67468 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 248 / Friday, December 28, 2018 / Notices 

[FR Doc. 2018–28277 Filed 12–27–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3290–F9–P 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

[Docket No. USTR–2018–0037] 

Request for Comments and Notice of 

a Public Hearing Regarding the 2019 

Special 301 Review 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Request for comments and 

notice of public hearing. 

SUMMARY: Each year, the Office of the 

United States Trade Representative 

(USTR) conducts a Special 301 review 

to identify countries that deny adequate 

and effective protection of intellectual 

property rights (IPR) or deny fair and 

equitable market access to U.S. persons 

who rely on intellectual property 

protection. Based on this review, the 

United States Trade Representative 

(Trade Representative) determines 

which, if any, of these countries to 

identify as Priority Foreign Countries. 

USTR requests written comments that 

identify acts, policies, or practices that 

may form the basis of a country’s 

identification as a Priority Foreign 

Country or placement on the Priority 

Watch List or Watch List. USTR also 

requests notices of intent to appear at 

the public hearing. 

DATES: 

February 7, 2019 at 11:59 p.m. EST: 

Deadline for submission of written 

comments, hearing statements, and 

notices of intent to appear at the hearing 

from the public. 

February 21, 2019 at 11:59 p.m. EST: 

Deadline for submission of written 

comments, hearing statements, and 

notices of intent to appear at the hearing 

from foreign governments. 

February 27, 2019: The Special 301 

Subcommittee will hold a public 

hearing at the Office of the United State 

Trade Representative, 1724 F Street NW, 

Rooms 1&2, Washington, DC. If 

necessary, the hearing may continue on 

the next business day. Please consult 

the USTR website at https://ustr.gov/ 

issue-areas/intellectual-property/ 

Special-301, for confirmation of the date 

and location and the schedule of 

witnesses. March 5, 2019 at 11:59 p.m. 

EST: Deadline for submission of posthearing written comments from persons 

who testified at the public hearing. 

On or about April 26, 2019: USTR 

will publish the 2019 Special 301 

Report within 30 days of the publication 

of the National Trade Estimate (NTE) 

Report. 

ADDRESSES: USTR strongly encourages 

electronic submissions made through 

the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

submission instructions in section IV 

below. The docket number is USTR– 

2018–0037. For alternatives to on-line 

submissions, please contact USTR at 

Special301@ustr.eop.gov before 

transmitting a comment and in advance 

of the relevant deadline. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sung Chang, Director for Innovation and 

Intellectual Property, at special301@

ustr.eop.gov. You can find information 

about the Special 301 Review at 

www.ustr.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 

(Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 2242), commonly 

known as the ‘‘Special 301’’ provisions, 

requires the Trade Representative to 

identify countries that deny adequate 

and effective IPR protections or fair and 

equitable market access to U.S. persons 

who rely on intellectual property 

protection. The Trade Act requires the 

Trade Representative to determine 

which, if any, of these countries to 

identify as Priority Foreign Countries. 

Acts, policies or practices that are the 

basis of a country’s identification as a 

Priority Foreign Country can be subject 

to the procedures set out in sections 

301–305 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 

2411–2415). 

In addition, USTR has created a 

‘‘Priority Watch List’’ and ‘‘Watch List’’ 

to assist the Administration in pursuing 

the goals of the Special 301 provisions. 

Placement of a trading partner on the 

Priority Watch List or Watch List 

indicates that particular problems exist 

in that country with respect to IPR 

protection, enforcement, or market 

access for persons that rely on 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 248 / Friday, December 28, 2018 / Notices 67469 

intellectual property protection. Trading 

partners placed on the Priority Watch 

List are the focus of increased bilateral 

attention concerning the problem areas. 

USTR chairs the Special 301 

Subcommittee (Subcommittee) of the 

Trade Policy Staff Committee. The 

Subcommittee reviews information from 

many sources, and consults with and 

makes recommendations to the Trade 

Representative on issues arising under 

Special 301. Written submissions from 

the public are a key source of 

information for the Special 301 review 

process. In 2019, USTR will conduct a 

public hearing as part of the review 

process and will allow hearing 

participants to provide additional 

information relevant to the review. At 

the conclusion of the process, USTR 

will publish the results of the review in 

a Special 301 Report. 

