Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 145 /Wednesday, July 29, 1998 / Notices 40579

2The Commission has modified parts of these

statements.

3Securities Exchange Act Release No. 39630

(February 9, 1998), 63 FR 7848.

4Securities Exchange Act Release No. 39948 (May

4, 1998), 63 FR 25538.

5PACE, an acronym for the Philadelphia Stock

Exchange Automated Communication and

Execution System, is a real time order routing and

execution system.

6 15 U.S.C. 78q–1(b)(3)(D).

7 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).

8 17 CFR 240.19b–4(e)(2).

9 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

1Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas,

Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile,

Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican

Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada,

Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica,

Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St.

Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the

Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago,

Uruguay, United States, and Venezuela.

the places specified in Item IV below.

SCCP has prepared summaries, set forth

in sections (A), (B), and (C) below, of the

most significant aspects of such

statements.2

(A) Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Purpose of, and

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule

Change

SCCP proposes to extend, for a three

month period, its pilot program

reducing SCCP’s trade recording fees for

certain specialists. On February 9, 1998,

the Commission temporarily approved

the trade recording fee reduction

effective for trades settling January 2,

1998, through April 30, 1998.3

Subsequently, on May 4, 1998, the

Commission approved an extension of

the pilot program through June 30,

1998.4

Prior to the approval and

implementation of the pilot program,

SCCP charged a trade recording fee of

$.47 per side for regular trades. The

pilot program bifurcates the category of

trade recording fees for regular trades

into trades not matching with PACE

orders and trades matching with PACE

orders.5 The trade recording fees for

trades not matching with PACE orders

remains $.47 per side. The pilot

program reduces SCCP’s trade recording

fees for trades matching with PACE

orders. For these trades, the trade

recording fee is reduced to: (i) $.27 per

side for the first 2,500 trades per month

and (ii) $.10 per side for trades in excess

of 2,500 per month.

SCCP has been working closely with

the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc. to

reevaluate its fees. In connection with

this effort, SCCP is proposing to extend

the pilot program reducing these trade

recording fees on a temporary basis

through September 30, 1998.

SCCP believes that the proposed rule

change is consistent with Section

17A(b)(3)(D) of the Act,6 which requires

that the rules of a registered clearing

agency provide for equitable allocation

of reasonable dues, fees, and other

charges for services which it provides to

its participants.

(B) Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Burden on Competition

SCCP does not believe that the

proposed rule change will impose any

inappropriate burden on competition.

(C) Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Comments on the

Proposed Rule Change Received From

Members, Participants, or Others

No written comments have been

solicited or received.

. III. Date of Effectiveness of the

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for

Commission Action

Because the foregoing rule change

establishes or changes a due, fee, or

other charge imposed by SCCP, it has

become effective pursuant to Section

19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act 7 and Rule 19b–

4(e)(2) thereunder.8 At any time within

sixty days of the filing of the proposed

rule change, the Commission may

summarily abrogate such rule change if

it appears to the Commission that such

action is necessary or appropriate in the

public interest, for the protection of

investors, or otherwise in furtherance of

the purposes of the Act.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

Interested persons are invited to

submit written data, views, and

arguments concerning the foregoing,

including whether the proposed rule

change is consistent with the Act.

Persons making written submissions

should file six copies thereof with the

Secretary, Securities and Exchange

Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20549. Copies of the

submission, all subsequent

amendments, all written statements

with respect to the proposed rule

change that are filed with the

Commission, and all written

communications relating to the

proposed rule change between the

Commission and any person, other than

those that may be withheld from the

public in accordance with the

provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be

available for inspection and copying in

the Commission’s Public Reference

Section, 450 Fifth Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20549. Copies of such

filing will also be available for

inspection and copying at SCCP. All

submissions should refer to the File No.

SR–SCCP–98–03 and should be

submitted by August 19, 1998.

For the Commission by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.9

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–20189 Filed 7–28–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

Free Trade Area of the Americas

AGENCY: Office of the United States

Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and request for public

comment on the operation of the

Committee of Government

Representatives on the Participation of

Civil Society established in connection

with the Free Trade Area of the

Americas (FTAA) negotiations.

