NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA)

Statement of Regulatory Priorities

For this statement of priorities, NASA has no recent legislative and programmatic activities that affect its regulations. There are no rulemakings that are expected to have high net benefits. All of the Agency's rulemaking promotes open government as the public is given an opportunity to review and comment on these rulemakings prior to promulgation.

NASA is streamlining three of its regulations dealing with 1) delegation of authority of certain civil rights functions to Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 2) protection of human subjects, and 3) care and use of animals in the conduct of NASA activities because these regulations contain regulatory text that is redundant to governing statutes and other regulations. The Agency has no rulemakings that reduce unjustified burdens with no particular concern to small businesses, and there are no significant international impacts.

NASA continues to implement programs according to its 2011 Strategic Plan, released in February 2011. NASA's mission is to "Drive advances in science, technology, aeronautics, and space exploration to enhance knowledge, education, innovation, economic vitality, and stewardship of the Earth." The FY 2014 Strategic Plan, scheduled for publication February 2014, guides NASA's program activities through a framework of the following three strategic goals:

• Strategic Goal 1: Expand the frontiers of knowledge, capability, and opportunity in space.
• Strategic Goal 2: Advance understanding of Earth and develop technologies to improve the quality of life on our home planet.
• Strategic Goal 3: Serve the American public and accomplish our mission by effectively managing our people, technical capabilities, and infrastructure.

In the decades since Congress enacted the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, NASA has challenged its scientific and engineering capabilities in pursuing its mission, generating tremendous results and benefits for humankind. NASA will continue to push scientific and technical boundaries in pursuing of these goals.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), 48 CFR chapter 1, contains procurement regulations that apply to NASA and other Federal agencies. NASA implements and supplements FAR requirements through the NASA FAR Supplement (NFS), 48 CFR chapter 18. NASA is in the process of reviewing and updating the entire NFS with a projected completion date of December 2014. Concurrently, we will continue to make routine changes to the NFS to implement NASA initiatives and Federal procurement policy.

Retrospective Review of Existing Regulations

Pursuant to section 6 of Executive Order 13579 "Regulation and Independent Regulatory Agencies" (Jul. 11, 2011), NASA regulations associated with its retrospective review and analysis are described in the Agency's final retrospective plan of existing regulations. Nine of these regulations were completed and are described below. NASA's final plan and updates can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/open, under the Compliance Documents Section.

Inventions and Contributions [14 CFR 1240] - NASA amended its regulations to clarify and update the procedures for board recommended awards, and the procedures and requirements for recommended special initial awards, including patent application awards, software release awards, and Tech Brief awards, and to update citations and the information on the systems used for reporting inventions and issuing award payments. [77 FR 27365]

Information Security Protection [14 CFR 1203] - NASA amended its regulations to make nonsubstantive changes to align with and implement the provisions of Executive Order (E.O.) 13526, Classified National Security Information, and appropriately to correspond with NASA's internal requirements, NPR 1600.2, Classified National Security Information, that establishes the Agency's requirements for the proper implementation and management of a uniform system for classifying, accounting, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information generated by or in the possession of NASA. [78 FR 5116]

Claims for Patent and Copyright Infringement [14 CFR 1245] - NASA finalized its regulations relating to requirements for the filing of claims against NASA where a potential claimant believes NASA is infringing privately owned rights in patented inventions or copyrighted works. The requirements for filing an administrative claim are important since the filing of a claim carries with it certain rights relating to the applicable statute of limitations for filing suit against the Government. The regulations set forth guidelines as to what NASA considers necessary to file a claim for patent or copyright infringement, and they also provide for written notification to the claimant upon completion of an investigation by NASA. [77 FR 14686]

Procedures for Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act [14 CFR 1216] - NASA is amended its regulations governing compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) (40 CFR parts 1500-1508). This rule replaces procedures contained in NASA's current regulations. The revised regulations are intended to improve NASA's efficiency in implementing NEPA requirements by reducing costs and preparation time while maintaining quality. In addition, NASA's experience in applying the NASA NEPA regulations since they were issued in 1988 suggested the need for NASA to make changes in its NEPA regulations. [77 FR 3102]

Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System [14 CFR 1215] - NASA amended its regulations to make nonsubstantive changes to the policy governing the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) services provided to non-U.S. Government users and the reimbursement for rendering such services. TDRSS, also known as the Space Network, provides command, tracking, data, voice, and video services to the International Space Station, NASA's space and Earth science missions, and other Federal agencies, including the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation. For a fee, commercial users can also have access to TDRSS for tracking and data acquisition purposes. Over the last 25 years, TDRSS has delivered pictures, television, scientific, and voice data to the scientific community and the general public, including data from more than 100 Space Shuttle and International Space Station missions and the Hubble Space Telescope. A principal advantage of TDRSS is providing communications services, which previously have been provided by multiple worldwide ground stations, with much higher data rates and lower latency to the user missions. [77 FR 6949]

Removal of Obsolete Regulation: Use of Centennial of Flight Commission Name [14 CFR 1204.506] - NASA amended its regulations to make nonsubstantive changes to remove a regulation that is obsolete and no longer used. [77 FR 60619]

Non Procurement Rule, Suspension and Debarment [2 CFR 1880] - NASA has adopted as final, with no change, a proposed rule to extend coverage of non-procurement suspension and debarment to all tiers of procurement and non-procurement actions under all grants and cooperative agreements. [78 FR 13211]

Boards and Committees [14 CFR 1209] - NASA amended its regulations to make nonsubstantive changes to correct and remove citations referenced in NASA's Contract Adjustment Board rule. [78 FR 20422]

Research Misconduct [14 CFR 1275] - NASA amended its regulations to make nonsubstantive changes to the policy governing the handling of allegations of research misconduct and updates to reflect organizational changes that have occurred in the Agency. [77 FR 44439]

Updating of Existing Privacy Act - NASA Regulations [14 CFR 1212] - NASA amended its regulations to make nonsubstantive changes to its rules governing implementation of the Privacy Act by updating statute citations, position titles, terminology, and adjusting appellate responsibility for records for records held by the NASA Office of the Inspective General. [77 FR 60620]

NASA Security and Protective Service Enforcement [14 CFR 1203a, 1203b, 1204] - NASA amended its regulations to make nonsubstantive changes to its regulations to clarify the procedures for establishing controlled/secure areas and to revise the definitions for these areas and the process for granting access to these areas, as well as denying or revoking access to such areas. Arrest powers and authority of NASA security force personnel are also updated and clarified to include the carrying of weapons and the use of such weapons should a circumstance require it. [78 FR 5122]

Abstracts for other regulations that will be amended or repealed between October 2013 and October 2014 are reported in the fall 2013 edition of Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulation actions.

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