Unknown. Final rule
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/register/2018/09/13/2018-19929A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
--- schema: federal-register doc_type: fedreg source_file: FR-2018-09-13.xml --- 83 178 Thursday, September 13, 2018 Contents Agriculture Agriculture Department See Food Safety and Inspection Service See Forest Service NOTICES Potential Sites for Headquarters Office Locations, 46476 2018-19877 AIRFORCE Air Force Department NOTICES Records of Decisions: KC-46A Fourth Main Operating Base Beddown, 46485 2018-19933 Centers Disease Centers for Disease Control and Prevention NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities;
Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals, 46488-46493 2018-19901 2018-19902 Coast Guard Coast Guard RULES Drawbridge Operations: Sacramento River, Sacramento, CA, 46392 2018-19747 Safety Zones: S99 Alford Street Bridge—Emergency Grid Replacement Project, Mystic River, Charlestown and Everett, MA, 46392-46394 2018-19746 PROPOSED RULES Safety Zones: Chicago Harbor, Navy Pier Southeast, Chicago, IL, 46449-46451 2018-19934 Commerce Commerce Department See Economics and Statistics Administration See Industry and Security Bureau See International Trade Administration See National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commodity Futures Commodity Futures Trading Commission NOTICES Charter Renewals:
Global Markets Advisory Committee, 46485 2018-19908 Defense Department Defense Department See Air Force Department See Engineers Corps PROPOSED RULES Department of Defense Privacy Program, 46542-46622 2018-18213 NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals, 46485-46486 2018-19892 Economics Statistics Economics and Statistics Administration NOTICES Performance Review Board Membership, 46478-46479 2018-19980 Employment and Training Employment and Training Administration NOTICES Labor Surplus Area Classification, 46521-46522 2018-19905 Engineers Engineers Corps NOTICES Guidance:
Processing Requests to Alter Civil Works Projects, 46486 2018-19926 Environmental Protection Environmental Protection Agency RULES Acquisition Regulations: Update to Clauses Pertaining to Release of Contractor Confidential Business Information, Submission of Invoices, and Authorized or Required by Statute Exception for Other than Full and Open Competition, 46418-46423 2018-19769 National Priorities List, 46408-46413 2018-19878 Pesticide Tolerances: Afidopyropen, 46394-46401 2018-19951 Tolerance Exemptions:
Bacteriophage Active against Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri, 46403-46405 2018-19958 Pepino Mosaic Virus, Strain CH <sup>2</sup> , Isolate 1906, 46405-46407 2018-19959 Tolerance Requirements; Exemptions: Bacteriophage Active against Erwinia amylovora, 46401-46403 2018-19954 PROPOSED RULES National Priorities List, 46460-46465 2018-19876 NOTICES Requests for Nominations: Experts to Consider for ad hoc Participation and Possible Membership on Toxic Substances Control Act, Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals, 46487-46488 2018-19952 Federal Aviation Federal Aviation Administration RULES Airworthiness Directives:
Airbus Defense and Space S.A. (Formerly Known as Construcciones Aeronauticas, S.A.) Airplanes, 46369-46372 2018-19183 Airbus Helicopters, 46384-46386 2018-19432 Airbus SAS Airplanes, 46372-46377 2018-19744 2018-19749 Saab AB, Saab Aeronautics (Formerly Known as Saab AB, Saab Aerosystems) Airplanes, 46377-46380 2018-19748 The Boeing Company Airplanes, 46380-46384 2018-19185 Amendment of Chicago Class B and Chicago Class C Airspace: Chicago, IL; Correction, 46391 2018-19729 Amendment of Class E Airspace:
Kamuela, HI, 46387-46389 2018-19727 Establishment of Class E Airspace: Los Angeles, CA, 46386-46387 2018-19725 Washington Island, WI, 46389-46390 2018-19713 Revocation of Class E Airspace: Crows Landing, CA, 46390-46391 2018-19871 PROPOSED RULES Airworthiness Directives: Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH (Previously Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH), 46426-46428 2018-19737 Bombardier Inc. Airplanes, 46428-46434 2018-19735 Leonardo S.p.A. Helicopters, 46424-46426 2018-19736 Modification of Class E Airspace:
Atqasuk, AK, 46434-46435 2018-19726 Badami, AK, 46435-46437 2018-19728 Federal Labor Federal Labor Relations Authority RULES Changes to Current Addresses and Geographic Jurisdictions, 46349-46368 2018-19929 Federal Railroad Federal Railroad Administration NOTICES Waivers of Compliance; Petitions, 46533 2018-19918 Federal Reserve Federal Reserve System NOTICES Changes in Bank Control: Acquisitions of Shares of a Bank or Bank Holding Company, 46488 2018-19943 Formations of, Acquisitions by, and Mergers of Bank Holding Companies, 46488 2018-19942 Federal Transit Federal Transit Administration NOTICES Fiscal Year 2018 Competitive Funding Opportunity:
