Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 161 / Wednesday, August 20, 1997 / Notices 44303

in Executive Order 12851 of June 11,

1993.

Dated: August 6, 1997.

Thomas E. McNamara,

Assistant Secretary of State for PoliticalMilitary Affairs.

[FR Doc. 97–22077 Filed 8–19–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–25–M

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 2591]

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs

AGENCY: Department of State.

ACTION: Determination Under the Arms

Export Control Act.

Pursuant to Section 654(c) of the

Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as

amended, notice hereby is given that the

Under Secretary of State for Arms

Control and International Security

Affairs has made a determination

pursuant to Section 73 of the Arms

Export Control Act and has concluded

that publication of the determination

would be harmful to the national

security of the United States.

Dated: August 6, 1997.

Thomas E. McNamara,

Assistant Secretary of State for PoliticalMilitary Affairs.

[FR Doc. 97–22078 Filed 8–19–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–25–M

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice No. 2590]

Bureau of Oceans, Environment and

Science; Public Meeting on an

International Agreement on Prior

Informed Consent for Certain

Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides

SUMMARY: This public meeting will

provide an overview of ongoing

negotiations through the U.N.

Environment Program and the Food and

Agriculture Organization to develop a

binding agreement on the application of

a prior informed consent procedure for

certain hazardous chemicals and

pesticides. The meeting will take place

from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on September 24

in Room 6909, State Department, 2201

C Street Northwest, Washington, D.C.

Attendees should use the entrance at C

Street, and should provide Eunice

Mourning (202–647–9266) with their

date of birth and social security number

by noon on September 23. Attendees

should bring picture identification.

For further information, please

contact Mr. Trigg Talley, U.S.

Department of State, OES/ENV, Room

4325, 2201 C Street NW, Washington,

D.C. 20520. Phone 202–647–5808, fax

202–647–5947.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

United States, through an interagency

working group chaired by the State

Department, is involved in negotiations

through the U.N. Food and Agriculture

Organization (FAO) and the U.N.

Environment Programme (UNEP) on an

agreement that would set into place a

procedure for prior informed consent

(PIC) for trade in certain especially

hazardous chemicals and pesticides.

Three negotiating sessions have taken

place thus far, with two more sessions

planned.

The agreement would make binding a

currently voluntary scheme contained

in the FAO International Code of

Conduct on the Distribution and Use of

Pesticides and the UNEP London

Guidelines for the Exchange of

Information on Chemicals in

International Trade. The PIC procedure

was developed in recognition of the fact

that many countries in the developing

world have inadequate capacity to

generate information necessary to make

decisions regarding how to effectively

manage risks of especially hazardous

chemicals, and in certain cases to

ensure adequate compliance with risk

management decisions. The procedure

assists countries in learning more about

the characteristics of certain especially

hazardous chemicals that may be

shipped to them, initiates a decision

making process on the future import of

these chemicals by the countries

themselves, and facilitates the

dissemination of this decision to other

countries.

The voluntary PIC regime has been in

place since 1991. 151 countries

participate in the current scheme, which

is jointly administered by the Plant

Protection Division of FAO (for

pesticides) and the UNEP International

Registry for Potentially Toxic Chemicals

(for other chemicals). Most major

industrial chemical and pesticide

associations support and participate in

the system. Under the procedure, each

country establishes a designated

national authority to administer the

procedure. In the United States, the

Environmental Protection Agency’s

Assistant Administrator for Pesticides,

Prevention and Toxic Substances acts as

the designated national authority.

Chemicals eligible for the PIC

procedure include those which have

been banned or severely restricted by

participating countries, as well as

certain acutely hazardous pesticides

which—even though they are not

eligible on the basis of bans or severe

restrictions—are likely to pose

particular problems in developing

countries lacking the ability to impose

the kinds of rigorous handling

requirements available in developed

countries.

Under the PIC procedure, countries

notify the UNEP/FAO secretariat of

domestic control actions to ban or

severely restrict chemicals. A UNEP/

FAO Group of Experts meets annually to

prioritize among those chemicals

eligible for the PIC procedure, and gives

direction regarding the development of

Decision Guidance Documents (DGDs)

to provide information relating to each

of the chemicals to be included in the

procedure. DGDs describe the chemical

and associated toxicological properties,

as well as government control actions

and the reasons for them. Once

approved, the Decision Guidance

Documents are circulated to

participating countries for decision. In

their decision, countries indicate

whether they will permit use and

importation, prohibit use and

importation, or permit importation only

under specified conditions. The

response may be final, or countries may

provide an interim response. Importing

countries are expected to ensure that

their decisions are applied to all sources

of import and to domestic production

for domestic use; exporting countries

are expected to ensure that exports do

not occur contrary to the decisions of

importing countries. So far, 16

chemicals have been included in the

procedure, and DGDs for a number of

others are under development.

In order to enhance participation in

the system, governments agreed in 1994

through FAO and UNEP to undertake

negotiations to replace the voluntary

process with a treaty-based regime.

Negotiations have been underway since

1996, with three negotiating sessions

occurring so far. Two more sessions are

planned, with one session October 20–

24, 1997, and one for January 1998. A

signing conference is planned for

sometime next spring.

