Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 113 / Friday, June 12, 1998 / Proposed Rules 32179

4. Part 24 is amended by

redesignating § 24.208 as § 24.209 and

by adding a new § 24.208 to read as

follows:

§ 24.208 Aliens not lawfully present in the

United States.

(a) Each person seeking relocation

payments or relocation advisory

assistance shall, as a condition of

eligibility, certify that he or she is

either:

(1) A citizen or national of the United

States, or

(2) An alien who is lawfully present

in the United States.

(b) The displacing agency shall

consider the certification provided

pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section

to be valid, unless the displacing agency

determines in accordance with

paragraph (d) that it is invalid based on

a review of an alien’s documentation or

other information that the agency

considers reliable and appropriate.

(c) Any review by the displacing

agency of the certifications provided

pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section

shall be conducted in a

nondiscriminatory fashion. Each

displacing agency will apply the same

standard of review to all such

certifications it receives, except that

such standard may be revised

periodically.

(d) If, based on a review of an alien’s

documentation or other credible

evidence, a displacing agency has

reason to believe that a person’s

certification is invalid (for example a

document reviewed does not on its face

reasonably appear to be genuine), and

that, as a result, such person may be an

alien not lawfully present in the United

States, it shall obtain the following

information before making a final

determination.

(1) If the agency has reason to believe

that the certification of a person who

has certified that he or she is an alien

lawfully present in the United States is

invalid, the displacing agency shall

obtain verification of the alien’s status

from the local Immigration and

Naturalization Service (INS) Office. A

list of local INS offices was published in

the Federal Register on November 17,

1997 at 62 FR 61350. Any request for

INS verification shall include the alien’s

full name, date of birth and alien

number, and a copy of the alien’s

documentation.

(2) If the agency has reason to believe

that the certification of a person who

has certified that he or she is a citizen

or national is invalid, the displacing

agency shall request evidence of United

States citizenship or nationality from

such person and, if considered

necessary, verify the accuracy of such

evidence with the issuer.

(e) No relocation payments or

relocation advisory assistance shall be

provided to a person who is determined

to be not lawfully present in the United

States, unless such person can

demonstrate to the displacing agency’s

satisfaction that the denial of relocation

benefits will result in exceptional and

extremely unusual hardship to such

person’s spouse, parent, or child who is

a citizen of the United States, or is an

alien lawfully admitted for permanent

residence in the United States.

(f) For purposes of paragraph (e) of

this section, ‘‘exceptional and extremely

unusual hardship’’ to such spouse,

parent, or child of the person not

lawfully present in the United States

means that the denial of relocation

payments and advisory assistance to

such person will directly result in:

(1) A significant and demonstrable

adverse impact on the health or safety

of such spouse, parent, or child;

(2) A significant and demonstrable

adverse impact on the continued

existence of the family unit of which

such spouse, parent, or child is a

member; or

(3) Any other impact that the lead

agency determines will have a

significant and demonstrable adverse

impact on such spouse, parent, or child.

(g) The certification referred to in

paragraph (a) of this section may be

included as part of the claim for

relocation payments described in

§ 24.207.

Issued on: June 5, 1998.

Kenneth R. Wykle,

Federal Highway Administrator.

[FR Doc. 98–15608 Filed 6–11–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. 96–43, Notice 4]

International Regulatory

Harmonization, Motor Vehicle Safety;

Motor Vehicles and Motor Vehicle

Equipment

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

SUMMARY: This notice is to advise

interested parties that the NHTSA

Administrator, Dr. Ricardo Martinez,

will conduct a public meeting on June

17, 1998. The meeting has several

purposes. One is to provide a brief

summary of the progress of negotiations

concerning the draft Agreement on

Global Technical Regulations for

harmonizing and developing global

technical regulations that promote ever

higher levels of environmental

protection, safety, energy efficiency and

anti-theft performance of wheeled

vehicles, equipment and parts which

can be fitted and/or be used on wheeled

vehicles. The Agreement is expected to

be open for signature during the One

Hundred and Fifteenth Session of the

United Nations Economic Commission

for Europe’s Working Party on the

Construction of Vehicles (UN/ECE/

WP.29) to be held June 22–26, 1998, in

Geneva, Switzerland. The other and

more important purpose of the meeting

is to outline and then invite discussion

of possible measures that NHTSA can

use for promoting effective public

participation, here in the United States,

and in Geneva, in the implementation of

the Agreement.