Access and Mobility Partnership Grants, 46534-46540 2018-19897 Food and Drug Food and Drug Administration PROPOSED RULES Medical Device Submissions: Amending Premarket Regulations that Require Multiple Copies and Specify Paper Copies to be Allowed in Electronic Format, 46444-46449 2018-19865 Public Information, 46437-46443 2018-19864 NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Food for Animals, 46496-46497 2018-19909 Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food, 46499-46500 2018-19911 Exemptions from Substantial Equivalence Requirements for Tobacco Products, 46501-46504 2018-19913 Food Contact Substance Notification Program, 46493-46496 2018-19898 Meetings:
Joint Public Meeting on Use of Cell Culture Technology to Develop Products Derived from Livestock and Poultry, 46476-46478 2018-19907 Science Board to Food and Drug Administration Advisory Committee, 46497-46498 2018-19906 Requests for Nominations: Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee, 46498-46499, 46501 2018-19921 2018-19922 Food Safety Food Safety and Inspection Service NOTICES Meetings: Joint Public Meeting on Use of Cell Culture Technology to Develop Products Derived from Livestock and Poultry, 46476-46478 2018-19907 Forest Forest Service PROPOSED RULES Locatable Minerals, 46451-46458 2018-19961 Oil and Gas Resources, 46458-46460 2018-19962 General Services General Services Administration RULES Federal Travel Regulations:
Contract City-Pair Business-Class Air Accommodations, 46413 2018-19884 Health and Human Health and Human Services Department See Centers for Disease Control and Prevention See Food and Drug Administration See Health Resources and Services Administration See National Institutes of Health Health Resources Health Resources and Services Administration NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Forms for Use with Applications to Maternal and Child Health Bureau Research and Training Grants, 46504-46505 2018-19903 Homeland Homeland Security Department See Coast Guard See U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services Housing Housing and Urban Development Department NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Rent Reform Demonstration; 36-Month Follow-Up Survey and Comprehensive Impact Analysis, 46514-46515 2018-19875 Industry Industry and Security Bureau RULES Addition of Certain Entities to the Entity List, Revision of Entries on the Entity List and Removal of Certain Entities from the Entity List: Correction, 46391-46392 2018-19960 Interior Interior Department NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities;
Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Alternatives Process in Hydropower Licensing, 46515-46516 2018-19973 International Trade Adm International Trade Administration NOTICES Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations, Orders, or Reviews: Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from Socialist Republic of Vietnam; Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 46479-46482 2018-19931 International Trade Com International Trade Commission NOTICES Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations, Orders, or Reviews:
Cast Iron Soil Pipe from China, 46519-46520 2018-19948 Utility Scale Wind Towers from China and Vietnam; Scheduling of Full Five-Year Reviews, 46516-46517 2018-19894 Investigations; Determinations, Modifications, and Rulings, etc.: Certain Motorized Vehicles and Components Thereof, 46517-46518 2018-19904 Justice Department Justice Department NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals, 46520-46521 2018-19917 Agency Information Collection Activities;
Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Assumption of Concurrent Federal Criminal Jurisdiction in Certain Areas of Indian Country, 46521 2018-19899 Labor Department Labor Department See Employment and Training Administration Management Management and Budget Office NOTICES Development of Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement, 46522-46523 2018-19863 National Institute National Institutes of Health NOTICES Meetings: Center for Scientific Review, 46506 2018-19919 National Cancer Institute, 46507 2018-19914 National Institute of General Medical Sciences, 46505-46507 2018-19912 2018-19915 2018-19916 2018-19920 National Oceanic National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration PROPOSED RULES Pacific Island Fisheries:
Reclassifying Management Unit Species to Ecosystem Component Species, 46466-46475 2018-19341 NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Submission of Conservation Efforts to Make Listings Unnecessary under Endangered Species Act, 46482-46483 2018-19900 Meetings: Fisheries of South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean, 46482 2018-19946 Pacific Fishery Management Council, 46484-46485 2018-19947 Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities:
