[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 136 (Thursday, July 16, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 38393]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-19024]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army


Inland Waterways Users Board

AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Section 302 of Public Law (PL) 99-662 established the Inland 
Waterways Users Board. The Board is an independent Federal advisory 
committee. Its 11 members are appointed by the Secretary of the Army. 
This notice is to solicit nominations for six (6) appointments or 
reappointments to two-year terms that will begin January 1, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), 
Department of the Army, Washington, DC 20310-0103. Attention: Inland 
Waterways Users Board Nominations Committee.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dr. Joseph W. Westphal, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) 
(703) 697-8986.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The selection, service, and appointment of 
Board members are covered by provisions of Section 302 of PL 99-662. 
The substance of those provisions is as follows:

a. Selection

    Members are to be selected from the spectrum of commercial carriers 
and shippers using the inland and intracoastal waterways, to represent 
geographical regions, and to be representative of waterborne commerce 
as determined by commodity ton-miles statistics.

b. Service

    The Board is required to meet at least semi-annually to develop and 
make recommendations to the Secretary of the Army on waterways 
construction and rehabilitations priorities and spending levels for 
commercial navigation improvements, and report is recommendations 
annually to the Secretary and Congress.

c. Appointment

    The operation of the Board and appointment of its members are 
subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (PL 92-463, as amended) 
and departmental implementing regulations. Members serve without 
compensation but their expenses due to Board activities are 
reimbursable. The considerations specified in section 302 for the 
selection of the Board members, and certain terms used therein, have 
been interpreted, supplemented, or otherwise clarified as follows:

(1) Carriers and Shippers

    The law uses the terms ``primary users and shippers.'' Primary 
users has been interpreted to mean the providers of transportation 
services on inland waterways such as barge or towboat operators. 
Shippers has been interpreted to mean the purchasers of such services 
for the movement of commodities they own or control. Individuals are 
appointed to the Board, but they must be either a carrier or shipper, 
or represent a firm that is a carrier or shipper. For that purpose a 
trade or regional association is neither a shipper or primary user.

(2) Geographical Representation

    The law specifies ``various'' regions. For the purpose of selecting 
Board members, the waterways subjected to fuel taxes and described in 
PL 95-502, as amended, have been aggregated into six regions. The are 
(1) the Upper Mississippi River and its tributaries above the mouth of 
the Ohio; (2) the Lower Mississippi River and its tributaries below the 
mouth of the Ohio and above Baton Rouge; (3) the Ohio River and its 
tributaries; (4) the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Louisiana and Texas; 
(5) the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway east of New Orleans and associated 
fuel-taxed waterways including the Tennessee-Tombigbee, plus the 
Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway below Norfolk; and (6) the Columbia-
Snake Rivers System and Upper Willamette. The intent is that each 
region shall be represented by at least one Board member, with that 
representation determined by the regional concentration of the 
individual's traffic on the waterways.

(3) Commodity Representation

    Waterway commerce has been aggregated into six commodity categories 
based on ``inland'' ton-miles shown in Waterborne Commerce of the 
United States. In rank order they are (1) Farm and Food Products; (2) 
Coal and Coke; (3) Petroleum, Crude and Products; (4) Minerals, Ores, 
and Primary Metals and Mineral Products; (5) Chemicals and Allied 
Products; and (6) All other. A consideration in the selection of Board 
members will be that the commodities carried or shipped by those 
individuals or their firms will be reasonably representative of the 
above commodity categories.

d. Nomination

    Reflecting preceding selection criteria, the current representation 
by the six (6) Board members whose terms expire December 31, 1998, is 
one member representing each of the six regions previously described. 
Also, these Board members represent three shipper/carriers, one shipper 
and two carriers.
    Three (3) of the six members whose terms expire December 31, 1998, 
are eligible for reappointment.
    Nominations to replace Board members whose terms expire December 
31, 1998, may be made by individuals, firms or associations. 
Nominations will:
    (1) State the region to be represented;
    (2) State whether the nominee is representing carriers, shippers or 
both.
    (3) Provide information on the nominee's personal qualifications;
    (4) Include the commercial operations of the carrier and/or shipper 
with whom the nominee is affiliated. This commercial operations 
information will show the actual or estimated ton-miles of each 
commodity carried or shipped on the inland waterways system in a recent 
year (or years) using the waterway regions and commodity categories 
previously listed.
    Nominations received in response to last year's Federal Register 
notice, published on July 9, 1997, have been retained for 
consideration. Renomination is not required but may be desirable.

e. Deadline for Nominations

    All nominations must be received at the address shown above no 
later than August 31, 1998.
Gregory D. Showalter,
Army Federal Register, Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 98-19024 Filed 7-15-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-08-M