Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 1997 / Proposed Rules 55185

Order 7400.9E, dated September 10,

1997, and effective September 16, 1997,

which is incorporated by reference in 14

CFR 71.1. The Class E airspace

designation listed in this document

would be published subsequently in the

Order.

The FAA has determined that this

proposed regulation only involves an

established body of technical regulation

for which frequent and routine

amendments are necessary to keep them

operationally current. It, therefore, (1) is

a ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ under

Executive Order 12866; (2) is not a

‘‘significant rule’’ under DOT

Regulatory Policies and Procedures (44

FR 11034; February 26, 1979); and (3)

does not warrant preparation of a

Regulatory Evaluation as the anticipated

impact is so minimal. Since this is a

routine matter that will only affect air

traffic procedures and air navigation, it

is certified that this rule, when

promulgated, will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities under the

criteria of the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR part 71

Airspace, Incorporation by reference,

Navigation (air).

The Proposed Amendment

In consideration of the foregoing, the

Federal Aviation Administration

proposes to amend 14 CFR part 71 as

follows:

PART 71—DESIGNATION OF CLASS A,

CLASS B, CLASS C, CLASS D, AND

CLASS E AIRSPACE AREAS;

AIRWAYS; ROUTES; AND REPORTING

POINTS

1. The authority citation for part 71

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g) 40103, 40113,

40120; E.O. 10854, 24 FR 9565, 3 CFR, 1959–

1963 Comp., p. 389.

§ 71.1 [Amended]

2. The incorporation by reference in

14 CFR 71.1 of Federal Aviation

Administration Order 7400.9E, Airspace

Designations and Reporting Points,

dated September 10, 1997, and effective

September 16, 1997, is amended as

follows:

Paragraph 6005 Class E airspace areas

extending upward from 700 feet or more

above the surface of the earth.

* * * *

ASO KY E5 Covington, KY [Revised]

Covington, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky

International Airport KY

(lat. 39°02′30′′ N, long. 84°39′38′′ W)

Cincinnati Municipal Airport-Lunken Field

(lat. 39°09′33′′ N, long. 84°25′06′′ W)

Cincinnati NDB

(lat. 39°09′33′′ N, long 84°20′32′′ W)

Clermont Country Airport, Batavia, OH

(lat. 39°04′42′′ N, long. 84°12′38′′ W)

Cincinnati-Blue Ash Airport, OH

(lat. 39°14′48′′ N, long. 84°23′21′′ W)

That airspace extending upward from 700

feet above the surface within a 10-mile radius

of Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky

International Airport, and within a 10.5-mile

radius of Cincinnati Airport-Lunken Filed

and within 2.6 miles each side of the 044°

bearing from Cincinnati NDB and extending

from the 10.5-mile radius to 7.4 miles

northeast of the NDB, and within a 6.8-mile

radius of Clermont County Airport, Batavia,

OH, and within a 6.3-mile radius of

Cincinnati-Blue Ash Airport, OH.

* * * * *

Issued in College Park, Georgia, on

September 4, 1997.

Nancy B. Shelton,

Acting Manager, Air Traffic Division,

Southern Region.

[FR Doc. 97–28102 Filed 10–22–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

COMMISSION

19 CFR Parts 201 and 207

Notice of Proposed Amendments to

Rules of Practice and Procedure

AGENCY: United States International

Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY: The United States

International Trade Commission (the

Commission) proposes to amend its

Rules of Practice and Procedure

concerning antidumping and

countervailing duty investigations and

reviews in 19 CFR parts 201 and 207.

The proposed amendments will

establish procedures for five-year

reviews of antidumping and

countervailing duty orders and

suspension agreements that the

Commission will begin to conduct in

1998 pursuant to the provisions of

section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930,

as amended (the Act).

DATES: To be assured of consideration,

written comments must be received not

later than December 22, 1997. Rebuttal

comments must be received not later

than January 21, 1998.

ADDRESSES: A signed original and 14

copies of each set of comments, along

with a cover letter, should be submitted

to the Secretary, U.S. International

Trade Commission, 500 E Street, SW,

Washington, D.C. 20436.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Marc A. Bernstein, Office of General

Counsel, U.S. International Trade

Commission (telephone: 202–205–3087,

e-mail: mbernstein@usitc.gov), or Vera

A. Libeau, Office of Investigations, U.S.

International Trade Commission

(telephone 202–205–3176, e-mail:

vlibeau@usitc.gov). Hearing-impaired

individuals are advised that information

on this matter can be obtained by

contacting the Commission’s TDD

terminal on 202–205–1810.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Uruguay Round Agreements Act

(URAA) fundamentally revised the Act

by requiring that antidumping and

countervailing duty orders and

suspension agreements be revoked after

five years unless revocation would be

likely to lead to a continuation or

recurrence of (1) dumping or a

countervailable subsidy, and (2)

material injury to the domestic industry.

The URAA assigns to the Commission

the responsibility of determining

whether revocation of an antidumping

or countervailing duty order, or

termination of a suspension agreement,

is likely to lead to the continuation or

recurrence of material injury. The

URAA requires that the Department of

Commerce (Commerce) begin initiating

five-year reviews in July 1998, that all

five-year reviews of ‘‘transition

orders’’—those antidumping and

countervailing duty orders and

suspension agreements in effect on

January 1, 1995, when the United States

acceded to the Uruguay Round

Agreements—be initiated by December

31, 1999, and that all reviews of

transition orders be completed by June

30, 2001. The URAA further requires

that Commerce initiate a five-year

review of each order or agreement that

is not a ‘‘transition order’’ no later than

30 days before the fifth anniversary of

publication of the order or agreement in

the Federal Register.

This notice proposes new procedures

for five-year reviews. As described

below, some of the proposed procedures

will be reflected in changes to the

Commission’s Rules of Practice and

Procedure. Other proposed procedures,

such as scheduling, relate to internal

agency practices and do not require

regulations. Nevertheless, this notice

describes several of these proposals and

invites public comment on all proposed

regulations and procedures.

The Commission has determined that

these proposed regulations do not meet

the criteria described in section 3(f) of

the Executive Order 12866 (58 FR

51735, Oct. 4, 1993) (EO) and thus do

not constitute a significant regulatory
55186 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 1997 / Proposed Rules

action for purposes of the EO. The

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601

note) is inapplicable to this rulemaking,

because it is not one for which a Notice

of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) is

required under 5 U.S.C. 553(b) or any

other statute. Although the Commission

has chosen to publish an NOPR, these

proposed regulations are ‘‘agency rules

of procedure and practice,’’ and thus are

exempt from the notice requirement

imposed by 5 U.S.C. 553(b).

The draft notice of institution

reproduced at Annex A to this Notice

constitutes an information collection

request subject to the provisions of the

Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C.

3501 et seq. After consultation with the

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB), the Commission believes that

the contemplated collection of

information pursuant to the draft notice

of institution is encompassed within a

clearance OMB has given the

Commission under the Paperwork

Reduction Act to collect information for

antidumping and countervailing duty

investigations and reviews, including

those undertaken pursuant to section

751 of the Act. This clearance has been

assigned OMB Control Number 3117–

0016.

Request for Comment

The Commission solicits comments

pertaining to its proposals concerning

five-year reviews. The Commission will

conduct a two-step comment process.

Initial comments should be received by

the Commission Secretary not later than

December 22, 1997. Rebuttals to the

initial comments may also be filed. Any

rebuttal comments should be received

by the Commission Secretary not later

than January 21, 1998. All comments

will be available for public inspection in

the Commission’s Public Docket Room

between the hours of 8:45 am and 5:15

pm, Monday through Friday (except

Federal Holidays).

Commenters are invited to address

several distinct matters in their

comments and rebuttal comments. The

Commission requests that, to facilitate

its review, commenters organize their

comments as follows:

Section I of the comments should

address the proposed amendments to

the part 201 and 207 regulations

presented in this notice.

Section II of the comments should

address proposed procedures for fiveyear reviews that the Commission has

discussed in this notice, but has not

incorporated into the proposed

amendments to the part 201 and part

207 regulations. These would include,

for example, comments on the format or

specific questions of the sample notice

of institution appearing as Annex A to

this notice, or comments on the

proposed schedule appearing as Annex

B to this notice.

Section III of the comments should

address any other issues commenters

may desire to raise pertaining to fiveyear reviews. The regulations proposed

below solely concern the procedures

that the Commission intends to use in

conducting five-year reviews. The

proposed regulations do not address

what methodology the Commission, or

individual Commissioners, may use to

determine whether revocation of an

order, or termination of a suspended

investigation, would be likely to lead to

continuation or recurrence of material

injury within a reasonably foreseeable

time. Nor do the proposed regulations

address how the Commission, or

individual Commissioners, will analyze

the various factors specified in section

752(a) of the Act in making

determinations in five-year reviews.

