68128 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 220 / Tuesday, November 14, 2000 / Notices

Allegations of Subsidies

Section 702(b) of the Act requires the

Department to initiate a countervailing

duty proceeding whenever an interested

party files a petition, on behalf of an

industry, that (1) alleges the elements

necessary for an imposition of a duty

under section 701(a), and (2) is

accompanied by information reasonably

available to the petitioners supporting

the allegations.

Initiation of Countervailing Duty

Investigation

The Department has examined the

countervailing duty petition on pure

magnesium from Israel and found that it

complies with the requirements of

section 702(b) of the Act. Therefore, in

accordance with section 702(b) of the

Act, we are initiating a countervailing

duty investigation to determine whether

manufacturers, producers, or exporters

of pure magnesium from Israel receive

countervailable subsidies. See Initiation

Checklist.

Privatization

According to the information in the

petition and presented at consultations,

one of the parent companies of the

Israeli manufacturer of magnesium,

Dead Sea Magnesium (‘‘DSM’’), was

almost entirely privatized as of 1998.

Since some of the alleged subsidies

were provided prior to that date, the

Department intends to examine whether

those subsidies continue to benefit the

privatized company, in light of the

Court of Appeals for the Federal

Circuit’s ruling in Delverde, SRL v.

United States, 202 F.3d 1360 (Fed. Cir.

2000).

Creditworthiness

The petitioners allege DSM was

uncreditworthy from its inception

through the end of the POI. This

allegation was supported by financial

ratios for DSM and its parent company.

We will investigate DSM’s

creditworthiness in years in which we

find that government equity infusions,

loans or loan guarantees were provided.

Programs

We are including in our investigation

the following programs alleged in the

petition to have provided

countervailable subsidies to producers

and exporters of the subject

merchandise in Israel:

1. Encouragement of Capital

Investments Law (‘‘ECIL’’) Grants.

2. Reduced Tax Rates under ECIL.

3. ECIL Preferential Accelerated

Depreciation.

4. Encouragement of Research and

Development Law (‘‘EIRD’’) Grants.

5. The Infrastructure Grant Program.

We are not including in our

investigation the following programs

alleged to be benefitting producers and

exporters of the subject merchandise in

Israel: Subsidies under the Magnesium

Research Institute and the Consortium

Research Programs.

The petitioners allege that the

Magnesium Research Institute (‘‘MRI’’)

and the Consortium Research programs

should be investigated by the

Department to determine whether the

Israeli government is conferring

countervailable subsidies as a result of

the involvement of public universities

in these programs. The petitioners

support their allegation with

documentation from DSM’s web page

concerning research. The petitioners

explain that one of the Israeli Ministry

of Industry and Trade’s major goals is to

transition from capital investment

grants to alternative forms of aid,

including research and development

grants. Petitioners request that the

Department initiate an investigation to

determine whether the Israeli

government is conferring

countervailable subsidies by mean of

the academic involvement in these

programs.

The petitioners have not provided

sufficient evidence regarding the nature

of the financial contribution or the

benefits conferred on DSW/DSM.

Accordingly, we are not including this

program in our investigation.

Distribution of Copies of the Petition

In accordance with section

702(b)(4)(A)(i) of the Act, copies of the

public version of the petition have been

provided to the GOI. We will attempt to

provide copies of the public version of

the petition to all the exporters named

in the petition, as provided for under

section 351.203(c)(2) of the

Department’s regulations.

ITC Notification

Pursuant to section 702(d) of the Act,

we will notify the ITC of this initiation.

Preliminary Determination by the ITC

The ITC will determine by December

1, 2000, whether there is a reasonable

indication that an industry in the

United States is materially injured, or is

threatened with material injury, by

reason of imports of pure magnesium

from Israel. A negative ITC

determination will result in the

investigation being terminated;

otherwise, the investigation will

proceed according to statutory and

regulatory time limits.

This notice is published pursuant to

section 777(i) of the Act.

Dated: November 6, 2000.

Joseph A. Spetrini,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import

Administration.

[FR Doc. 00–29080 Filed 11–13–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P

THE COMMISSION OF FINE ARTS

2001 National Capital Arts and Cultural

Affairs Program

Notice is hereby given that Public

Law 99–190, as amended, authorizing

the National Capital Arts and Cultural

Affairs Program, has been funded for

2001 in the amount of $7,000,000.00.

All requests for information and

applications for grants should be

received by December 31, 2000 and

addressed to: Charles H. Atherton,

Secretary, Commission of Fine Arts,

National Building Museum, Suite 312,

441 F Street, NW., Washington, DC

20001. Phone: 202–504–2200.

Deadline for receipt of grant

applications is March 1, 2001.

This program provides grants for

general operating support of

organizations whose primary purpose is

performing exhibiting, and/or

presenting the arts. To be eligible for a

grant, organizations must be located in

the District of Columbia, must be nonprofit, non-academic institutions of

demonstrated national repute, and must

have annual incomes, exclusive of

federal funds, in excess of one million

dollars for each of the past three years.

Charles H. Atherton,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–29076 Filed 11–13–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6330–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army

Availability of Patents for Exclusive,

Partially Exclusive or Nonexclusive

Licenses

AGENCY: U.S. Army Soldier and

Biological Chemical Command, U.S.

Army, DoD.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of the Army

announces the general availability of

exclusive, partially exclusive, or

nonexclusive licenses under the

following patents that are listed in the

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION paragraph.

Any licenses granted shall comply with

35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR part 404.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Robert Rosenkrans at U.S. Army Soldier