2021-11365. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

AGENCY:

Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, Department of Defense (DoD).

ACTION:

30-Day information collection notice.

SUMMARY:

The DoD has submitted to OMB for clearance the following proposal for collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act.

DATES:

Consideration will be given to all comments received June 28, 2021.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Angela Duncan, 571-372-7574, or [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title; Associated Form; and OMB Number: Trusted Capital Digital Marketplace Application; OMB Control Number 0704-0596.

Type of Request: Extension.

Number of Respondents: 300.

Responses per Respondent: 1.

Annual Responses: 300.

Average Burden per Response: 90 minutes.

Annual Burden Hours: 450.

Needs and Uses: Per the authority vested in the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) by Section 1711 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2018, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (OUSD(A&S)) has proposed a “Trusted Capital” initiative in the form of a public-private partnership designed to convene trusted sources of private capital with innovative companies critical to the defense industrial base (DIB) and national security. The initiative includes establishment of a Trusted Capital Digital Marketplace (TCDM) to facilitate business relationships between eligible investors (“Capital Providers”) and eligible small and medium-sized businesses that have been “down-selected” by Department of Defense (DoD) Components based on relevancy, technical merit, business viability, or innovativeness (“Capability Providers”). The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the criticality of the security and resiliency of defense supply chains. The Federal emergency enabled DoD to accelerate initiatives to identify constraints and risks in our supply chains that were initially identified in the Executive Order (E.O.) 13806 report, which was published in 2018. One of the risk archetypes identified in the report is foreign dependency on capital and supply chains. Although DoD will always have a diverse, domestic and international supply chain, we recognize that this comes with some risk. COVID-19 magnified that risk and the difficulties of offshore sources of capital and supply in times of global emergencies. The OUSD(A&S) Trusted Capital program offers critical technology companies an alternative to adversarial capital. To accomplish this important national security mission the Trusted Capital program requires the ability to gather data required to conduct national security and supply chain due-diligence to prioritize “trusted” sources of commercial capital to offset direct financial distress in the DIB and support our partners affected by the virus with investments and local job creation. Information collected will be used in determining an applicant's eligibility for TCDM participation. Parties will complete an electronic application and be subjected to a due diligence screening process to assess for adversarial foreign ownership, influence, or control—as well as other national security risks. In the event additional information is necessary to process an application, additional inquiries may be sent to the applicant. Applicants that receive a favorable due diligence screening adjudication by OUSD(A&S) will be approved for TCDM participation. In addition to initial application requirements, participants will be subject to continuous reporting obligations.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.

Frequency: On occasion.

Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.

OMB Desk Officer: Ms. Jasmeet Seehra.

You may also submit comments and recommendations, identified by Docket ID number and title, by the following method:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name, Docket ID number, and title for this Federal Register document. The general policy for comments and other submissions from members of the public is to make these submissions available for public viewing on the internet at http://www.regulations.gov as they are received without change, including any personal identifiers or contact information.

DOD Clearance Officer: Ms. Angela Duncan.

Requests for copies of the information collection proposal should be sent to Ms. Duncan at [e-mail].

Dated: May 25, 2021.

Kayyonne T. Marston,

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.