Although the Commission does not

intend to issue regulations pertaining to

methodological or analytical issues in

five-year reviews, many private

practitioners may desire the opportunity

to address the Commission about such

issues before the reviews begin. The

Commission therefore invites persons to

file comments on such issues in

conjunction with their comments on the

procedural matters discussed in this

NOPR.

Hearing

The Commission also intends to hold

a public hearing at which interested

persons will be invited to present their

views regarding the procedural matters

discussed in this NOPR as well as

methodological and analytical issues

relating to five-year reviews. The

Commission will issue a notice in

advance of the hearing setting forth the

date of the hearing and the procedures

that will be followed at the hearing. The

hearing will be held after the

submission of the rebuttal comments.

Overview of the Proposed Regulations

The Commission is proposing to

promulgate a series of new regulations,

to be codified in Subpart F of Part 207,

establishing procedures for five-year

reviews. Several of the proposed

regulations closely resemble current

regulations in Subpart C of Part 207

concerning final phase antidumping and

countervailing duty investigations.

Others establish new procedures that

address unique aspects of the five-year

review mechanism created by the

URAA.

The statute requires Commerce to

initiate all five-year reviews

automatically. As part of the initiation,

Commerce and the Commission are

authorized to request that interested

parties submit certain information

needed to conduct the review.

Accordingly, one of the proposed

regulations describes the information

that the Commission will request from

interested parties upon initiation of the

review. Each interested party will be

requested to state its willingness to

participate in the review, and describe

the likely effects of revocation of the

order or termination of the suspended

investigation under review. In addition,

the Commission will request that each

interested party provide other

information or industry data, including

a statement concerning conditions of

competition in the pertinent domestic

industry, a listing of U.S. producers of

the domestic like product and importers

and foreign producers of the subject

merchandise, and certain quantitative

data concerning its operations. All

interested parties will be requested to

furnish this information to the

Commission within 30 days. (Interested

parties that desire to participate as

parties in the Commission review must

also file entries of appearance with the

Commission within 21 days.) These

provisions will aid the Commission in

ascertaining whether interested parties

have sufficient willingness to

participate in a five-year review. They

will also provide the Commission with

record information for use in an

expedited determination, if appropriate.

Section 751(c)(3)(B) of the Act

authorizes the Commission to make an

expedited determination without further

investigation when interested party

responses to the notice of initiation are

inadequate. Interested parties that have

entered appearances in the review and

have responded to the notice of

institution and other parties that have

entered appearances in the review will

be permitted to file a brief submission

concerning whether an expedited

determination is appropriate based on

the adequacy of interested party

responses to the notice of institution.

The Commission will consider these

comments and the responses to the

notice of institution and determine

whether the review should be expedited

approximately 95 days after publication

of the notice of institution. Should the

Commission determine to expedite the

review, interested parties that have

entered appearances in the review and

have responded adequately to the notice

of institution and other parties that have

entered appearances in the review will

be provided the opportunity to submit

comments concerning the merits of the

review before the Commission’s
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 1997 / Proposed Rules 55187

1Section 207.46 became effective on January 1,

1995, together with several other interim

regulations that were designed to conform the

Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure to

the URAA pending adoption of final regulations.

See 60 Fed. Reg. 18 (Jan. 3, 1995). When the

Commission proposed adopting its other interim

regulations as final regulations, it did not do so

with respect to section 207.46, because it perceived

section 207.46 to relate to the general question of

five-year reviews and stated that ‘‘the Commission

is not prepared to address the question of ‘‘sunset’’

reviews at this time.’’ 60 Fed. Reg. 51748, 51753

(Oct. 3, 1995). Now that the Commission is

establishing procedures for five-year reviews, it

believes that proposing to adopt section 207.46 as

a final regulation is appropriate. (The Commission

contemplates that it will be conducting

investigations under section 753, pursuant to

pending requests, during 1997-98. Additionally,

there is a theoretical possibility that future requests

for section 753 investigations may be filed if

additional countries become Subsidies Agreement

countries.)

determination on the merits. The record

evidence in the expedited review will

be limited to that already available to

the Commission.

Should the Commission determine

not to expedite the review, the review

will proceed in a manner closely

resembling a final phase antidumping or

countervailing duty investigation.

Several of the proposed regulations

apply existing procedures to five-year

reviews. For example, parties that have

entered appearances in the review will

have the opportunity to submit written

comments on draft questionnaires. They

will receive prehearing and final reports

from the Commission staff, and will

have the opportunity to present

testimony at a hearing before the

Commission and to file prehearing and

posthearing briefs and final comments.

Section-by-Section Analysis of the

Proposed Regulations

Section 201.11

Section 201.11 concerns the filing of

entries of appearance in Commission

investigations and reviews. The

Commission is proposing to add new

paragraphs (b)(4) and (b)(5) to this

section to govern the filing of entries of

appearance in five-year reviews. Under

proposed section 201.11(b)(4), a party

will have 21 days from publication of

the Commission’s notice of institution

of five-year review to file an entry of

appearance.

If the Commission determines not to

expedite the review, it will issue a

notice of scheduling approximately 95

days after institution of the review. (See

proposed section 207.62.) Under

proposed section 201.11(b)(5), a party

will have an additional 45 days after

publication of this notice to file an entry

of appearance.

Section 207.3

Section 207.3(b) requires parties to

provide hand or overnight service of,

inter alia, prehearing briefs, hearing

testimony, and posthearing briefs filed

in antidumping and countervailing duty

investigations. The proposed

amendment adds cross-references to

several of the new provisions in Subpart

F to existing requirements regarding

service.

Section 207.45

Section 207.45 concerns changed

circumstances reviews pursuant to

section 751(b) of the Act. The proposed

amendment changes the statutory crossreference in section 207.45(a) so it

specifically cites section 751(b). No

substantive change is intended.

Section 207.46

Section 207.46 is an interim

regulation that establishes procedures

for investigations under section 753 of

the Act, which concerns countervailing

duty orders issued under former section

303 of the Act without an injury

determination by the Commission.1 The

proposed regulation contains three

changes from the interim regulation.

First, in the caption for subsection

207.46(g) and in the first sentence of

section 207.46(g)(1), the word

‘‘expedited’’ has been deleted to avoid

any confusion between simultaneous

reviews conducted pursuant to section

753(e) of the Act and five-year reviews

that are expedited pursuant to section

751(c)(3)(B) of the Act. Second, the

second sentence of section 207.46(g)(1)

has been deleted as unnecessary. This

sentence requires that requests for

simultaneous five-year reviews under

section 753(e) of the Act contain a

statement why revocation of the order to

be reviewed would lead to continuation

or recurrence of material injury. Should

a simultaneous five-year review be

conducted, a similar statement will be

requested in the notice of institution.

Third, the final sentence in section

207.46(g)(2) has been amended to refer

to the new Subpart F governing fiveyear reviews.

Section 207.60

Proposed section 207.60 defines

certain terms used in Subpart F of Part

207 concerning five-year reviews. The

first three definitions, ‘‘five-year

review,’’ ‘‘expedited determination,’’

and ‘‘notice of institution,’’ are

proposed to promote economy of

wording. ‘‘Five-year review’’ is a fiveyear review investigation conducted

under section 751(c) of the Act.

‘‘Expedited determination’’ is a

determination made under section

751(c)(3)(B) of the Act. ‘‘Notice of

institution’’ is the notice of institution

of five-year review that the Commission

will publish in the Federal Register

upon initiation of a review. The

remaining three terms, ‘‘domestic like

product,’’ ‘‘domestic industry,’’ and

‘‘subject merchandise,’’ are terms

commonly used in antidumping and

countervailing duty proceedings, and

are based on sections 771(10), 771(4)(A),

and 771(25) of the Act, respectively.

Section 207.61

When Commerce initiates a five-year

review, the Commission will publish a

notice of institution of five-year review

in the Federal Register informing

interested parties and other persons of

their opportunity to provide information

to the Commission. Proposed section

207.61 describes what interested parties

will be requested to submit to the

Commission in response to the notice of

institution.

Each interested party (as that term is

defined in section 771(9) of the Act)

may respond to the notice of institution

whether or not it entered an appearance

in the Commission review proceedings.

