Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 87 /Wednesday, May 6, 1998 / Notices 25063

recovery actions are successful, identify

and secure additional suitable arroyo

toad habitat and populations, conduct

research to determine the population

dynamics and ecology of the species to

guide management efforts and

determine the best methods for reducing

threats, and develop and implement an

outreach program.

Public Comments Solicited

The Service solicits written comments

on the recovery plan described. All

comments received by the date specified

above will be considered prior to

approval of this plan.

Authority

The authority for this action is section

4(f) of the Endangered Species Act, 16

U.S.C. 1533(f).

Michael J. Spear,

Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, Region 1, Portland, Oregon.

[FR Doc. 98–11972 Filed 5–5–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–U

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Availability of a Draft

Recovery Plan for the Least Bell’s

vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus) for Review

and Comment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service announces the availability for

public review of a draft recovery plan

for the least Bell’s vireo (Vireo bellii

pusillus). The breeding distribution of

the least Bell’s vireo is limited to eight

counties in southern California and

portions of northern Baja California,

Mexico. Historically, this species was

widespread throughout riparian

woodlands in the Central Valley and

low elevation riverine valleys of

California and northern Baja California.

Least Bell’s vireos winter in southern

Baja California, Mexico. The Service

solicits review and comment from the

public on this draft plan.

DATES: Comments on the draft recovery

plan must be received on or before July

6, 1998, to be considered by the Service.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review

the draft recovery plan may receive a

copy by contacting the Carlsbad Field

Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,

2730 Loker Avenue West, Carlsbad,

California 92008. Written comments and

material regarding the plan should also

be addressed to the same address above.

Comments and material received are

available on request for public

inspection, by appointment, during

normal business hours at the same

address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jon

Avery, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

(see ADDRESSES) at 760/431–9440).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Restoring an endangered or

threatened animal or plant to the point

where it is again secure, self-sustaining

member of its ecosystem is a primary

goal of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service’s endangered species program.

To help guide the recovery effort, the

Service is working to prepare recovery

plans for most of the listed species

native to the United States. Recovery

Plans describe actions considered

necessary for conservation of the

species, establish criteria for the

recovery levels for reclassifying them

from endangered to threatened or

removing them from the list, and

estimate the time and cost for

implementing the needed recovery

measures.

The Endangered Species Act of 1973

(Act), as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et

seq.) Requires the development of

recovery plans for listed species unless

such a plan would not promote the

conservation of a particular species.

Secion 4(f) of the Act, as amended in

1988, requires that public notice and an

opportunity for public review and

comment be provided during recovery

plan development. The Service will

consider all information presented

during a public comment period prior to

approval of each new or revised

Recovery Plan. The Service and other

Federal agencies will take these

comments into account in the course of

implementing approved recovery plans.

The least Bell’s vireo was listed as

endangered on May 2, 1986. Critical

habitat for the species was designated

on February 2, 1994. The least Bell’s

vireo is an obligate riparian species

during the breeding season, preferring

early successional habitat. This species

typically inhabits structurally diverse

woodlands along watercourses.

Extensive breeding habitat loss and

degradation and brood parasitism by the

brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater)

have resulted in a rangewide decline of

the least Bell’s vireo. The objective of

this plan is the reclassification of the

least Bell’s vireo to threatened and

ultimately, delisting through recovery.

Public Comments Solicited

The Service solicits written comments

on the recovery plan described. All

comments received by the date specified

above will be considered prior to

approval of the plan.

Authority

The authority for this action is section

4(f) of the Endangered Species Act, 16

U.S.C. 1533(F).

Dated: March 30, 1998.

Michael J. Spear,

Regional Director, Region 1.

[FR Doc. 98–11973 Filed 5–5–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–U

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

Bay-Delta Advisory Council’s

Ecosystem Roundtable Meeting

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: The Bay-Delta Advisory

Council’s (BDAC) Ecosystem

Roundtable will meet to discuss several

issues including: status of the May 1998

Proposal Solicitation Package, the

development of the other programs for

FY 98 funding, revised planning

process, funding coordination, CVPIA

FY 98 budget and other issues. This

meeting is open to the public. Interested

persons may make oral statements to the

Ecosystem Roundtable or may file

written statements for consideration.

DATES: The BDAC Ecosystem

Roundtable meeting will be held from

9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Friday, May

15, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The Ecosystem Roundtable

will meet at the Resources Building,

1416 Ninth Street, Room 1131,

Sacramento, CA 95814.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Cindy Darling, CALFED Bay-Delta

Program, at (916) 657–2666. If

reasonable accommodation is needed

due to a disability, please contact the

Equal Employment Opportunity Office

at (916) 653–6952 or TDD (916) 653–

6934 at least one week prior to the

meeting.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The San

Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin

Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta system) is a

critically important part of California’s

natural environment and economy. In

recognition of the serious problems

facing the region and the complex

resource management decisions that

must be made, the state of California

and the Federal government are working

together to stabilize, protect, restore,

and enhance the Bay-Delta system. The
25064 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 87 /Wednesday, May 6, 1998 / Notices

State and Federal agencies with

management and regulatory

responsibilities in the Bay-Delta system

are working together as CALFED to

provide policy direction and oversight

for the process.

