Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 93 / Friday, May 12, 2000 / Notices 30565

DATES: All applications must be

received by August 4, 2000.

Applications received after that date

will be considered on a space available

basis.

ADDRESSES: Applications may be

submitted to Grace Wiggins, Department

of Commerce, 14th and Constitution

Avenue, N.W., Room 3810, Washington,

D.C. 20230, Tel: 202–482–6482.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Grace Wiggins, Department of

Commerce Tel.: 202–482–6482; Fax

(202) 482–6482.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Acting

Assistant Secretary and Director General

of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial

Service Marjory Searing will lead a

senior-level business development trade

mission, of approximately 10–15

companies, focusing on women-owned

and women-managed businesses to the

countries of Egypt, Kenya and South

Africa. This Business Development

Mission is being organized to coincide

with the Global Summit of Women

2000: Africa being held in

Johannesburg, South Africa on October

5–7. While the trade mission and

summit focus on women-owned and/or

managed companies, participation is not

limited to such businesses and all

interested U.S. companies are

encouraged to apply. The mission will

visit Cairo, Egypt; Nairobi, Kenya; and

Johannesburg, South Africa with an

optional stop to Cape Town, South

Africa. The overall focus of the trip will

be commercial opportunities for U.S.

companies, presented by the continuing

market liberalization and privatization

happening in these countries.

Best sectors offering opportunities for

American firms include but are not

limited to environmental equipment

and services, Telecommunications,

medical and computer equipment and

software, information technology,

fashion and jewelry, cosmetic/hair

products and security and safety

equipment.

Dated: May 8, 2000.

Sherry Lewis-Khanna,

Special Assistant, Office of Domestic

Operations.

[FR Doc. 00–11915 Filed 5–11–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–FP–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL

Site, Point Comfort, TX: Notice of

Availability and Request for Comments

on a Revised Draft Damage

Assessment and Restoration Plan/

Environmental Assessment for

Recreational Fishing Service Losses

AGENCIES: National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce; United States Department of

the Interior (DOI); Texas Parks and

Wildlife Department (TPWD); Texas

General Land Office (TGLO); and Texas

Natural Resources and Conservation

Commission (TNRCC).

ACTION: Notice of availability of a

Revised Draft Damage Assessment and

Restoration Plan and Environmental

Assessment for recreational fishing

service losses associated with the Alcoa

Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay National

Priorities List (NPL) Site, and of a 30-

day period for public comment on the

plan beginning May 12, 2000.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to 43 CFR Sections

11.32 and 11.81—.82, notice is hereby

given that a document entitled,

‘‘Revised Draft Damage Assessment and

Restoration Plan and Environmental

Assessment for the Point Comfort/

Lavaca Bay NPL Site Recreational

Fishing Service Losses’’ (Revised Draft

DARP/EA) is available for public review

and comment. This document describes

revisions to the Draft Damage

Assessment and Restoration Plan and

Environmental Assessment (Draft

DARP/EA), which was released for

public review and comment on

September 28, 1999. The Draft DARP/

EA described the assessment of

recreational fishing service losses

attributable to hazardous substances

released from the Alcoa Point Comfort/

Lavaca Bay NPL Site (‘Lavaca Bay Site’

or ‘Site’) and the restoration actions

preferred to compensate for those losses.

As a result of the public comments

received on the Draft DARP/EA, the

restoration alternatives identified to

compensate for such losses have been

revised. The Revised Draft DARP/EA

summarizes these public comments and

identifies changes to the restoration

plan that were determined to be

necessary in light of the comments and

other information received. The Revised

Draft DARP/EA is being released to

allow public comment on the revised

restoration alternatives now proposed

for inclusion in the Final DARP/EA for

the recreational fishing service losses.

