28450 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 99 / Friday, May 22, 1998 / Notices

comments concerning the following

information collection:

Title: U.S./Israel Free Trade

Agreement.

OMB Number: 1515–0192.

Form Number: N/A.

Abstract: This collection is used to

ensure conformance with the provisions

of the U.S./Israel Free Trade Agreement

for duty free entry status.

Current Actions: There are no changes

to the information collection. This

submission is being submitted to extend

the expiration date.

Type of Review: Extension (without

change).

Affected Public: Businesses,

Individuals, Institutions.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

34,500.

Estimated Time Per Respondent: 10

minutes.

Estimated Total Annual Burden

Hours: 7,505.

Estimated Total Annualized Cost on

the Public: N/A.

Dated: May 18, 1998.

J. Edgar Nichols,

Team Leader, Information Services Group.

[FR Doc. 98–13719 Filed 5–21–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4820–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

Public Meetings in New Orleans and

Houston on Vessel Entrance and

Clearance Procedures

AGENCY: U.S. Customs Service,

Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of public meetings.

SUMMARY: The United States Customs

Service will be holding two public

meetings regarding a recent policy

determination regarding the entrance

and clearance requirements for vessels

and aircraft servicing offshore

operations beyond the territorial waters

of the United States. One meeting will

be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, and

the other will be held in Houston,

Texas. This document announces the

dates, times and other particulars of the

meetings. Questions which one wishes

to have addressed at the meetings may

be communicated in writing to Customs

Headquarters prior to the meetings.

DATES: The meetings will be held at the

following dates and times: For the

Houston meeting: June 15, 1998, from

1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. For New

Orleans meeting: June 17, 1998, from

1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. For submitted

written comments to be addressed at

meetings: Comments must be received

no later than the close of business June

1, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The meetings will be held at

the following locations: For the Houston

meeting: Port of Houston Authority

Main Office Bldg., 111 East Loop North,

First Floor Training Room, Houston,

Texas. For the New Orleans meeting:

New Orleans Customshouse, 423 Canal

Street, Room 223, New Orleans,

Louisiana. Written comments should be

submitted to: Office of Field Operations,

Trade Compliance, Attn: William Scopa,

U.S. Customs Service, 1300

Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C.

20229, or faxed to the attention of

William Scopa at (202) 927–1356.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Regarding questions about attending the

Houston meeting: please call (281) 985–

6700. Regarding questions about

attending the New Orleans meeting:

please call (504) 670–2391. For

information regarding the entrance and

clearance requirements: for operational

or policy concerns: contact William

Scopa at (202) 927–3112; for regulatory

issues: contact Larry Burton at (202)

927–1287.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Recently, there has been concern

regarding uniform Customs enforcement

of the report of arrival requirements set

forth in 19 U.S.C. 1433 for any vessel

which has received merchandise while

outside of the territorial seas; the formal

entry requirements set forth in 19 U.S.C.

1434 for any vessel which has delivered

or received merchandise while outside

the territorial seas; and the

corresponding clearance statute, 46

U.S.C. App. 91. The concern is also

applicable, through 19 U.S.C. 1644, to

enforcement of the report of arrival

requirements, formal entry requirements

and clearance requirements for aircraft

receiving and delivering merchandise

while outside the territorial seas. A

policy determination by the Customs

Service regarding its interpretation of

these statutory requirements has had a

substantial impact on both Customs and

the trade.

Much of the concern resulted from an

interpretation by the Customs Service

which exempted vessels and aircraft

transporting vessel supplies, bunkers,

parts, equipment and crew, out beyond

the territorial sea from entrance and

clearance requirements. This

interpretation applied not only to such

transactions involving the delivery or

receipt of the mentioned items to fixedsite oil rigs, but to non-fixed vessels as

well.

Customs reexamined the pertinent

statutes and determined that the

exemptions for the delivery or receipt of

vessel supplies, bunkers, parts,

equipment and crew to non-fixed

vessels located beyond the territorial sea

cannot be sustained. It became

necessary to immediately implement the

suspension of this exemption. The

pertinent statutes are clear and

unambiguous and it would not be

proper for Customs to delay their

uniform enforcement.

Customs still, however, holds that

vessels or aircraft delivering or receiving

goods or passengers to or from fixed-site

rigs are not subject to entrance and

clearance requirements unless

unentered foreign goods are involved in

the transportation. Such an

interpretation is consistent with the

Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

Customs recognizes the fact that there

has been an increase in commerce

involving vessels and aircraft supplying

necessary goods and services to

numerous domestic and foreign

commercial operations just beyond our

territorial waters, especially in the Gulf

of Mexico. Customs is contemplating

providing for less burdensome entry and

clearance procedures for vessels and

aircraft engaged in these types of

activities within the boundaries of the

law.

Before beginning such procedures,

Customs believes it would be beneficial

both to the government and to private

entities to hold public meetings on this

issue to allow all interested parties an

opportunity to be heard. The public

forums will provide Customs with the

opportunity to fully explain the extent

of the recent policy determination.

Since the impact of the Customs

policy is most heavily felt by ports in

the Gulf of Mexico, public meetings will

be held at the ports of New Orleans,

Louisiana, and Houston, Texas.

At the meetings, personnel from

Customs Headquarters will be available

to answer questions regarding the

applicability of the laws and to discuss

the possibility of modifying vessel and

aircraft entrance and clearance

procedures. Questions relating to the

entrance and clearance requirements

under the new policy may be sent to

Customs prior to the meetings. Such

questions should be sent to Customs at

the address or fax number set forth at

the beginning of this document, and

must be received no later than the close

of business on June 1, 1998, in order to

be addressed at the meetings.