One area of Bay-Delta management

includes the establishment of a joint

State-Federal process to develop longterm solutions to problems in the BayDelta system related to fish and wildlife,

water supply reliability, natural

disasters, and water quality. The intent

is to develop a comprehensive and

balanced plan which addresses all of the

resource problems. This effort, the

CALFED Bay-Delta Program (Program),

is being carried out under the policy

direction of CALFED. The Program is

exploring and developing a long-term

solution for a cooperative planning

process that will determine the most

appropriate strategy and actions

necessary to improve water quality,

restore health to the Bay-Delta

ecosystem, provide for a variety of

beneficial uses, and minimize Bay-Delta

system vulnerability. A group of citizen

advisors representing California’s

agricultural, environmental, urban,

business, fishing, and other interests

who have a stake in finding long-term

solutions for the problems affecting the

Bay-Delta system has been chartered

under the Federal Advisory Committee

Act (FACA) as the BDAC to advise

CALFED on the program mission,

problems to be addressed, and

objectives for the Program. BDAC

provides a forum to help ensure public

participation, and will review reports

and other materials prepared by

CALFED staff. BDAC has established a

subcommittee called the Ecosystem

Roundtable to provide input on annual

work plans to implement ecosystem

restoration projects and programs.

Minutes of the meeting will be

maintained by the CALFED Bay-Delta

Program, Suite 1155, 1416 Ninth Street,

Sacramento, CA 95814, and will be

available for public inspection during

regular business hours, Monday through

Friday within 30 days following the

meeting.

Dated: April 30, 1998.

Kirk Rodgers,

Deputy Regional Director, Mid-Pacific Region.

[FR Doc. 98–11969 Filed 5–5–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–94–M

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

COMMISSION

Summary of Commission Practice

Relating to Administrative Protective

Orders

AGENCY: U.S. International Trade

Commission.

ACTION: Summary of Commission

practice relating to administrative

protective orders.

SUMMARY: Since February 1991, the U.S.

International Trade Commission

(‘‘Commission’’) has issued an annual

report on the status of its practice with

respect to violations of its

administrative protective orders

(‘‘APOs’’) in investigations under Title

VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 in response

to a direction contained in the

Conference Report to the Customs and

Trade Act of 1990. Over time, the

Commission has added to its report

discussions of APO breaches in

Commission proceedings other than

Title VII and violations of the

Commission’s rule on bracketing

business proprietary information

(‘‘BPI’’) (the ‘‘24-hour rule’’), 19 CFR

207.3(c). This notice provides a

summary of investigations of breaches

and violations of the 24-hour rule for

the period ending in 1997. The

Commission intends that this report

educate representatives of parties to

Commission proceedings as to some

specific types of APO breaches and 24-

hour rule violations encountered by the

Commission and the corresponding

types of actions the Commission has

taken.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Carol McCue Verratti, Esq., Office of the

General Counsel, U.S. International

Trade Commission, telephone (202)

205–3088. Hearing impaired individuals

are advised that information on this

matter can be obtained by contacting the

Commission’s TDD terminal at (202)

205–1810. General information

concerning the Commission can also be

obtained by accessing its Internet server

(http://www.usitc.gov).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Representatives of parties to

investigations conducted under Title VII

of the Tariff Act of 1930 may enter into

APOs that permit them, under strict

conditions, to obtain access to BPI of

other parties. See 19 U.S.C. 1677f; 19

CFR 207.7. The discussion below

describes APO breach investigations

that the Commission has completed

including a description of actions taken

in response to breaches. The discussion

covers breach investigations completed

during calendar year 1997.

Since 1993, the report has also

included a summary of the

Commission’s investigations involving

violations of the 24-hour rule, which

provides that during the 24-hour period

after a Commission deadline for a party

submission in an antidumping or

countervailing duty proceeding, changes

are permitted to the proprietary version

to correct the bracketing of BPI; no other

changes are permitted under that rule.

See 19 CFR 207.3(c). The discussion

below covers investigations of violations

of this rule completed during 1997.

In recent years, the Commission has

expanded the report to include APO

breaches in other types of proceedings

as well. In 1997, no APO investigations

were completed in proceedings other

than Title VII investigations.

Since 1991, the Commission has

published annually a summary of its

actions in response to violations of

Commission APOs and the ‘‘24-hour’’

rule. See 56 FR 4846 (Feb. 6, 1991); 57

FR 12,335 (Apr. 9, 1992); 58 FR 21,991

(Apr. 26, 1993); 59 FR 16,834 (Apr. 8,

1994); 60 FR 24,880 (May 10, 1995); 61

FR 21,203 (May 9, 1996), and 62 FR

13,164 (March 19, 1997). This report

does not provide an exclusive list of

conduct that will be deemed to be a

breach of the Commission’s APOs. APO

breach inquiries are considered on a

case-by-case basis.

As part of the effort to educate

practitioners about the Commission’s

current APO practice, the Commission

Secretary issued in April 1996 a revised

edition of An Introduction to

Administrative Protective Order Practice

in Antidumping and Countervailing

Duty Investigations (Pub. No. 2961).

This document is available upon request

from the Office of the Secretary, U.S.

International Trade Commission, 500 E

Street, SW, Washington, DC 20436,

telephone (202) 205–2000.

I. In General

The current APO form for

antidumping and countervailing duty

investigations, which the Commission

has used since March 1995, requires the

applicant to swear that he or she will:

(1) Not divulge any of the BPI

obtained under the APO and not

otherwise available to him, to any

person other than—

(i) Personnel of the Commission

concerned with the investigation,

(ii) The person or agency from whom

the BPI was obtained,

(iii) A person whose application for

disclosure of BPI under this APO has

been granted by the Secretary, and

(iv) Other persons, such as paralegals

and clerical staff, who (a) are employed

or supervised by and under the