69362 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 222 / Thursday, November 16, 2000 / Notices

• To disclose information to the news

media and the public when (1) a matter

involving the Department of State has

become public knowledge, (2) the Under

Secretary for Management determines

that in response to the matter in the

public domain, disclosure is necessary

to provide an accurate factual record on

the matter, and (3) the Under Secretary

determines that there exists a legitimate

public interest in the information

disclosed.

Also see the ‘‘Routine Uses’’

paragraph of the Prefatory Statement

published in the Federal Register.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING,

RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING AND

DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:

STORAGE:

Electronic media and hard copy.

RETRIEVABILITY:

By individual name, social security

number.

SAFEGUARDS:

All employees of the Department of

State have undergone background

investigations. Access to the Department

and its annexes is controlled by security

guards and admission is limited to those

individuals possessing a valid

identification card or individuals under

proper escort. All records containing

personal information are maintained in

secured file cabinets or in restricted

areas, access to which is limited to

authorized personnel. Access to

computerized files is passwordprotected and under the direct

supervision of the system manager. The

system manager has the capability of

printing audit trails of access from the

computer media, thereby permitting

regular and ad hoc monitoring of

computer usage.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:

These records will be maintained

until they become inactive at which

time they will be retired or destroyed in

accordance with published records

schedules of the Department of State

and as approved by the National

Archives and Records Administration.

More specified information may be

obtained by writing to the Director,

Office of IRM Programs and Services;

A/RPS/IPS; U.S. Department of State,

SA–2; Washington, DC 20522–6001.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:

The Director General of the Foreign

Service and Director of Human

Resources; Department of State; 2201 C

Street, NW; Washington, DC 20520.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:

Individuals who have reason to

believe that the Bureau of Human

Resources might have records pertaining

to themselves should write to the

Director, Office of IRM Programs and

Services (address above). The individual

must specify that he/she wishes the

Human Resources Records to be

checked. At a minimum, the individuals

must include: name; date and place of

birth; approximate dates of employment

with the Department of State or when in

process for a potential appointment;

current mailing address and zip code;

signature and preferably, his/her social

security number.

RECORD ACCESS AND AMENDMENT PROCEDURES:

Individuals who wish to gain access

to or amend records pertaining to

themselves should write to the Director,

Office of IRM Programs and Services

(address above).

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:

These records contain information

obtained directly from the individual

who is the subject of these records,

previous employers, supervisors,

Foreign Service inspectors, any/all

offices within the Bureau of Human

Resources (counselors, placement

officers, and personnel technicians),

other bureaus (administrative/executive

officers, personnel and payroll offices,

security, medical, and legal), reports of

the Board of Examiners of the Foreign

Service, Foreign Service Employee

Evaluation Reports and Selection Board

findings, the Foreign Service Institute,

colleges, universities, Armed Forces

academic institutions, contractors

responsible for administration of the

Foreign Service written examination,

and other authorized agencies

administering pre-employment tests,

Office of Personnel Management and

other federal agencies, prospective alien

spouses of Foreign Service employees;

grievance staff and appeals boards,

affidavits and testimony of witnesses.

System exempted from certain provisions

of the Privacy Act:

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(4),

records contained within this system

that are maintained solely for statistical

purposes are exempted from 5 U.S.C.

552a (c)(3), (d), (e)(1), (e)(4)(G), (H) and

(I), and (f). Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a

(k)(5) and (k)(7), certain records

contained within this system contain

confidential source information and are

exempted from 5 U.S.C. 552a (c)(3), (d),

(e)(1), (e)(4)(G), (H) and (I), and (f).

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a (k)(6), records

that contain testing or examination

material the release of which may

compromise testing or examination

procedures are also exempted from 5

U.S.C. 552a (c)(3), (d), (e)(1), (e)(4)(G),

(H) and (I), and (f). See Department of

State Rules published in the Federal

Register.

[FR Doc. 00–29246 Filed 11–15–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–24–U

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket No. 301–120]

Initiation of Section 302 Investigation

and Request for Public Comment:

Wheat Trading Practices of the

Canadian Wheat Board

AGENCY: Office of the United States

Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice of initiation of

investigation and request for comments.

SUMMARY: The United States Trade

Representative (USTR) has initiated an

investigation under Chapter 1 of Title III

of the Trade Act of 1974 with respect to

the wheat trading practices of the

Canadian Wheat Board. The USTR

invites written comments from the

public on the matters being investigated,

the methods to be used to conduct the

investigation, and the determinations to

be made pursuant to the investigation.

DATES: This investigation was initiated

on October 23, 2000. Written comments

from the public are due on or before

noon on Wednesday, December 20,

2000.

ADDRESSES: Office of the United States

Trade Representative, 600 17th Street

NW., Washington, DC 20508.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sharon Bomer Lauritsen, Director of

Agricultural Affairs, (202) 395–6127, or

William Busis, Associate General

Counsel, (202) 395–3150. For

information concerning procedures for

submitting public comments, please

contact Sybia Harrison, Staff Assistant

to the Section 301 Committee, (202)

395–3419.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Allegations in the Petition

On September 8, 2000, the North

Dakota Wheat Commission filed a

petition pursuant to section 302(a) of

the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the

Trade Act) (19 U.S.C. 2412(a)), alleging

that certain wheat trading practices of

the Government of Canada and the

Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) are

unreasonable, and that such practices

burden or restrict U.S. commerce. The

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 222 / Thursday, November 16, 2000 / Notices 69363

petitioner filed additional explanatory

materials on September 21, 2000,

September 27, 2000, October 5, 2000,

and October 10, 2000.