USTR requests that interested persons 

identify through the process outlined in 

this notice those countries whose acts, 

policies, or practices deny adequate and 

effective protection for intellectual 

property rights or deny fair and 

equitable market access to U.S. persons 

who rely on intellectual property 

protection. 

The Special 301 provisions also 

require the Trade Representative to 

identify any act, policy, or practice of 

Canada that affects cultural industries, 

was adopted or expanded after 

December 17, 1992, and is actionable 

under Article 2106 of the North 

American Free Trade Agreement 

(NAFTA). USTR invites the public to 

submit views relevant to this aspect of 

the review. 

The Special 301 provisions require 

the Trade Representative to identify all 

such acts, policies, or practices within 

30 days of the publication of the NTE 

Report. In accordance with this 

statutory requirement, USTR will 

publish the annual Special 301 Report 

about April 26, 2019. 

II. Public Comments 

To facilitate the review, written 

comments should be as detailed as 

possible and provide all necessary 

information to identify and assess the 

effect of the acts, policies, and practices. 

USTR invites written comments that 

provide specific references to laws, 

regulations, policy statements, 

including innovation policies, 

executive, presidential, or other orders, 

and administrative, court, or other 

determinations that should factor in the 

review. USTR also requests that, where 

relevant, submissions mention 

particular regions, provinces, states, or 

other subdivisions of a country in which 

an act, policy, or practice is believed to 

warrant special attention. Finally, 

submissions proposing countries for 

review should include data, loss 

estimates, and other information 

regarding the economic impact on the 

United States, U.S. industry, and the 

U.S. workforce caused by the denial of 

adequate and effective intellectual 

property protection. Comments that 

include quantitative loss claims should 

include the methodology used to 

calculate the estimated losses. 

III. Public Hearing 

The Special 301 Subcommittee will 

convene a public hearing on February 

27, 2019, in Rooms 1 and 2, 1724 F 

Street NW, Washington DC, at which 

interested persons, including 

representatives of foreign governments, 

may appear to provide oral testimony. If 

necessary, the hearing may continue on 

the next business day. Because the 

hearing will take place in Federal 

facilities, attendees must show photo 

identification and will be screened for 

security purposes. Please consult the 

USTR website at https://ustr.gov/issueareas/intellectual-property/Special-301, 

to confirm the date and location of the 

hearing and to obtain copies of the 

hearing schedule. USTR also will post 

the transcript and recording of the 

hearing on the USTR website as soon 

after the hearing as possible. Witnesses 

must deliver prepared oral testimony, 

which is limited to five minutes, before 

the Special 301 Subcommittee in person 

and in English. Subcommittee member 

agencies may ask questions following 

the prepared statement. 

Notices of intent to testify and hearing 

statements from the public are due on 

February 7, 2019, and from foreign 

governments on February 21, 2019. The 

submissions must be in English and 

must include: (1) The name, address, 

telephone number, fax number, email 

address, and firm or affiliation of the 

individual wishing to testify, and (2) a 

hearing statement that is relevant to the 

Special 301 review. 

IV. Submission Instructions 

All submissions must be in English 

and sent electronically via 

www.regulations.gov using docket 

number USTR–2018–0037. To submit 

comments, locate the docket (folder) by 

entering the number USTR–2018–0037 

in the ‘Enter Keyword or ID’ window at 

the www.regulations.gov home page and 

click ‘Search.’ The site will provide a 

search-results page listing all documents 

associated with this docket. Locate the 

reference to this notice by selecting 

‘Notice’ under ‘Document Type’ on the 

left side of the search-results page, and 

click on the link entitled ‘Comment 

Now!’. 

