### 12354 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 40 / Wednesday, February 29, 2012 / Notices

documents prepared by the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on each of these topics, which will include the draft principles on choice of law. Those
who cannot attend but wish to comment are welcome to do so by email to Keith
Loken at lokenk@state.gov

.

Time and Place: The meeting will take place in Room 1205, Harry S Truman Building, 2201 C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20520. Participants should plan to arrive by 9:30 p.m. for visitor screening. If you are unable to attend the public meeting and would like to participate from a remote location, teleconferencing will be
available.

Public Participation: This meeting is open to the public, subject to the capacity of the meeting room. Access to the building is strictly controlled. For pre-clearance purposes, those planning to attend should phone Tricia Smeltzer (202–776–8423) or Niesha Toms (202– 776–8420) and provide your full name, address, date of birth, citizenship, driver’s license or passport number, and email address. This will greatly facilitate entry into the building. Participants will be met inside the diplomatic entrance at C Street and, once badges are obtained, escorted to the meeting room. A member of the public needing reasonable
accommodation should advise Ms.
Smeltzer or Ms. Toms not later than March 27. Requests made after that date will be considered, but might not be able to be fulfilled. If you would like to participate by telephone, please contact
Ms. Smeltzer or Ms. Toms to obtain the
call-in number and other information.

Data from the public is requested pursuant to Public Law 99–399 (Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 1986), as amended; Public Law 107–56 (USA PATRIOT Act); and Executive Order 13356. The purpose of the collection is to validate the identity of individuals who enter Department facilities. The data will be
entered into the Visitor Access Control System (VACS–D) database. Please see the Privacy Impact Assessment for

VACS–D at http://www.state.gov/ documents/organization/100305.pdf for
additional information.

Dated: February 22, 2012.

Keith Loken,
Assistant Legal Adviser, Private International Law, Department of State.

[FR Doc. 2012–4854 Filed 2–28–12; 8:45 am]

**BILLING CODE 4710–08–P DEPARTMENT OF STATE** 

**[Public Notice 7809]**

**Meeting of the Joint Forum on Environmental Technical Cooperation** 
**Pursuant to the United States-Jordan**
**Joint Statement on Environmental Technical Cooperation** 

**ACTION :**  Notice of the meeting of the Joint Forum on Environmental Technical Cooperation and request for

comments.

**SUMMARY :**  The Department of State is providing notice that, as set forth inparagraph three of the United StatesJordan Joint Statement on Environmental Technical Cooperation (‘‘Joint Statement’’), the United States and Jordan will hold a meeting of the Joint Forum on Environmental Technical Cooperation (‘‘Joint Forum’’) at 9 a.m. on March 4, 2012, at the Hashemite Auditorium, Royal Scientific Society, in Amman, Jordan. If you are interested in attending, please email Rob Wing at WingRD@state.gov. See below under **SUPPLEMENTARY**

**INFORMATION** for additional details on the background and purpose of the meeting.

During the meeting, the United States and Jordan intend to present a brief history of U.S.-Jordan environmental cooperation, review activities under the 2008–2011 Work Program, and approve a 2012–2013 Work Program. The entire meeting will be open to the public and include public question and answer sessions. The meeting will be conducted in English and Arabic. The Department of State invites interested organizations and members of the public to submit written comments or suggestions regarding items to include on the agenda and to attend the meeting. In preparing comments, we encourage submitters to refer to: (1) The United States-Jordan Joint Statement on Environmental Technical Cooperation; (2) the United States-Jordan 2008–2011 Work Program on Environmental Cooperation; (3) Article 5 (Environment) of the Agreement Between the United
States of America and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on the Establishment of a Free Trade Area (U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement (FTA)); and (4) the environmental review of the U.S.-Jordan
FTA. These documents are available at: http://www.state.gov/e/oes/env/trade/ jordan/index.htm

. **DATES :**  The United States and Jordan will hold the Joint Forum meeting at 9 a.m. on March 4, 2012, at the Hashemite Auditorium, Royal Scientific Society, in Amman, Jordan. If you are interested in attending, please email Rob Wing by March 2, 2012 at WingRD@state.gov. To ensure timely consideration, please submit comments and suggestions in writing no later than March 2, 2012.

**ADDRESSES :**  Please submit written comments or suggestions via email ( WingRD@state.gov ) or fax ((202) 647– 5947) to Rob Wing, Office of Environmental Policy, Bureau of Oceans
and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State, with the subject line ‘‘United States-Jordan Joint Forum Meeting.’’ If you have access to the Internet, you may make comments electronically by going

to http://contact-us.state.gov/app/ask

. **FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT :**  Rob Wing, telephone (202) 647–6780 or email ( WingRD@state.gov ).

**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION :**  The United States and Jordan announced the
establishment of the United StatesJordan Joint Forum on Environmental Technical Cooperation (Joint Forum)when they signed the United StatesJordan Joint Statement on Environmental Technical Cooperation (Joint Statement), on October 24, 2000, along with the U.S.-Jordan FTA. The Joint Forum is to meet regularly and advance environmental protection in Jordan by developing environmental technical cooperation initiatives, which
take into account environmental priorities, and which are agreed to by the two governments. In paragraph 4 of the Joint Statement, the countries identify an initial focus of technical cooperation on Jordanian environmental quality issues and the development and effective implementation of Jordanian environmental laws, as defined in Articles 5.4 and 18.2(a) of the U.S.- Jordan FTA. The Joint Forum has met twice since 2000—in September 2004 and March 2009—and issued two plans for implementing the Joint Statement.
The first—a Plan of Action—focused on implementing a strategic vision for Jordan’s Ministry of Environment, established in 2002, to promote sustainable economic growth and development. The plan outlined activities to, among other things, strengthen the Ministry’s capacity for setting, implementing, and ensuring compliance with environmental standards; harness market forces to protect the environment while bringing economic benefits; undertake industrial
wastewater treatment and hazardous waste management for a target region;
seek out economic benefits of ecotourism; and promote the development of a regional network of
environmental lawmakers and enforcement officials. The second, a