U.S. Air Force Launching of Space Launch Vehicles, Intercontinental Ballistic and Small Missiles, and Aircraft and Helicopter Operations at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA, 46483-46484 2018-19896 National Science National Science Foundation NOTICES Meetings: Proposal Review Panel for International Science and Engineering, 46523-46524 2018-19891 Nuclear Regulatory Nuclear Regulatory Commission NOTICES Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.: Interim Storage Partners, LLC Consolidated Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility;
Correction, 46525 2018-19928 Guidance: Weld Residual Stress Finite Element Analysis Validation, 46524-46525 2018-19941 Postal Regulatory Postal Regulatory Commission NOTICES New Postal Products, 46525-46526 2018-19924 Postal Service Postal Service NOTICES Meetings; Sunshine Act, 46526 2018-20066 Presidential Documents Presidential Documents PROCLAMATIONS Special Observances: Patriot Day (Proc. 9782), 46623-46626 2018-20089 Securities Securities and Exchange Commission NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities;
Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals, 46528-46530 2018-19879 2018-19880 2018-19881 2018-19882 Self-Regulatory Organizations; Proposed Rule Changes: Fixed Income Clearing Corp., 46530-46532 2018-19872 Small Business Small Business Administration NOTICES Major Disaster Declarations: Havasupai Tribe, 46532-46533 2018-19935 Montana, 46532 2018-19937 Surface Transportation Surface Transportation Board NOTICES Leases and Operation and Future Purchase Exemptions: West Memphis Base Railroad, LLC;
West Memphis, AR, 46533 2018-19944 Transportation Department Transportation Department See Federal Aviation Administration See Federal Railroad Administration See Federal Transit Administration U.S. Citizenship U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services NOTICES Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Application for Regional Center under the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program and Supplement, 46508 2018-19868 Application for Temporary Protected Status, 46510-46511 2018-19867 Application for Travel Document, 46512-46513 2018-19888 Case Status Online, 46509 2018-19887 Medical Certification for Disability Exception, 46513-46514 2018-19886 Request for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival, 46511-46512 2018-19866 Request for Verification of Naturalization, 46509-46510 2018-19883 Veteran Affairs Veterans Affairs Department RULES Acquisition Regulations:
Contract Cost Principles and Procedures; Protests, Disputes and Appeals, 46413-46418 2018-18985 Separate Parts In This Issue Part II Defense Department, 46542-46622 2018-18213 Part III Presidential Documents, 46623-46626 2018-20089 Reader Aids Consult the Reader Aids section at the end of this issue for phone numbers, online resources, finding aids, and notice of recently enacted public laws. To subscribe to the Federal Register Table of Contents electronic mailing list, go to https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USGPOOFR/subscriber/new, enter your e-mail address, then follow the instructions to join, leave, or manage your subscription. 83 178 Thursday, September 13, 2018 Rules and Regulations FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY 5 CFR Chapter XIV Changes to Current Addresses and Geographic Jurisdictions AGENCY:
Federal Labor Relations Authority. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This document amends regulations listing the current addresses and describing the geographic jurisdictions of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, General Counsel of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and the Federal Service Impasses Panel. These changes reflect the closing of the Dallas Regional Office and changes to the geographical jurisdictions of the Atlanta, Chicago, and Denver Regional Directors. DATES:
Effective September 21, 2018. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Tosick, Executive Director, Federal Labor Relations Authority, 1400 K St. NW, Washington, DC 20424,
(202)218-7791, *wtosick@flra.gov.* SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Effective January 28, 1980, the Authority and the General Counsel published, at 45 FR 3482, January 17, 1980, final rules and regulations to govern the processing of cases by the Authority and the General Counsel under chapter 71 of title 5 of the United States Code. These rules and regulations are required by title VII of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 and are set forth in 5 CFR chapter XIV (2018). After an examination of budgets, caseloads, rental costs, operating costs, and staffing, the Authority is closing its Dallas Regional Office and reassigning its jurisdiction to the Denver and Atlanta Regional Directors, effective September 21, 2018. It is also reassigning jurisdiction for the state of South Dakota from the Denver Regional Director to the Chicago Regional Director. The Authority expects no adverse effect on the quality or efficiency of casehandling as a result of the Dallas Regional Office closure. This amendment updates paragraphs
