This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

36872

Vol. 63, No. 130

Wednesday, July 8, 1998

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Foreign Agricultural Service

Foreign Currencies Available for the

Development of Foreign Markets

AGENCY: Foreign Agricultural Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Foreign Agricultural

Service (‘‘FAS’’) invites proposals from

interested parties to use Tunisian or

Moroccan currencies acquired by the

United States government for market

development projects and technical

assistance activities in those countries.

These currencies were acquired

pursuant to agreements under title I of

the Agricultural Trade Development and

Assistance Act of 1954, (P.L. 480).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Evans Browne, Program Development

Division, Export Credits, Foreign

Agricultural Service, Room 4506, South

Building, Stop 1034, U.S. Department of

Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave.,

SW, Washington, D.C. 20250–1034.

Telephone: (202) 720–4228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title I,

P.L. 480 authorizes the United States to

finance the sale and exportation of

agricultural commodities to foreign

governments on concessional terms.

Between 1986 and 1991, the United

States entered into various title I, P.L.

480 agreements with foreign

governments, including Tunisia and

Morocco, on terms which required

repayment to the United States in local

currencies. These agreements were

commonly referred to as constituting the

‘‘section 108 program.’’ Most of the

foreign currency received under the

section 108 program was loaned by the

United States to financial institutions in

the host country which would, in turn,

loan the funds to local businesses in

order to foster economic development.

After the local financial institutions

repaid the United States, the funds

could be made available for the

development of markets for United

States agricultural commodities. In

addition, other local currency repaid to

the United States could be used for

agricultural technical assistance to

foster and encourage the development of

private enterprise institutions and

infrastructure as the base for the

production of food and related goods

and services. Currently, Tunisian and

Moroccan local currencies acquired

under the section 108 program are

available for the development of

markets for United States agricultural

commodities and for agricultural

technical assistance activities.

Application Process

Responsibility for administering

Departmental programs concerned with

developing foreign markets for United

States agricultural commodities and

technical cooperation has been

delegated to FAS. Parties interested in

using Tunisian or Moroccan currency to

develop markets for agricultural

commodities, or to undertake technical

assistance activities, in those countries

should submit a proposal to: Evans

Browne, Program Development

Division, Export Credits, Foreign

Agricultural Service, Room 4506, South

Building, Stop 1034, U.S. Department of

Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave.,

SW., Washington, D.C. 20250–1034.

Telephone: (202) 720–4228. Interested

parties must submit Standard Form 424

(SF–424) in conjunction with their

proposal. This form is available from the

above address. FAS will review all

proposals in accordance with the

standards in this notice. Those

organizations which requested section

108 funding as part of their 1998

Unified Export Strategy (UES)

application should review this notice to

determine if all information requested

herein has been furnished. If so, such

organizations need not re-apply in

response to this announcement. FAS

will accept additional and supplemental

information supporting proposals

already submitted in the UES

application.

Proposals should outline, to the

extent applicable, the following points:

• A description of the project to

develop or expand a commercial market

for a U.S. agricultural commodity or

product, or a description of the

technical assistance activity;

• An indication of funding sources

and amounts to be contributed by the

applicant to implement the project or

technical assistance activity in addition

to the local currency provided by FAS.

This may include amounts contributed

by private industry entities or host

governments. Contributed resources

may include cash, goods, and services;

• The average value of U.S. exports of

the commodity or product promoted by

the applicant for the years 1995–97;

• The average total value of world

trade of the commodity or product

promoted by the applicant during the

years 1995–97;

• The total dollar value of projected

U.S. exports of the commodity or

product promoted by the applicant

during 1998;

• A results-oriented means of

measuring the success of the project or

technical assistance activity and a plan

for reporting progress to FAS. For

example, the proposals should identify

the constraints or barriers to trade faced

by a particular product in a particular

market; describe the strategy and

activity(ies) that will be implemented to

overcome such impediments; and

finally, identify the goals and

performance indicators which will be

used to measure the effectiveness of the

strategy and activities in achieving those

goals;

• The administrative capabilities of

the participant to implement the project

or technical assistance activity;

• Proposals for technical assistance

activities should also describe how the

technical assistance will enhance the

local market’s food and rural business

systems, and impact on transformation

of the host country’s economy to a free

market system.

Review Process

FAS will review the proposals to

identify projects that could contribute to

the effective creation, expansion, or

maintenance of foreign markets for U.S.

agricultural commodities and products.

When reviewing proposals to undertake

generic activities, FAS will give priority

to organizations that are industry-wide

or nationwide in membership and

scope. For such activities, U.S.

agricultural trade associations will be

used to the maximum extent possible.

Recipients must demonstrate an ability

to provide U.S.-based staff capable of

developing, supervising, and carrying

out projects overseas, and be willing
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 130 /Wednesday, July 8, 1998 / Notices 36873

and able to contribute resources to a

joint project. FAS will also consider the

likelihood of these activities influencing

conditions affecting the level of U.S.

exports; the size, in both budget and

scope, of the proposed project; and, the

likelihood of the market becoming a

commercial market for U.S. agricultural

commodities and products. FAS

considers evaluation critical to the

success of a market development

project. In determining whether to

approve a market development or

technical assistance project, FAS will

place great emphasis on the

performance measures in the proposal

and upon the plan for reporting progress

to FAS.