USTR requests that you provide 

comments in an attached document, and 

that you name the file according to the 

following protocol, as appropriate: 

Commenter Name, or Organization_

2019 Special 301_Review_Comment, or 

Notice of Intent to Testify or Hearing 

Testimony. Please include the following 

information in the ‘Type Comment’ 

field: ‘‘2019 Special 301 Review’’ and 

whether the submission is a comment, 

a request to testify at the hearing, or 

hearing testimony. Please submit 

documents prepared in (or compatible 

with) Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe 

Acrobat (.pdf) formats. If you prepare 

the submission in a compatible format, 

please indicate the name of the relevant 

software application in the ‘Type 

Comment’ field. For further information 

on using the www.regulations.gov 

website, please select ‘How to Use 

Regulations.gov’ on the bottom of any 

page. 

Please do not attach separate cover 

letters to electronic submissions; rather, 

include any information that might 

appear in a cover letter in the comments 

themselves. Similarly, to the extent 

possible, please include any exhibits, 

annexes, or other attachments in the 

same file as the comment itself, rather 

than submitting them as separate files. 

For any comments that contains 

business confidential information, the 

file name of the business confidential 

version should begin with the characters 

‘BC’. Any page containing business 

confidential information must be clearly 

marked ‘‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’’ 

on the top of that page and the 

submission should clearly indicate, via 

brackets, highlighting, or other means, 

the specific information that is business 

confidential. A filer requesting business 

confidential treatment must certify that 

the information is business confidential 

and that they would not customarily 

released it to the public. Additionally, 

the filer should type ‘Business 

Confidential’ in the ‘Type Comment’ 

field. 

Filers of comments containing 

business confidential information also 

must submit a public version of their 

comments. The file name of the public 

version should begin with the character 

‘P’. The ‘BC’ and ‘P’ should be followed 

by the name of the person or entity 

submitting the comments. Filers 

submitting comments containing no 

business confidential information 

should name their file using the name 

of the person or entity submitting the 

comments. 

As noted, USTR strongly urges 

commenters to submit comments 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1
67470 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 248 / Friday, December 28, 2018 / Notices 

1While the Agency received comments in 

support of the ATA’s petition from the American 

Bus Association, Coach USA, Greyhound Lines, and 

the United Motorcoach Association, this 

determination of preemption does not apply to 

drivers of passenger-carrying CMVs in interstate 

commerce. The Agency, however, would consider 

any petition asking for a determination as to 

whether the MRB Rules are preempted with respect 

to such drivers. 

through www.regulations.gov. You must 

make any alternative arrangements 

before transmitting a document and in 

advance of the relevant deadline by 

contacting USTR at Special301@

ustr.eop.gov. 

USTR will place comments in the 

docket and they will be open to public 

inspection, except business confidential 

information. You can view comments 

on the www.regulations.gov website by 

entering Docket Number USTR–2018– 

0037 in the ‘Search’ field on the home 

page. 

Daniel Lee, 

Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for 

Innovation and Intellectual Property (Acting), 

Office of the United States Trade 

Representative. 

[FR Doc. 2018–28319 Filed 12–27–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3290–F9–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2018–0304] 

California’s Meal and Rest Break Rules 

for Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers; 

Petition for Determination of 

Preemption 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Order; grant of petition for 

determination of preemption. 

SUMMARY: The FMCSA grants petitions 

submitted by the American Trucking 

Associations and the Specialized 

Carriers and Rigging Association 

requesting a determination that the State 

of California’s Meal and Rest Break rules 

(MRB Rules) are preempted under 49 

U.S.C. 31141 as applied to propertycarrying commercial motor vehicle 

(CMV) drivers covered by the FMCSA’s 

hours of service regulations. Federal law 

provides for preemption of State laws 

on CMV safety that are additional to or 

more stringent than Federal regulations 

if they have no safety benefit; are 

incompatible with Federal regulations; 

or would cause an unreasonable burden 

on interstate commerce. The FMCSA 

has determined that the MRB Rules are 

laws on CMV safety, that they are more 

stringent than the Agency’s hours of 

service regulations, that they have no 

safety benefits that extend beyond those 

already provided by the Federal Motor 

Carrier Safety Regulations, that they are 

incompatible with the Federal hours of 

service regulations, and that they cause 

an unreasonable burden on interstate 

commerce. The California MRB Rules, 

therefore, are preempted under 49 

U.S.C. 31141(c). 

