Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 4 / Thursday, January 6, 2000 / Notices 761

iii. Death or permanent disability of a

Member who is an individual or the

dissolution of a Member other than an

individual; and

iv. The bankruptcy of a Member as

provided in CAEA’s Operating

Agreement.

4. CAEA and its Members may meet

to engage in the activities described in

paragraphs 1 through 3 above.

Definitions

1. ‘‘Export Intermediary’’ means a

person (including a Member) who acts

as a distributor, sales representative,

sales or marketing agent, or broker, or

who performs similar functions,

including providing, or arranging for the

provision of, Export Trade Facilitation

Services.

2. ‘‘Handler’’ means a person who

handles almonds grown in California as

defined in 7 CFR Section 981.13, under

the Order Regulating Handling of

Almonds Grown in California.

3. ‘‘Member,’’ within the meaning of

section 325.2(1) of the Regulations,

means the members of CAEA as set out

in Attachment A and incorporated by

reference.

Terms and Conditions of Certificate

1. Except as provided in paragraph

2(b) and (e) of the Export Trade

Activities and Methods of Operation

above, CAEA and its Members shall not

intentionally disclose, directly or

indirectly, to any Handler (including

Members) any information about its or

any other Handler’s costs, production,

capacity, inventories, domestic prices,

domestic sales, domestic orders, terms

of domestic marketing or sale, or U.S.

business plans, strategies or methods,

unless: (1) Such information is already

generally available to the trade or

public; (2) such disclosure is a

necessary term or condition of an actual

or potential bona fide sale or purchase

of Products and the disclosure is limited

to that prospective purchaser or seller;

or (3) such disclosure is made in

connection with the administration of

the United States Department of

Agriculture marketing order for almonds

grown in California.

2. Each Member shall determine

independently of other Members the

quantity of Products the Member will

make available for export or sell through

CAEA. CAEA may not solicit from any

Member specific quantities for export or

require any Member to export any

minimum quantity of Products.

3. Meetings at which CAEA allocates

export sales among Members and

establishes export prices shall not be

open to the public.

4. Participation by a Member in any

Export Trade Activity or Method of

Operation under this Certificate shall be

entirely voluntary as to that Member,

subject to the honoring of contractual

commitments for sales of Products in

specific export transactions. A Member

may withdraw from coverage under this

Certificate at any time by giving a

written notice to CAEA, a copy of which

CAEA shall promptly transmit to the

Secretary of Commerce and the Attorney

General.

5. Any agreements, discussions, or

exchanges of information under this

Certificate relating to quantities of

Products available for Export Markets,

Product specifications or standards,

export prices, Product quality or other

terms and conditions of export sales

(other than export financing) shall be in

connection only with actual or potential

bona fide export transactions or

opportunities and shall include only

those Members participating or having a

genuine interest in participating in such

transactions or opportunities, provided

that CAEA and/or the Members may

discuss standardization of Products for

purposes of making bona fide

recommendations to foreign

governmental or private standard-setting

organizations.

6. CAEA and its Members will comply

with requests made by the Secretary of

Commerce, on behalf of the Secretary or

the Attorney General, for information or

documents relevant to conduct under

the Certificate. The Secretary of

Commerce will request such

information or documents when either

the Attorney General or the Secretary

believes that the information or

documents are required to determine

that the Export Trade, Export Trade

Activities and Methods of Operation of

a person protected by this Certificate of

Review continue to comply with the

standards of section 303(a) of the Act.

Protection Provided by Certificate

The Certificate protects CAEA, its

Members, and their directors, officers,

and employees acting on their behalf,

from private treble damage actions and

government criminal and civil suits

under U.S. federal and state antitrust

laws for the export conduct specified in

this Certificate and carried out during

its effective period in compliance with

its terms and conditions.

A copy of this Certificate will be kept

in the International Trade

Administration’s Freedom of

Information Records Inspection Facility

Room 4102, U.S. Department of

Commerce, l4th Street and Constitution

Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20230.

Dated: December 27, 1999.

Morton Schnabel,

Director, Office of Export Trading, Company

Affairs.