If interested parties do not file adequate

responses, however, the Commission

may determine not to conduct a full

review investigation, but instead may

issue an expedited determination based

on the facts available pursuant to

section 751(c)(3)(B) of the Act. The

Commission’s evaluation of adequacy is

described below in the discussion of

proposed section 207.62.

Proposed § 207.61(a) states that

responses to the notice of institution

must be submitted to the Commission

no later than 30 days after publication

of the notice in the Federal Register.

The Commission believes that 30 days

will be ample time for interested parties

to submit the requested information,

particularly since the Commission will

provide public notice (through this

rulemaking and other actions) of the

type of information that will be

requested in five-year reviews well in

advance of the actual institution of any

five-year reviews. Moreover, the

Commission intends that it will jointly

prepare with Commerce a final schedule

of all transition reviews, which will be

published in the Federal Register before

the initiation of the first review. This

notice will provide interested parties

with sufficient advance notice of

scheduling of all transition reviews to

enable them to know approximately

when such information will be due

before publication of the actual notice of

institution. This notice will also be

mailed to the embassy in Washington,

D.C. of each country that will be a
55188 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 1997 / Proposed Rules

2URAA Statement of Administrative Action

(SAA), H.R. Rep. 316, 103d Cong., 2d Sess., vol. 1

at 879 (1994).

subject country in any five-year review.

Persons who are not interested parties

will also be provided an opportunity to

respond under proposed § 207.61(e), as

discussed below.

Proposed paragraphs (b) and (c)

describe what interested parties will be

requested to submit to the Commission

in response to the notice of institution.

Sections 751(c)(2)(A), (B), and (C) of the

Act expressly direct the Commission

and Commerce to request interested

parties to submit: (1) A statement

expressing their willingness to

participate in the review by providing

information requested by the agencies,

(2) a statement regarding the likely

effects of revocation of the order or

termination of the suspension

agreement under review, and (3) such

other information or industry data as the

agencies may specify. The URAA’s

legislative history specifically

contemplates that the Commission may

seek detailed quantitative data from

interested parties upon initiation of a

five-year review, such as ‘‘certain key

data regarding sales, prices, imports,

and market conditions.’’ 2

The Commission has two reasons for

requesting the submission of certain

information and quantitative data from

interested parties upon initiation of a

five-year review. First, the Commission

must determine whether there is

sufficient willingness among interested

parties to participate in the review and

adequate indication that parties will

submit requested information

throughout the proceeding. The

Commission could not effectively

ascertain whether such willingness

exists—and whether any future

investigative efforts are likely to be

fruitful—if interested parties were

permitted merely to submit pro forma

statements of intent to participate.

When such willingness does not exist or

is limited, an expedited review will be

more efficient for both the parties and

the Commission than conducting a full

review.

Second, the responses to the notice of

institution will provide the Commission

with information for the record it can

use in making a determination,

particularly an expedited determination

pursuant to section 751(c)(3)(B) of the

Act. Section 752(a) of the Act requires

the Commission to consider a number of

factors when it makes its determination,

including an expedited determination,

in a five-year review. Additionally, the

Commission’s expedited determinations

are subject to review by U.S. courts,

NAFTA Chapter 19 panels, and/or the

WTO Dispute Settlement Body.

As a practical matter, the

Commission’s sole opportunity in

expedited reviews to obtain information

that will enhance its ability to reach a

defensible determination—beyond what

is available from the original record—is

to request such information in the

notice of institution. Thus, because of

the possibility of an expedited

determination in any five-year review,

there is a certain amount of information

gathering at the initiation stage that is

simply unavoidable and any resulting

burden on interested parties is inherent

in the statutory scheme. Moreover, the

information to be submitted is the same

type of information that the Commission

necessarily would seek at some point in

the review. At most, therefore, the

proposed regulations request interested

parties to submit information earlier in

the review process. The Commission

nevertheless solicits comments

addressing what amount and type of

information should be requested in the

notice of institution that will enable the

Commission to assess the willingness of

interested parties to participate in a full

five-year review and to make an

expedited determination when such a

determination is appropriate, while

minimizing burdens on interested

parties.

Interested party responses to the

notice of institution will be in two parts.

One part will be filed with the

Secretary. The other will be submitted

to the Office of Investigations. The

Commission believes that such a

bifurcated filing process will reduce the

burdens to interested parties in

submitting business proprietary

information (BPI), because, as explained

below, the parties need not justify

proprietary treatment for information

they will submit to the Office of

Investigations or prepare and file a

public version of this submission. The

evaluation of whether the response of an

individual interested party is adequate

will be based on that party’s response to

both parts of the notice.

The first part of the response, which

proposed section 207.61(b) addresses,

will be filed with the Secretary pursuant

to the requirements of Commission rules

201.8 and 207.3. This submission will

include the material specified in section

751(c)(2)(A) and (B) of the Act: a

statement that the submitter is willing to

participate in the review by providing

requested information and a statement

regarding the likely effects of revocation

of the order or termination of the

suspended investigation. These

requirements are set forth in proposed

sections 207.61(b)(1) and (b)(2). The

submission will also provide identifying

information: the submitter’s name,

address, telephone number, facsimile

number, electronic mail address and (if

applicable) World Wide Web site

address, and a statement indicating

whether it is a producer of the domestic

like product, a U.S. importer of subject

merchandise, a foreign producer or

exporter of subject merchandise, or

another type of interested party.

Interested parties will also be asked to

list all known and currently operating

U.S. producers of the domestic like

product, all known and currently

operating U.S. importers of subject

merchandise, and all known and

currently operating producers of the

subject merchandise in each subject

country that currently export or have

exported subject merchandise to the

United States or to any other country

during the period specified in the notice

of institution. This material will aid the

Commission in determining the

adequacy of interested party responses

to the notice of institution. Interested

parties will be required only to furnish

information in their possession to

compile these lists. If this information is

not in the interested party’s possession,

however, it must expressly so indicate

in its response to the Commission

pursuant to proposed section 207.61(d).

Additionally, each interested party

will be provided the option of stating

whether it agrees with the definitions of

the domestic like product and domestic

industry that the Commission adopted

in its original investigation(s). Interested

parties that respond that they disagree

with an original definition will be

requested to explain why and to provide

an alternative definition. This

information will assist the Commission

to ascertain the like product and

domestic industry issues that may arise

in each review, and the extent and

nature of any future investigative

activity it may conduct.

The second part of the response to the

notice of institution, which proposed

section 207.61(c) addresses, will be a

submission to the Commission’s Office

of Investigations. Domestic producers,

foreign producers of subject

merchandise, and U.S. importers of

subject merchandise will be requested

to furnish certain quantitative data to

the Office of Investigations concerning

their operations. Each domestic

producer will be asked to provide

information about the domestic like

product(s) defined by the Commission

in the original investigation(s) giving

rise to the review, including information

on capacity, production, commercial

shipments, inventories, employment,

financial performance, and prices. Each
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 1997 / Proposed Rules 55189

importer of subject merchandise will be

asked to provide information about its

import volumes, commercial shipments,

inventories, and prices for the subject

merchandise. Each foreign producer of

subject merchandise will be asked to

provide information about its capacity,

production, home market shipments,

export shipments, and inventories of the

subject merchandise. The Commission

will request each party to submit actual

data for the most recently completed

calendar year, and projections for the

succeeding calendar year (which will

generally be the calendar year in which

the notice of institution is published) in

accordance with generally accepted

accounting principles. The notice of

institution for each review will specify

the particular data that interested

parties are to furnish.

Each interested party will also be

requested to provide certain narrative

information to the Office of

Investigations. First, each interested

party will be requested to identify

significant changes in the supply of and

demand for the domestic like product

that have occurred since the order(s) or

agreement(s) under review became

effective. This will provide the

Commission with information

concerning conditions of competition

that it can use in making a

determination. Additionally, interested

parties in grouped reviews involving

multiple subject countries will be asked

to explain the extent to which the

domestic like product competes or is

likely to compete with subject

merchandise from each subject country,

and the degree to which merchandise

from each subject country competes or

is likely to compete with merchandise

from each other subject country. This

will provide the Commission with

information pertinent to its

determination on cumulation.

Finally, under proposed section

207.61(c)(2), interested parties will be

free to furnish any other information or

data relevant to the Commission’s

determination. For example, interested

parties may desire to provide

information not specifically requested

in the notice of institution pertinent to

one or more of the factors that the

Commission is to consider under

section 752(a) of the Act in rendering a

determination in a five-year review.

Interested parties may also desire to

indicate which domestic producers are

related parties under section 771(4)(B)

of the Act.