ADDRESSES: You may see all the 

comments online through the Federal 

Document Management System (FDMS) 

at http://www.regulations.gov. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments, go to http://

www.regulations.gov or Room W12–140 

on the ground level of the West 

Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 

Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. The FDMS is available 

24 hours each day, 365 days each year. 

Privacy Act: Anyone may search the 

electronic form of all comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or of the person signing the 

comment, if submitted on behalf of an 

association, business, labor union, etc.). 

You may review DOT’s Privacy Act 

Statement for the Federal Docket 

Management System (FDMS) published 

in the Federal Register on December 29, 

2010. 75 FR 82132. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Charles J. Fromm, Deputy Chief 

Counsel, Office of the Chief Counsel, 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, 

(202) 366–3551; email Charles.Fromm@

dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On September 24, 2018, the American 

Trucking Associations (ATA) petitioned 

the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA) to preempt 

California statutes and rules requiring 

employers to give their employees meal 

and rest breaks during the work day, as 

applied to drivers of commercial motor 

vehicles (CMVs) subject to the FMCSA’s 

hours of service (HOS) regulations. On 

October 29, 2018, the Specialized 

Carriers and Rigging Association (SCRA) 

also filed a petition seeking a 

preemption determination concerning 

the same meal and rest break 

requirements. The SCRA opted to 

submit a petition in lieu of comments as 

part of Docket No. FMCSA–2018–0304; 

therefore, the Agency will not open a 

separate docket for the SCRA’s petition. 

For the reasons set forth below, the 

FMCSA grants the petitions insofar as 

the provisions at issue apply to drivers 

of property-carrying CMVs subject to the 

FMCSA’s hours of service regulations.1

California Meal and Rest Break Rules 

(MRB Rules) 

Section 512, Meal periods, of the 

California Labor Code reads, in part, as 

follows: 

‘‘(a) An employer may not employ an 

employee for a work period of more than five 

hours per day without providing the 

employee with a meal period of not less than 

30 minutes, except that if the total work 

period per day of the employee is no more 

than six hours, the meal period may be 

waived by mutual consent of both the 

employer and employee. An employer may 

not employ an employee for a work period 

of more than 10 hours per day without 

providing the employee with a second meal 

period of not less than 30 minutes, except 

that if the total hours worked is no more than 

12 hours, the second meal period may be 

waived by mutual consent of the employer 

and the employee only if the first meal 

period was not waived. 

‘‘(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the 

Industrial Welfare Commission may adopt a 

working condition order permitting a meal 

period to commence after six hours of work 

if the commission determines that the order 

is consistent with the health and welfare of 

the affected employees.’’ 

Section 516 of the California Labor 

Code reads, in relevant in part, as 

follows: 

‘‘(a) Except as provided in Section 512, the 

Industrial Welfare Commission may adopt or 

amend working condition orders with respect 

to break periods, meal periods, and days of 

rest for any workers in California consistent 

with the health and welfare of those 

workers.’’ 

Section 226.7 of the California Labor Code 

reads, in relevant part, as follows: 

‘‘(b) An employer shall not require an 

employee to work during a meal or rest or 

recovery period mandated pursuant to an 

applicable statute, or applicable regulation, 

standard, or order of the Industrial Welfare 

Commission . . . . 

‘‘(c) If an employer fails to provide an 

employee a meal or rest or recovery period 

in accordance with a state law, including, but 

not limited to, an applicable statute or 

applicable regulation, standard, or order of 

the Industrial Welfare Commission, . . . the 

employer shall pay the employee one 

additional hour of pay at the employee’s 

regular rate of compensation for each 

workday that the meal or rest or recovery 

period is not provided.’’ 

Section 11090 of Article 9 (Transport 

Industry) of Group 2 (Industry and 

Occupation Orders) of Chapter 5 

(Industrial Welfare Commission) of 

Division 1 (Department of Industrial 

Relations) of Title 8 (Industrial 

Relations) of the California Code of 


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