Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 245 / Wednesday, December 22, 2004 / Notices 76827

this low-income area and promote social 

justice, the El Paso County 

Commissioners Court passed a 

resolution dated April 19, 2004 that 

eliminates pedestrian tolls on the new 

bridge. The resolution states: ‘‘Therefore 

Be It Resolved, by El Paso County 

Government that the new Tornillo/

Guadalupe Port of Entry will be toll-free 

for pedestrians only, as expenditure of 

future funds to collect tolls from 

pedestrians at the new Tornillo/

Guadalupe Bridge is expected to exceed 

pedestrian toll revenues to be 

collected.’’

IV. Conclusion: Analysis of the 

Environmental Assessment Submitted 

by the Sponsor 

Based on the Department’s 

independent review of the Final 

Environmental Assessment, comments 

received during its preparation and 

comments received by the Department 

from Federal and State agencies 

including measures which are proposed 

to be taken to prevent or mitigate 

potentially adverse environmental 

impacts, the Department has concluded 

that issuance of a Presidential Permit 

authorizing construction of the 

proposed Tornillo-Guadalupe New 

International Bridge as proposed in 

Bridge Site Alternative No. 3 as set forth 

in the Environmental Assessment, 

would not have a significant impact on 

the quality of the human and/or natural 

environment within the United States. 

Accordingly, a Finding of No Significant 

Impact (‘‘FONSI’’) is adopted and an 

environmental impact statement will 

not be prepared. 

The Final Environmental Assessment 

prepared by the Department addressing 

this action is on file and may be 

reviewed by interested parties at the 

Department of State, 2201 C Street NW., 

Room 4258, Washington, DC 20520 

(Attn: Mr. John Ritchie, Tel (202) 647–

8529).

Dated: December 15, 2004. 

John A. Ritchie, 

Coordinator, U.S.-Mexico Border Affairs, 

Office of Mexican Affairs, Department of 

State.

[FR Doc. 04–27988 Filed 12–21–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–29–P

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

Trade Policy Staff Committee; Initiation 

of Environmental Review of U.S.-Oman 

Free Trade Negotiations; Public 

Comments on Scope of Environmental 

Review

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: This publication gives notice 

that, pursuant to the Trade Act of 2002, 

and consistent with Executive Order 

13141 (64 FR 63169) (Nov. 18, 1999) 

and its implementing guidelines (65 FR 

79442), the Office of the United States 

Trade Representative (USTR), through 

the Trade Policy Staff Committee 

(TPSC), is initiating an environmental 

review of the proposed United StatesOman Free Trade Agreement. The TPSC 

is requesting written comments from the 

public on what should be included in 

the scope of the environmental review, 

including the potential environmental 

effects that might flow from the free 

trade agreement and the potential 

implications for U.S. environmental 

laws and regulations, and identification 

of complementarities between trade and 

environmental objectives such as the 

promotion of sustainable development. 

The TPSC also welcomes public views 

on appropriate methodologies and 

sources of data for conducting the 

review. Persons submitting written 

comments should provide as much 

detail as possible on the degree to which 

the subject matter they propose for 

inclusion in the review may raise 

significant environmental issues in the 

context of the negotiation.

DATES: Public comments should be 

received no later than February 25, 

2005.

ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic 

mail: FR0510@ustr.gov. Submissions by 

facsimile: Gloria Blue, Executive 

Secretary, Trade Policy Staff Committee, 

at (202) 395–6143.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

procedural questions concerning public 

comments, contact Gloria Blue, 

Executive Secretary, TPSC, Office of the 

USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, 

DC 20508, telephone (202) 395–3475. 

Questions concerning the 

environmental review should be 

addressed to Jennifer Prescott or David 

J. Brooks, Environment and Natural 

Resources Section, USTR, telephone 

(202) 395–7320.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Background Information 

On November 15, 2004, in accordance 

with section 2104(a)(1) of the Trade Act 

of 2002, the United States Trade 

Representative, Ambassador Robert B. 