Any submission that interested

parties make pursuant to section

207.61(c) will be submitted to the Office

of Investigations and will not be subject

to the filing requirements of section

201.8. Instead, only a single copy of the

submission need be filed with the Office

of Investigations. The Commission

contemplates that substantially all of the

information contained in this

submission will be business proprietary.

Consequently, the Commission will

automatically accord such submissions

proprietary treatment, except to the

extent the information is otherwise

publicly available. A submitter need not

submit the justification for proprietary

treatment or public versions of the

submissions that would otherwise be

required by Commission rules 201.6 or

201.8. This procedure will accord the

same treatment to these submissions

that has long been accorded to

questionnaires submitted to the Office

of Investigations in Commission

investigations. Pursuant to Commission

rule 207.3(b), interested parties that

entered appearances in the review must

serve the public version of the

submission described in section

207.61(b) on all other parties to the

review and the proprietary versions of

both parts of their response to the notice

of institution (i.e., the submissions

described in both sections 207.61(b) and

207.61(c)) on all representatives on the

Administrative Protective Order (APO)

service list.

A sample notice of institution appears

at Annex A to this notice. The

Commission contemplates that

interested parties will be able to obtain

forms, whose use will be optional, to

respond to the notice of institution in a

specific review from the Office of

Investigations or the Commission’s

World Wide Web site.

Proposed section 207.61(d) addresses

situations in which an interested party

cannot furnish the information

requested in the notice of institution in

the form or manner requested. In such

instances, the interested party should

explain in its response why it is unable

to comply and indicate alternative forms

in which it can provide such

information. This section is intended to

apply the provisions of section 782(c)(1)

of the Act in the context of responses to

notices of institution.

Pursuant to section 782(b) of the Act

and Commission rule 207.3(a), any

person that submits information in

response to the notice of institution or

that makes a submission pursuant to

section 207.61(e) must certify that the

information is accurate and complete to

the best of its knowledge. The

Commission contemplates that the

standard forms it will make available for

responses to the notice of institution

will contain specific language, such as

that currently used in questionnaires in

antidumping and countervailing duty

investigations, for the required

certification. Interested parties must

certify both parts of their responses (i.e.,

the submissions described in section

207.61(b) and section 207.61(c)).

Each individual interested party

response to the notice of institution will

be reviewed for completeness by

Commission staff immediately upon its

receipt. Commission staff will attempt

to notify each interested party of any

deficiencies in its response, will state

the nature of the deficiency and will, to

the extent practicable, provide it with a

brief period of time (approximately 5–10

days) in which to remedy or explain the

deficiency. The Commission will not

collect or accept any additional

information or conduct other

investigative activity thereafter unless it

decides to proceed to a full review. This

notification procedure is intended to

apply the provisions of section 782(d) of

the Act in the context of responses to

notices of institution.

The Act provides the Commission

with several potential courses of action

when interested parties fail to provide

responses to the notice of institution or

provide responses that are deficient.

Under section 782(d) of the Act, when

a person fails to respond in a

satisfactory or timely manner to a

request to remedy or explain a

deficiency in a submission, the

Commission may disregard all or part of

the submission. Under section 776(b) of

the Act, when an interested party fails

to cooperate by not acting to the best of

its ability to comply with a Commission

request for information, the Commission

may take an adverse inference against

the party in reaching a determination.

Consequently, when an interested party

neither provides the information

requested in the notice of institution nor

provides an acceptable explanation of

its inability to provide such

information, the Commission may take

an adverse inference against that party

in reaching any determination in a fiveyear review, including an expedited

determination.

Proposed section 207.61(e) provides

an opportunity for those persons that

are not interested parties as defined by

the Act (such as industrial users, and, if

merchandise under investigation is sold

at the retail level, representative

consumer groups) to submit information

they consider relevant to the

Commission’s five-year review. Such

information must be filed with the

Commission Secretary in accordance

with the provisions of section 201.8

within the 30-day period applicable to

interested party responses to the notice

of institution.
55190 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 1997 / Proposed Rules

3 SAA at 880.

Section 207.62

Section 751(c)(3)(B) of the Act permits

the Commission to make expedited

determinations in five-year reviews

when ‘‘interested parties provide

inadequate responses to a notice of

initiation.’’ Proposed section 207.62

describes the procedures for issuing

expedited determinations under section

751(c)(3)(B).

Proposed section 207.62(a) authorizes

certain parties to file brief comments to

the Commission within a time specified

in the notice of institution, which will

generally be no later than 60 days after

publication of the notice. Parties

authorized to file comments are: (1)

Interested parties that have entered

appearances in the review and have

responded to the notice of institution;

and (2) all parties that have entered

appearances in the review that are not

interested parties. The sole issue these

comments may address is whether an

expedited determination under section

751(c)(3)(B) of the Act is appropriate.

These comments may not include any

new factual information (such as

supplementation of the response to the

notice of institution) and will be limited

to five pages.

Representatives of interested parties

that have entered into a Commission

APO will have access to other parties’

proprietary responses to the notice of

institution well before these comments

are due. Under section 207.3(b),

responses to the notice of institution

submitted by parties that have entered

appearances in the investigation must

be served on all other parties on the

service list. The Commission will

release under APO responses to the

notice of institution filed by interested

parties that have not entered

appearances in the investigation

approximately two weeks before the

section 207.62(a) comments are due. At

approximately the same time, the

Commission intends to release

confidential versions of the

Commission’s opinion(s) in the original

investigation and staff reports and nonprivileged memoranda prepared in

connection with that investigation

(where available) to representatives

under the APO. Public versions of these

documents (where available) will also

be released. The Commission will also

release official import statistics and

estimates of domestic and foreign

industry production compiled by

Commission staff, where such

information is available.

After all comments are received, the

Commission will determine whether

interested party responses are adequate.

The SAA provides that the purpose of

the expedited review mechanism is to

promote administrative efficiency by

eliminating needless reviews. The SAA

also states that the determination of

adequacy is committed to the

Commission’s (and, separately,

Commerce’s) discretion. 3

Responses will be evaluated for

adequacy on both an individual and an

aggregate basis. In assessing the

adequacy of responses in the aggregate,

the Commission will consider only

those responses that individually are

considered adequate. The Commission

will separately determine the adequacy

of response (in the aggregate) of: (1)

Interested parties described in sections

771(9)(C), (D), (E), (F), and (G) of the Act

(a group that consists of, inter alia, U.S.

producers of the domestic like product

and labor unions or groups of workers

which are representative of an industry

producing the domestic like product;

this group will be referred to as

‘‘domestic producers/unions’’), and (2)

interested parties described in sections

771(9)(A) and (B) of the Act (a group

that consists of, inter alia, U.S.

importers and foreign exporters or

producers of subject merchandise and

subject country governments; this group

will be referred to as ‘‘foreign

producers/importers’’).

The Commission will make the

determination of adequacy on a case-bycase basis taking several factors into

account. One factor that the

Commission will consider in

determining adequacy is the responding

parties’ likely share of domestic

production (for domestic producers/

unions) or of subject imports or

production of the subject merchandise

(for foreign producers/importers). The

Commission does not intend to apply

strict numerical tests to determine

adequacy of interested party responses.

Nevertheless, to provide some guidance

to interested parties, the Commission

can tentatively identify certain

circumstances in which it will consider

that response rates are sufficiently high

or low to provide a strong indication

that interested party responses are either

adequate or inadequate. Specifically,

responses from parties accounting for

more than 50 percent of domestic

production will normally be considered

to be a strong indication of an adequate

response from domestic producers/

unions. Responses from parties

accounting for more than 50 percent of

subject imports or production of subject

merchandise will normally be

considered to be a strong indication of

an adequate response from foreign

producers/importers. Consequently, a

sufficient response by either U.S.

importers or foreign producers of the

subject merchandise may constitute an

adequate response from foreign

producers/importers. By contrast,

responses accounting for less than 25

percent of domestic production, on the

one hand, or subject imports or

production of subject merchandise, on

the other, will normally be considered

to be a strong indication of inadequate

responses by domestic producers/

unions and foreign producers/importers,

respectively.

The Commission will not rely solely

on numerical tests and will take other

factors into account in determining

whether interested party responses are

adequate. For example, a response rate

that may seem to be inadequate for a

highly concentrated industry may be

adequate for a highly fragmented

industry.

Additional factors that the

Commission intends to consider include

the structure of the pertinent domestic

industry and industry producing the

subject merchandise, the potential of

particular foreign producers to export to

the United States, the extent to which

subject imports are effectively excluded

from the U.S. market by the order or

suspension agreement under review,

and, for domestic producers/unions, the

prevalence of related party producers.

