16436 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 68 / Friday, April 10, 2009 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice 6574] 

Correction of Information on Town Hall 

Meetings Preparatory to the 

Conference on Holocaust Era Assets 

Hosted by the Czech Republic in 

Prague June 26–30, 2009. 

AGENCY: Department of State. 

ACTION: Notice; correction. 

SUMMARY: The Department of State 

published a document in the Federal 

Register of March 23, 2009 entitled: 

‘‘Preparations for Holocaust Era Assets 

Conference—Town Hall Follow-up 

Meetings on Looted Art, Immovable 

Property and Holocaust Compensation 

Agreements.’’ It has become necessary 

to change the dates of these meetings. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Office of Holocaust Issues (EUR/OHI), 

Bureau of European and Eurasian 

Affairs, at (202) 647–8047, jonesjohnsoncd@state.gov. 

Correction 

In the Federal Register of March 23, 

2009, Volume 74, Number 54, [Notices] 

[Page 12173] the dates and times of the 

meetings should read as follows: 

—May 4 at 9:45 a.m.: Looted Art. 

—May 4 at 1:45 p.m.: Immovable 

Property. 

—May 5 at 9:45 a.m.: Financial 

Compensation Agreements— 

stocktaking. 

Location: Department of State, 2201 C 

Street, NW., Washington DC 20520. 

Please use entrance on 23rd Street, 

between C Street and D Street. 

Anyone wishing to attend any of these 

events should register separately for 

each. There are space limitations. To 

register, send an e-mail by close of 

business April 30 to Ms. Jones-Johnson 

(Jones-JohnsonCD@state.gov) with the 

following information: 

Full Name: 

Date of Birth: 

Driver’s License Number, including 

State of Issuance, or 

Alternate Government-Issued Picture 

ID: 

Organization represented (if any), and 

its Address & Phone Number: 

Home Address (only if attending as an 

individual): 

Name of Event(s) to be attended: 

Those who register are urged to arrive 

at the Department at least 15 minutes 

before the starting time for each event to 

allow time for security screening. Upon 

arrival, show security personnel a valid 

government-issued identification: For 

example, a U.S. state driver’s license or 

a passport. The official address of the 

State Department is 2201 C Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20520. For these 

events, however, participants must use 

the ‘‘23rd Street Entrance’’ on the west 

side of the State Department’s Harry S. 

Truman Building, located on 23rd Street 

between C Street and D Street NW., 

Washington, DC. 

Written submissions are welcome and 

should be sent to Ms. Jones-Johnson at 

the e-mail address cited above by close 

of business April 30. 

Dated: April 6, 2009. 

Elizabeth Nakian, 

Deputy Director, Office of the Special Envoy 

for Holocaust Issues, Department of State. 

[FR Doc. E9–8255 Filed 4–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–23–M 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

[Docket No. USTR–2009–0011] 

Initiation of Section 302 Investigation, 

Determination of Action Under Section 

301, and Request for Comments: 

Canada—Compliance With Softwood 

Lumber Agreement 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Notice of initiation of Section 

302 investigation and determinations 

therein; imposition of duties on certain 

softwood lumber from Canada; and 

request for public comment. 

SUMMARY: Under the 2006 Softwood 

Lumber Agreement (SLA), Canada 

agreed to impose export measures on 

Canadian exports of softwood lumber 

products to the United States. At the 

request of the United States, an arbitral 

tribunal established under the SLA 

found that Canada had not complied 

with certain SLA obligations, and in 

February 2009 the tribunal issued an 

award concerning the remedy to be 

applied. In order to enforce U.S. rights 

under the SLA, the United States Trade 

Representative (‘‘Trade Representative’’) 

has initiated an investigation under 

Section 302 of the Trade Act of 1974, as 

amended (‘‘Trade Act’’). In that 

investigation, the USTR has (i) 

Determined that Canada is denying U.S. 

rights under the SLA; (ii) found that 

expeditious action is required to enforce 

U.S. rights under the SLA; and (iii) 

determined that appropriate action 

under Section 301 of the Trade Act is to 

impose 10 percent ad valorem duties on 

imports of softwood lumber products 

from the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, 

Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, as set out 

in the annex to this notice. The duties 

will remain in place until such time as 

the United States has collected $54.8 

million, which is the amount 

determined by the arbitral tribunal. 

Interested persons are invited to submit 

comments on the determinations in this 

investigation, and to participate in a 

public hearing in the event a hearing is 

requested. 

DATES: Effective Date: The 10 percent ad 

valorem duties on imports of softwood 

lumber products from the provinces of 

Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, and 

Saskatchewan shall be effective with 

respect to products that are entered for 

consumption or withdrawn from 

warehouse for consumption on or after 

April 15, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Non-confidential comments 

(as explained below) should be 

submitted electronically via the Internet 

at http://www.regulations.gov, docket 

number USTR–2009–0011. If you are 

unable to provide submissions by 

http://www.regulations.gov, please 

contact Sandy McKinzy at (202) 395– 

9483 to arrange for an alternative 

method of transmission. If (as explained 

below), the comment contains 

confidential information, then persons 

wishing to submit such comments 

should contact Sandy McKinzy at (202) 

395–9483. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

Melle, Deputy Assistant USTR for the 

Americas, (202) 395–9448, or Daniel 

Stirk, Assistant General Counsel, (202) 

