66800 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 216 / Tuesday, November 7, 2000 / Notices

international secured finance interests

in mobile equipment, including, at this

stage, aircraft, to be followed by rail

equipment and space and satellite

equipment. A Rail Working Group

authorized by UNIDROIT has

undertaken work on the current draft

protocol on provisions specific to rail

equipment financing. Provision may be

made at a future date for protocols on

other categories of equipment, such as

containers, construction and

agricultural equipment, certain types of

vessels, etc. Other international bodies

participate as appropriate. Completion

of the basic Convention and aircraft

protocol is expected by mid-2001.

Completion of the protocol on rail

equipment is expected to follow.

The proposed Convention and

equipment specific protocols together

are intended to provide comprehensive

international rules on financing

interests in such equipment and could

thus stimulate the development of these

industries in many countries as well as

increase the capacity of many countries

to finance such equipment through

private sector capital markets. This can

enhance infrastructure growth, as well

as reduce reliance on direct government

funding or use of sovereign debt, which

in turn would facilitate privatization

and market development.

Key features of the draft Convention

include the creation of internationally

enforceable interests pursuant to the

Convention; providing for regional or

international computer-based registry

systems for notice of finance interests;

provisions on assignments of such

interests; priorities based on filing; and

optional provisions on key finance

issues such as default remedies,

insolvency, etc. Proposed new

registration systems for rail finance

authorized under the protocol are

intended to facilitate processes,

equivalent to that utilized in North

America, to support asset-based finance

in other regions, and may provide for

linkage between registration systems to

facilitate cross-border finance and the

export of such equipment.

Attendance

The meeting will be held on Tuesday,

November 14, 2000, from 10 a.m. to 3

p.m. at the offices of the Association of

American Railroads (AAR), Conference

Center (4th floor) 50 ‘‘F’’ Street, NW,

Washington, D.C. 20001. The meeting is

open to the public. Persons wishing to

attend should contact Peter Bloch,

Department of Transportation, Office of

General Counsel, (202) 366–9183, fax

366–9188; Louis P. Warchot at AAR at

202–639–2500, fax 639–2868; or Harold

Burman, Department of State, Office of

Legal Adviser (L/PIL), at 202–776–8421,

fax 776–8482, email pildb@his.com, not

later than Friday, November 10.

Documents

Basic Convention drafts on mobile

equipment and the aircraft protocol are

available at www.UNIDROIT.org, scroll

to ‘‘news’’. Revised versions will be

available shortly which reflect recent

changes; the changes do not affect the

basic structure or the purpose of the

operative provisions. The draft Rail

Equipment Protocol is available from

the AAR or the Office of Legal Adviser,

or may be provided to attendees by fax

on request.

Harold S. Burman,

Executive Director, Secretary of State’s

Advisory Committee on Private International

Law, United States Department of State.

[FR Doc. 00–28645 Filed 11–3–00; 1:21 pm]

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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

Notice of Meeting of the Committee of

Chairs of the Industry Sector and

Functional Advisory Committees

AGENCY: Office of the United States

Trade Administrative

ACTION: Notice of Meeting.

SUMMARY: The Committee of Chairs of

the Industry Sector and Functional

Advisory Committees will hold a

meeting on November 28, 2000, from

2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The meeting will

be closed to the public from 2:00 p.m.

to 3:15 p.m., and opened to the public

from 3:15 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. to discuss

the review of the Trade Advisory

Committee System.

DATES: The meeting is scheduled for

November 28, 2000, unless otherwise

notified.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at

the Office of the U.S. Trade

Representative, Conference Room 1,

located at 1724 F Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C., unless otherwise

notified.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sylvia Prosak, (202) 482–3268,

Department of Commerce, 14th St. and

Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington,

D.C. 20230, or Dominic Bianchi, Office

of the United States Trade

Representative, 1724 F. St. N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20508, (202) 395–

6120.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During the

opened portion of the meeting the

Committee of Chairs will present their

report on recommendations for reform

of the Trade Advisory System.

Dominic Bianchi,

Acting Assistant United States Trade

Representative for Intergovernmental Affairs

and Public Liaison.

[FR Doc. 00–28518 Filed 11–6–00; 8:45 am]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

Environmental Impact Statement:

Southcentral, Alaska

AGENCY: Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Amended Notice of Intent.

SUMMARY: The Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA) is issuing this

amended notice to advise the public

that an environmental impact statement

will not be prepared for the proposed

Copper River Highway project in

Southcentral, Alaska.

ADDRESSES: Federal Highway

Administration, Alaska Division, 709

West 9th Street, Room 851, P.O. Box

21648, Juneau, Alaska 99802–1648.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim

Haugh, Environmental/Right-of-Way

Specialist, Federal Highway

Administration, Alaska Division Office,

P.O. Box 21648, Juneau, Alaska, 99802–

1648.

Authority: 23 U.S.C. 315; 49 CFR 1.48.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Federal Highway Administration, in

cooperation with the Alaska Department

of Transportation and Public Facilities

(ADOT&PF) have agreed to terminate

the preparation of the Copper River

Highway Environmental Impact

Statement (EIS). This EIS was to study

a proposed highway route, along the old

Copper River and Northwest Railroad

right-of-way, which would connect the

City of Cordova to the Alaskan highway

system. In September 2000, the Alaska

Department of Transportation and

Public Facilities made a decision to not

pursue the proposed highway project,

thus this notice is to rescind the earlier

notice, which was published in the

Federal Register on February 27, 1992.