(d)and
(f)of Appendix A to 5 CFR chapter XIV to reflect the new organizational structure by removing the Dallas Regional Office from the list of current addresses, telephone numbers, and fax numbers of the Authority's Regional Offices and by revising the geographical jurisdictions of the Federal Labor Relations Authority. As this rule pertains to agency organization, procedure, or practice, it is exempt from prior notice and public comment pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A). For this same reason, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), the Authority finds that good cause exists for not providing a more delayed effective date. This type of action is also exempt from review under Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011), and 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 3, 2017). For additional information regarding case handling procedures following the Dallas Regional Office closure, please go to *www.flra.gov.* List of Subjects in 5 CFR Chapter XIV Administrative practice and procedure. Chapter XIV—Federal Labor Relations Authority For the reasons set forth in the preamble and under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 7134, the authority amends 5 CFR chapter XIV as follows: 1. Appendix A to 5 CFR chapter XIV is amended by removing paragraph (d)(5), redesignating paragraphs (d)(6) and
(7)as (d)(5) and (6), and revising paragraph
(f)to read as follows: Appendix A to 5 CFR Chapter XIV—Current Addresses and Geographic Jurisdictions
(f)The geographic jurisdictions of the Regional Directors of the Federal Labor Relations Authority are as follows: State or other locality Regional office Alabama Atlanta. Alaska San Francisco. Arizona Denver. Arkansas Atlanta. California San Francisco. Colorado Denver. Connecticut Boston. Delaware Boston. District of Columbia Washington, DC. Florida Atlanta. Georgia Atlanta. Hawaii and all land and water areas west of the continents of North and South America (except coastal islands) to long. 90 degrees East San Francisco. Idaho San Francisco. Illinois Chicago. Indiana Chicago. Iowa Chicago. Kansas Denver. Kentucky Chicago. Louisiana Atlanta. Maine Boston. Maryland Washington, DC. Massachusetts Boston. Michigan Chicago. Minnesota Chicago. Mississippi Atlanta. Missouri Chicago. Montana Denver. Nebraska Denver. Nevada San Francisco. New Hampshire Boston. New Jersey Boston. New Mexico Denver. New York Boston. North Carolina Atlanta. North Dakota Chicago. Ohio Chicago. Oklahoma Denver. Oregon San Francisco. Pennsylvania Boston. Puerto Rico and coastal islands Boston. Rhode Island Boston. South Carolina Atlanta. South Dakota Chicago. Tennessee Chicago. Texas Denver. Utah Denver. Vermont Boston. Virginia Washington, DC. Washington San Francisco. West Virginia Washington, DC. Wisconsin Chicago. Wyoming Denver. Virgin Islands Atlanta. Panama/limited FLRA jurisdiction Atlanta. All land and water areas east of the continents of North and South America to long. 90 degrees East, except the Virgin Islands, Panama (limited FLRA jurisdiction), Puerto Rico and coastal islands Washington, DC. Authority: 5 U.S.C. 7134. Dated: September 10, 2018. For the Federal Labor Relations Authority. William Tosick, Executive Director. Note: The following appendix will not appear in the Code of Federal Regulations: Appendix A—Opinions of the Authority's Majority and Dissent With Respect to the Closure of the Federal Labor Relations Authority's Boston and Dallas Regional Offices I. Authority's Opinion The Authority voted in January 2018 to close the Boston and Dallas Regional Offices. At that time, the Authority considered arguments echoing those of Member DuBester. We concluded, however, that consolidating the FLRA's Regional Office structure would husband the FLRA's budgetary and operational resources and best serve the labor-management relations community. In the end, Member DuBester raises nothing new. We have reprinted Chairman Kiko's March 26, 2018 letter to the Senate Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, Committee on Appropriations (attachments omitted), explaining why we undertook this Regional Office consolidation. We have also included Chairman Kiko's May 21, 2018 response to the letter from a group of Senators that Member DuBester references, which reiterates the rationale for the consolidation and offers Chairman Kiko's additional personal reflections on the need for reform. In our opinion, these two letters thoroughly refute Member DuBester's dissent. Colleen Duffy Kiko, *Chairman* . James T. Abbott, *Member* . BILLING CODE 6727-01-P ER13SE18.003 ER13SE18.004 ER13SE18.005 ER13SE18.006 ER13SE18.007 ER13SE18.008 ER13SE18.009 ER13SE18.010 ER13SE18.011 ER13SE18.012 ER13SE18.013 BILLING CODE 6727-01-C II. Dissenting View of