The current negotiating text, as well

as more complete information on the

voluntary procedure and the

negotiations generally, is located on the

internet on the PIC Home Page (http://

irptc.unep.ch/pic/h2.html), which can

also be accessed through the UNEP

Home Page (www.unep.ch).

The United States has advocated that

the binding agreement reflect the scope

and intent of the voluntary prior

informed consent procedure. We have

advocated greater formality in the

procedures for consideration of

additional chemicals to the list,

reflecting the more formal nature of the
44304 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 161 / Wednesday, August 20, 1997 / Notices

agreement. The Administration expects

that the Agreement will be a treaty,

which will be submitted to the Senate

for advice and consent necessary for

ratification, and that certain changes

would need to be made to Section 12 of

the Toxic Substances Control Act and

Section 17 of the Federal Insecticide,

Fungicide and Rodenticide Act to meet

an obligation to ensure that exports of

PIC-listed chemicals do not occur

contrary to decisions regarding those

chemicals by importing countries.

In the negotiations, other countries

have made proposals which would

make eligible a somewhat broader range

of chemicals than under the voluntary

guidelines, and which would include

information exchange provisions which,

if accepted, could require other changes

to TSCA and FIFRA, as well as the

Federal Hazardous Substances Act. In

particular, there are proposals to

include provisions requiring

notifications for exports of chemicals

which are banned or severely restricted

under national law (Article 11 of the

proposed text), as well as certain

proposals regarding labeling and

material safety data sheets for chemicals

(Article 12 of the proposed text).

The Department of State is issuing

this notice to help ensure that

potentially affected parties are aware of

and knowledgeable about the

parameters of these negotiations. In the

future, we will be contacting interested

organizations about planned briefings

by mail or fax. Those organizations

which cannot attend the meeting, but

wish to remain informed, should

provide Mr. Trigg Talley of the

Department of State with their address,

telephone and fax numbers.

Dated: August 14, 1997.

Trigg Talley,

Foreign Affairs Officer, Office of

Environmental Policy.

[FR Doc. 97–22025 Filed 8–19–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–09–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service

Proposed Collection; Comment

Request for Form 8554

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS),

Treasury.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Department of the

Treasury, as part of its continuing effort

to reduce paperwork and respondent

burden, invites the general public and

other Federal agencies to take this

opportunity to comment on proposed

and/or continuing information

collections, as required by the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C.

3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is

soliciting comments concerning Form

8554, Application for Renewal of

Enrollment to Practice Before the

Internal Revenue Service.

DATES: Written comments should be

received on or before October 20, 1997

to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments

to Garrick R. Shear, Internal Revenue

Service, room 5571, 1111 Constitution

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20224.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or

copies of the information collection

should be directed to Carol Savage,

(202) 622–3945, Internal Revenue

Service, room 5569, 1111 Constitution

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20224.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Application for Renewal of

Enrollment to Practice Before the

Internal Revenue Service.

OMB Number: 1545–0946.

Form Number: Form 8554.

Abstract: The information obtained

from Form 8554 relates to the approval

of continuing professional education

programs and the renewal of the

enrollment status for those individuals

admitted (enrolled) to practice before

the Internal Revenue Service. The

information will be used by the Director

of Practice to determine the

qualifications of individuals who apply

for renewal of enrollment.

Current Actions: Changes to Form

8554.

Line 5a was rewritten to clarify the

circumstances for earning continuing

professional education credits by

passing the Special Enrollment

Examination. Also, Item D was deleted

because the information is no longer

needed.

Affected Public: Individuals or

households.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

39,500.

Estimated Time Per Respondent: 1

hour, 12 minutes.

Estimated Total Annual Burden

Hours: 47,400.

The following paragraph applies to all

of the collections of information covered

by this notice:

An agency may not conduct or

sponsor, and a person is not required to

respond to, a collection of information

unless the collection of information

displays a valid OMB control number.

Books or records relating to a

collection of information must be

retained as long as their contents may

become material in the administration

of any internal revenue law. Generally,

tax returns and tax return information

are confidential, as required by 26

U.S.C. 6103.

REQUEST FOR COMMENTS: Comments

submitted in response to this notice will

be summarized and/or included in the

request for OMB approval. All

comments will become a matter of

public record. Comments are invited on:

(a) whether the collection of information

is necessary for the proper performance

of the functions of the agency, including

whether the information shall have

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden of the

collection of information; (c) ways to

enhance the quality, utility, and clarity

of the information to be collected; (d)

ways to minimize the burden of the

collection of information on

respondents, including through the use

of automated collection techniques or

other forms of information technology;

and (e) estimates of capital or start-up

costs and costs of operation,

maintenance, and purchase of services

to provide information.

Approved: August 13, 1997.

Garrick R. Shear,

IRS Reports Clearance Officer.

[FR Doc. 97–22018 Filed 8–19–97; 8:45am]

BILLING CODE 4830–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS

Privacy Act of 1974; Computer

Matching Program Between the

Department of Veterans Affairs and the

United States Postal Service

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice of computer matching

program.

Notice is hereby given that the

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and

the United States Postal Service (USPS)

propose to conduct a computer

matching program. The purpose of the

program is to identify and locate USPS

employees who owe delinquent debts to

the Federal Government as a result of

their participation in benefit programs