1976 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 10 / Wednesday, January 17, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

49 CFR Part 661 

[Docket No. FTA–2005–23082] 

RIN 2132–AA90 

Buy America Requirements; End 

Product Analysis and Waiver 

Procedures; Public Meeting and 

Extension of Comment Period 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice announcing public 

meeting and extension of comment 

period. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Transit 

Administration (FTA) is holding a 

public meeting on the Buy America 

second notice of proposed rulemaking 

(SNPRM). The purpose of this meeting 

is to allow the public to ask questions 

regarding the notice published on 

November 30, 2006 (71 FR 69411). 

Furthermore, due to the complexity of 

the issues presented in the SNPRM, 

FTA is extending the comment period to 

February 28, 2007, which will allow 

affected parties time to carefully 

consider the changes made in the 

SNPRM and the information presented 

at the public meeting. 

DATES: Comments should be submitted 

before February 28, 2007. Late-filed 

comments will be considered to the 

extent practicable. 

Public Meeting Date: FTA will hold a 

public meeting on February 13th and 

14th of 2007 from 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. at 

the Department of Transportation (DOT) 

headquarters building (400 7th Street, 

SW., Washington, DC 20590, Room 

2201). Anyone interested in attending 

the meeting should arrive at the 

southwest entrance of the DOT building 

to go through security screening. Please 

allow a minimum of 15 minutes to clear 

security. A summary of the meeting will 

be posted in the docket. FTA will not 

accept public comment during the 

public meeting. Instead, attendees must 

submit their comments to the docket in 

order to have their comments 

considered by FTA. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by the docket number [FTA–

2005—23082] by any of the following 

methods: 

1. Web site: http://dms.dot.gov. 

Follow the instructions for submitting 

comments on the DOT electronic docket 

site. 

2. Fax: 202–493–2251. 

3. Mail: Docket Management Facility; 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 

Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, 

PL–401, Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

4. Hand Delivery: Room PL–401 on 

the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 

400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, 

DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

Instructions: You must include the 

agency name (Federal Transit 

Administration and Docket number 

(FTA–2005—23082) for this Notice at 

the beginning of your comments. You 

should submit two copies of your 

comments if you submit them by mail. 

If you wish to receive confirmation that 

FTA received your comments, you must 

include a self-addressed stamped 

postcard. Note that all comments 

received will be posted, without change, 

to http://dms.dot.gov including any 

personal information provided and will 

be available to Internet users. You may 

review DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 

19477) or you may visit http:// 

dms.dot.gov. Docket: For access to the 

docket to read background documents 

and comments received, go to http:// 

dms.dot.gov at any time or to Room PL–

401 on the plaza level of the Nassif 

Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 

Washington, DC between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Richard Wong, Attorney-Advisor, Office 

of the Chief Counsel, Federal Transit 

Administration, 400 Seventh Street SW., 

Room 9316, Washington, DC 20590, 

(202) 366–4011 or 

Richard.Wong@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

November 28, 2005, FTA published an 

NPRM in the Federal Register (70 FR 

71246) discussing a number of 

proposals as mandated by SAFETEA–

LU and to provide further clarification 

of existing FTA decisions on Buy 

America. Due to the complexity of many 

of the Buy America issues addressed in 

the NPRM and the divergence of 

opinion on important areas, FTA issued 

a final rule that addressed fewer issues 

than proposed in the NPRM. (71 FR 

14112, March 21, 2006.) These more 

routine topics covered in the final rule 

included: (1) Administrative review; (2) 

A definition of ‘‘negotiated 

procurement;’’ (3) A definition of 

‘‘contractor;’’ (4) Repeal of the general 

waiver for Chrysler vehicles; (5) 

Certification under negotiated 

procurements; (6) Pre-award and postaward review of rolling stock purchases; 

and (7) Miscellaneous corrections and 

clarifications to the Buy America 

regulations. 

FTA issued a second notice of 

proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) on 

November 30, 2006, to address the 

remaining issues identified in the 

NPRM, but not covered in the final rule, 

including: (1) Justification for public 

interest waiver; (2) Microprocessor and 

post-award waivers; (3) Definition of 

‘‘final assembly;’’ (4) The definition of 

‘‘end product,’’ ‘‘system end products,’’

and a representative list of end 

products; and (5) Proposed changes to 

communication equipment and the list 

of rolling stock items in Part 661. 

During the public meeting on 

February 13th and 14th at DOT 

headquarters, FTA staff will summarize 

its proposals in the SNPRM and staff 

will be available to answer questions 

regarding those proposals. This is an 

opportunity for affected parties to 

receive clarification regarding FTA’s 

proposals. The public meeting is not, 

however, an opportunity to submit 

comments to FTA regarding the 

proposals contained in the SNPRM. 

Rather, interested parties should submit 

their comments to the docket for this 

rulemaking as described in the 

ADDRESSES section of this notice. 

In addition, because of the complexity 

of the issues involved in the SNPRM, 

FTA is extending the comment period 

for the SNPRM until February 28, 2007. 

This additional time should be 

sufficient to allow those who attend the 

public meeting to submit comments to 

the docket for this rulemaking. 

Issued this 10th day of January, 2007. 

James S. Simpson, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. E7–473 Filed 1–16–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–57–P 

mstockstill on PROD1PC61 with PROPOSALS