Notice2022-16108
Meetings To Implement Pandemic Response Voluntary Agreement Under Section 708 of the Defense Production Act
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 27, 2022
Issuing agencies
Homeland Security DepartmentFederal Emergency Management Agency
Abstract
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is holding quarterly status meetings under each of the six Plans of Action, in the corresponding order listed below, to implement the Voluntary Agreement for the Manufacture and Distribution of Critical Healthcare Resources Necessary to Respond to a Pandemic. They include: Plan of Action to Establish a National Strategy for the Manufacture, Allocation, and Distribution of Medical Gases to Respond to COVID-19; Plan of Action to Establish a National Strategy for the Manufacture, Allocation, and Distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Respond to COVID-19; Plan of Action to Establish a National Strategy for the Manufacture, Allocation, and Distribution of Diagnostic Test Kits and other Testing Components to Respond to COVID- 19; Plan of Action to Establish a National Strategy for the Manufacture, Allocation, and Distribution of Medical Devices to Respond to COVID-19; Plan of Action to Establish a National Strategy for the Coordination of National Multimodal Healthcare Supply Chains to Respond to COVID-19; Plan of Action to Establish a National Strategy for the Manufacture, Allocation, and Distribution of Drug Products, Drug Substances, and Associated Medical Devices to Respond to COVID-19.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 143 (Wednesday, July 27, 2022)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 143 (Wednesday, July 27, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45122-45124]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-16108]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Federal Emergency Management Agency
[Docket ID FEMA-2020-0016]
Meetings To Implement Pandemic Response Voluntary Agreement Under
Section 708 of the Defense Production Act
AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland
Security.
ACTION: Announcement of meetings.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is holding
quarterly status meetings under each of the six Plans of Action, in the
corresponding order listed below, to
[[Page 45123]]
implement the Voluntary Agreement for the Manufacture and Distribution
of Critical Healthcare Resources Necessary to Respond to a Pandemic.
They include: Plan of Action to Establish a National Strategy for the
Manufacture, Allocation, and Distribution of Medical Gases to Respond
to COVID-19; Plan of Action to Establish a National Strategy for the
Manufacture, Allocation, and Distribution of Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE) to Respond to COVID-19; Plan of Action to Establish a
National Strategy for the Manufacture, Allocation, and Distribution of
Diagnostic Test Kits and other Testing Components to Respond to COVID-
19; Plan of Action to Establish a National Strategy for the
Manufacture, Allocation, and Distribution of Medical Devices to Respond
to COVID-19; Plan of Action to Establish a National Strategy for the
Coordination of National Multimodal Healthcare Supply Chains to Respond
to COVID-19; Plan of Action to Establish a National Strategy for the
Manufacture, Allocation, and Distribution of Drug Products, Drug
Substances, and Associated Medical Devices to Respond to COVID-19.
DATES:
<bullet> Thursday, August 18, 2022, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Eastern Time (ET).
<bullet> Thursday, September 15, 2022, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
ET.
<bullet> Thursday, September 22, 2022, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
ET.
<bullet> Thursday, October 6, 2022, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET.
<bullet> Thursday, October 13, 2022, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
ET.
<bullet> Thursday, October 20, 2022, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
ET.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathy Hill, Office of Business,
Industry, and Infrastructure Integration, via email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ca8588f9838aacafa7abe4aea2b9e4ada5bc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a1eee392e8e1c7c4ccc08fc5c9d28fc6ced7">[email protected]</span></a> or via phone at (202) 212-1666.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice of these meetings is provided as
required by section 708(h)(8) of the Defense Production Act (DPA), 50
U.S.C. 4558(h)(8), and consistent with 44 CFR part 332.
The DPA authorizes the making of ``voluntary agreements and plans
of action'' with representatives of industry, business, and other
interests to help provide for the national defense.\1\ The President's
authority to facilitate voluntary agreements with respect to responding
to the spread of COVID-19 within the United States was delegated to the
Secretary of Homeland Security in Executive Order 13911.\2\ The
Secretary of Homeland Security further delegated this authority to the
FEMA Administrator.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 50 U.S.C. 4558(c)(1).
\2\ 85 FR 18403 (Apr. 1, 2020).