Space at the meetings will be limited.

Attendance will be accommodated on a

first-come basis.
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 99 / Friday, May 22, 1998 / Notices 28451

Dated: May 19, 1998.

Robert S. Trotter,

Assistant Commissioner. Office of Field

Operations.

[FR Doc. 98–13715 Filed 5–21–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4820–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

United States Mint

Dollar Coin Design Advisory

Committee; Notice of Meeting

May 18, 1998.

SUMMARY: The Dollar Coin Design

Advisory Committee (DCDAC) will meet

Monday and Tuesday June 8–9, 1998.

The Committee will recommend to the

Secretary of the Treasury a design

concept for the obverse (‘‘heads’’) of the

new $1 coin. This meeting will be open

to the public; however, due to limited

space, seating at the meeting will be on

a first-come basis.

Purpose

The purpose of this meeting is for the

Committee to consider design concepts

for the obverse of the new $1 coin and

to determine a single such design

concept to recommend to the Secretary

of the Treasury. As an element of the

agenda, the Committee will entertain

presentations from the public the

afternoon of Monday, June 8. In

addition to public presentations, the

Committee will receive an orientation

briefing, nominate design concepts, and

recommend a single design concept to

the Secretary.

Dates, Times and Places of the Dollar

Coin Design Advisory Committee

Meeting

June 8, 1998, 11:00 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia,

Auditorium, 10 Independence Mall

(entrance on 7th Street), Philadelphia,

PA 19106

June 9, 1998, 8 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia,

Auditorium, 10 Independence Mall

(entrance on 7th Street), Philadelphia,

PA 19106

Members of the public wishing to

schedule an oral presentation at the

meeting must contact Michael White, in

writing by mail, email, or fax, by no

later than 12:00 noon Eastern Time on

June 1, 1998 (see below). All mail

submissions must be received by the

established deadline in order to be

considered timely. The request must

identify the name of the individual who

will make the presentation and the

organization they represent, and include

an outline of the merits, background,

and historical significance of the

concept that will be advocated.

Presentations will be limited to five (5)

minutes each, and will generally be

reviewed on a first-come basis.

Presenters will be notified by no later

than June 5, 1998, if they have been

selected for presentation. An additional

thirty (30) minutes will be set aside

during the first day of the meeting for

unscheduled presentations.

Members of the public who have not

been selected in advance for

presentation may sign up on the first

day of the meeting on June 8, 1998,

between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and

12:00 noon, in the back of the meeting

room. Requests for an unscheduled

presentation will be reviewed on a firstcome basis.

Any member of the public wishing to

submit a design concept should do so

via the Internet by accessing the Mint’s

web site (http://www.usmint.gov) and emailing the Mint by June 1, 1998.

Alternatively, if no Internet access is

available, design concepts may be

submitted in writing to Michael White

(see below); mail must be received no

later than June 1, 1998 A summary of

suggested concepts that comply with the

parameters listed below will be

compiled and presented to Committee

members prior to the meeting.

As stated in the Committee Charter,

the Committee will recommend to the

Secretary an obverse design concept that

comports with the following parameters:

(a) The design shall maintain a dignity

befitting the Nation’s coinage, (b) the

design shall have broad appeal to the

citizenry of the Nation and shall avoid

subjects or symbols that are likely to

offend, (c) the design should not include

any inscriptions beyond those required

by statute, and (d) the design concept

shall not depict a living person. In

addition, the Secretary has determined

that the obverse design should be a

representation of one or more women.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael White, United States Mint,

Dollar Coin Design Advisory

Committee, 633 3rd Street N.W., Room

715, Washington, DC 20220, Voice:

(202) 874–7565 (for additional

information only; requests to make a

presentation or propose a design

concept must be in writing), Fax: (202)

874–4083, Web site: http://

www.usmint.gov.

Philip Diehl,

Director, The United States Mint.

[FR Doc. 98–13669 Filed 5–21–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4810–37–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of Thrift Supervision

[AC–21: OTS No. 15152]

Ben Franklin Bank of Illinois, Arlington

Heights, IL; Approval of Conversion

Application

Notice is hereby given that on May 14,

1998, the Director, Corporate Activities,

Office of Thrift Supervision, or her

designee, acting pursuant to delegated

authority, approved the application of

Ben Franklin Bank of Illinois, Arlington

Heights, Illinois, to covert to the stock

form of organization. Copies of the

application are available for inspection

at the Dissemination Branch, Office of

Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20552, and the Central

Regional Office, Office of Thrift

Supervision, 200 West Madison Street,

Suite 1300, Chicago, Illinois 60606.

Dated: May 18, 1998.

By the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Nadine Y. Washington,

Corporate Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–13697 Filed 5–21–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6720–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of Thrift Supervision

[AC–20: OTS No. 15189]

Carnegie Savings Bank, Carnegie, PA;

Approval of Conversion Application

Notice is hereby given that on May 14,

1998, the Director, Corporate Activities,

Office of Thrift Supervision, or her

designee, acting pursuant to delegated

authority, approved the application of

Carnegie Savings Bank, Carnegie,

Pennsylvania, to convert to the stock

form of organization. Copies of the

application are available for inspection

at the Dissemination Branch, Office of

Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20552, and the

Northeast Regional Office, Office of

Thrift Supervision, 10 Exchange Place,

18th Floor, Jersey City, New Jersey

07302.

Dated: May 18, 1998.

By the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Nadine Y. Washington.

Corporate Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–13696 Filed 5–21–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6720–01–M