Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 130 / Thursday, July 6, 2000 / Notices 41633

Currency Conversion

For purposes of the preliminary

results, we made currency conversions

based on the exchange rates in effect on

the dates of the U.S. sales as published

by the Federal Reserve Bank of New

York. Section 773A(a) of the Act directs

the Department to use a daily exchange

rate in effect on the date of sale of

subject merchandise in order to convert

foreign currencies into U.S. dollars,

unless the daily rate involves a

‘‘fluctuation.’’ In accordance with the

Department’s practice, we have

determined, as a general matter, that a

fluctuation exists when the daily

exchange rate differs from a benchmark

by 2.25 percent. See, e.g., Certain

Stainless Steel Wire Rods from France:

Preliminary Results of Antidumping

Duty Administrative Review, 61 FR

8915, 8918 (March 6, 1996) and Policy

Bulletin 96–1: Currency Conversions, 61

FR 9434, March 8, 1996. The benchmark

is defined as the rolling average of rates

for the past 40 business days. When we

determined a fluctuation existed, we

substituted the benchmark for the daily

rate.

Preliminary Results of the Review

As a result of this review, we

preliminarily determine that the

following weighted-average dumping

margin exists for the period June 1,

1998, through May 31, 1999:

CERTAIN STAINLESS STEEL BUTTWELD PIPE FITTINGS FROM TAIWAN

Producer/manufacturer/

exporter

Weightedaverage

margin

(percent)

Ta Chen ................................ 8.03

The Department will disclose to any

party to the proceeding, within five days

of publication of this notice, the

calculations performed (19 CFR

351.224(b)). Any interested party may

request a hearing within 30 days of

publication. Any hearing, if requested,

will be held 37 days after the date of

publication, or the first working day

thereafter. Interested parties may submit

case briefs and/or written comments no

later than 30 days after the date of

publication. Rebuttal briefs and

rebuttals to written comments, limited

to issues raised in such briefs or

comments, may be filed no later than 35

days after the date of publication.

Parties who submit arguments are

requested to submit with the argument

(1) A statement of the issue, (2) a brief

summary of the argument and (3) a table

of authorities. Further, we would

appreicate it if parties submitting

written comments would provide the

Department with an additional copy of

the public version of any such

comments on diskette. The Department

will publish the final results of this

administrative review, which will

include the results of its analysis of

issues raised in any such written

comments or at a hearing, within 120

days after the publication of this notice.

Upon issuance of the final results of

review, the Department shall determine,

and Customs shall assess, antidumping

duties on all appropriate entries. The

Department will issue appraisement

instructions directly to Customs. The

final results of this review shall be the

basis for the assessment of antidumping

duties on entries of merchandise

covered by the results and for future

deposits of estimated duties. For duty

assessment purposes, we calculated an

importer-specific assessment rate by

dividing the total dumping margins

calculated for the U.S. sales to the

importer by the total entered value of

these sales. This rate will be used for the

assessment of antidumping duties on all

entries of the subject merchandise by

that importer during the POR.

If found that revocation is warranted

for Ta Chen, it will apply to all

unliquidated entries of subject

merchandise produced by Ta Chen,

exported to the United States and

entered, or withdrawn from warehouse,

for consumption on or after June 1,

1999, the first day after the period under

review.

Furthermore, the following deposit

requirements will be effective upon

completion of the final results of this

administrative review for all shipments

of the subject merchandise entered, or

withdrawn from warehouse, for

consumption on or after the publication

of the final results of this administrative

review, as provided in section 751(a)(1)

of the Act: (1) The cash deposit rate for

Ta Chen, the only reviewed company,

will be that established in the final

results of this review; (2) For previously

reviewed or investigated companies not

covered in this review, the cash deposit

rate will continue to be the companyspecific rate published for the most

recent period; (3) If the exporter is not

a firm covered in this review, a prior

review, or the original LTFV

investigation, but the manufacturer is,

the cash deposit rate will be the rate

established in the most recent period for

the manufacturer of the merchandise;

and (4) If neither the exporter nor the

manufacturer is a firm covered in this or

any previous review conducted by the

Department, the cash deposit rate will

continue to be the ‘‘all other’’ rate

established in the LTFV investigation,

which was 51.01 percent.

This notice serves as a preliminary

reminder to importers of their

responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)

to file a certificate regarding the

reimbursement of antidumping duties

prior to liquidation of the relevant

entries during this review period.

Failure to comply with this requirement

could result in the Secretary’s

presumption that reimbursement of

antidumping duties occurred and the

subsequent assessment of double

antidumping duties.

This administrative review and notice

are published in accordance with

sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the

Act.

Dated: June 28, 2000.

Troy H. Cribb,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import

Administration.

[FR Doc. 00–17105 Filed 7–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and

Technology

Advanced Technology Program (ATP)

Advisory Committee

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards

and Technology, Department of

Commerce.

ACTION: Request for nominations of

members to serve on the Advance

Technology Program Advisory

Committee.

SUMMARY: NIST invites and requests

nominations of individuals for

appointment to the Advanced

Technology Program Advisory

Committee. NIST will consider

nominations received in response to this

notice for appointment to the

Committee, in additional to

nominations already received.

DATES: Please submit nominations on or

before July 21, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Please submit nominations

to Dr. Brian C. Belander, National

Institute of Standards and Technology,

100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 1004,

Gaithersburg, MD 20899–1004.

Nominations may also be submitted via

FAX to 301–948–1224.

Additional information regarding the

Committee, including its charter and

current membership list may be found

on its electronic home page at: http://

www.atp.nist.gov/atp/adv_com/

ac_menu.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.