SUMMARY: The Committee of

Government Representatives on the

Participation of Civil Society

(‘‘Government Committee on Civil

Society’’ or ‘‘Committee’’) has been

established by the 34 Western

Hemisphere 1 countries participating in

the FTAA negotiations. The Trade

Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) requests

public comments on how the Committee

should carry out its mandate to receive,

analyze, and report on the full range of

comments received from civil society

from throughout the hemisphere on

trade matters related to the FTAA

process. Civil Society refers to

interested non-governmental parties,

including from environmental, business,

consumer, academic and labor sectors.

The TPSC also invites public comments

on the U.S. positions described below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: For

procedural questions concerning public

comments contact Gloria Blue,

Executive Secretary, Trade Policy Staff

Committee, Office of the United States

Trade Representative, (202) 395–3475.

All questions concerning the

Government Committee on Civil Society

should be directed to Bryan Samuel,

U.S. lead to the Committee and Deputy

Assistant Secretary of State, (202) 647–

2532.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April

18–19, 1998, at the second Summit of

the Americas in Santiago, President

Clinton and the 33 other democraticallyelected leaders in the Western

Hemisphere initiated the FTAA
40580 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 145 /Wednesday, July 29, 1998 / Notices

negotiations, agreed to conclude them

by 2005, and committed to achieve

concrete progress toward that objective

by the end of the century. The FTAA

negotiations will take into account the

broad social and economic agenda

defined by the leaders in 1994 at the

first Summit of the Americas with a

view to contributing to raising living

standards, to improving the working

conditions of all people in the Americas

and to better protecting the

environment.

The leaders have agreed that the

FTAA will be a balanced and

comprehensive agreement covering such

matters as: Tariffs; non-tariff barriers

affecting trade in goods and services;

trade in agricultural products; subsidies;

investment; intellectual property rights;

government procurement; technical

barriers to trade; safeguards against

import surges; rules of origin;

competition policy; antidumping and

countervailing duties; sanitary and

phytosanitary measures; and dispute

resolution procedures. The leaders also

have committed to strive to make trade

liberalization and environmental

policies mutually supportive and to

further secure the observance and

promotion of worker rights. In addition,

the trade ministers of the 34 countries

have repeatedly expressed their joint

commitment to transparency in the

FTAA process, with a growing

recognition of the need for open

communication with the public

throughout the hemisphere. The

participating countries have agreed to

conduct the FTAA negotiations in a

manner that will build broad public

understanding of and support for the

FTAA.

In preparation for the Santiago

Summit meeting, the trade ministers in

March 1998 jointly recognized and

welcomed the interests and concerns

expressed by a broad spectrum of

interested non-governmental parties—

particularly labor, business,

environmental and academic groups in

the hemisphere—regarding the FTAA.

They encouraged these and other

groups, such as those representing

consumers, to provide their views on

trade matters related to the FTAA. To

facilitate this process, the ministers

agreed to establish the Government

Committee on Civil Society, thus

creating for the first time a mechanism

for any interested non-governmental

parties from across the Hemisphere to

provide their views directly to the

FTAA process. The Committee will

receive comments from interested nongovernmental parties, analyze them, and

provide a report on the full range of

views for the trade ministers’

consideration at their next meeting in

October 1999.

Committee Procedures

At a June 1998 meeting, the FTAA

governments established general

guidelines for the Committee. The first

meeting of the Committee will be

convened by Canada in Miami in

October 1998. The Committee will

select a permanent Chair and draft a

notice that will solicit written comment

from interested non-governmental

parties on trade matters related to the

FTAA. These procedures are expected

to be supplemented after the October

meeting.

