15562 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 62 / Tuesday, April 1, 1997 / Notices

2 The Board will grant a stay if an informed

decision on environmental issues (whether raised

by a party or by the Board’s Section of

Environmental Analysis in its independent

investigation) cannot be made before the

exemption’s effective date. See Exemption of Outof-Service Rail Lines, 5 I.C.C.2d 377 (1989). Any

request for a stay should be filed as soon as possible

so that the Board may take appropriate action before

the exemption’s effective date.

3 Each offer of financial assistance must be

accompanied by the filing fee, which currently is

set at $900. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).

4 The Board will accept late-filed trail use

requests as long as the abandonment has not been

consummated and the abandoning railroad is

willing to negotiate an agreement.

1The Board will grant a stay if an informed

decision on environmental issues (whether raised

by a party or by the Board’s Section of

Environmental Analysis in its independent

investigation) cannot be made before the

exemption’s effective date. See Exemption of Outof-Service Rail Lines, 5 I.C.C.2d 377 (1989). Any

request for a stay should be filed as soon as possible

so that the Board may take appropriate action before

the exemption’s effective date.

2 Each offer of financial assistance must be

accompanied by the filing fee, which currently is

set at $900. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).

3 The Board will accept late-filed trail use

requests as long as the abandonment has not been

consummated and the abandoning railroad is

willing to negotiate an agreement.

condition adequately protects affected

employees, a petition for partial

revocation under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d)

must be filed. Provided no formal

expression of intent to file an offer of

financial assistance (OFA) has been

received, this exemption will be

effective on May 1, 1997, unless stayed

pending reconsideration. Petitions to

stay that do not involve environmental

issues, 2 formal expressions of intent to

file an OFA under 49 CFR

1152.27(c)(2), 3 and trail use/rail

banking requests under 49 CFR

1152.29 4 must be filed by April 11,

1997. Petitions to reopen or requests for

public use conditions under 49 CFR

1152.28 must be filed by April 21, 1997,

with: Office of the Secretary, Case

Control Unit, Surface Transportation

Board, 1925 K Street, N.W., Washington,

DC 20423.

A copy of any petition filed with the

Board should be sent to applicant

representatives: Charles M. Rosenberger,

Senior Counsel, CSX Transportation,

Inc., 500 Water Street J150, Jacksonville,

FL 32202 and William C. Sippel,

Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, Two

Prudential Plaza, 45th Floor, 180 North

Stetson Avenue, Chicago, IL 60602.

If the verified notice contains false or

misleading information, the exemption

is void ab initio.

CSXT and W&LE have filed an

environmental report which addresses

the effects of the abandonment and

discontinuance, if any, on the

environment and historic resources. The

Section of Environmental Analysis

(SEA) will issue an environmental

assessment (EA) by April 4, 1997.

Interested persons may obtain a copy of

the EA by writing to SEA (Room 500,

Surface Transportation Board,

Washington, DC 20423) or by calling

SEA, at (202) 565–1545. Comments on

environmental and historic preservation

matters must be filed within 15 days

after the EA becomes available to the

public.

Environmental, historic preservation,

public use, or trail use/rail banking

conditions will be imposed, where

appropriate, in a subsequent decision.

Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR

1152.29(e)(2), CSXT and W&LE shall file

a notice of consummation with the

Board to signify that they have exercised

the authority granted and discontinued

service and fully abandoned the line. If

consummation has not been effected by

CSXT’s and W&LE’s filing of a notice of

consummation by April 1, 1998, and

there are no legal or regulatory barriers

to consummation, the authority to

abandon and discontinue will

automatically expire.

Decided: March 25 , 1997.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–8238 Filed 3–31–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

[STB Docket No. AB–303 (Sub–No. 16X)]

Wisconsin Central LTD.—

Abandonment Exemption—in Clark

County, WI

Wisconsin Central LTD. (WCL) has

filed a notice of exemption under 49

CFR 1152 Subpart F—Exempt

Abandonments to abandon

approximately .64 miles of its line of

railroad, known as the Abbotsford line,

between milepost 303.37 and milepost

304.01, in Abbotsford, Clark County,

WI.