Upon approval of a proposal, FAS

will enter into an agreement with the

entity submitting the proposal pursuant

to which FAS will provide local

currencies for carrying out the market

development or technical assistance

project. Agreements will incorporate, by

reference, the proposal as approved by

FAS.

General administrative requirements

for implementation of any resultant

agreement with non-profit institutions

are found at 7 CFR part 3019, ‘‘Uniform

Administrative Requirements for Grants

and Cooperative Agreements with

Institutions of Higher Education,

Hospitals, and other Non-profit

Organizations’’ except as may be

necessitated by the use of foreign

currencies or host country laws.

Interested parties should familiarize

themselves with these regulations.

FAS may announce in the future the

availability of other local currencies in

other countries for market development

and technical assistance.

Signed at Washington D.C. on June 26,

1998.

Timothy J. Galvin,

Acting Administrator, Foreign Agricultural

Service and Vice President, Commodity Credit

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 98–18000 Filed 7–7–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–10–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Foreign Agricultural Service

Assessment of Fees for Dairy Import

Licenses

AGENCY: Foreign Agricultural Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice of the fee for dairy

import licenses for the 1999 quota year.

SUMMARY: This notice announces that

the fee to be charged for the 1999 tariffrate quota year for each license issued

to a person or firm by the Department

of Agriculture authorizing the

importation of certain dairy articles

which are subject to tariff-rate quotas set

forth in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule

of the United States (HTS) will be

$158.00 per license.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Richard P. Warsack, Dairy Import Quota

Manager, Import Policies and Programs

Division, STOP 1021, U.S. Department

of Agriculture, 1400 Independence

Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250–

1021 or telephone at (202) 720–9439.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Dairy

Tariff-Rate Import Licensing Regulation

promulgated by the Department of

Agriculture and codified at 7 CFR 6.20–

6.36 provides for the issuance of

licenses to import certain dairy articles

which are subject to tariff-rate quotas

(TRQs) set forth in the HTS. Those dairy

articles may only be entered into the

United States at the in-quota TRQ tariff

rates by or for the account of a person

or firm to whom such licenses have

been issued and only in accordance

with the terms and conditions of the

regulation.

Licenses are issued on a calendar year

basis, and each license authorizes the

license holder to import a specified

quantity and type of dairy article from

a specified country of origin. The use of

licenses by the license holder to import

dairy articles is monitored by the Dairy

Import Quota Manager, Import

Licensing Group, Import Policies and

Programs Division, Foreign Agricultural

Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

and the U.S. Customs Service.

The Regulation at 7 CFR 6.33(a)

provides that a fee will be charged for

each license issued to a person or firm

by the Licensing Authority in order to

reimburse the Department of

Agriculture for the costs of

administering the licensing system

under this Regulation.

The Regulation at 7 CFR 6.33(a) also

provides that the Licensing Authority

will announce the annual fee for each

license and that such fee will be set out

in a notice to be published in the

Federal Register. Accordingly, this

notice sets out the fee for the licenses to

be issued for the 1999 calendar year.

Notice

The total cost to the Department of

Agriculture of administering the

licensing system during 1998 has been

determined to be $404,318 and the

estimated number of licenses expected

to be issued is 2,563. Of the total cost,

$243,748 represent staff and supervisory

costs directly to administering the

licensing system during 1998; $50,320

represents the total computer costs to

monitor and issue import licenses

during 1998; and $110,250 represents

other miscellaneous costs, including

travel, postage, publications, forms, and

an ADP system contractor.

Accordingly, notice is hereby given

that the fee for each license issued to a

person or firm for the 1999 calendar

year, in accordance with 7 CFR 6.33,

will be $158.00 per license.

Issued at Washington, D.C., June 23, 1998.

David J. Williams,

Licensing Authority.

[FR Doc. 98–18001 Filed 7–7–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–10–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Skipping Cow Environmental Impact

Statement

AGENCY: Forset Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement.

SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service will

prepare an Environmental Impact

Statement (EIS) for the proposed

Skipping Cow Timber Sale. The timber

sale is located in the Tongass National

Forest, Stikine Area, Wrangell Ranger

District, on Zarembo Island, within

Value Comparison Units (VCU’s) 458

and 459. The Tongass Land and

Resource Management Plan (1997)

provides the overall guidance (land use

designations, goals, objectives,

management prescriptions, standards

and guidelines) to achieve the desired

future condition for the area in which

this project is proposed. This Forest

Plan allocates portions of the project

area into three management

prescriptions: Timber Production,

Modified Landscape, and Scenic

Viewshed.

The purpose and need for the project

is to respond to the goals and objectives

identified by the Forest Plan for the

timber and move Skipping Cow Project

Area toward the desired future

condition. The Forest Plan identified

the following goals and objectives: (1)

manage the timber resource for

production of saw timber and other

wood products from suitable timber

lands made available for timber harvest,

on an even-flow, long-term sustained

yield basis and in an economically

efficient manner (Forest Plan page 2–4);

(2) seek to provide a timber supply

sufficient to meet the annual market

demand for Tongass National Forest

timber, and the demand for the planning

cycle (page 2–4); and (3) maintain and