Attachment A

Members (Within the meaning of Section

325.2(1) of the Regulations)

A & P Growers Cooperative, Inc., Tulare, CA

Almonds California Pride, Inc., Caruthers,

CA

Baldwin-Minkler Farms, Orland, CA

Blue Diamond Growers, Sacramento, CA

Calcot, Ltd., Bakersfield, CA

California Independent Almond Growers,

Ballico, CA

Campos Brothers, Caruthers, CA

Chico Nut Company, Chico, CA

Del Rio Nut Company, Livingston, CA

Dole Nut Company, Bakersfield, CA

Fair Trade Corner, Inc., Chico, CA

Gold Hills Nut Co., Inc., Ballico, CA

Golden West Nuts, Inc., Ripon, CA

Harris Woolf California Almonds, Huron, CA

Hilltop Ranch, Ballico, CA

Hughson Nut Company, Hughson, CA

Kindle Nut Company, Denair, CA

Paramount Farms, Inc., Los Angeles, CA

P–R Farms, Inc., Clovis, CA

Santa Fe Nut Company, Ballico, CA

South Valley Farms, Wasco, CA

Western Nut Company, Chico, CA

[FR Doc. 00–262 Filed 1–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–DR–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[I.D. 101599J]

Reopening of Public Comment Period

for Draft Environmental Impact

Statement and Application for an

Incidental Take Permit for the Simpson

Timber Company, Northwest

Operations, Habitat Conservation Plan,

Thurston, Mason, and Grays Harbor

Counties, Washington

AGENCIES: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration,

Commerce; Fish and Wildlife Service

(FWS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of reopened public

comment period.

SUMMARY: NMFS and FWS (the Services)

are reopening the public comment

period for the Draft Environmental

Impact Statement (DEIS) and

application for an Incidental Take

Permit (Permit) for the Simpson Timber

Company, Northwest Operations,

Habitat Conservation Plan, Thurston,

Mason, and Grays Harbor Counties,

762 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 4 / Thursday, January 6, 2000 / Notices

Washington (Simpson). The Permit

application includes: (1) the proposed

Habitat Conservation Plan; and (2) the

proposed Implementing Agreement.

Direct mailings have been sent to

affected State and local agencies,

Federal agencies, Tribes, Federal and

State legislators, public interest groups,

and other interest parties, informing

them of the reopening.

DATES: Written comments on the permit

application, DEIS, Plan, and

Implementing Agreement must be

received from interested parties no later

than January 14, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Requests for documents on

CD ROM should be made by calling the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at

(360)534–9330. Hardbound copies are

also available for viewing, or partial or

complete duplication, at the following

libraries:

Olympia Timberland Library,

Reference Desk, 313 8th Avenue SE,

Olympia, WA, (360)352–0595;

William G. Reed Library, Reference

Desk, 710 West Alder Street, Shelton,

WA, (360)426–1362;

Hoodsport Timberland Library, 40

North Schoolhouse Hill Road,

Hoodsport, WA, (360)877–9339;

Elma Timberland Library, Information

Desk, 118 North 1st Street, Elma, WA,

(360)482–3737;

W.H. Abel Public Library, Information

Desk, 125 Main Street South,

Montesano, WA, (360)249–4211; and,

Aberdeen Timberland Library,

Reference Desk, 121 East Market Street,

Aberdeen, WA, (360)533–2360.

The documents are also available

electronically on the World Wide Web

at http://www.r1.fws.gov/.

Comments and requests for

information should be directed to Linda

Saunders, Project Biologist, Fish and

Wildlife Service, 510 Desmond Drive,

SE., Suite 102, Lacey, Washington,

98503–1273, (telephone: 360/753–5826;

facsimile: 360/534–9331), and Mike

Parton, Project Biologist, National

Marine Fisheries Service, 510 Desmond

Drive, SE., Suite 103, Lacey,

Washington, 98503–1273 (telephone:

360/753–4650; facsimile: 360/753–

9517). Comments and materials received

will also be available for public

inspection, by appointment, during

normal business hours by calling (360)

534–9330.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

October 29, 1999 (64 FR 57630), the

Services published a document in the

Federal Register announcing the receipt

of an application from Simpson for a

Permit, and opening a comment period

for the project. That document stated

that comments would be accepted

through December 27, 1999. The

Services are reopening the comment

period in order to provide additional

review and comment time, recognizing

that the traditional holiday season

during the latter part of December may

have affected interested parties’ ability

to perform a thorough and

comprehensive review of the

documents.

