Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 113 / Monday, June 12, 2000 / Notices 36845

these studies indicated that the

Commission planned to publish reports

on the monitoring annually.

Subsequently, the Commission has

published statistical reports in those

years in which it was not conducting an

investigation under other statutory

authority with respect to such products.

Written Submissions

The Commission does not plan to

hold a public hearing in connection

with preparation of the 2000 statistical

reports. However, interested persons are

invited to submit written statements

concerning the matters to be addressed

in the reports. Commercial or financial

information which a submitter desires

the Commission to treat as confidential

must be provided on separate sheets of

paper, each clearly marked

‘‘Confidential Business Information’’ at

the top. All submissions requesting

confidential treatment must conform

with the requirements of section 201.6

of the Commission’s Rules of Practice

and Procedure (19 CFR 201.6). All

written submissions, except for

confidential business information, will

be made available in the Office of the

Secretary of the Commission for

inspection by interested persons. To be

assured of consideration by the

Commission, written statements relating

to the Commission’s report should be

submitted to the Commission in

accordance with section 201.8 of the

Commission’s rules at the earliest

practical date and should be received no

later than the close of business on June

28, 2000. All submissions should be

addressed to the Secretary, United

States International Trade Commission,

500 E Street SW, Room 112–A,

Washington, DC 20436. The

Commission plans to publish both

monitoring reports in September 2000.

Issued: June 6, 2000.

By order of the Commission.

Donna R. Koehnke,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–14760 Filed 6–9–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7020–02–U

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Subcommittee on Global Change

Research; Draft Report Availability

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice of the availability of draft

report for public comment.

SUMMARY: On behalf of the

Subcommittee on Global Change

Research (SGCR) of the Committee on

Environment and Natural Resources of

the National Science and Technology

Council (NSTC), the National Science

Foundation (NSF) announces the

availability of the draft version of the

National Assessment Synthesis Report

for a 60-day public comment period

(June 12 through August 11, 2000). The

National Assessment’s goal is to analyze

and evaluate what is known about the

potential consequences of climate

variability and change for the Nation, in

the context of other pressures on the

public, the environment, and the

Nation’s resources. The National

Assessment Synthesis Team (NAST)

was formed in 1998 under the Federal

Advisory Committee Act and was

charged with, among other

responsibilities, integrating key findings

from the regional and sectoral analyses,

augmented as appropriate with

additional analyses and material from

the scientific literature. The NAST

prepared the report to address questions

of importance to stakeholders and the

Nation. The draft report is titled Climate

Change Impacts on the United States:

The Potential Consequences of Climate

Variability and Change. The report

consists of an Overview and a

Foundation document that contains 19

chapters detailing and documenting the

findings presented in the Overview. A

list of chapters making up the draft

NAST report is included with this

notice. The comments received will be

considered by the NAST in the

preparation of the final version of its

report. Although the report has already

undergone extensive peer-review, this is

still a draft version of the report and it

should not be definitively quoted or

cited as it is still undergoing review and

is likely to be changed based on

comments received. Due to its length

and the extensive use of color graphics

in parts of the report, the report is

available for review primarily over the

Worldwide Web. Information about how

to access and download copies of the

relevant chapters and the Overview

report is available at the Web site of the

Global Change Research Information

Office (GCRIO) at http://www.gcrio.org/

National Assessment/. The Web site

also provides information on how to

submit comments on the draft. For those

who cannot access the report over the

Web, one copy is available for public

inspection weekdays during normal

business hours at the library of the

National Science Foundation in

Arlington, VA. Appointments can be

made by calling 703–306–0658.

DATES: Reviewer comments on the draft

report of the NAST must be received at

the postal or email address indicated

below on or before August 11, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Review comments should

be formatted based on the guidelines

provided by GCRIO upon notification of

how to access the report. Review

comments should be submitted via

email over the Internet as a Microsoft

Word or WordPerfect attachment using

a separate file for the Overview report

and for each chapter of the Foundation

report that is reviewed. Review

comments should be emailed to

napubcmt@usgcrp.gov. If email

submission is not possible, review

comments may be submitted via mail to:

National Assessment Comments, Office

of the U.S. Global Change Research

Program, 400 Virginia Avenue, SW,

Suite 750, Washington, DC 20024. When

submitting comments by mail, please

provide comments both as hardcopy

and on a 3.5′′ DS/HD disk (either Mac

or IBM format) as a text file.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

National Assessment Review

Coordinator, Office of the U.S. Global

Change Research Program, Suite 750,

400 Virginia Avenue, SW, Washington,

DC 20024; or telephone 202–488–8630,

fax at 202–488–8681, or send an email

to office@usgcrp.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The 1990 Global Change Research Act

(PL 101–606) that established the US

Global Change Research Program

(USGCRP) required the program to

conduct periodic assessments that

would: Integrate and interpret the

findings of USGCRP; analyze trends in

global change over the next 25 to 100

years; analyze the effects of global

change on the natural environment,

agriculture, energy, land and water

resources, transportation, human health

and welfare, human social systems, and

biological diversity; and discuss

associated scientific uncertainties.

Responsibility for undertaking the

assessment was vested in the NSTC.

In 1998, the President’s Science

Advisor, acting in his capacity as

executive secretary of the NSTC,

requested that the SGCR conduct the

first national assessment of the

consequences of global climate change

and variability. The SGCR established

the NAST, which is a 14-member

FACA-chartered committee established

on behalf of the SGCR by the NSF. The

NAST developed the plan for the

Assessment and it was approved by the

SGCR and the NSTC. The National

Assessment process was designed to be

broadly inclusive, drawing on inputs

from academia, government, the public

and private sectors, and interested

citizens through a distributed set of

36846 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 113 / Monday, June 12, 2000 / Notices

regional and sectoral activities. Among

other responsibilities, the NAST has

been responsible for preparing the

National Assessment Synthesis Report

and providing overall intellectual

guidance on the Assessment.