\3\ DHS Delegation 09052, Rev. 00.1 (Apr. 1, 2020); DHS
Delegation Number 09052 Rev. 00 (Jan. 3, 2017).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On August 17, 2020, after the appropriate consultations with the
Attorney General and the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, FEMA
completed and published in the Federal Register a ``Voluntary
Agreement, Manufacture and Distribution of Critical Healthcare
Resources Necessary to Respond to a Pandemic'' (Voluntary
Agreement).\4\ Unless terminated earlier, the Voluntary Agreement is
effective until August 17, 2025, and may be extended subject to
additional approval by the Attorney General after consultation with the
Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. The Agreement may be used to
prepare for or respond to any pandemic, including COVID-19, during that
time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ 85 FR 50035 (Aug. 17, 2020). The Attorney General, in
consultation with the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, made
the required finding that the purpose of the voluntary agreement may
not reasonably be achieved through an agreement having less
anticompetitive effects or without any voluntary agreement and
published the finding in the Federal Register on the same day. 85 FR
50049 (Aug. 17, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On December 7, 2020, the first plan of action under the Voluntary
Agreement--the Plan of Action to Establish a National Strategy for the
Manufacture, Allocation, and Distribution of Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE) to Respond to COVID-19 (PPE Plan of Action)--was
finalized.\5\ The PPE Plan of Action established several sub-committees
under the Voluntary Agreement, focusing on different aspects of the PPE
Plan of Action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ See 85 FR 78869 (Dec. 7, 2020). See also 85 FR 79020 (Dec.
8, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On May 24, 2021, four additional plans of action under the
Voluntary Agreement--the Plan of Action to Establish a National
Strategy for the Manufacture, Allocation, and Distribution of
Diagnostic Test Kits and other Testing Components to respond to COVID-
19; the Plan of Action to Establish a National Strategy for the
Manufacture, Allocation, and Distribution of Drug Products, Drug
Substances, and Associated Medical Devices to respond to COVID-19; the
Plan of Action to Establish a National Strategy for the Manufacture,
Allocation, and Distribution of Medical Devices to respond to COVID-19;
and the Plan of Action to Establish a National Strategy for the
Manufacture, Allocation, and Distribution of Medical Gases to respond
to COVID-19--were finalized.\6\ These plans of action established
several sub-committees under the Voluntary Agreement, focusing on
different aspects of each plan of action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ See 86 FR 27894 (May 24, 2021). See also 86 FR 28851 (May
28, 2021).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On October 15, 2021, the sixth plan of action under the Voluntary
Agreement--the Plan of Action to Establish a National Strategy for the
Coordination of National Multimodal Healthcare Supply Chains to Respond
to COVID-19--was finalized.\7\ This Plan of Action established several
sub-committees under the Voluntary Agreement, focusing on different
transportation categories.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ See 86 FR 57444 (Oct. 15, 2021). See also 87 FR 6880 (Feb.
7, 2022).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The meetings are chaired by the FEMA Administrator's delegates from
the Office of Response and Recovery (ORR) and Office of Policy and
Program Analysis (OPPA), attended by the Attorney General's delegates
from the U.S. Department of Justice, and attended by the Chairman of
the Federal Trade Commission's delegates. In implementing the Voluntary
Agreement, FEMA adheres to all procedural requirements of 50 U.S.C.
4558 and 44 CFR part 332.
Meeting Objectives: The objectives of the meetings are as follows:
1. Convene the Requirements Sub-Committees under each of the six
Plans of Action to establish priorities related to the COVID-19
response under the Voluntary Agreement.
2. Gather Requirements Sub-Committee Participants and Attendees
to ask targeted questions for situational awareness.
3. Identify pandemic-related information gaps and areas that
merit sharing by holding these regular quarterly meetings of the
Requirements Sub-Committees with key stakeholders.
4. Identify potential Objectives and Actions that should be
completed under the Requirements Sub-Committees.
Meetings Closed to the Public: By default, the DPA requires
meetings held to implement a voluntary agreement or plan of action be
open to the public.\8\ However, attendance may be limited if the
Sponsor \9\ of the Voluntary Agreement finds that the matter to be
discussed at a meeting falls within the purview of matters described in
5 U.S.C. 552b(c), such as trade secrets and commercial or financial
information.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ See 50 U.S.C. 4558(h)(7).
\9\ ``[T]he individual designated by the President in subsection
(c)(2) [of section 708 of the DPA] to administer the voluntary
agreement, or plan of action.'' 50 U.S.C. 4558(h)(7).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 45124]]
The Sponsor of the Voluntary Agreement for the Manufacture and
Distribution of Critical Healthcare Resources Necessary to Respond to a
Pandemic, the FEMA Administrator, found that these meetings to
implement the Voluntary Agreement involve matters which fall within the
purview of matters described in 5 U.S.C. 552b(c) and the meetings are
therefore closed to the public.
Specifically, these meetings may require participants to disclose
trade secrets or commercial or financial information that is privileged
or confidential. Disclosure of such information allows for meetings to
be closed to the public pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(4).
The success of the Voluntary Agreement depends wholly on the
willing participation of the private sector participants. Failure to
close these meetings to the public could reduce active participation by
the signatories due to a perceived risk that sensitive company
information could be released to the public. A public disclosure of a
private sector participant's information executed prematurely could
reduce trust and support for the Voluntary Agreement. A resulting loss
of support by the participants for the Voluntary Agreement would
significantly hinder the implementation of the Agency's objectives.
Thus, these meeting closures are permitted pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
552b(c)(9)(B).
Deanne Criswell,
Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2022-16108 Filed 7-26-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-19-P.
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on July 27, 2022.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.