58264 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 189 / Thursday, September 28, 2000 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

Industry Sector Advisory Committee

on Chemicals and Allied Products for

Trade Policy Matters (ISAC 3);

Continuation of Federal Register

Notice 47405–47406, Vol. 65, Number

149, Dated August 2, 2000; Request for

Nominations

AGENCY: International Trade

Administration, Trade Development,

Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Continuation of Request for

Nominations.

SUMMARY: The Secretary of Commerce

(Commerce) and the United States Trade

Representative (USTR) continue to seek

nominations for appointment of an

environmental representative to the

Industry Sector Advisory Committee on

Chemicals and Allied Products for

Trade Policy Matters (ISAC 3; see

Federal Register Notice 47405–47406,

Vol. 65, Number 149, dated August 2,

2000). Appointment will be effective for

the charter term of this Committee,

which expires March 17, 2002. In order

to be considered for appointment to the

Committee, a nominee must be a U.S.

citizen, must represent a U.S.

organization with an interest in

environmental issues relevant to the

work of the Committee, and may not be

a registered foreign agent under the

Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Nominees’ special interest in and

knowledge of environmental, trade and

sectoral issues will be considered.

This Notice will remain in effect for

the duration of the current charter

period; however, priority will be given

to nominations received by October 20,

2000. Nominations will be considered

as they are received. Recruitment

information is available on the

International Trade Administration

website at www.ita.doc.gov/icp.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Further inquiries may be directed to

Dominic Bianchi, Acting Assistant

USTR for Intergovernmental Affairs,

Winder Building, Room 100, 600 17th

Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20230 or

Ingrid Mitchem, Acting Director,

Industries Consultations Program, U.S.

Department of Commerce, 14th and

Constitution Avenue, NW, Room 2015–

B, Washington, D.C. 20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

In section 135 of the 1974 Trade Act,

as amended (19 U.S.C. 2155), Congress

established a private-sector advisory

system to ensure that U.S. trade policy

and trade negotiation objectives

adequately reflect U.S. commercial and

economic interests. Section 135(a)(1) of

the 1974 Trade Act directs the President

to ‘‘seek information and advice from

representative elements of the private

sector and the non-Federal

governmental sector with respect to:

(A) negotiating objectives and

bargaining positions before entering into

a trade agreement under [title I of the

1974 Trade Act and section 1102 of the

Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness

Act of 1988];

(B) the operation of any trade

agreement once entered into; including

preparation for dispute settlement panel

proceedings to which the United States

is a party; and

(C) other matters arising in connection

with the development, implementation,

and administration of the trade policy of

the United States. * * *’’

Section 135(c)(2) of the 1974 Trade Act

provides—

(2) The President shall establish such

sectoral or functional advisory

committees as may be appropriate. Such

committees shall, insofar as is

practicable, be representative of all

industry, labor, agricultural, or service

interests (including small business

interests) in the sector or functional

areas concerned. In organizing such

committees, the United States Trade

Representative and the Secretaries of

Commerce, Labor, Agriculture, the

Treasury, or other executive

departments, as appropriate, shall—

(A) consult with interested private

organizations; and

(B) take into account such factors as—

(i) patterns of actual and potential

competition between United States

industry and agriculture and foreign

enterprise in international trade,

(ii) the character of the nontariff

barriers and other distortions affecting

such competition,

(iii) the necessity for reasonable limits

on the number of such advisory

committees,

(iv) the necessity that each committee

be reasonably limited in size, and

(v) in the case of each sectoral

committee, that the product lines

covered by each committee be

reasonably related.

Pursuant to this provision, Commerce

and USTR have established and co-chair

seventeen Industry Sector Advisory

Committees (ISACs) and four Industry

Functional Advisory Committees

(IFACs). The Committees’ efforts have

resulted in strengthening U.S.

negotiating positions by enabling the

United States to display a united front

when it negotiates trade agreements

with other nations. Committees meet an

average of four times a year in

Washington, D.C. Members serve

without compensation and are

responsible for all expenses incurred in

attending Committee meetings. For

additional information regarding the

functions and membership of these

committees, and general qualifications

for membership, see 64 FR 10448–

10449, March 4, 1999 (Volume 64,

Number 42). Commerce and USTR now

solicit nominations for qualified

environmental representatives to serve

on ISAC 3 (Chemicals and Allied

Products). For further background

regarding this solicitation, see Federal

Register Notice 47405–47406, Vol. 65,

Number 149, dated August 2, 2000).

Eligibility

Eligibility to serve as an

environmental representative on ISAC 3

is limited to U.S. citizens who are not

full-time employees of a governmental

entity, who represent a ‘‘U.S. entity’’

that is an organization interested in

environmental issues relevant to the

work of the committee, and who are not

registered with the Department of

Justice under the Foreign Agents

Registration Act. For purposes of the

preceding sentence, a ‘‘U.S. entity’’ is an

organization incorporated in the United

States (or, if unincorporated, having its

headquarters in the United States):

(1) that is controlled by U.S. citizens

or by another U.S. entity. An entity is

not a U.S. entity if more than 50 percent

of its Board of Directors or membership

is made up of non-U.S. citizens. If the

nominee is to represent an organization

more than 10 percent of whose Board of

Directors or membership is made up of

non-U.S. citizens, or non-U.S. entities,

the nominee must demonstrate at the

time of nomination that this non-U.S.

interest does not constitute control and

will not adversely affect his or her

ability to serve as a trade advisor to the

United States; and

(2) at least 50 percent of whose annual

revenue is attributable to nongovernmental, U.S. sources.