Brian C. Belanger, National Institute of

41634 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 130 / Thursday, July 6, 2000 / Notices

Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau

Drive, Mail Stop 1004, Gaithersburg,

MD 20899–1004; telephone 301–975–

4720, fax 301–948–1224; or via email at

brian.belanger@nist.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Committee will advise the Director of

the National Institute of Standards and

Technology (NIST) on ATP programs,

plans, and policies.

The Committee will consist of not

fewer than six nor more than twelve

members appointed by the Director of

NIST and its membership will be

balanced to reflect the wide diversity of

technical disciplines and industrial

sectors represented in ATP projects.

The Committee will function solely as

an advisory body, in compliance with

the provisions of the Federal Advisory

Committee Act.

Authority: Federal Advisory Committee

Act: 5 U.S.C. App. 2 and General Services

Administration Rule: 41 CFR Subpart 101–

6.10.

Dated: June 26, 2000.

Karen H. Brown,

Deputy Director.

[FR Doc. 00–16987 Filed 7–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–13–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and

Technology

[Docket No. 00609171–0171–01]

RIN 0693–ZA38

Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Program

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards

and Technology (NIST), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds.

SUMMARY: The National Institute of

Standards and Technology invites

proposals from qualified organizations

for funding projects to provide

manufacturing extension services to

small- and medium-size manufacturers

in the United States. These projects

correspond to the Manufacturing

Technology Centers component of the

Manufacturing Extension Partnership

(MEP). This competition is for the

expansion of manufacturing extension

service capacity within 2 discrete

geographic areas in the United States.

The first area encompasses the entirety

of the state of Indiana. The second area

encompasses 17 counties in the

Southeast Ohio area; Athens, Delaware,

Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Hocking,

Licking, Logan, Madison, Meigs,

Monroe, Morgan, Noble, Perry,

Pickaway, Union, and Washington. The

competition is open to all organizations

meeting the eligibility requirements

provided herein. This includes existing

MEP manufacturing extension centers.

Manufacturing extension centers must

be affiliated with a U.S.-based not-forprofit institution or organization. MEP

interprets not-for-profit organizations to

include universities and state and local

governments. Applicants are required to

provide 50% or more of the operating

cost for providing these manufacturing

extension services in year 1 through 3

and an increasing percentage in year 4,

and in year 5 and beyond.

DATES: Proposals from qualified

applicants must be received at the

address below by no later than 5 p.m.

Eastern Standard Time (September 5,

200). Selection of awards will be made

in September 2000.

ADDRESSES: Applicants must submit one

signed original and three (3) copies of

their proposal along with a Standard

Form 424, 424–A, and 424–B (Rev 7/97),

Form CD–511 (Rev 7/91), and Form CD–

346 to the National Institute of

Standards and Technology,

Manufacturing Extension Partnership,

100 Bureau Drive, Stop 4800, Building

301, Room C100, Gaithersburg, MD

20899–4800. Plainly mark on the

outside of the package it contains a

manufacturing extension center

proposal.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

information regarding this

announcement, contact Margaret

Phillips of the Manufacturing Extension

Partnership by calling (301) 975–5020;

or by mailing information requests to

the National Institute of Standards and

Technology, Manufacturing Extension

Partnership, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop

4800, Building 301, Room C100,

Gaithersburg, MD 20899–4800.

Information packets, which include

background materials on MEP, existing

centers and the necessary application

forms, should be requested via a one

page fax sent to (301) 963–6556. Please

include name, organization, mailing

address, telephone number, and fax

number on this request. Information is

also available on-line at

www.mep.nist.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Catalog of

Federal Domestic Assistance Name and

Number: The catalog number for the

award of Manufacturing Technology

Centers funds in the Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance is 11.611

Background

In accordance with the provisions of

Section 5121 of the Omnibus Trade and

Competitiveness Act of 1988 (Pub. L.

100–418), codified in 15 U.S.C. 278k,

and final rule 15 CFR 290 published

September 17, 1990 and amendment

published May 2, 1994, NIST will

provide assistance for the creation and

support of manufacturing extension

centers. The objective of these centers is

to enhance productivity, technological

performance, and strengthen the global

competitiveness of small- and mediumsized U.S.-based manufacturing firms.

These manufacturing extension

centers will become part of the MEP

national system of extension service

providers. Currently, the MEP national

system consists of over 400 centers and

field offices located throughout the

United States and Puerto Rico.

Information regarding MEP and these

centers is provided in the information

packet that can be obtained as explained

above or on-line at www.mep.nist.gov.

Funding Availability

It is anticipated that approximately

$1,500,000 will be available to support

manufacturing extension centers under

this program. The funding level for

individual awards is not prescribed. The

funding requested by the applicant

should be directly related to the level of

activity of the center, which is a

function of the number of manufacturers

in the designated service region, and to

the availability of applicant-provided

cash and in-kind contributions to be

used as cost share.

Invitation for Proposals

Proposals must be received at the

address listed above by September 5,

2000.

Award Period

The projects awarded under this

program will have a budget and

performance period of one year. These

projects may be renewable on an annual

basis subject to the review requirements

described in 15 CFR 290.8, but only if

additional funding is allocated to this

program by Congress beyond Federal

fiscal year 2000. Renewal of these

projects shall be at the sole discretion of

NIST and shall be based upon

satisfactory performance, priority of the

need for the service, existing legislative

authority, and availability of funds.

Although the MEP regulation (15 CFR

Part 290) indicates that Centers are not

eligible for MEP funding after six years,

this requirement is no longer in effect.

Public Law 105–239 amended the

MEP’s organic legislation to authorize

MEP to fund Centers for more that six

years under specified circumstances.

Cost Share Requirements

A cost sharing contribution from the

applicant is required. The applicant