environment. However, we do not wish to exclude 
other viable participants from this or future similar CRADAs.
    This is a technology demonstration effort. The goal of this CRADA 
is to identify and investigate the potential of the SUAS and their 
airborne sensors to determine their potential use in a maritime 
environment by the first responder and the DHS operational components. 
Special consideration will be given to small business firms/consortia, 
and preference will be given to business units located in the U.S.
    This notice is issued under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 15 
U.S.C. 3710(a).

     Dated: June 2, 2016.
Dennis C. Evans,
CAPT, USCG, Commanding Officer, U.S. Coast Guard Research and 
Development Center.
[FR Doc. 2016-14073 Filed 6-13-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 9110-04-P