Dated: December 28, 1999.

Thomas J. Dwyer,

Acting Regional Director, Fish and Wildlife

Service, Region 1, Portland, Oregon.

Dated: December 30, 1999.

Craig Johnson,

Acting Chief, Endangered Species Division,

Office of Protected Resources, National

Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–263 Filed 1–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F, 4310–55–F

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice Inviting Financial Assistance

Applications

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy

(DOE), National Energy Technology Lab

(NETL).

ACTION: Notice Inviting Financial

Assistance Applications.

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy

announces that it intends to conduct a

competitive Program Solicitation and

award financial assistance (cooperative

agreements) for the program entitled

‘‘Development and Demonstration of

Black Liquor/Biomass Gasification in

the Forest Products Industry.’’ Through

this solicitation, NETL seeks to support

applications to improve the processing

of Black Liquor and Biomass from the

forest industry using Gasification

Systems. Applications will be subjected

to a review by a DOE technical panel,

and awards will be made to a limited

number of applicants based on a

scientific and engineering evaluation of

the responses received to determine the

relative merit of the approach taken in

response to this offering by the DOE,

and funding availability.

FOR FURTHER SOLICITATION INFORMATION

CONTACT: William Mundorf, U.S.

Department of Energy, National Energy

Technology Laboratory, Acquisition and

Assistance Division, PO Box 10940, MS

921–143, Pittsburgh PA 15236–0940,

Telephone: (412) 386–4483, FAX: (412)

386–6137, E-mail:

mundorf@NETL.doe.gov. The

solicitation (available in both

WordPerfect 6.1 and Portable Document

Format (PDF)) will be released on DOE’s

NETL World Wide Web Server Internet

System (http://www.NETL.doe.gov/

business/solicit) on or about January 3,

2000.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title of Solicitation: ‘‘Development

and Demonstration of Black Liquor/

Biomass Gasification in the Forest

Products Industry.’’

Objectives: Through Program

Solicitation No. DE–PS26–00FT40772,

the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

seeks applications for cost-shared

demonstration of technologies which

will enhance economic competitiveness,

improve energy efficiency, and reduce

environmental impacts while providing

quality products within the forest

products industry. The focus of the

research will address research priorities

identified by the forest products

industry in the Agenda 2020 The Path

Forward: An Implementation Plan.

Approximately $14,000,000 fiscal year

2000 (FY 2000) federal funds are

expected to be available to support the

first year of a multi-year effort. DOE is

looking for a path forward to

demonstrate cost-effective, energy

efficient, gasification technologies for

integrated gasification combined cycle

or gasification/cogeneration

applications. Competitive development

of combined cycle, gasification

technologies (for both black liquor and

biomass feedstocks) are well underway.

However, large-scale pilot plant or

demonstrations are needed to promote

widespread adoption of advanced

gasification technologies in the Forest

Products industry. DOE anticipates

awarding multiple cooperative

agreements. Projects will be limited to

eight years or less, but it is expected that

successful demonstrations will be

achieved in as early as three years.

Proposals for projects which will both

develop and demonstrate existing

technologies will require a minimum

50% cost share of the total estimated

project cost.

Eligibility: Eligibility for participation

in this Program Solicitation is

considered to be full and open. All

interested parties may apply. The

solicitation will contain a complete

description of the technical evaluation

factors and relative importance of each

factor.

Program Technology Definition: The

Department is interested in obtaining

applications to improve the processing

of Black Liquor and Biomass from forest

products using gasification systems:

(A) Black Liquor Gasification

Systems: Kraft black liquor and semichem caustic-carbonate liquor are

mixtures of dissolved organic

components resulting from the