Member Ernie DuBester I strongly disagree with the decision to close the FLRA's Dallas Regional Office at the end of this fiscal year and the Boston Regional Office in November 2018. My opposition to these regional office closures is based in significant part on the perspective gained during my extensive experience in government. In that respect, I have served over nine years as a Member of the FLRA. For most of 2013, the first year of sequestration, I served as the FLRA's Chairman. I also had the privilege of serving for eight years as the Chairman (and Member) of another federal labor-management relations agency—the National Mediation Board. In these 17 years of service, I have always been mindful of the need for efficiencies that could improve government performance. Similarly, I have always tried to exercise leadership in a fiscally responsible manner. With those thoughts in mind, the decision to close the Dallas and Boston Offices is unjustified, unwarranted, and will undermine the FLRA's ability to perform its mission. Beyond my grave concerns about this decision's substantive impact, I also take serious issue with the circumstances surrounding the process by which this decision was made and implemented. The FLRA administers the labor-management relations program for over two million non-Postal, federal employees worldwide, including civilians in the Armed Forces. Until this decision, within its Office of the General Counsel (OGC), the FLRA had seven Regional Offices around the country, including one at its Washington, DC headquarters. These seven offices served the entire country, and overseas locations where federal employees work. Ostensibly, the decision to close the Dallas and Boston Offices is responsive to Executive Order No. 13781, *Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch* (March 13, 2017), and the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB)Memorandum M-17-22 (April 12, 2017). These directives ask federal agencies to consider organizational changes that could be made to effect operational savings. But it is evident that the purpose is not simply to show a cost savings without regard to an agency's mission and its delivery of services to stakeholders. To the contrary, agencies are to implement changes that will “dramatically improve effectiveness and efficiency of government.” The decision to close the Dallas and Boston Offices fails this test. It was made without thoughtful consideration of the FLRA's mission or the nature of its work to perform that mission. And significantly, it ignores the considerable sacrifices made by the FLRA and its employees in recent years which have already saved the government tens of millions of dollars. Concerning mission effectiveness, as the attached letter to FLRA Chairman Kiko (May 1, 2018) from 13 U.S. Senators representing a quarter of a million federal employees currently served by the Boston Office indicates, its closure will “place FLRA Staff farther away from those who rely on their services.” Indeed, federal agencies and federal employees in the Northeast, all the way to the tip of Maine, will have to come to Washington, DC to address their rights and responsibilities. And, as the Senators' letter indicates, the decision is being made without Congressional oversight. Is this really the direction that we want to go? Analogous concerns apply to the Dallas Office closure. With that closure, the FLRA is closing the Regional Office located in the state which has the second largest number of federal employees outside of the Washington, DC Metropolitan area. Considered in this context alone, the decision defies logic. This is especially true given that the decision was made without any apparent outreach to stakeholders. Any serious consideration of the FLRA's mission and its delivery of services to the parties demands that there be some kind of outreach *BEFORE* such a decision was made. Also ignored, as indicated, is that, for the last 20 years, the FLRA has practiced fiscal responsibility, saving the government tens of millions of dollars. As the attached letter from eight retired FLRA Regional Directors
(RDs)to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs states (March 9, 2018), the FLRA has gone “far beyond most agencies in reducing operational costs and expenses.” [A comparable letter was sent to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee]. There are many illustrations. For example, from a recent high of 215 employees
(FTEs)in fiscal year