U.S. Objectives

The U.S. Government seeks to ensure

that the Committee functions as a direct

and effective channel of communication

between governments participating in

the FTAA negotiations and the full

range of private, non-governmental

interests in the hemisphere so that the

views they represent can be taken into

consideration. The U.S. view is that the

establishment of the Committee should

ensure that interested non-governmental

parties in each FTAA country can

provide their comments directly to the

FTAA process without first being

filtered by their governments. In the

U.S. view, the Committee should

establish an inclusive and transparent

process for eliciting the views of a broad

range of interested non-governmental

parties throughout the Hemisphere and

ensure that all comments provided are

given serious consideration. In addition,

the Committee’s functions should be

flexible and should be capable of

modification over time as required to

assist the negotiations.

The U.S. Government has proposed

that the Committee provide several

avenues for soliciting public comments,

including the solicitation of written

comments and public hearings. The

United States also has proposed that

comments received by the Committee be

made available on the FTAA Homepage

(www.FTAA–ALCA.org) both so that

interested non-governmental parties can

see the comments provided by others

and so that the government negotiators

have immediate access to those

comments.

The United States has proposed that

the Committee make publicly available

its report well in advance of the October

1999 FTAA trade ministerial meeting so

that interested non-governmental parties

can comment to their governments on

the report in advance of the ministerial

meeting and thus facilitate a considered

discussion of the report by the ministers

at the meeting.

The solicitation of public comments

by the Committee will complement, not

replace, U.S. Government processes for

seeking public comments. It also will

supplement comments the U.S.

Government has received and will

continue to receive on an ongoing basis.

Public Comments

To prepare the U.S. position for the

initial meeting of the Government

Committee on Civil Society in October

1998, the TPSC invites written

comments on the operation of the

Committee and on the U.S. Government

views and proposals described above, as

well as any other comments on the

Committee in relation to the FTAA

process in general. A separate notice

requesting comments on U.S. positions

and objectives for the nine negotiating

groups was published at 63 FR 36470–

36473 (July 6, 1998). As stated in that

notice, USTR will seek additional

public comment at a later date on other

issues related to the FTAA.

Those persons wishing to submit

written comments should provide

twenty (20) typed copies (in English) no

later than Wednesday, August 26, 1998,

to Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary,

Trade Policy Staff Committee, Office of

the U.S. Trade Representative, Room

501, 600 17th Street, NW., Washington,

DC 20508.

If the submission contains business

confidential information, twenty copies

of a confidential version must also be

submitted. A justification as to why the

information contained in the

submission should be treated

confidentially must be included in the

submission. In addition, any

submissions containing business

confidential information must be clearly

marked ‘‘Confidential’’ at the top and

bottom of the cover page (or letter) and

of each succeeding page of the

submission. The version that does not

contain confidential information should

also be clearly marked, at the top and

bottom of each page, ‘‘public version’’ or

‘‘non-confidential.’’

Written comments submitted in

connection with this request, except for

information granted ‘‘business

confidential’’ status pursuant to 15 CFR

2003.6, will be available for inspection

in the USTR Reading Room, Room 101,

Office of the United States Trade

Representative, 600 17th Street, NW,

Washington, DC. An appointment to

review the file may be made by calling

Brenda Webb (202) 395–6186. The

Reading Room is open to the public
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 145 /Wednesday, July 29, 1998 / Notices 40581

from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon, and from 1

p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Frederick L. Montgomery,

Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.

[FR Doc. 98–20216 Filed 7–28–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3190–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA–98–4077]

Notice of Request for Clearance of a

New Information Collection

AGENCY: Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

requirements of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

this notice announces the intention of

the FHWA to request the Office of

Management and Budget’s (OMB)

approval of a new information

collection. This information collection

will be used to: (1) Gather information

from motor carriers regarding their

expectations/experience with

compliance reviews conducted by the

FHWA Office of Motor Carriers (OMC);

and (2) provide a baseline to measure

improvements in customer satisfaction.

The information collected from the

survey will help the OMC assess the

usefulness of the compliance review

process, including whether the reviews

are being conducted in a business-like

manner, and what additional services

and information the OMC could

provide.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before September 28, 1998.