DATES: Comments on the Revised Draft

DARP/EA must be submitted in writing

on or before June 12, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the

Revised Draft DARP/EA should be sent

to Richard Seiler of TNRCC, MC142,

P.O. Box 13087, Austin, TX 78711–3087

or Tony Penn of NOAA, 1305 East West

Highway, Station 10218, Silver Spring,

MD 20910. Written comments on the

plan should be sent either to Richard

Seiler of TNRCC or Tony Penn of NOAA

at the addresses listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Alcoa

Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL Site is

located in Point Comfort, Calhoun

County, Texas and encompasses

releases of hazardous substances from

Alcoa’s Point Comfort Operations

facility. Between 1948 and the present,

Alcoa constructed and operated several

types of manufacturing processes at this

facility, including aluminum smelting,

carbon paste and briquette

manufacturing, gas processing, chloralkali processing, and alumina refining.

Past operations at the facility resulted in

the release of hazardous substances into

the environment, including the

discharge of mercury-containing

wastewater into Lavaca Bay from 1966

to 1970 and releases of mercury into the

bay through groundwater. In April 1988,

the Texas Department of Health (TDH)

issued a ‘‘closure order’’ prohibiting the

taking of finfish and crabs for

consumption from a specific area near

the facility due to elevated mercury

concentrations in these resources.

The Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay

Site was added to the NPL, pursuant to

Section 105 of the Comprehensive

Environmental Response, Compensation

and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C.

9601, effective on March 25, 1994 (59

FR 8724; February 23, 1994). The Site

was listed primarily due to the presence

of mercury in several species of fish and

crab in Lavaca Bay, the fishing closure

imposed by TDH, and the presence of

mercury and other hazardous

substances in bay sediments adjacent to

the facility. Alcoa, the State of Texas

and the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) signed an Administrative

Order on Consent (AOC) under CERCLA

in March 1994 providing for the

conduct of a remedial investigation and

feasibility study (RI/FS) for the Site.

NOAA, DOI, TPWD, TGLO and

TNRCC (collectively, the Trustees) are

designated natural resource trustees

under Section 107(f) of CERCLA,

Section 311 of the Federal Water

Pollution and Control Act (FWPCA), 33

U.S.C. Section 1321, and other

applicable federal or state laws,

including Subpart G of the National Oil

30566 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 93 / Friday, May 12, 2000 / Notices

and Hazardous Substances Pollution

Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR

Sections 300.600—300.615. The

Trustees are authorized to act on behalf

of the public under these authorities to

protect and restore natural resources

and resource services injured or lost as

a result of discharges or releases of

hazardous substances.

Paralleling the RI/FS process for the

Site, the Trustees have undertaken an

assessment of the natural resource

injuries and service losses resulting

from releases of hazardous substances

attributable to the Site and of the

restoration actions necessary to address

those losses. This assessment process

has been aided and supported by

Alcoa’s cooperation pursuant to a

Memorandum of Agreement between

Alcoa and the Trustees, which was

effective January 14, 1997. Both the

Draft DARP/EA and the Revised Draft

DARP/EA have been developed under

the cooperative assessment framework

outlined in the MOA.

The Draft DARP/EA was released for

public review on September 28, 1999.

That document described the

assessment procedures used to define

the recreational fishing service losses,

including to scale restoration actions,

and identified the restoration actions

preferred to compensate for those

service losses, based on the benefits of

restoration to both pier/shore-mode and

boat-mode anglers. None of the public

comments received on the Draft DARP/

EA raised any issue regarding the

assessment methodology described

therein or the restoration actions

proposed to compensate for pier/shoremode fishing losses. As such, these plan

elements will be included in the Final

DARP/EA. Significant public comments

were received, however, relating to the

restoration action proposed in the Draft

DARP/EA to address the boat-mode

fishing losses and, based upon these

comments, the Trustees found it

necessary to revise that portion of the

plan. The Revised Draft DARP/EA

summarizes the public comments

received, identifies the revised,

preferred restoration alternatives to

address the remainder of the

recreational fishing service losses, and

explains the basis and rationale for that

change. The Revised Draft DARP/EA is

being released to allow for public

review and comment on the preferred

restoration alternatives now identified

to restore or replace the remainder of

the recreational fishing services needed

to compensate the public for

recreational fishing losses due to the

closure.