Selection Criteria

USTR and Commerce will select an

environmental representative eligible

for appointment to ISAC 3 based upon

the following:

(1) The organization to be represented

will be considered based on

environmental interest in trade policies

in the sector relevant to the work of the

committee.

(2) The nominee should demonstrate

personal interest in and knowledge of

the formulation of environmental

policies in the sector relevant to the

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 189 / Thursday, September 28, 2000 / Notices 58265

work of the Committee, and ability to

work with governmental and officials

and industry representatives to reach

consensus on complex environmental

and trade issues affecting the relevant

industry sector.

(3) Preference will be accorded

nominees who also demonstrate

knowledge of and familiarity with the

relevant industry sector, as well as with

international trade matters, including

trade policy development, relevant to

that sector.

The environmental representative, as

a member of the Committee, will be

required to have a security clearance.

Members serve without compensation

and are responsible for all expenses

incurred in attending Committee

meetings.

Application Procedures

Requests for applications should be

sent to the Director of the Industry

Consultations Program, U.S. Department

of Commerce, 14th and Constitution

Avenue, NW, Room 2015–B,

Washington, D.C. 20230.

This notice is issued under the

Federal Advisory Committee Act (5

U.S.C., app. 2) and 21 CFR part 14

relating to advisory committees.

Michael J. Copps,

Assistant Secretary for Trade Development.

[FR Doc. 00–24890 Filed 9–27–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–DR–U

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 090600A]

Taking and Importing Marine

Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals

Incidental to Construction and

Operation of Offshore Oil and Gas

Facilities in the Beaufort Sea

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of issuance of a letter of

authorization.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Marine Mammal Protection Act

(MMPA), as amended, and

implementing regulations, notification

is hereby given that a letter of

authorization (LOA) to take a small

number of marine mammals incidental

to construction and operation of

offshore oil and gas facilities at the

Northstar development in the Beaufort

Sea off Alaska has been issued to BP

Exploration (Alaska), Anchorage, AK

(BPXA).

DATES: This LOA is effective from

September 18, 2000, through November

30, 2001.

ADDRESSES: A copy of the application

and LOA are available for review in the

following offices: Office of Protected

Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West

Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, and

Western Alaska Field Office, NMFS, 701

C Street, Anchorage, AK 99513.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kenneth R. Hollingshead (301) 713-

2055, ext. 128, or Brad Smith (907) 271-

5006.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C.

1361 et seq.) directs NMFS to allow, on

request, the incidental, but not

intentional, taking of small numbers of

marine mammals by U.S. citizens who

engage in a specified activity (other than

commercial fishing) within a specified

geographical region, if certain findings

are made by NMFS and regulations are

issued. Under the MMPA, the term

≥taking≥ means to harass, hunt, capture,

or kill or to attempt to harass, hunt,

capture or kill marine mammals.

Permission may be granted for periods

up to 5 years if NMFS finds, after

notification and opportunity for public

comment, that the taking will have a

negligible impact on the species or

stock(s) of marine mammals, will not

have an unmitigable adverse impact on

the availability of the species or stock(s)

of marine mammals for subsistence

uses, and if regulations are prescribed

setting forth the permissible methods of

taking and the requirements pertaining

to the monitoring and reporting of such

taking. Regulations governing the taking

of marine mammals incidental to

construction and operation of the

offshore oil and gas facility at Northstar

in the Beaufort Sea were published and

made effective on May 25, 2000 (65 FR

34014), and remain in effect until May

25, 2005.

Summary of Request

On November 30, 1998 (64 FR 9965,

March 1, 1999), NMFS received a

request from BPXA for an incidental,

small take exemption under section

101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA to take

marine mammals incidental to

construction and operation of an

offshore oil and gas facility at Northstar

in state and Federal waters. Because of

delays in construction during 1999, and

in issuing a proposed rule on this

matter, on October 1, 1999, BPXA

updated its application to NMFS. On

October 22, 1999 (64 FR 57010), NMFS

published a notice of proposed

rulemaking on BPXA’s application and

invited interested persons to submit

comments, information, and suggestions

concerning the application and

proposed rule. These comments were

addressed during the promulgation of

final rulemaking on this action, which

was published on May 25, 2000 (65 FR

34014). A complete description of the

activity, the level of taking of marine

mammals, and other concerns can be

found in this document.

Issuance of this LOA is based on

findings, described in the preamble to

the final rule, that the total takings by

this activity will result in only small

numbers of marine mammals being

taken, have no more than a negligible

impact on marine mammal stocks in the

Beaufort Sea, and not have an

unmitigable adverse impact on the

availability of the affected marine

mammal stocks for subsistence uses. In

addition, NMFS finds that BPXA has

met the requirements contained in the

implementing regulations, including

monitoring and reporting requirements.

Dated: September 18, 2000.

Donald R. Knowles,

Director, Office of Protected Resources,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–24938 Filed 9–27–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Notice of Proposed Information

Collection Requests

AGENCY: Department of Education.

SUMMARY: The Leader, Regulatory

Information Management Group, Office

of the Chief Information Officer, invites

comments on the proposed information

collection requests as required by the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to

submit comments on or before

November 27, 2000.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of

1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires

that the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) provide interested

Federal agencies and the public an early

opportunity to comment on information

collection requests. OMB may amend or

waive the requirement for public

consultation to the extent that public

participation in the approval process

would defeat the purpose of the

information collection, violate State or

Federal law, or substantially interfere

with any agency’s ability to perform its

statutory obligations. The Leader,

Regulatory Information Management

Group, Office of the Chief Information