ADDRESSES: All signed, written

comments should refer to the docket

number that appears in the heading of

this document and must be submitted to

the Docket Clerk, U.S. DOT Dockets,

Room PL–401, 400 Seventh Street, SW,

Washington, DC 20590–0001. All

comments received will be available for

examination at the above address

between 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., e.t.,

Monday through Friday, except Federal

holidays. Those desiring notification of

receipt of comments must include a selfaddressed, stamped envelope or

postcard.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Tony Schafer, (202) 366–2953, Office of

Motor Carriers, Federal Highway

Administration, Department of

Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW,

Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are

from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., e.t., Monday

through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Motor Carrier Assessment of

Compliance Reviews.

Background: The mission of the

FHWA’s OMC is to promote safe

transportation of passengers and goods

on the Nation’s highways. In the

performance of its duties, the OMC

conducts periodic compliance reviews

with motor carriers in each State. The

reviews are normally held at the motor

carrier’s principal place of business.

Compliance reviews are investigations

of the carrier’s operation to determine

whether they meet the safety fitness

standards. To meet the safety fitness

standards, a motor carrier must

demonstrate that it has adequate safety

management controls in place which

function effectively to ensure acceptable

compliance with applicable safety

requirements. Upon completion of a

compliance review, FHWA assigns the

carrier either a satisfactory, conditional,

or unsatisfactory rating. A satisfactory

rating means the carrier has established

and is using adequate safety

management controls that meet FHWA’s

safety fitness standards. A conditional

rating means a carrier has adequate

controls that could result in violations

of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety

Regulations. An unsatisfactory rating

means that the carrier has inadequate

controls that have resulted in violations

of the regulations. Compliance reviews

can result in enforcement actions

against a carrier for violations of safety

regulations. A civil fine is a primary

enforcement tool used by the FHWA to

induce regulatory compliance.

A survey of selected review

participants will provide the

information necessary for the OMC to

assess these compliance reviews so that

ongoing improvements to the

compliance review process can be

accomplished. The information will be

collected on a standardized

questionnaire, via mail or by telephone.

Respondents will be advised of the

purpose for the survey and the

confidentiality of their responses, either

by an accompanying letter or orally by

telephone. The questionnaire will

request respondents to provide

information pertaining to the

compliance review process (i.e.,

notification, purpose and length of the

review). The information will be

collected from motor carriers shortly

after FHWA or State officials complete

a compliance review. It is estimated that

approximately 9,200 compliance

reviews are conducted annually. Of the

9,200 reviews, surveys will be

conducted for approximately 1,500

reviews. The results of the surveys will

be analyzed and presented in a report to

the management of the OMC. This

report will be used for ongoing

improvements to the compliance review

process.

Respondents: The individuals asked

to respond to the survey will be the

motor carrier employee who signed for

receipt of the compliance review.

Estimated Average Burden per

Response: 10 minutes.

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 250

hours.

Frequency: Collection will occur

following completion of each of the

1,500 reviews which will be identified

for the survey.

Public Comments Invited: Interested

parties are invited to send comments

regarding any aspect of this information

collection, including, but not limited to:

(1) The necessity and utility of the

information collection for the proper

performance of the functions of the

FHWA; (2) the accuracy of the estimated

burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality,

utility, and clarity of the collected

information; and (4) ways to minimize

the collection burden without reducing

the quality of the collected information.

Comments submitted in response to this

notice will be summarized and/or

included in the request for OMB’s

clearance of this information collection.

Electronic Availability: An electronic

copy of this document may be

downloaded using a modem and

suitable communications software from

the Federal Register electronic bulletin

board service (telephone number: 202–

512–1661). Internet users may reach the

Federal Register’s WWW site at http://

www.access.gpo.gov/suldocs.

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322(a), 329(a),

31133(a); and 49 CFR 1.48.

Issued on: July 23, 1998.

George S. Moore, Jr.,

Associate Administrator for Administration.

[FR Doc. 98–20231 Filed 7–28–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB–33 (Sub–No. 123X)]

Union Pacific Railroad Company—

Abandonment Exemption—in Butler

County, IA

Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP)

has filed a notice of exemption under 49

CFR 1152 Subpart F—Exempt

Abandonments and Discontinuances of

Service and Trackage Rights to abandon