Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 226 / Wednesday, November 24, 2004 / Notices 68441

If the notice contains false or 

misleading information, the exemption 

is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the 

exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) 

may be filed at any time. The filing of 

a petition to revoke will not 

automatically stay the transaction. 

An original and 10 copies of all 

pleadings, referring to STB Finance 

Docket No. 34605, must be filed with 

the Surface Transportation Board, 1925 

K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423–

0001. In addition, one copy of each 

pleading must be served on Thomas F. 

McFarland, Thomas F. McFarland, P.C., 

208 South LaSalle Street, #1890, 

Chicago, IL 60604–1112. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at 

‘‘www.stb.dot.gov.’’

Decided: November 17, 2004.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–26055 Filed 11–23–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Departmental Offices; Proposed 

Collection; Comment Request

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Department of the 

Treasury, as part of its continuing effort 

to reduce paperwork burdens, invites 

the general public and other Federal 

agencies to comment on an information 

collection that is due for revision 

approval by the Office of Management 

and Budget. The Office of International 

Affairs within the Department of the 

Treasury is soliciting comments 

concerning the collection of data for the 

Annual Report of Foreign Residents’

Holdings of U.S. Securities, including 

Selected Money Market Instruments. 

The next such collection is to be 

conducted as of June 30, 2005.

DATES: Written comments should be 

received on or before January 24, 2005, 

to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments 

to Dwight Wolkow, International 

Portfolio Investment Data Systems, 

Department of the Treasury, Room 

4410–1440NYA, 1500 Pennsylvania 

Avenue NW., Washington DC 20220. In 

view of possible delays in mail delivery, 

you may also wish to send a copy to Mr. 

Wolkow by e-mail 

(dwight.wolkow@do.treas.gov) or FAX 

(202–622–1207). Mr. Wolkow can also 

be reached by telephone (202–622–

1276).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Copies of the proposed forms and 

instructions are available in Part II on 

the Treasury’s TIC Forms webpage, 

http://www.treas.gov/tic/forms.html. 

Requests for additional information 

should be directed to Mr. Wolkow.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Treasury Department Form 

SHLA/SHL, Foreign-Residents’

Holdings of U.S. Securities, including 

Selected Money Market Instruments. 

OMB Number: 1505–0123. 

Abstract: These forms are used to 

conduct annual surveys of holdings by 

foreign-residents of U.S. securities for 

portfolio investment purposes. These 

data are used by the U.S. Government in 

the formulation of international and 

financial policies and for the 

computation of the U.S. balance of 

payments accounts and the U.S. 

international investment position. These 

data will also be used to provide 

information to the public and to meet 

international reporting commitments. 

The benchmark survey (Form SHL) is 

conducted once every five years, and 

requires reporting by all significant 

U.S.-resident custodians and U.S.-

resident security issuers. In nonbenchmark years an annual survey 

(Form SHLA) is conducted, and requires 

reports from only the very largest U.S.-

resident custodians and issuers. The 

data requested will be the same in Form 

SHL and, during the four succeeding 

years, in Form SHLA. The 

determination of who must report in the 

annual surveys (SHLA) will be based 

upon the securities data submitted 

during the previous benchmark survey. 

The data collected under the annual 

surveys (SHLA) will be used in 

conjunction with the results of the 

previous benchmark survey to compute 

economy-wide estimates for the nonbenchmark years. 

Current Actions: (a) On Schedule 1, 

added new ‘‘Item 15—Valuation 

Technique’’. This information is very 

helpful for understanding and utilizing 

the data reported. (b) On Schedule 2, 

item 11 (Registered/Bearer) will not be 

used. (Note that the reporting 

requirements for registered and bearer 

securities do not change). (c) On 

Schedule 2, item 17 (Reason for Zero) 

will not be used. While both items 11 

and 17 will not be used, in order to 

reduce reporting burden, they will be on 

the form as ‘‘Intentionally Left Blank’’ to 

limit computer programming changes. 

(d) On Schedule 2, added a third option 

of ‘‘Individual’’ to item 15 (Type of 

Foreign Holder). Reporters now will 

have three options for type of foreign 

holder 1. Official, 2. Individual, 3. 

Other. (e) Clarified the instructions for 

certain sections, most notably the 

‘‘Securities involved in lending 

arrangements’’ section and the section 

that deals with what determines foreign 

residency. (f) Added two country codes 

for Mayotte (under Africa) and Wallis 

and Futuna (under Other Countries). 

Type of Review: Revision of a 

currently approved data collection. 

Affected Public: Business/financial 

institutions.

Forms: TDF SHLA, Schedule 1 and 

Schedule 2 (1505–0123); TDF SHL, 

Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 (1505–

0123). 

Estimated Number of Respondents: an 

annual average (over five years) of 360, 

but this varies widely from about 1,500 

in benchmark years (once every five 

years) to about 65 in each of the other 

years (four out of every five years). 

Estimated Average Time per 

Respondent: an annual average (over 

five years) of about 85 hours, but this 

will vary widely from respondent to 

respondent. (a) In the year of a 

benchmark survey, which is conducted 

once every five years, it is estimated that 

exempt respondents will require an 

average of 16 hours; for custodians of 

securities, the estimate is a total of 321 

hours on average, but this figure will 

vary widely for individual custodians; 

and for issuers of securities that have 

data to report and are not custodians, 

the estimate is 61 hours on average. (b) 

In a non-benchmark year, which occurs 

four years out of every five years: for the 

largest custodians of securities, the 

estimate is a total of 486 hours on 

average; and for the largest issuers of 

securities that have data to report and 

are not custodians, the estimate is 110 

hours on average. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: an annual average (over five 

years) of 30,600 hours. 

Frequency of Response: Annual. 

Request for Comments: Comments 

submitted in response to this notice will 

be summarized and/or included in the 

request for Office of Management and 

Budget approval. All comments will 

become a matter of public record. The 

public is invited to submit written 

comments concerning: (a) whether the 

Survey is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

Office, including whether the 

information collected has practical uses;

68442 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 226 / Wednesday, November 24, 2004 / Notices 

(b) the accuracy of the above burden 

estimates; (c) ways to enhance the 

quality, usefulness and clarity of the 

information to be collected; (d) ways to 

minimize the reporting and/or 

recordkeeping burdens on respondents, 

including the use of information 

technologies to automate the collection 

of the data; and (e) estimates of capital 

or start-up costs of operation, 

maintenance and purchases of services 

to provide information.

Dwight Wolkow, 

Administrator, International Portfolio 

Investment Data Systems.

[FR Doc. 04–26009 Filed 11–23–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–25–P