The Commission invites parties to

comment on the appropriateness of

relying on these factors to determine

whether interested party responses are

adequate, and whether there are

additional or different factors that the

Commission should consider in making

such a determination. The Commission

also invites parties to comment on the

appropriateness of making expedited

determinations in grouped reviews

involving subject merchandise from

several countries, if responses from the

foreign producers/importers are

adequate with respect to some of the

subject countries within the group but

inadequate with respect to others.

Pursuant to proposed section

207.62(b), if the Commission determines

that interested party responses are

adequate, it will conduct a full five-year

review. In such cases, the Commission

will publish its schedule of the

remaining procedures in the Federal

Register. (A sample schedule appears as

Annex B to this notice.) Under proposed

section 201.11(b)(5), parties will have 45

days after publication of this Federal

Register notice to file additional entries

of appearance and APO applications.

By contrast, proposed section

207.62(c) describes procedures that

apply when the Commission concludes

that interested party responses are
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 1997 / Proposed Rules 55191

inadequate and an expedited

determination is appropriate. In such

circumstances, the Secretary will notify

all parties that submitted timely entries

of appearance in the Commission

review that the Commission has decided

to make an expedited determination.

The notice will invite interested parties

that responded adequately to the notice

of institution and all parties that are not

interested parties to submit comments

on the merits of the review by a specific

deadline (which will generally be

approximately 30–35 days from

issuance of the notice). Other persons

who are not interested parties will have

the opportunity to submit a brief written

statement on the merits of the review by

the same deadline.

The comments to be filed under

proposed section 207.62(c), which will

satisfy the requirements of section

782(g) of the Act, give parties their sole

opportunity to submit comments to the

Commission on the merits of an

expedited determination. These

comments may not contain new factual

information and may not exceed 25

pages. Consistent with Commission

practice under section 207.30(b),

comments containing new factual

information will be accepted into the

record, but new factual information and

arguments based on that new factual

information will be disregarded. Any

compilations by the Commission of

information collected and not

previously released to representatives

under APO will be released under APO

approximately 20 days before these

comments are due. The information

released will include a staff report that

will compile information obtained in

response to the notice of institution as

well as official import statistics, and,

where available, estimates of domestic

and foreign industry production

compiled by the Commission staff. A

public version of the staff report will

also be released.

Proposed section 207.62(d) allows the

Commission to delegate to a senior

member of the staff, such as the Director

of Operations or the Director of

Investigations, authority to make

decisions concerning whether interested

party responses to the notice of

institution are adequate or inadequate.

Initially, the Commission will itself

make all such decisions. Should the

Commission decide to delegate

decisionmaking authority concerning

whether interested party responses are

inadequate, it will retain sole authority

to issue the expedited determination in

any particular review.

Section 207.63

Proposed section 207.63 concerns

circulation of draft questionnaires in

five-year reviews. As stated in proposed

section 207.63(a), when the Commission

does not issue an expedited

determination in a five-year review, it

will circulate draft questionnaires to the

parties that have entered appearances in

the review. The Commission anticipates

sending questionnaires to U.S.

producers of the domestic like product,

foreign producers of subject

merchandise, U.S. importers of subject

merchandise, and U.S. purchasers.

Questionnaires will commonly seek

data in more detail (particularly with

respect to financial performance and

pricing), for additional periods of time,

and, when warranted, for additional

products than will the notice of

institution. The Commission anticipates

that draft questionnaires will be

circulated to the parties to the review

approximately 150 days after initiation.

The Commission invites comment on

the content and format of questionnaires

in five-year reviews.

Parties that desire to comment on the

draft questionnaires may submit written

comments to the Commission, as

indicated by proposed section 207.63(b).

The Commission anticipates that such

comments will be due approximately 30

days after circulation of the draft

questionnaires.

Proposed section 207.63(b) requires

each party to present all data collection

requests in its questionnaire comments.

The Commission will disregard any

subsequent arguments that are premised

on the collection of new data if the data

collection request was not asserted in

the questionnaire comments. Thus, if

the draft questionnaires in a review

propose collecting data for only one

product, and a party believes that data

should be collected for two products, it

must request data collection for two

products, and provide a legal basis for

its request, in its comments on the

questionnaire. It may not request

collection of such data for the first time,

for example, in its prehearing brief or at

the hearing.

The Commission believes this

procedure is necessary to focus its data

collection efforts. In original

antidumping and countervailing duty

investigations, the Commission has

found issuing supplemental

questionnaires in the late stages of an

investigation to be impractical because

of time and staffing constraints. These

problems will be exacerbated in fiveyear reviews. Therefore, any data

collected in a five-year review must be

collected pursuant to the notice of

institution and in the questionnaires. It

is imperative that the Commission be

apprised of all data collection issues

before questionnaires are issued. The

Commission believes that this

procedure will impose no hardship on

representatives of interested parties who

have entered an APO, who will have the

benefit of pertinent portions of the

record of the original investigation, as

well as access under APO to all

information collected in response to the

notice of institution, before they are to

file comments on the questionnaires.

This material should allow interested

party representatives ample time to

determine what information they

believe the Commission should seek

and consider. Likewise, parties to the

review that are not interested parties

will have ample notification and access

to the public record to provide an

informed basis for comment.

Section 207.64

Proposed section 207.64 concerns

staff reports in five-year reviews. It

tracks current section 207.22 concerning

staff reports in final phase antidumping

and countervailing duty investigations.

Section 207.65

Proposed section 207.65 concerns

prehearing briefs. It is adapted from

current section 207.23. In a five-year

review, every party to the review is to

submit a prehearing brief on the date

specified in the scheduling notice.

Section 207.66

Proposed section 207.66 concerns

hearings in five-year reviews. The

Commission will conduct a hearing in

each five-year review in which it does

not render an expedited determination.

Hearing procedures will conform to

those established in current section

207.24 concerning final phase

antidumping and countervailing duty

investigations.

Section 207.67

Proposed section 207.67 concerns

posthearing briefs and statements. It is

based on current sections 207.25 and

207.26.

Section 207.68

Proposed section 207.68 concerns

final comments on information in fiveyear reviews. It is based on the final

comment procedure in section 207.30

currently used in final phase

antidumping and countervailing duty

investigations.

The procedures in section 207.68 will

be used in five-year reviews where the

determination is not expedited. In fiveyear reviews where the determination is
55192 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 1997 / Proposed Rules

expedited, the final comment procedure

is specified in proposed section

207.62(c).

Section 207.69

Proposed section 207.69 requires the

Commission to publish and serve its

determinations in five-year reviews. It

tracks current section 207.29.

List of Subjects

19 CFR Part 201

Administrative practice and

procedure, Investigations, Imports.

19 CFR Part 207

Administrative practice and

procedure, Antidumping,

Countervailing duties, Investigations.

For the reasons stated in the

preamble, 19 CFR parts 201 and 207 are

proposed to be amended as set forth

below:

PART 201—[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 201

continues to read as follows:

Authority: Section 335 of the Tariff Act of

1930 (19 U.S.C. 1335) and § 603 of the Trade

Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2482), unless

otherwise noted.

2. New paragraphs (b)(4) and (b)(5) are

added to § 201.11 to read as follows:

§ 201.11 Appearance in an investigation as

a party.

* * * * *

(b) Time for filing. * * *

(4) In the case of reviews conducted

under subpart F of part 207 of this

chapter, each entry of appearance shall

be filed with the Secretary not later than

twenty-one (21) days after publication

in the Federal Register of the notice of

institution described in § 207.60(c).

(5) Notwithstanding paragraph (b)(4)

of this section, a party may file an entry

of appearance in a review conducted

under subpart F of part 207 of this

chapter for a period of 45 days after

publication in the Federal Register of

the notice specified under § 207.62(b).

* * * * *

PART 207—[AMENDED]

3. The authority citation for part 207

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 19 U.S.C. 1336, 1671–1677n,

2482, 3513.