Zoellick, notified Congress of the 

President’s intent to enter into trade 

negotiations with Oman. Ambassador 

Zoellick outlined specific U.S. 

objectives for these negotiations in the 

notification letters to Congress. Copies 

of the letters are available at http://

www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/

Press_Releases/2004/November/U.S._

Announces_Intent_to_Negotiate_FTAs_

with_UAE_Oman.html. 

In addition to this request for public 

comments, the TPSC also has invited 

the public to provide written comments 

and/or oral testimony at a public 

hearing that will take place on January 

14, 2005. The purpose of this hearing is 

to assist USTR in amplifying and 

clarifying negotiating objectives for the 

proposed FTA and to provide advice on 

how specific goods and services and 

other matters should be treated under 

the proposed agreement (see 67 FR 

70498, December 6, 2004). USTR will 

take into account in the environmental 

review any public comments or 

testimony on Oman FTA environmental 

issues submitted in response to the 

December 6 notice. 

2. Environmental Review 

USTR, through the TPSC, will 

perform an environmental review of the 

agreement pursuant to the Trade Act of 

2002 and consistent with Executive 

Order 13141 (64 FR 63169) and its 

implementing guidelines (65 FR 79442). 

Environmental reviews are used to 

identify potentially significant, 

reasonably foreseeable environmental 

impacts (both positive and negative), 

and information from the review can 

help facilitate consideration of 

appropriate responses where impacts 

are identified. Reviews address 

potential environmental impacts of the 

proposed agreement and potential 

implications for environmental laws 

and regulations. The focus of the review 

is on impacts in the United States, 

although global and transboundary 

impacts may be considered, where 

appropriate and prudent.

3. Requirements for Submissions 

In order to facilitate prompt 

processing of submissions, USTR 

strongly urges and prefers electronic (email) submissions in response to this 

notice. In the event that an e-mail 

submission is impossible, submissions 

should be made by facsimile. 

Persons making submissions by email should use the following subject 

76828 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 245 / Wednesday, December 22, 2004 / Notices 

line: ‘‘United States-Oman FTA 

Environmental Review’’ followed by 

‘‘Written Comments.’’ Documents 

should be submitted as either 

WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT) 

files. Supporting documentation 

submitted as spreadsheets are 

acceptable as Quattro Pro or Excel. For 

any document containing business 

confidential information submitted 

electronically, the file name of the 

business confidential version should 

begin with the characters ‘‘BC-’’, and the 

file name of the public version should 

begin with the characters ‘‘P-’’. The

‘‘P-’’ or ‘‘BC-’’ should be followed by the 

name of the submitter. Persons who 

make submissions by e-mail should not 

provide separate cover letters; 

information that might appear in a cover 

letter should be included in the 

submission itself. To the extent 

possible, any attachments to the 

submission should be included in the 

same file as the submission itself, and 

not as separate files. 

Written comments submitted in 

response to this request will be placed 

in a file open to public inspection 

pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5, except 

business confidential information 

exempt from public inspection in 

accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6. 

Business confidential information 

submitted in accordance with 15 CFR 

2003.6 must be clearly marked 

‘‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’’ at the top 

of each page, including any cover letter 

or cover page, and must be accompanied 

by a nonconfidential summary of the 

confidential information. All public 

documents and nonconfidential 

summaries shall be available for public 

inspection in the USTR Reading Room 

in Room 3 of the Annex of the Office of 

the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., 

Washington, DC. The USTR Reading 

Room is open to the public, by 

appointment only, from 10 a.m. to 12 

noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday 

through Friday. An appointment to 

review the file must be scheduled at 

least 48 hours in advance and may be 

made by calling (202) 395–6186. 

General information concerning the 

Office of the United States Trade 

Representative may be obtained by 

accessing its Internet Web site (http://

www.ustr.gov).

Carmen Suro-Bredie, 

Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee.