The petition alleges that the CWB is

a state-trading enterprise with sole

control over the purchase and export of

western Canadian wheat for human

consumption. Certain elements of the

wheat trading system established by the

Government of Canada allegedly

provide the CWB with pricing flexibility

not available to private wheat traders.

According to the petition, those

elements include: (1) CWB monopoly

authority under Canadian federal law to

purchase western Canadian wheat and

to control the international marketing of

western Canadian wheat; (ii) a

purchasing system under which

Canadian farmers are required to accept

initial CWB payments based on only a

portion of the price that the CWB

anticipates it can obtain for the grain,

with any subsequent payments to be

received later in the marketing year; (iii)

the provision by the Government of

Canada of a full financial guarantee of

the CWB’s initial payments to Canadian

farmers; (iv) special, preferential rail

transportation arrangements which are

made available to the CWB; and (v) a

varietal control system which limits any

foreign competition in the domestic

Canadian wheat market. The petition

claims that although the CWB operates

in secrecy and information on the

CWB’s trading practices is difficult to

obtain, available information indicates

that the CWB exploits its pricing

flexibility by engaging in certain

allegedly unreasonable wheat trading

practices. According to the petition,

such practices include standing offers

by the CWB to undersell U.S. wheat in

certain third-country markets, and the

targeting by the CWB of particular

markets by consistently offering to sell

wheat at less than the market value. The

petition asserts that such practices have

harmed U.S. wheat farmers by causing

lost U.S. market share in the United

States and particular third-country

markets, by reducing the sales prices

obtained by U.S. wheat farmers, and by

causing a rise in unsold wheat stocks in

the United States.

The petitioner does not allege that

acts, policies, and practices of the

Government of Canada or the Canadian

Wheat Board are in violation of, or

inconsistent with, the international legal

rights of the United States.

Section 301

Section 302(a) of the Trade Act

authorizes the USTR to initiate an

investigation under chapter 1 of Title III

of the Trade Act (commonly referred to

as ‘‘section 301’’) in response to the

filing of a petition pursuant to section

302(a)(1). Matters actionable under

section 301 include, inter alia, acts,

policies, and practices of a foreign

country that are unjustifiable,

unreasonable, or discriminatory and

burden or restrict U.S. commerce. An

act, policy or practice is unjustifiable if

it is in violation of, or inconsistent with

the international legal rights of the

United States. An act, policy or practice

is unreasonable if the act, policy or

practice, while not necessarily in

violation of, or inconsistent with, the

international legal rights of the United

States, is otherwise unfair or

inequitable.

Initiation of Investigation and

Consultations

On October 23, 2000, the USTR

determined to initiate an investigation

to determine whether certain acts,

policies or practices of the Government

of Canada and the Canadian Wheat

Board with respect to wheat trading are

unreasonable and burden or restrict U.S.

commerce and are, therefore, actionable

under section 301.

Pursuant to section 303(a) of the

Trade Act, on October 23, 2000 USTR

requested consultations with the

Government of Canada concerning the

issues under investigation. USTR will

seek information and advice from the

petitioner and appropriate

representatives provided for under

section 135 of the Trade Act in

preparing the U.S. presentations for

such consultations.

Public Comment: Requirements for

Submissions

Interested persons are invited to

submit written comments concerning

the issues raised in the petition and any

other submissions to USTR in this

investigation. In particular, comments

are invited regarding (i) the acts,

policies and practices of the

Government of Canada and the

Canadian Wheat Board that are the

subject of this investigation; (ii) the

amount of burden or restriction on U.S.

commerce caused by these acts, policies

and practices; (iii) the methods to be

used to conduct the investigation; (iv)

the determinations required under

section 304 of the Trade Act; and (v)

appropriate action under section 301

which could be taken in response.

Comments must be filed in

accordance with the requirements set

forth in 15 CFR 2006.8(b) and must be

filed on or before noon on Wednesday,

December 20, 2000. Comments must be

in English and provided in twenty

copies to: Sybia Harrison, Staff Assistant

to the Section 301 Committee, Room

223, Office of the U.S. Trade

Representative, 600 17th Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20508.

Comments will be placed in a file

(Docket 301–120) open to public

inspection pursuant to 15 CFR 2006.13,

except confidential business

information exempt from public

inspection in accordance with 15 CFR

2006.15. Confidential business

information submitted in accordance

with 15 CFR 2006.15 must be clearly

marked ‘‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’’

in a contrasting color ink at the top of

each page on each of 20 copies, and

must be accompanied by a

nonconfidential summary of the

confidential information. The

nonconfidential summary shall be

placed in the file that is open to public

inspection. Copies of the public version

of the petition and other relevant

documents are available for public

inspection in the USTR Reading Room.

An appointment to review the docket

(Docket No. 301–120) may be made by

calling Brenda Webb (202) 395–6186.

The USTR Reading Room is open to the

public from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon and

1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through

Friday, and is located in Room 101.

William L. Busis,

Chairman, Section 301 Committee.

[FR Doc. 00–29399 Filed 11–15–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3190–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

Notice of Availability of Draft

Environmental Impact Statement and

Notice of Public Hearing for the

Chicago Terminal Airspace Project

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of availability of Draft

Environmental Impact Statement and

conduct of a public hearing.

SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), Great Lakes

Region, is issuing this notice to advise

the public that it has prepared a Draft

Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)

for the Chicago Terminal Airspace

Project (CTAP) and that copies of the

DEIS are available for public review.

A Public Hearing and informational

workshop will be held Monday,

December 18, 2000, from 5 p.m. to 8

p.m. in the Illinois, Minnesota and

Michigan conference rooms at the

Federal Aviation Administration, Great

Lakes Region, 2300 East Devon Avenue,

Des Plaines, IL, 60018. The entrance is