The Revised Draft DARP/EA does not

address any other natural resource

injuries or service losses that may be

attributable to the Site. Other resource

injuries or losses are being considered

by the Trustees but will be addressed in

one or more subsequent damage

assessment and restoration plans.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

further information contact: Richard

Seiler at (512) 239–2523, email:

rseiler@tnrcc.state.tx.us or Tony Penn,

at (301) 713–3038 x197, email:

tony.penn@noaa.gov

Dated: May 3, 2000.

Captain Ted I. Lillestolen,

Deputy Assistant Administrator for Ocean

Services and Coastal Zone Management.

[FR Doc. 00–11512 Filed 5–11–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–JE–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

Docket No. [000411103–0103–01; I.D. No.

021400B]

RIN: [0648–ZA86]

Announcement of Funding

Opportunity for the Southeast Bering

Sea Carrying Capacity Research

Project.

AGENCY: Center for Sponsored Coastal

Ocean Research (CSCOR)/Coastal Ocean

Program (COP), National Ocean Service

(NOS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Solicitation of research

proposals for the Southeast Bering Sea

Carrying Capacity Research Project.

SUMMARY: The NOAA Coastal Ocean

Program announces an opportunity for

ecosystem dynamics studies on the

southeastern Bering Sea shelf as part of

the Southeast Bering Sea Carrying

Capacity (SEBSCC) project. This

announcement solicits 1-year and 2-year

proposals for synthesis and limited

monitoring to begin at the start of fiscal

year (FY) 2001 (October 1, 2000),

contingent upon the availability of

funds and facilities. This Phase III

announcement addresses years five and

six of SEBSCC. Funding for SEBSCC

will terminate at the end of Phase III

(September 30, 2002).

This notice solicits applications for

research projects from eligible nonFederal and Federal applicants. In an

effort to maximize the use of limited

resources, applications from nonFederal, non-NOAA Federal and NOAA

applicants will be competed against

each other. Research proposals selected

for funding from non-Federal

researchers will be funded through a

project grant. Research proposals

selected for funding from non-NOAA

Federal applicants will be funded

through an interagency transfer

provided legal authority exists for the

federal applicant to receive funds from

another agency. Research proposals

selected for funding from NOAA will be

funded through NOAA.

DATES: The deadline for receipt of

proposals at the COP office is 3 p.m.

local time on July 11, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Submit the original and 13

copies of your proposal to the COP

Office (SEBSCC 2001), SSMC#3, 9th

Floor, Station 9700, 1315 East-West

Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. In

addition, submit an electronic copy of

the proposal in either WordPerfect or

MSWord format at time of initial

application. NOAA Standard Form

Applications with instructions are

accessible on the following COP Internet

Site: http://www.cop.noaa.gov under

the COP Grants Support Section, Part D,

Application Forms for Initial Proposal

Submission.

Further information on this program

and summaries and results of all

projects funded under Phases I and II of

SEBSCC are available from SEBSCC’s

web site at http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/

sebscc and COP’s web site at http://

www.cop.noaa.gov

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Technical Information: Allen Macklin at

Pacific Marine Environmental

Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way,

Seattle, WA, 98115-0070, 206–526-6798,

Internet: Allen.Macklin@noaa.gov, or

Elizabeth Turner, SEBSCC 2001

Program Manager, Coastal Ocean

Program Office, 301–713–3338/ext 135,

Internet: Elizabeth.Turner@noaa.gov.

Business Management Information:

Leslie McDonald, COP Grants Office,

301–713–3338/ext 137; Internet:

Leslie.McDonald@noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Program Description

For complete program description and

other requirements criteria for the

Coastal Ocean Program, see COP’s

General Grant Administration Terms

and Conditions annual notification in

the Federal Register (64 FR 49162,

September 10, 1999) and at the COP

home page. It is anticipated that final

selections for funding will be made in

late fiscal year 2000.

The Bering Sea ecosystem experiences

interannual and climate variability.

Oceanographic conditions observed

during Phases I and II of SEBSCC