### 12355 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 40 / Wednesday, February 29, 2012 / Notices

Work Program for 2008–2011, identifies long-term goals and specifies activities in four priority areas. The long-term goals are to achieve: (1) Compliance with obligations in Article 5 (Environment) of the U.S.-Jordan FTA; (2) improved protection and conservation of the environment, including natural resources; (3) transparency and meaningful publicparticipation in environmental decisionmaking; and (4) a culture of environmental protection and compliance with environmental laws through, among other things, the promotion of economic opportunities, voluntary measures to enhance environmental performance, and job creation. The priority areas are: (1) Institutional and policy strengthening; (2) biodiversity conservation and improved management of protected areas; (3) improved private sector environmental performance; and (4) environmental education, transparency, and public participation in environmental decision-making and
enforcement. For the 2012–2013 Work Program, we anticipate building upon the cooperative work initiated under the previous two plans, while focusing on creating green jobs and other economic opportunities that promote green growth and sustainable development.

Dated: February 23, 2012. George N. Sibley, Director, Office of Environmental Policy, Department of State.

[FR Doc. 2012–4857 Filed 2–28–12; 8:45 am]

**BILLING CODE 4710–09–P**

**DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION**

**Enabling a Secure Environment for**
**Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Vehicle-to Infrastructure Transactions Workshop;**  **Notice of Public Meeting**

**AGENCY :**  Research and Innovative Technology Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation.

**ACTION :**  Notice.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Intelligent Transportation System Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) will hold a free Policy Research Workshop on Enabling a
Secure Environment for Vehicle-toVehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-toInfrastructure (V2I) Transactions on April 19–20, 2012, 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. at the Capital Hilton, 1001 16th Street NW., Washington, DC 20036, 202–393– 1000. This two-day workshop will give participants an opportunity to learn about and provide input into research being conducted on potential organizational and business models for supporting security and data transaction
needs for V2V and V2I crash avoidance and other applications. The workshop takes place mid-point for two related
research efforts and will be structured primarily around breakout sessions for discussing critical issues and obtaining participant feedback. Final results of this research will be presented in August 2012 during the annual Connected Vehicle Safety public meeting and via other publicly available forums and on the ITS JPO Web site.

Persons planning to attend the workshop should register online no later than April 13, 2012 at http:// www.itsa.org/policyworkshop. For additional questions, please contact Adam Hopps at Ahopps@ITSA.org.

About the Connected Vehicle Secure

Environment

Establishing a secure trust environment among vehicles and other legitimate equipment is a key challenge
for V2V and V2I crash avoidance and other applications. Currently a public key infrastructure approach to security involving the exchange of digital certificates among legitimate trusted vehicles and/or equipment is being analyzed and tested. USDOT’s Connected Vehicle Policy Research Program is concerned with defining requirements to implement such a system on a national scale, including such questions as:

• What are the functional requirements for certificate exchange and other processes?

• What communications links and networks could support these requirements?

• What are the organizational requirements for supporting back end processes?

• What are estimated costs for supporting these requirements?

• What are potential business models for supporting such a network, to attract
users and revenue to finance such a system?

• What do different approaches imply, in terms of potential levels of security protection?

• What do different ownership options imply?

• How could the certificate management system be rolled out across
the nation over time?

• Are there opportunities to integrate needed functions into existing systems or organizations? Issued in Washington, DC, on the 22th day of February 2012. John Augustine, Managing Director, ITS Joint Program Office.

[FR Doc. 2012–4809 Filed 2–28–12; 8:45 am]

**BILLING CODE 4910–HY–P**

**DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION**

**Federal Motor Carrier Safety**
**Administration**

**[Docket No. FMCSA–2011–0376]**

**Hours of Service of Drivers: Underwater Construction Corporation**  **Application for Exemption**

**AGENCY :**  Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

**ACTION :**  Notice of application for exemption; request for comments.

**SUMMARY :**  FMCSA has received an application from the Underwater Construction Corporation (‘‘UCC’’) for an exemption for 165 of its drivers from the hours-of-service (HOS) record of duty status provision in 49 CFR 395.8 that requires every commercial motor vehicle driver to record his/her duty status for each 24 hour period using methods prescribed in that section. UCC claims that approximately 88 percent of its work is performed for utilities, and that such driving operations fall under the ‘‘Utility Service Vehicle’’ (USV) exemption in 49 CFR 395.1(n). UCC would like to use its payroll system, which it claims tracks an employee’s time spent driving and working, to record drivers’ record of duty status for driving operations not covered by the USV exemption. UCC states that if granted an exemption from 49 CFR 395.8, it would continue to track employee hours through its payroll system to ensure compliance with the HOS rules. UCC believes its payroll system provides a reliable proactive approach to tracking employee hours.

**DATES :**  Comments must be received on or before March 30, 2012.

**ADDRESSES :**  You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket Management System Number FMCSA– 2011–0376 by any of the following
methods:

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

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251.

• Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12–140, Washington, DC 20590–0001.

• Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12–