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 in 

paragraph 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 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 40 / Wednesday, February 29, 2012 / Notices 12355 

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 public 

participation 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-toInfrastructure 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– 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES