[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 48 (Monday, March 12, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14581-14582]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-5909]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 7767; Guatemala Docket No. DOS-2012-0011; Mali Docket 
No. DOS-2012-0012]


Notice of Meeting of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee

    There will be a meeting of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee 
April 24-27, 2012, at the Department of State, Annex 5, 2200 C Street 
NW., Washington, DC. Portions of this

[[Page 14582]]

meeting will be closed to the public, as discussed below.
    During the closed portions of the meeting, the Committee will 
review the proposal to extend the Memorandum of Understanding Between 
the Government of the United States of America and the Government of 
the Republic of Guatemala Concerning the Imposition of Import 
Restrictions on Archaeological Objects and Materials from the Pre-
Columbian Cultures of Guatemala (MOU) [Docket No. DOS-2012-0011] and 
the Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America 
and the Government of the Republic of Mali Concerning the Imposition of 
Import Restrictions on Archaeological Material from the Paleolithic Era 
(Stone Age) to Approximately the Mid-Eighteenth Century [Docket No. 
DOS-2012-0012]. Additionally, the Government of Guatemala has asked 
that the MOU be amended to include ethnological ecclesiastical material 
representing the Colonial Period of its cultural heritage.
    An open session to receive oral public comment on these two 
proposals will be held on Tuesday, April 24, 2012, 2:30 p.m. EDT.
    Also during the closed portions of the meeting, the Committee will 
continue its review of a new cultural property request from the 
Government of the Republic of Bulgaria seeking import restrictions on 
archaeological and ethnological material. Please see the link to the 
Public Summary of this request at http://exchanges.state.gov/heritage/whatsnew.html.
    The Committee's responsibilities are carried out in accordance with 
provisions of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act 
(19 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.). The text of the Act and the subject MOU and 
Agreement, as well as related information, may be found at http://exchanges.state.gov/heritage/culprop.html.
    If you wish to attend the open session on April 24, 2012, you 
should notify the Cultural Heritage Center of the Department of State 
at (202) 632-6301 no later than 5 p.m. (EDT) April 3, 2012, to arrange 
for admission. Seating is limited. When calling, please specify if you 
have special accommodation needs. The open session will be held at 2200 
C St. NW., Washington, DC 20037. Please plan to arrive 15 minutes 
before the beginning of the open session.
    If you wish to make an oral presentation at the open session, you 
must request to be scheduled and must submit a written text of your 
oral comments, ensuring that it is received no later than April 3, 
2012, 11:59 p.m. (EDT), via the eRulemaking Portal (see below), to 
allow time for distribution to Committee members prior to the meeting. 
Oral comments will be limited to allow time for questions from members 
of the Committee. All oral and written comments must relate 
specifically to the determinations under Section 303(a)(1) (19 U.S.C. 
2602) of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, 
pursuant to which the Committee must make findings. This statute can be 
found at the Web site noted above.
    If you do not wish to make oral comment, but still wish to make 
your views known, you may send written comments for the Committee to 
consider. Again, your comments must relate specifically to the 
determinations under Section 303(a)(1) (19 U.S.C. 2602) of the 
Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, pursuant to which 
the Committee must make findings. Submit all written materials 
electronically through the eRulemaking Portal (see below), ensuring 
that they are received no later than April 3, 2012, 11:59 p.m. (EDT). 
Our adoption of this procedure facilitates public participation, 
implements Section 206 of the E-Government Act of 2002, Public Law 107-
347, 116 Stat. 2915, and supports the Department of State's ``Greening 
Diplomacy'' initiative which aims to reduce the State Department's 
environmental footprint and reduce costs.
    Confidential written comments: If you wish to submit information 
that is privileged or confidential in your comments, pursuant to 19 
U.S.C. 2605(i)(1), do so via regular mail, commercial delivery, or hand 
delivery. Only comments reasonably asserted to be confidential will be 
accepted via those methods.
    As a general reminder comments submitted by fax or by email are not 
accepted. In the past, twenty copies of texts over five pages in length 
were requested. Please note that this is no longer necessary; all 
comments, other than confidential comments, should now be submitted via 
the eRulemaking Portal only. Please submit comments only one time.
    <bullet> Electronic Delivery. To submit comments electronically, go 
to the Federal eRulemaking Portal (http://www.regulations.gov), enter 
the Docket No. DOS-2012-0011 for Guatemala or Docket No. DOS-2012-0012 
for Mali, and follow the prompts to submit a comment. For further 
information, see http://exchanges.state.gov/heritage/whatsnew.html.
    <bullet> Comments submitted in confidence only: Regular Mail or 
Commercial Delivery. Cultural Heritage Center (ECA/P/C), SA-5, Fifth 
Floor, Department of State, Washington, DC 20522-0505. Hand Delivery. 
Cultural Heritage Center (ECA/P/C), Department of State, 2200 C Street 
NW., Washington, DC 20522-0505.
    Are Comments Private? No. Comments submitted in electronic form 
will be posted on the site http://www.regulations.gov. Because the 
comments cannot be edited to remove any identifying or contact 
information, the Department of State cautions against including any 
information in an electronic submission that one does not want publicly 
disclosed (including trade secrets and commercial or financial 
information that is privileged or confidential pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 
2605(i)(1)). The Department of State requests that any party soliciting 
or aggregating comments received from other persons for submission to 
the Department of State inform those persons that the Department of 
State will not edit their comments to remove any identifying or contact 
information, and that they therefore should not include any information 
in their comments that they do not want publicly disclosed.
    On Closed Meetings: As noted above, portions of the meeting will be 
closed pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(9)(B) and 19 U.S.C. 2605(h), the 
latter of which stipulates that ``The provisions of the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act shall apply to the Cultural Property Advisory 
Committee except that the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of 
section 10 and 11 of such Act (relating to open meetings, public 
notice, public participation, and public availability of documents) 
shall not apply to the Committee, whenever and to the extent it is 
determined by the President or his designee that the disclosure of 
matters involved in the Committee's proceedings would compromise the 
government's negotiation objectives or bargaining positions on the 
negotiations of any agreement authorized by this title.'' The 
President's designee has made such a determination.

    Dated: February 29, 2012.
Ann Stock,
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, 
Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2012-5909 Filed 3-9-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-05-P