4. Paragraph (b) of § 207.3 is revised

to read as follows:

§ 207.3 Service, filing, and certification of

documents

* * * * *

(b) Service. Any party submitting a

document for inclusion in the record of

the investigation shall, in addition to

complying with § 201.8 of this chapter,

serve a copy of each such document on

all other parties to the investigation in

the manner prescribed in § 201.16 of

this chapter. If a document is filed

before the Secretary’s issuance of the

service list provided for in § 201.11 of

this chapter or the administrative

protective order list provided for in

§ 207.7, the document need not be

accompanied by a certificate of service,

but the document shall be served on all

appropriate parties within two (2) days

of the issuance of the service list or the

administrative protective order list and

a certificate of service shall then be

filed. Notwithstanding § 201.16 of this

chapter, petitions, briefs, and testimony

filed by parties pursuant to §§ 207.10,

207.15, 207.23, 207.24, 207.25, 207.65,

207.66, and 207.67 shall be served by

hand or, if served by mail, by overnight

mail or its equivalent. Failure to comply

with the requirements of this rule may

result in removal from status as a party

to the investigation. The Commission

shall make available to all parties to the

investigation a copy of each document,

except transcripts of conferences and

hearings, business proprietary

information, privileged information, and

information required to be served under

this section, placed in the record of the

investigation by the Commission.

* * * * *

5. Paragraph (a) of § 207.45 is revised

to read as follows:

§ 207.45 Investigation to review

outstanding determination

(a) Request for review. Any person

may file with the Commission a request

for the institution of a review

investigation under section 751(b) of the

Act. The person making the request

shall also promptly serve copies of the

request on the parties to the original

investigation upon which the review is

to be based. All requests shall set forth

a description of changed circumstances

sufficient to warrant the institution of a

review investigation by the

Commission.

* * * * *

6. Paragraph (g) of § 207.46 is revised

to read as follows:

§ 207.46 Investigations concerning certain

countervailing duty orders.

* * * * *

(g) Request for simultaneous section

751(c) review. (1) A requesting party

who requests a section 753 review may

at the same time request from the

Commission and the administering

authority a review under section 751(c)

of the Act of a countervailing or

antidumping duty order involving the

same or comparable subject

merchandise.

(2) Should the administering

authority, after consulting with the

Commission, determine to initiate a

section 751(c) review, the Commission

shall conduct a consolidated review

under sections 751(c) and 753 of the Act

of the orders involving the same or

comparable subject merchandise. Any

such consolidated review shall be

conducted under the applicable

procedures set forth in subparts A and

F of this part.

(3) Should the administering

authority, after consulting with the

Commission, determine not to initiate a

section 751(c) review, the Commission

will consider the request for a section

753 review pursuant to the procedures

established in this section.

7. A new subpart F is added to read

as follows:

Subpart F—Five-Year Reviews

207.60 Definitions.

207.61 Responses to notice of institution.

207.62 Adequacy of responses to notice of

institution.

207.63 Circulation of draft questionnaires.

207.64 Staff reports.

207.65 Prehearing briefs.

207.66 Hearing.

207.67 Posthearing briefs and statements.

207.68 Final comments on information.

207.69 Publication of determinations.

§ 207.60 Definitions.

For purposes of this subpart:

(a) The term five-year review means a

five-year review investigation

conducted pursuant to section 751(c) of

the Act.

(b) The term expedited determination

means a determination issued by the

Commission pursuant to section

751(c)(3)(B) of the Act.

(c) The term notice of institution shall

refer to the notice of institution of fiveyear review that the Commission shall

publish in the Federal Register

requesting that interested parties

provide information to the Commission

upon initiation of a five-year review.

(d) The term domestic like product

means a product produced in the United

States which is like, or in the absence

of like, most similar in characteristics

and uses with, the articles subject to a

five-year review.

(e) The term domestic industry means

the producers as a whole of a domestic

like product, or those producers whose

collective output of a domestic like

product constitutes a major proportion

of the total domestic production of the

product.

(f) The term subject merchandise

means the class or kind of merchandise
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 1997 / Proposed Rules 55193

that is within the scope of the five-year

review.

§ 207.61 Responses to notice of

institution.

(a) When information must be filed.

Responses to the notice of institution

shall be submitted to the Commission

no later than 30 days after its

publication in the Federal Register.

(b) Information to be filed with the

Secretary. The notice of institution shall

direct each interested party to make a

filing pursuant to §§ 201.8 and 207.3 of

this chapter containing the following:

(1) A statement expressing its

willingness to participate in the review

by providing information requested by

the Commission;

(2) A statement regarding the likely

effects of revocation of the order(s) or

termination of the suspended

investigation(s) under review;

(3) Other information requested in the

notice of institution.

(c) Information to be submitted to the

Office of Investigations. The notice of

institution shall further direct each

interested party to submit the following

material to the Commission’s Office of

Investigations:

(1) Such information or industry data

as the Commission may specify in the

notice of institution;

(2) Any other information or data the

party considers relevant to the

Commission’s determination.

(d) When requested information

cannot be supplied. Any interested

party that cannot furnish the

information requested by the notice of

institution shall explain in its

response(s) why it is unable to provide

the information and indicate alternative

forms in which it can provide

equivalent information.

(e) Submissions by persons other than

interested parties. Any person who is

not an interested party may submit to

the Commission, in a filing satisfying

the requirements of § 201.8 of this title,

information relevant to the

Commission’s review no later than 30

days after publication of the notice of

institution in the Federal Register.

§ 207.62 Adequacy of responses to notice

of institution.

(a) Comments to the Commission. (1)

Comments to the Commission

concerning whether the Commission

should make an expedited

determination in that review may be

submitted by:

(i) Any interested party that is a party

to the investigation and that has

responded to the notice of institution;

and

(ii) Any party, other than an

interested party, that is a party to the

investigation.

(2) Comments shall be submitted

within the time specified in the notice

of institution. Comments shall not

exceed five (5) pages of textual material,

double-spaced and single-sided, on

stationery measuring 81⁄2 x 11 inches.

Comments containing new factual

information shall be disregarded.

(b) Determination that responses are

adequate. If the Commission concludes

that interested parties’ responses to the

notice of institution are adequate,

investigative activities pertaining to that

review will continue. The Commission

will publish in the Federal Register a

notice of scheduling pertaining to

subsequent procedures in the review.

(c) Determination that responses are

inadequate. (1) If the Commission

concludes that interested parties’

responses to the notice of institution are

inadequate, it may decide to issue an

expedited determination. In that event,

the Commission shall direct the

Secretary to issue a notice stating that

the Commission has decided to make an

expedited determination and inviting

those parties to the review described in

paragraph (c)(2) of this section to file

written comments with the Secretary on

what determination the Commission

should reach in the review. The date on

which such comments must be filed

will be specified in the notice to be

issued by the Secretary. Comments shall

not exceed twenty-five (25) pages of

textual material, double-spaced and

single-sided, on stationery measuring

81⁄2 × 11 inches. Comments containing

new factual information shall be

disregarded.

(2) The following parties may file the

comments described in paragraph (c)(1)

of this section:

(i) Any interested party that is a party

to the investigation and that has filed an

adequate response to the notice of

institution; and

(ii) Any party, other than an

interested party, that is a party to the

investigation.

(3) Any person who is neither a party

to the investigation nor an interested

party may submit a brief written

statement (which shall not contain any

new factual information) pertinent to

the review within the time specified for

the filing of written comments.

(d) Delegation of responsibilities.

Notwithstanding any other provision of

this part, the Commission may delegate

its responsibilities pursuant to this

section to a member of the Commission

staff.

§ 207.63 Circulation of draft

questionnaires.

(a) In each five-year review in which

the Commission has not issued an

expedited determination, the Director

shall circulate draft questionnaires to

the parties for comment.

(b) Any party desiring to comment on

the draft questionnaires shall submit

such comments in writing to the

Commission within a time specified by

the Director. All requests for collecting

new data must be presented at this time.

The Commission will disregard

subsequent arguments that are premised

on requests for collection of new data if

such requests were not included in the

comments on the draft questionnaires.

§ 207.64 Staff reports.

(a) Prehearing staff report. The

Director shall prepare and place in the

record, prior to the hearing, a prehearing

staff report containing information

concerning the subject matter of the

five-year review. A version of the staff

report containing business proprietary

information shall be placed in the

nonpublic record and made available to

persons authorized to receive business

proprietary information under § 207.7,

and a nonbusiness proprietary version

of the staff report shall be placed in the

public record.

(b) Final staff report. After the

hearing, the Director shall revise the

prehearing staff report and submit to the

Commission, prior to the Commission’s

determination, a final version of the

staff report. The final staff report is

intended to supplement and correct the

information contained in the prehearing

staff report. A public version of the final

staff report shall be made available to

the public and a business proprietary

version shall also be made available to

persons authorized to receive business

proprietary information under § 207.7.

§ 207.65 Prehearing briefs.

Each party to a five-year review may

submit a prehearing brief to the

Commission on the date specified in the

scheduling notice. A prehearing brief

shall be signed and shall include a table

of contents. The prehearing brief should

present a party’s case concisely and

shall, to the extent possible, refer to the

record and include information and

arguments which the party believes

relevant to the subject matter of the

Commission’s determination.

§ 207.66 Hearing.

(a) In general. The Commission shall

hold a hearing in each five-year review

in which it does not make an expedited

determination. The date of the hearing
55194 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 1997 / Proposed Rules

shall be specified in the scheduling

notice.

(b) Procedures. Hearing procedures in

five-year reviews will conform to those

for final phase antidumping and

countervailing duty investigations set

forth in § 207.24.

§ 207.67 Posthearing briefs and

statements.

(a) Briefs from parties. Any party to a

five-year review may file with the

Secretary a posthearing brief concerning

the information adduced at or after the

hearing within a time specified in the

scheduling notice or by the presiding

official at the hearing. No such

posthearing brief shall exceed fifteen

(15) pages of textual material, double

spaced and single sided, on stationery

measuring 81⁄2 × 11 inches. In addition,

the presiding official may permit

persons to file answers to questions or

requests made by the Commission at the

hearing within a specified time. The

Secretary shall not accept for filing

posthearing briefs or answers which do

not comply with this section.

(b) Statements from nonparties. Any

person other than a party may submit a

brief written statement of information

pertinent to the review within the time

specified for the filing of posthearing

briefs.

§ 207.68 Final comments on information.

(a) The Commission shall specify a

date after the filing of posthearing briefs

on which it will disclose to all parties

to the five-year review all information it

has obtained on which the parties have

not previously had an opportunity to

comment. Any such information that is

business proprietary information will be

released to persons authorized to obtain

such information pursuant to § 207.7.

(b) The parties shall have an

opportunity to file comments on any

information disclosed to them after they

have filed their posthearing brief

pursuant to § 207.67. Comments shall

only concern such information, and

shall not exceed 15 pages of textual

material, double spaced and singlesided, on stationery measuring 81⁄2 × 11

inches. A comment may address the

accuracy, reliability, or probative value

of such information by reference to

information elsewhere in the record, in

which case the comment shall identify

where in the record such information is

found. Comments containing new

factual information shall be disregarded.

The date on which such comments must

be filed will be specified by the

Commission when it specifies the time

that information will be disclosed

pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section.

The record shall close on the date such

comments are due, except with respect

to changes in bracketing of business

proprietary information in the

comments permitted by § 207.3(c).

§ 207.69 Publication of determinations.

Whenever the Commission makes a

determination concluding a five-year

review, the Secretary shall serve copies

of the determination and, when

applicable, the nonbusiness proprietary

version of the final staff report on all

parties to the review, and on the

administering authority. The Secretary

shall publish notice of such

determination in the Federal Register.

By order of the Commission.

Issued: October 20, 1997.

Donna R. Koehnke,

Secretary.

Note: The following annexes would not

appear in the Code of Federal Regulations.

Annex A—Notice of Institution of Five-Year

Review

Definitions

(1) Subject Merchandise is the class or kind

of merchandise that is within the scope of the

five-year review. In this review, the

Department of Commerce has defined the

Subject Merchandise as DEFINE.

(2) The Subject Country in this review is

COUNTRY.

(3) The Domestic Like Product is the

domestically produced product or products

which are like, or in the absence of like, most

similar in characteristics or uses with, the

Subject Merchandise. In its original

determination, the Commission defined the

Domestic Like Product as DEFINE. One

Commissioner/certain Commissioners

defined the Domestic Like Product

differently.

(4) The Domestic Industry is the producers

as a whole of a Domestic Like Product, or

those producers whose collective output of a

Domestic Like Product constitutes a major

proportion of the total domestic production

of the product. In its original determination,

the Commission defined the Domestic

Industry as producers of DEFINE.

(5) The Order Date is the date that the

countervailing duty order/antidumping duty

order/suspension agreement under review

became effective. In this review, the Order

Date is DATE.

(6) An Importer is any person or firm

engaged, either directly or through a parent

company or subsidiary, in importing the

Subject Merchandise into the United States

from a foreign manufacturer or through its

selling agent.

Certification

In accordance with Commission rule 207.3,

any person submitting information to the

Commission in connection with this

investigation must certify that the

information is accurate and complete to the

best of the submitter’s knowledge. This

certification must be included in both the

information to be submitted to the

Commission’s Secretary and the information

to be submitted to the Commission’s Office

of Investigations specified below. In making

the certification, the submitter will be

deemed to consent, unless otherwise

specified, for the Commission, its employees,

and contract personnel to use the information

provided in any other investigations of the

same or comparable products which the

Commission conducts under Title VII of the

Act, or in internal audits and investigations

relating to the programs and operations of the

Commission pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Appendix

3.

Information to be Submitted to the Secretary

Responses filed with the Secretary must

conform with the provisions of section 201.8

of the Commission’s rules. If business

proprietary treatment is desired for portions

of a response, submitters must follow the

requirements set forth in sections 201.6,

207.3, and 207.7 of the Commission’s rules.

Also, in accordance with sections 201.16(c)

and 207.3 of the Commission’s rules, each

document filed by a party to the investigation

must be served on all other parties to the

investigation (as identified by either the

public or BPI service list as appropriate), and

a certificate of service must accompany the

document (if you are not a party to the

investigation you do not need to serve your

response). Any interested party that cannot

furnish the information requested should

explain why it is unable to do so and indicate

alternative forms in which it can provide

equivalent information. (Added if more than

one country is involved) If you are a

domestic producer, import/export Subject

Merchandise from more than one Subject

Country, or produce Subject Merchandise in

more than one Subject Country, you may file

a single response. If you do so, please ensure

that your response to each question includes

the information requested for each pertinent

Subject Country.

The response to the Secretary should

include:

(1) The name and address of your firm

(including World Wide Web address if

available) and name, telephone number,
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 1997 / Proposed Rules 55195

fax number, and E-mail address of the

certifying official.

(2) A statement indicating whether your

firm is a U.S. producer of the Domestic Like

Product, a U.S. importer of the Subject

Merchandise, a foreign producer/exporter of

the Subject Merchandise, or another

interested party (including an explanation).

(3) A statement indicating whether

your firm is willing to participate in this

review by providing information

requested by the Commission.

(4) A statement of the likely effects of the

revocation of the countervailing duty order/

antidumping duty order/termination of the

suspension agreement on the Domestic

Industry in general and/or your firm

specifically.

(5) A list of all known and currently

operating U.S. producers of the

Domestic Like Product.

(6) A list of all known and currently

operating U.S. importers of the Subject

Merchandise and producers of the Subject

Merchandise in COUNTRY that currently

export or have exported Subject Merchandise

to the United States or other countries since

(YEAR OF PETITION).

(7) (OPTIONAL) A statement of whether

you agree with the above definitions of the

Domestic Like Product and Domestic

Industry; if you disagree with either or both

of these definitions, please explain why and

provide alternative definitions.

Information To Be Submitted to the Office of

Investigations

Responses filed with the Office of

Investigations will be treated as business

proprietary unless the information is

otherwise publicly available and should be

submitted to INVESTIGATOR, Office of

Investigations, U.S. International Trade

Commission, Room 615, 500 E Street, SW,

Washington, DC 20436. Only one copy of the

response needs to be submitted to the Office

of Investigations, but each document filed by

a party to the investigation must be served on

all other parties to the investigation (as

identified by the BPI service list), and a

certificate of service must accompany the

document (if you are not a party to the

investigation you do not need to serve your

response). Any interested party that cannot

furnish the information requested should

explain why it is unable to do so and indicate

alternative forms in which it can provide

equivalent information. (Added if more than

one country is involved) If you are a

domestic producer, import/export Subject

Merchandise from more than one Subject

Country, or produce Subject Merchandise in

more than one Subject Country, you may file

a single response. If you do so, please ensure

that your response to each question includes

the information requested for each pertinent

Subject Country.

The response to the Office of Investigations

should include:

(1) The name and address of your firm

(including World Wide Web address if

available) and name, telephone number, fax

number, and E-mail address of the certifying

official.

(2) If your firm is a U.S. producer of

PRODUCT, provide the following

information on your firm’s operations on that

product during calendar year PRECEDING

YEAR and your projections, in accordance

with Generally Accepted Accounting

Principles (GAAP), for calendar year

CURRENT YEAR (report quantity data in

UNITS and value data in thousands of

dollars):

(a) Annual production capacity (quantity)

(report the practical capacity of your plant(s)

using the machinery and equipment in place

at the end of the year and specify that the

capacity reported is based on operating ll

hours per week, ll weeks per year);

(b) end-of-year inventories (quantity);

(c) production (quantity) (including, if

known, an estimate of the percentage of total

U.S. production of PRODUCT accounted for

by your firm’s production in PRECEDING

YEAR);

(d) the quantity and value of U.S.

commercial shipments of product produced

in your U.S. plant(s);

(e) the quantity of product produced in

your U.S. plant(s) that you consumed

internally or transferred within your

company;

(f) the quantity and value of exports of

product produced in your U.S. plant(s);

(g) the average number of production

workers;

(h) your firm’s net sales and operating

income or (loss); and

(i) average prices for SPECIFIC PRODUCT.