[FR Doc. 04–28022 Filed 12–21–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3190–W5–P

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

Trade Policy Staff Committee; Initiation 

of Environmental Review of U.S.-

United Arab Emirates (UAE) Free Trade 

Negotiations; Public Comments on 

Scope of Environmental Review

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: This publication gives notice 

that, pursuant to the Trade Act of 2002, 

and consistent with Executive Order 

13141 (64 FR 63169) (Nov. 18, 1999) 

and its implementing guidelines (65 FR 

79442), the Office of the United States 

Trade Representative (USTR), through 

the Trade Policy Staff Committee 

(TPSC), is initiating an environmental 

review of the proposed United StatesUAE Free Trade Agreement. The TPSC 

is requesting written comments from the 

public on what should be included in 

the scope of the environmental review, 

including the potential environmental 

effects that might flow from the free 

trade agreement and the potential 

implications for U.S. environmental 

laws and regulations, and identification 

of complementarities between trade and 

environmental objectives such as the 

promotion of sustainable development. 

The TPSC also welcomes public views 

on appropriate methodologies and 

sources of data for conducting the 

review. Persons submitting written 

comments should provide as much 

detail as possible on the degree to which 

the subject matter they propose for 

inclusion in the review may raise 

significant environmental issues in the 

context of the negotiation.

DATES: Public comments should be 

received no later than February 25, 

2005.

ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic 

mail: FR0509@ustr.gov.

Submissions by facsimile: Gloria Blue, 

Executive Secretary, Trade Policy Staff 

Committee, at (202) 395–6143.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

procedural questions concerning public 

comments, contact Gloria Blue, 

Executive Secretary, TPSC, Office of the 

USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, 

DC 20508, telephone (202) 395–3475. 

Questions concerning the 

environmental review should be 

addressed to Jennifer Prescott or David 

J. Brooks, Environment and Natural 

Resources Section, USTR, telephone 

(202) 395–7320.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Background Information 

On November 15, 2004, in accordance 

with section 2104(a)(1) of the Trade Act 

of 2002, the United States Trade 

Representative, Ambassador Robert B. 

Zoellick, notified Congress of the 

President’s intent to enter into trade 

negotiations with the UAE. Ambassador 

Zoellick outlined specific U.S. 

objectives for these negotiations in the 

notification letters to Congress. Copies 

of the letters are available at http://

www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/

Press_Releases/2004/November/

U.S._Announces_

Intent_to_Negotiate_FTAs_with_UAE

_Oman.html.

In addition to this request for public 

comments, the TPSC also has invited 

the public to provide written comments 

and/or oral testimony at a public 

hearing that will take place on January 

14, 2005. The purpose of the hearing is 

to assist USTR in amplifying and 

clarifying negotiating objectives for the 

proposed FTA and to provide advice on 

how specific goods and services and 

other matters should be treated under 

the proposed agreement (see 67 FR 

70500, December 6, 2004). USTR will 

take into account in the environmental 

review any public comments or 

testimony on UAE FTA environmental 

issues submitted in response to the 

December 6 notice. 

2. Environmental Review 

USTR, through the TPSC, will 

perform an environmental review of the 

agreement pursuant to the Trade Act of 

2002 and consistent with Executive 

Order 13141 (64 FR 63169) and its 

implementing guidelines (65 FR 79442). 

Environmental reviews are used to 

identify potentially significant, 

reasonably foreseeable environmental 

impacts (both positive and negative), 

and information from the review can 

help facilitate consideration of 

appropriate responses where impacts 

are identified. Reviews address 

potential environmental impacts of the 

proposed agreement and potential 

implications for environmental laws 

and regulations. The focus of the review 

is on impacts in the United States, 

although global and transboundary 

impacts may be considered, where 

appropriate and prudent. 

3. Requirements for Submissions 

In order to facilitate prompt 

processing of submissions, USTR 

strongly urges and prefers electronic (email) submissions in response to this 

notice. In the event that an e-mail 

submission is impossible, submissions 

should be made by facsimile.