II. Review Process

Drafts of the National Assessment

Synthesis Report have undergone two

rounds of technical peer review. In the

first round that took place in November

and December of 1999, over 500 experts

were asked to review the Overview

report plus one to four chapters of the

Foundation report for technical and

scientific accuracy. Review drafts were

also sent to federal agency

representatives, all members of the

Synthesis Team, and the chairs of all

regional and sectoral teams. Over 300

technical reviews of the Overview and

individuals chapters were received. In

the second round that took place in

March and April, about two dozen

additional experts were asked to review

the report as a whole.

The technical review process has been

overseen by a small panel of eminent

persons from the private and public

sectors that has been assembled under

the auspices of the President’s Council

of Advisors on Science and Technology

(PCAST). This special panel has assured

a representative mix of reviewers and

the responsiveness of the NAST to the

technical comments received. In

addition to the outside technical review,

the report was provided to the federal

agency members of the SGCR for

comment as part of the overall review

process.

The SGCR is now responsible for

coordinating a public comment period

on this draft version of the National

Assessment Synthesis Report. This

notice announces the availability of this

report for public comment by experts,

interested organizations and

individuals, and the public. Comments

that are provided will be evaluated,

integrated, and used, as appropriate, in

the revision of this draft of the report.

An information sheet providing specific

requests for formatting submissions of

comments is available on the Web site.

All comments must indicate who is

submitting the comments. The emphasis

should be on providing detailed

recommendations on the Overview and/

or on specific chapters of the

Foundation report so that changes can

be considered that address the

comment. To be most useful, comments

should be specific in suggesting

alternative wording or other changes to

the text of a particular paragraph or

chapter and, where appropriate, offer

supporting information and peerreviewed references supporting the

proposed changes. Comments on the

overall tone, internal consistency, and

scientific validity of the Overview and

chapters and comments expressing the

reasons for agreement or disagreement

with specific major points are also

invited.

The materials available for review

include the draft versions of the

Overview report and Foundation

chapters. Documents available for

review include the following:

Overview Report

Foundation Report (listing is of subject

matter of chapter)

1. Climate Change

2. Vegetation and Biochemistry

Scenarios

3. Socioeconomic Change

4. Northeast

5. Southeast

6. Midwest

7. Great Plains

8. West

9. Pacific Northwest

10. Alaska

11. Islands

12. Native Peoples and Homelands

13. Agriculture

14. Water Resources

15. Human Health

16. Coastal Areas and Marine Resources

17. Forests

18. Conclusions

19. Research Needs

III. Public Availability of Comments

Subsequent to the receipt and

collation of the comments, the

collection of comments received will be

available for public inspection

weekdays during normal business hours

at the library of the National Science

Foundation in Arlington, VA.

Appointments can be made by calling

703–306–0658.

Dated: June 6, 2000.

Karen J. York,

Human Resource and Management Specialist.

[FR Doc. 00–14732 Filed 6–9–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7555–01–M

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

Consolidated Guidance About

Materials Licenses: Program-Specific

Guidance About Service Provider

Licenses

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC).

ACTION: Notice of Availability and

Request for Comments.

SUMMARY: The NRC is announcing the

availability of, and requesting comments

on, draft NUREG–1556, Volume 18,

‘‘Consolidated Guidance about Materials

Licenses: Program-Specific Guidance

about Service Provider Licenses,’’ dated

May 2000.

The NRC is using Business Process

Redesign techniques to redesign its

materials licensing process, as described

in NUREG–1539, ‘‘Methodology and

Findings of the NRC’s Materials

Licensing Process Redesign.’’ A critical

element of the new process is

consolidating and updating numerous

guidance documents into a NUREGseries of reports. This draft NUREG

report is the 18th guidance document

developed to support an improved

materials licensing process.

This guidance is intended for use by

applicants, licensees, and the NRC staff,

and will also be available to Agreement

States. This document combines and

updates the guidance found in the

following draft regulatory guides:

‘‘Guide for the Application for a License

for the Use of Radioactive Materials for

Calibrating Radiation Survey and

Monitoring Instruments,’’ ‘‘Guide for the

Application for the Use of Radioactive

Materials in Leak-Testing Services,’’ and

‘‘Guide for the Applications for the Use

of Radioactive Materials in Servicing

Preregistered Gauges, Measuring

Devices, and Sealed Sources Used in

Such Devices.’’ Additionally, NRC staff

included information contained in the

corresponding Standard Review Plans

for these three draft regulatory guides.

This draft report takes a more riskinformed, performance-based approach

to licensing service providers, and

reduces the information (amount and

level of detail) needed to support an

application for these activities. This

document is strictly for public comment

and is not for use in preparing or

reviewing service provider licenses

until it is published in final form. It is

being distributed for comment to

encourage public participation in its

development.

DATES: The comment period ends

August 11, 2000. Comments received

after that time will be considered if

practicable.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments

to: Chief, Rules and Directives Branch,

Division of Administrative Services,

Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Washington,

D.C. 20555–0001. Hand-deliver

comments to 11545 Rockville Pike,

Rockville, Maryland, between 7:15 a.m.

and 4:30 p.m. on Federal workdays.

Comments may also be submitted