(3) If your firm is a U.S. importer of the

Subject Merchandise, provide the following

information on your firm’s operations on that

product FOR EACH COUNTRY SUBJECT TO

THIS REVIEW INVESTIGATION during

calendar year PRECEDING YEAR and your

projections, in accordance with GAAP, for

calendar year CURRENT YEAR (report

quantity data in UNITS and value data in

thousands of dollars):

(a) The quantity and value of U.S. imports

(including, if known, an estimate of the

percentage of total U.S. imports of PRODUCT

from COUNTRY accounted for by your firm’s

imports in PRECEDING YEAR);

(b) end-of-year inventories (quantity);

(c) the quantity and value of U.S.

commercial shipments of imported product;

and

(d) average prices for SPECIFIC PRODUCT.

(4) If your firm is a producer of the Subject

Merchandise in COUNTRY, provide the

following information on your firm’s

operations on that product during calendar

year PRECEDING YEAR and your

projections, in accordance with GAAP, for

calendar year CURRENT YEAR (report

quantity data in UNITS and value data in

thousands of dollars):

(a) Annual production capacity (quantity)

(report the practical capacity of your plant(s)

using the machinery and equipment in place

at the end of the year and specify that the

capacity reported is based on operating ll

hours per week, ll weeks per year);

(b) end-of-year inventories (quantity);

(c) production (quantity) (including, if

known, an estimate of the percentage of total

production of PRODUCT in COUNTRY

accounted for by your firm’s production in

PRECEDING YEAR);

(d) the quantity and value of home market

shipments of product produced in your

plant(s) (including any internal consumption

and company transfers);

(e) the quantity and value of your firm’s

exports to the United States of product

produced in your plant(s) (including, if

known, an estimate of the percentage of total

exports to the United States of PRODUCT

from COUNTRY accounted for by your firm’s

exports in PRECEDING YEAR); and

(f) the quantity and value of your firm’s

exports to all other countries of product

produced in your plant(s).

(5) Identify any significant changes in the

supply of and demand for the Domestic Like

Product that have occurred in the United

States since the Order Date. Address changes

in factors such as technology; production

methods; the availability and price of major

production inputs; consumption patterns;

new alternative products that compete for

sales; availability of imports from nonsubject

countries; the degree of interchangeability

between the Domestic Like Product, Subject

Merchandise, and nonsubject imports; and

demand for U.S. products in export markets.

(6) (Asked in reviews involving multiple

subject countries) Explain (a) whether the

Domestic Like Product and Subject

Merchandise from each Subject Country

compete or are likely to compete with each

other in the United States and (b) whether

Subject Merchandise from each individual

Subject Country competes or is likely to
55196 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 1997 / Proposed Rules

compete in the United States with Subject

Merchandise from each other Subject

Country. In determining whether (likely)

competition exists between two products,

you may consider such factors as (i) the

degree of (likely) fungibility between the

products, (ii) whether the products are (likely

to be) sold in the same geographic markets

in the United States, (iii) whether the

products are (likely to be) sold in common

channels of distribution, and (iv) whether the

products are (likely to be) sold in the U.S.

market simultaneously.

(7) (OPTIONAL) Provide any other

information or data that you consider

relevant to the Commission’s determination.

Annex B—Proposed Schedule for Sunset

Reviews1

Action/Event Day

Notice of Institution (Published in the

FEDERAL REGISTER) ....................... 0

Entries of Appearance/APO Applications Due ....................................... 21

Responses to Notice of Institution

Due ................................................ 30

Comments on Appropriateness of

Expedited Review Due .................. 60

Notice of Inadequacy/Expedited Review or Adequacy/Full Review ...... 95

1The Commission may extend its deadline

by up to 90 days in all transition reviews and

other extraordinarily complicated cases.

INADEQUATE RESPONSES/EXPEDITED

REVIEW

Action/Event Day

Staff Report/Data Compilation to

Commission and Parties ............... 110

Commerce Expedited Determination

(If Issued) ...................................... 120

Written Submission on Merits (‘‘Final

Comments’’) by Parties Due ......... 130

Commission Vote .............................. 140

Commission Determination and

Views to Commerce ...................... 150

ADEQUATE RESPONSES/FULL REVIEW

Action/Event Day

New Entries of Appearance/APO

Applications Due ........................... 140

Draft Questionnaires to Parties for

Comment ....................................... 150

Written Comments on Draft Questionnaires Due (Final Opportunity

for Parties to Raise Issues Affecting Data Collection) ....................... 180

Questionnaire Mail Date ................... 225

Commerce Subsidy/Dumping Determination ......................................... 240

Questionnaire Return Date ............... 265

Prehearing Report to Commission

and Parties .................................... 299

Prehearing Briefs Due ...................... 305

Hearing ............................................. 313

Posthearing Briefs Due ..................... 320

Staff Report to Commission and

Parties ........................................... 330

ADEQUATE RESPONSES/FULL

REVIEW—Continued

Action/Event Day

Final Comments Due ........................ 340

Commission Vote .............................. 348

Commission Determination and

Views to Commerce ...................... 360

[FR Doc. 97–28257 Filed 10–22–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7020–02–P

RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD

20 CFR Part 216

RIN 3220–AB27

Eligibility for an Annuity

AGENCY: Railroad Retirement Board.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Railroad Retirement

Board proposes to amend its regulation

under the Railroad Retirement Act

concerning when a child of a railroad

employee is considered a full-time

elementary or secondary student. The

proposed changes reflect the current

trend in most States and jurisdictions to

recognize home schooling and

independent study programs as

comparable to traditional education.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before December 22, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Secretary to the Board,

Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North

Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas W. Sadler, Senior Attorney,

Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North

Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611,

(312) 751–4513, TDD (312) 751–4701.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

2(d)(4) of the Railroad Retirement Act

(45 U.S.C. 231a(d)(4)) provides, in

pertinent part, that an annuity is

payable to a child of a deceased

employee until such child attains age 18

or 19 if such child is in full-time

attendance at an elementary or

secondary school. Section 2(d)(4) of the

Act incorporates the provisions of

section 202(d)(7) of the Social Security

Act (42 U.S.C. 402(d)(7)), which defines

the terms full-time elementary or

secondary student. Section 202(d)(7) of

the Social Security Act in turn provides

that a full-time elementary or a

secondary student is an individual who

is in full-time attendance as a student at

an elementary or secondary school, as

determined by the Commissioner of the

Social Security Administration (by

regulations prescribed by the

Commissioner).

Before July 24, 1996, section 404.367

of the Social Security Administration’s

regulations under the Social Security

Act (20 CFR 404.367) defined a full-time

student as an individual enrolled in an

educational institution including

public, private, and religious schools.

The Social Security Administration’s

previous policy, as reflected in its

regulation, was aligned with the

traditional definition of educational

programs. However, recently most

States and other jurisdictions have

broadened the definition of education

programs to include home schooling

and independent study programs.

Because of this trend, the Social

Security Administration revised section

404.367 to include such types of

schooling in the definition of

elementary and secondary schools. See,

61 FR 38363 (1996). The Board,

therefore, proposes to revise its

regulations to include students enrolled

in home schooling or independent study

programs authorized by a State or other

jurisdiction within the definition of a

full-time elementary or secondary

school student.

The Board, with the concurrence of

the Office of Management and Budget,

has determined that this is not a

significant regulatory action under

Executive Order 12866. There are no

information collections associated with

this rule.

List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 216

Railroad employees, Railroad

retirement.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, chapter II of title 20 of the

Code of Federal Regulations is proposed

to be amended as follows:

PART 216—ELIGIBILITY FOR AN

ANNUITY

1. The authority citation for part 216

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 45 U.S.C. 231f.

2. Section 216.74 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 216.74 When a child is a full-time

elementary or secondary school student.

(a) A child is a full-time elementary

or secondary school student if he or she

meets all of the following conditions:

(1) The child is in full-time

attendance at an elementary or

secondary school; or

(2) The child is instructed in

elementary or secondary education at

home in accordance with a home school