DATES: The public meeting will be held

on Wednesday, June 17, 1998, at the

address given below, and will begin at

4:00 p.m. and end at 5:30 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be

held in Room 6332–36 of the Nassif

Building, 400 Seventh St, SW.,

Washington, DC 20590.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. Julie Abraham, Acting Director,

Office of International Harmonization,

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration, 400 Seventh Street SW.,

Washington, DC 20590. Tel.: (202) 366–

2114, and Fax: (202) 366–2106.

Persons planning to attend the

meeting are requested to contact Ms.

Julie Abraham by June 16, 1998.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

October 12, 1997, the Department of

State authorized NHTSA and the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

to conclude an agreement under the

auspices of the UN/ECE concerning the

establishment of global technical

regulations relating to vehicles and

related equipment and parts. on March

12, 1998, the U.S., Japan and the EC

reached agreement on a text which was

presented to the members of WP.29 for

comments and final negotiations during

the June 1998 Session of WP.29. It is

anticipated that the text will be

finalized and officially opened for

signature on June 25, 1998 by all

countries that are members of the UN.

The negotiations concerning the text

of the Agreement have been and will

continue to be guided by principles set

forth by Dr. Martinez as requirements

that need to be met for the agency to

become involved in any international
32180 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 113 / Friday, June 12, 1998 / Proposed Rules

harmonization activity concerning

vehicle safety standards. These guiding

principles include advancing vehicle

safety by identifying and adopting

vehicle regulations that clearly reflect

best practices; preserving the ability of

countries that become Contracting

Parties to the Agreement to adopt

measures that meet their vehicle safety

needs; and ensuring the creation of an

open and transparent process for the

consideration and establishment of

global technical regulations. As a result

of efforts by this agency and EPA, each

of these principles is expressly

recognized in the draft Agreement.

In light of the advanced stage of the

negotiations concerning the Agreement,

NHTSA has begun exploring issues

relating to the implementation of the

Agreement. In this regard, NHTSA

emphasizes that the same principles

that have guided the agency during the

negotiations will also guide it in the

implementation of the Agreement. With

respect to transparency, the agency is

exploring methods that would promote

effective public participation in

activities relating to harmonizing and

developing of global technical

regulations within this agency’s

statutory responsibilities.

More specifically, NHTSA is

considering the pre-rulemaking steps it

could take in the U.S. simultaneously

with the process in Geneva for

establishing global technical

regulations. NHTSA recognizes the need

to outline plans for providing advance

notice about its plans for submitting a

proposal under the Agreement for a

global technical regulation as well as for

periodically reporting on recent

developments and seeking public input

regarding upcoming events in Geneva.

These issues will be the subject of

discussion during the meeting.

All interested persons and

organizations are invited to attend the

meeting. To assist interested parties in

preparing for the meeting, the agency

has developed a preliminary outline,

shown below, of topics to be discussed

at the meeting. The agency intends to

conduct the meeting informally. The

interactive exchange and development

of ideas among all participants during

the meeting is critical to its success.

NHTSA believes that an interactive

discussion will aid the agency in

identifying measures that would

promote effective public participation in

the implementation of the Agreement.

The results of the meeting will aid the

agency in developing a draft statement

of policy to be published for public

comments in the near future.

Preliminary Outline of Topics for

Public Meeting

1. Brief overview of the draft

Agreement on Global Technical

Regulations.

2. Discussion of possible measures

that NHTSA could use for promoting

effective public participation in the

implementation of the Agreement.

Issued on June 10, 1998.

Julie Abraham,

Acting Director, Office of International

Harmonization.

[FR Doc. 98–15859 Filed 6–10–98; 3:16 pm]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–M