Letters describing the termination of the

Copper River Highway Environmental

Impact Statement will be sent to

appropriate Federal, State, and local

agencies, and to private organizations

and citizens who have previously

expressed an interest in or are known to

have an interest in this action. This

information will be published in various

newspapers throughout the State of

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 216 / Tuesday, November 7, 2000 / Notices 66801

Alaska in affected regions and posted

on-line on the Alaska Department of

Transportation and Public Facilities

home page (www.dot.state.ak.us). No

formal public meetings or hearings are

scheduled. Comments concerning the

proposed action should be directed to

the Federal Highway Administration at

the address provided above.

Dated: October 30, 2000.

David C. Miller,

Division Administrator.

[FR Doc. 00–28457 Filed 11–6–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–EM–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA–00–8228]

Session of the United Nations

Economic Commission for Europe

World Forum for the Harmonization of

Vehicle Regulations

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA),

Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice regarding upcoming UN/

ECE WP.29 Session in Geneva,

Switzerland.

SUMMARY: The UN/ECE World Forum for

the Harmonization of Vehicle

Regulations (UN/ECE WP.29) will hold

its one hundred and twenty second

session on November 7–10, 2000. The

purpose of this notice is to inform the

public that NHTSA will not be ready at

that session in Geneva to submit its

recommendations concerning the

establishment of priorities under the

1998 Global Agreement. Further,

NHTSA has decided that holding a

public meeting to discuss the upcoming

November session is not warranted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Julie Abraham, Director, Office of

International Policy and Harmonization,

NPP–01, National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration, 400 Seventh

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590.

Telephone: (202) 366–2114. Fax: (202)

366–2559.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. NHTSA’s Final Recommendations

The United Nations Economic

Commission for Europe (UN/ECE)

Agreement Concerning the Establishing

of Global Technical Regulations for

Wheeled Vehicles, Equipment and Parts

Which Can Be Fitted and/or Used on

Wheeled Vehicles (1998 Global

Agreement) has entered into force on

August 25, 2000. In anticipation of the

agreement’s entry into force, the

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration (NHTSA) issued a

notice on July 12, 2000, seeking public

comments on its preliminary

recommendations for the first motor

vehicle safety technical regulations or

aspects of regulations to be considered

for establishment under the 1998 Global

Agreement.

In the notice (published July 18, 2000;

65 Fed. Reg. 44565), NHTSA categorized

its recommendations into two main

groups: (1) priority recommendations

and (2) other recommendations. The

priority items included generally those

foreign standards and/or aspects of

those standards that may represent best

current safety practices from existing

national and regional regulations, and

whose addition to the existing Federal

Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)

would improve the level of vehicle

safety in the U.S. In the notice, the

agency stated that, in allocating its

resources, it will give priority to the

recommendations in this category.

The ‘‘Other Recommendations’’ group

comprised those U.S. standards or

aspects of those standards that may

represent best current safety practices

and should be therefore considered by

other contracting parties to the 1998

Global Agreement in the establishment

of global technical regulations.

In addition to the above mentioned

categories, the notice also referred to the

suggestions that had been received by

the United Nations’ Economic

Commission for Europe World Forum

for Harmonization of Vehicle

Regulations (WP.29) from the

governments of Japan and the Russian

Federation and various industry and

consumer groups. These suggestions are

posted in the NHTSA docket (NHTSA–

00–7638).

In the notice, NHTSA sought

comments on its preliminary

recommendations. It specifically asked

whether any changes should be made to

its list of preliminary recommendations

and whether any of the standards listed

in the proposals submitted to WP.29 by

other governments and by nongovernmental organizations should be

added to NHTSA’s list. In addition,

NHTSA asked whether the agency’s

rulemaking priority activities under the

Vehicle Safety Act and those under

WP.29 should be linked, and if so, to

what extent?

NHTSA received comments from

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety,

the Alliance of Automobile

Manufacturers, Flat Glass Manufacturers

Association of Japan, Honda, the

International Organization of Motor

Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA), the

Rubber Manufacturers Association, and

Toyota.

NHTSA had anticipated completing

its consideration of the public

comments and publishing a revised list

of recommendations prior to the

November 7–10, 2000 meeting of WP.29

so that it could formally present its

recommendations to WP.29 at that

meeting. However, the agency has not

completed its analysis of the comments

and will not be ready to make such a

proposal at the November 2000 meeting.

The agency anticipates completing its

analysis and publishing the final list

prior to the March 2001 meeting and

then submitting it at that meeting.

II. Upcoming November 7–10, 2000

WP.29 Meeting

In its Statement of Policy on Agency

Policy Goals and Public Participation in

the Implementation of the 1998

Agreement on Global Technical

Regulations (published August 23, 2000;

65 Fed. Reg. 51236), NHTSA stated that

it would hold periodic public meetings

on its activities under the 1998 Global

Agreement. It said further that if the

extent of recent and anticipated

significant developments concerning

those activities so warrant, NHTSA

would hold a public meeting within the

60-day period before each of the three

sessions of WP.29 held annually.

NHTSA decided that holding a public

meeting before the November WP.29

meeting was not warranted. Although

NHTSA anticipates that the first

meeting of the Executive Committee of

the 1998 Global Agreement will take

place during this session, that meeting

will not address the setting of priorities

or the establishing of particular

standards under that Agreement. The

meeting will focus instead on discussing

the administrative procedures that will

be followed in implementing the 1998

Global Agreement such as the working

of the Compendium, meeting time for

the Executive Committee, etc. The

technical regulations listed on the

agenda are those being considered

under the 1958 Agreement. For

information purposes, NHTSA has

placed the agenda for the November

2000 meeting in the docket for this

notice.

Issued on November 2, 2000.

Julie Abraham,

Director, Office of International Policy and

Harmonization.

[FR Doc. 00–28532 Filed 11–02–00; 8:45 am]

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