(FY)2000, the FLRA reduced its workforce by over 45%, to 114 FTEs, by FY 2009. Since that time, the FLRA has implemented many additional cost-saving measures and efficiencies. This includes reducing the size of its headquarters by about 12,000 square feet in FY 2014, eliminating an entire floor. And, the FLRA similarly reduced its space in five Regional Offices (Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, as well as Dallas and Boston). In the last year, moreover, the FLRA has eliminated at least 12 more FTEs, about 10% of its already small workforce. Elimination of the Dallas and Boston Offices will result in a further reduction of FTEs. This means that, since FY 2000, the FLRA will have eliminated over 55% of its employees. As the attached retired-RDs letter suggests, after these repeated sacrifices, the severity of this additional action to close Dallas and Boston, without good reason, is demoralizing and impairs the FLRA's ability to perform its mission. It should be remembered that, in FY 2009, after the 45% reduction in employees, the FLRA was ranked dead last (32nd of 32 similarly-sized agencies) in the Partnership for Public Services “Best Places to Work” rankings. But in recent years, at least until last year, though implementing many cost- saving measures and innovative practices to promote efficiencies, the FLRA has climbed to a #1 ranking in most categories of the Best Places to Work Rankings, and has ranked in the top five overall for several years. With elimination of the Dallas and Boston Offices, it is questionable whether this will continue. What a shame. Nobody knows better than OMB (and Congress) the recent record of the FLRA in saving the government significant dollars. Sometimes, after such repeated sacrifices, a small agency like the FLRA, with a relatively modest budget, has become “right-sized.” Before elimination of the Dallas and Boston Offices, the FLRA was already the optimal size to perform its mission effectively and efficiently. In addition to disregarding the FLRA's repeated fiscal sacrifices, the decision to close Dallas and Boston fails to consider thoughtfully the substantial mission-related value of Regional Offices being located where FLRA staff is more readily accessible to the parties. Again, as the retired-RDs letter suggests, this value has been “demonstrated again and again over the years.” Certainly, a value is provided through “[r]egularly scheduled regional training presentations” which have become “an established resource to both labor and management representatives, many of whom could not travel to Washington DC or other distant cities.” In the last 10 years, the FLRA has provided training to thousands of FLRA stakeholders at Regional Office sites. And, by facilitating opportunities for the parties to meet and interact with Regional Office Staff, the FLRA's credibility and effectiveness is enhanced. This is particularly true, and important, regarding access to our RDs, who are FLRA decision-makers. Access to, and interaction with, RDs by the federal sector labor-management community, not only builds trust in the FLRA's operations, but also promotes early settlements which produce real cost savings. Apparently, the FLRA Members supporting the closures do not believe that this value still exists. Rather, it is suggested that technology has changed the nature of Regional Office work. In other words, it does not matter where you are. As long as you have a computer, a fax, and a telephone, you can be on top of a mountain anywhere in the U.S.A. This suggestion is little more than a fabrication. The FLRA is in the business of labor-management relations. As is often said, the often overlooked word in that phrase is “relations.” Constructive relationships require direct human interaction. And, notwithstanding rapid advances in technology, direct human interaction will continue to be a vital element in building constructive labor-management relationships for the foreseeable future. And, finally, in a related sense, now is the worst time to downsize further a dispute-resolution agency like the FLRA. While the FLRA is a small agency, accomplishing its mission, including timely, quality, and impartial resolution of labor-management disputes, is critical to promoting effective and efficient performance at *EVERY* federal agency under its jurisdiction. In other words, the FLRA's successful mission performance has a positive rippling effect government-wide. Given the current effort to streamline federal government agencies, there is very likely to be an increase in the number of grievances and labor-management disputes. Viewed against this background, it is the wrong time to cut further the size and resources of a small dispute-resolution agency like the FLRA—particularly given its many sacrifices and practice of fiscal responsibility in recent years. Indeed, considering the adverse impact on the FLRA's ability to perform its mission, the significant loss of quality employees, and the number of silent people who know better, the decision to close the Dallas and Boston Regional Offices is not just a shame—it is a crying shame. The Mind reels. Ernie DuBester, Member. BILLING CODE 6727-01-P ER13SE18.014 ER13SE18.015 ER13SE18.016 ER13SE18.017 ER13SE18.018 ER13SE18.019 [FR Doc. 2018-19929 Filed 9-12-18; 8:45 am]
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