WCL has certified that: (1) No local

traffic has moved over the line for at

least 2 years; (2) any overhead traffic on

the line can be rerouted; (3) no formal

complaint filed by a user of rail service

on the line (or by a state or local

government entity acting on behalf of

such user) regarding cessation of service

over the line either is pending with the

Surface Transportation Board (Board) or

with any U.S. District Court or has been

decided in favor of complainant within

the 2-year period; and (4) the

requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7

(environmental reports), 49 CFR 1105.8

(historic reports), 49 CFR 1105.11

(transmittal letter), 49 CFR 1105.12

(newspaper publication), and 49 CFR

1152.50(d)(1) (notice to governmental

agencies) have been met.

As a condition to this exemption, any

employee adversely affected by the

abandonment shall be protected under

Oregon Short Line R. Co.—

Abandonment—Goshen, 360 I.C.C. 91

(1979). To address whether this

condition adequately protects affected

employees, a petition for partial

revocation under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d)

must be filed.

Provided no formal expression of

intent to file an offer of financial

assistance (OFA) has been received, this

exemption will be effective on May 1,

1997, unless stayed pending

reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do

not involve environmental issues, 1

formal expressions of intent to file an

OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2), 2 and

trail use/rail banking requests under 49

CFR 1152.29 3 must be filed by April 11,

1997. Petitions to reopen or requests for

public use conditions under 49 CFR

1152.28 must be filed by April 21, 1997,

with: Office of the Secretary, Case

Control Unit, Surface Transportation

Board, 1925 K Street, N.W., Washington,

DC 20423.

A copy of any petition filed with the

Board should be sent to applicant’s

representative: Thomas J. Litwiler,

Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, Two

Prudential Plaza, 45th Floor, 180 North

Stetson Avenue, Chicago, IL 60601.

If the verified notice contains false or

misleading information, the exemption

is void ab initio.

WCL has filed an environmental

report which addresses the

abandonment’s effects, if any, on the

environment and historic resources. The

Section of Environmental Analysis

(SEA) will issue an environmental

assessment (EA) byApril 4, 1997.

Interested persons may obtain a copy of

the EA by writing to SEA (Room 500,

Surface Transportation Board,

Washington, DC 20423) or by calling

SEA, at (202) 565–1545. Comments on

environmental and historic preservation

matters must be filed within 15 days

after the EA becomes available to the

public.

Environmental, historic preservation,

public use, or trail use/rail banking

conditions will be imposed, where

appropriate, in a subsequent decision.

Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR

1152.29(e)(2), WCL shall file a notice of

consummation with the Board to signify

that it has exercised the authority

granted and fully abandoned the line. If

consummation has not been effected by

WCL’s filing of a notice of
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 62 / Tuesday, April 1, 1997 / Notices 15563

consummation by April 1, 1998, and

there are no legal or regulatory barriers

to consummation, the authority to

abandon will automatically expire.

Decided: March 25, 1997.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–8236 Filed 3–31–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 44915–00–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

List of Foreign Entities Violating

Textile Transshipment and Country of

Origin Rules

AGENCY: Customs Service, Department

of the Treasury.

ACTION: General notice.

SUMMARY: This document notifies the

public of foreign entities which have

been issued a penalty claim under

section 592 of the Tariff Act of 1930, for

certain violations of the customs laws.

This list is authorized to be published

by § 592A of the Tariff Act of 1930.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

information regarding any of the

operational aspects, contact Michael

Compeau, Chief, Seizures and Penalties,

at 202-927–0762. For information

regarding any of the legal aspects,

contact Ellen McClain, Office of Chief

Counsel, at 202–927–6900.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 333 of the Uruguay Round

Agreements Act (URAA) (Pub. L. 103–

465, 108 Stat. 4809) (signed December 8,

1994), entitled Textile Transshipments,

amended Part V of title IV of the Tariff

Act of 1930 by creating a section 592A

(19 U.S.C. 1592a), which authorizes the

Secretary of the Treasury to publish in

the Federal Register, on a biannual

basis, a list of the names of any

producers, manufacturers, suppliers,

sellers, exporters, or other persons

located outside the customs territory of

the United States, when these entities

have been issued a penalty claim under

section 592 of the Tariff Act of 1930, for

certain violations of the customs laws,

provided that certain conditions are

satisfied.

The violations of the customs laws

referred to above are the following: (1)

Using documentation, or providing

documentation subsequently used by

the importer of record, which indicates

a false or fraudulent country of origin or

source of textile or apparel products; (2)

Using counterfeit visas, licenses,

permits, bills of lading, or similar

documentation, or providing counterfeit

visas, licenses, permits, bills of lading,

or similar documentation that is

subsequently used by the importer of

record, with respect to the entry into the

customs territory of the United States of

textile or apparel products; (3)

Manufacturing, producing, supplying,

or selling textile or apparel products

which are falsely or fraudulently labeled

as to country of origin or source; and (4)

Engaging in practices which aid or abet

the transshipment, through a country

other than the country of origin, of

textile or apparel products in a manner

which conceals the true origin of the

textile or apparel products or permits

the evasion of quotas on, or voluntary

restraint agreements with respect to,

imports of textile or apparel products.

If a penalty claim has been issued

with respect to any of the above

violations, and no petition in response

to the claim has been filed, the name of

the party to whom the penalty claim

was issued will appear on the list. If a

petition, supplemental petition or

second supplemental petition for relief

from the penalty claim is submitted

under 19 U.S.C. 1618, in accord with

the time periods established by

§§ 171.32 and 171.33, Customs

Regulations (19 CFR 171.32, 171.33) and

the petition is subsequently denied or

the penalty is mitigated, and no further

petition, if permitted, is received within

30 days of the denial or allowance of

mitigation, then the administrative

action shall be deemed to be final and

administrative remedies will be deemed

to be exhausted. Consequently, the

name of the party to whom the penalty

claim was issued will appear on the list.

However, provision is made for an

appeal to the Secretary of the Treasury

by the person named on the list, for the

removal of its name from the list. If the

Secretary finds that such party has not

committed any of the enumerated

violations for a period of not less than

3 years after the date on which the

party’s name was published, the name

will be removed from the list as of the

next publication of the list.

Reasonable Care Required

Section 592A also requires any

importer of record entering, introducing,

or attempting to introduce into the

commerce of the United States textile or

apparel products that were either

directly or indirectly produced,

manufactured, supplied, sold, exported,

or transported by such named person to

show, to the satisfaction of the

Secretary, that such importer has

exercised reasonable care to ensure that

the textile or apparel products are

accompanied by documentation,

packaging, and labeling that are accurate

as to its origin. Under section 592A,

reliance solely upon information

regarding the imported product from a

person named on the list does not

constitute the exercise of reasonable

care.

Textile and apparel importers who

have some commercial relationship

with one or more of the listed parties

must exercise a degree of reasonable

care in ensuring that the documentation

covering the imported merchandise, as

well as its packaging and labeling, is

accurate as to the country of origin of

the merchandise. This degree of

reasonable care must rely on more than

information supplied by the named

party.

In meeting the reasonable care

standard when importing textile or

apparel products and when dealing with

a party named on the list published

pursuant to section 592A, an importer

should consider the following questions

in attempting to ensure that the

documentation, packaging, and labeling

is accurate as to the country of origin of

the imported merchandise. The list of

questions is not exhaustive but is

illustrative.

(1) Has the importer had a prior

relationship with the named party?

(2) Has the importer had any

detentions and/or seizures of textile or

apparel products that were directly or

indirectly produced, supplied, or

transported by the named party?

(3) Has the importer visited the

company’s premises and ascertained

that the company has the capacity to

produce the merchandise?

(4) Where a claim of substantial

transformation is made, has the

importer ascertained that the named

party actually substantially transforms

the merchandise?

(5) Is the named party operating from

the same country as is represented by

that party on the documentation,

packaging or labeling?

(6) Have quotas for the imported

merchandise closed or are they nearing

closing from the main producer

countries for this commodity?

(7) What is the history of this country

regarding this commodity?

(8) Have you asked questions of your

supplier regarding the origin of the

product?

(9) Where the importation is

accompanied by a visa, permit, or

license, has the importer verified with

the supplier or manufacturer that the

visa, permit, and/or license is both valid

and accurate as to its origin? Has the