395–9617, for questions concerning the 

enforcement of U.S. rights under the 

SLA; William Busis, Associate General 

Counsel and Chair of the Section 301 

Committee, (202) 395–3150, for 

questions concerning procedures under 

Section 301; or Gwendolyn Diggs, Staff 

Assistant to the Section 301 Committee, 

(202) 395–5830, for questions 

concerning procedures for filing 

submissions in response to this notice. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Enforcement of U.S. Rights Under 

the SLA 

Under the SLA, Canada agreed to 

impose export measures on Canadian 

exports of softwood lumber products to 

the United States. When the prevailing 

monthly price of lumber, determined 

per the Agreement, is above US$355 per 

thousand board feet (MBF), Canadian 

lumber exports are unrestricted. When 

prices are at or below US$355 per MBF, 

each Canadian exporting region has 

chosen to be subject to either an export 

tax with a soft volume cap or a lower 

export tax with a hard volume cap. The 

export measures are to be adjusted in 

accordance with the market price of 

lumber, and the SLA includes an 

adjustment mechanism to ensure that 

the export volume caps are calculated 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 68 / Friday, April 10, 2009 / Notices 16437 

1The Award on Liability can be viewed on 

USTR’s Web site: http://www.ustr.gov. 

2The Award on Remedy can be viewed on 

USTR’s Web site: http://www.ustr.gov. 

appropriately under rapidly changing 

market conditions. 

The SLA provides that disputes under 

the agreement may be submitted to an 

arbitral tribunal operating under the 

auspices of the LCIA (formerly the 

London Court of International 

Arbitration). In order to enforce U.S. 

rights under the SLA, in August 2007 

the United States requested that an 

arbitral tribunal examine a U.S. claim 

that Canada was not complying with its 

SLA obligations to impose export 

measures. In a March 2008 award on 

liability, the tribunal agreed with the 

United States that Canada failed 

properly to calculate export quotas for 

the Eastern provinces during the first six 

months of 2007.1 In a February 26, 2009 

award on remedy, the tribunal found 

that Canada’s failure to make the 

downward adjustments provided for 

under the SLA resulted in greater levels 

of shipments from Canada than were 

allowed under the SLA, a failure which 

exacerbated already difficult market 

conditions.2

In its February 2009 award on 

remedy, the tribunal (i) rejected 

Canada’s argument that Canada had 

already cured the breach simply by 

starting to apply the adjustment and 

thus that no further remedy was 

required, and (ii) determined that 

appropriate adjustments to the export 

measures in light of Canada’s breach 

would consist of collecting an 

additional 10 percent export charge 

until Canada had collected CDN $68.26 

million. (Based on the exchange rate at 

the time of the award, the U.S. dollar 

equivalent is $54.8 million.) The 

tribunal ordered Canada to cure its 

breach within 30 days, the maximum 

period permitted under the SLA. The 

tribunal determined that if Canada 

failed to cure the breach within 30 days, 

the SLA required Canada to impose the 

compensatory export measures as 

determined by the tribunal. The tribunal 

did not opine upon what an adequate 

cure would be. 

During the 30-day period, the United 

States and Canada discussed Canada’s 

intended course of action to cure the 

breach. Canada took no action during 

the 30-day period, which expired on 

March 28, 2009. On March 27, 2009, 

Canada informed the United States that 

it did not intend to adopt any export 

measure, and instead its only action 

would be to make an offer of a monetary 

payment to the Government of the 

United States. A monetary payment, 

however, would do nothing to cure 

Canada’s breach resulting from excess 

shipments of softwood lumber in 2007. 

The SLA provides that in the event 

the complaining party finds that the 

defending party has failed to cure the 

breach or impose the compensatory 

adjustments determined by the Tribunal 

within 30 days of an award, the 

complaining party is entitled to impose 

the compensatory measures itself. 

Accordingly, with regard to Canada’s 

2007 breach of the SLA, the SLA 

authorizes the United States to impose 

duties in an amount not to exceed the 

additional export charges that the 

tribunal has specified as compensation 

for the breach. The SLA contemplates 

the use of Section 301 as a mechanism 

for imposing such duties. 

B. Initiation of Section 302 

Investigation and Determinations 

Therein 

Section 302(b) of the Trade Act 

authorizes the Trade Representative to 

initiate an investigation of any matter 

covered under Section 301, including 

whether the rights of the United States 

under a trade agreement are being 

denied. In accordance with the 

recommendation of the interagency 

Section 301 Committee, the Trade 

Representative has initiated an 

investigation of whether Canada has 

denied U.S. rights under the SLA. 

Section 303 of the Trade Act requires 

that the Trade Representative request 

consultations on the date of initiation of 

the investigation with the country 

subject to the investigation. 

Accordingly, the United States has 

issued a consultation request to the 

Government of Canada concerning 

Canada’s compliance with its SLA 

obligations. 

Section 304(b) of the Trade Act 

requires that the Trade Representative 

engage in certain consultations before 

making determinations in a Section 301 

investigation. However, if expeditious 

action is required, the Trade 

Representative may first make 

determinations in the investigation, and 

then engage in Section 304 

consultations. In accordance with the 

recommendation of the Section 301 

Committee, the Trade Representative 

has found that expeditious action is 

required to secure U.S. rights under the 

SLA. 

Under Section 304(a)(1) of the Trade 

Act, the Trade Representative shall 

determine whether the rights of the 

United States under a trade agreement 

are being denied. If the determination is 

affirmative, the Trade Representative 

shall further determine what action to 

take under Section 301. 

On the basis of the awards of the LCIA 

Tribunal and Canada’s failure to impose 

export charges or any other acceptable 

measure to cure the breach, and in 

accordance with the recommendation of 

the Section 301 Committee, the Trade 

Representative has determined (1) that 

Canada is denying U.S. rights under the 

SLA, and (2) that appropriate action 

under Section 301(a)(1) of the Trade Act 

is to impose 10 percent ad valorem 

duties on imports of softwood lumber 

products from Canada originating in 

Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, and 

Saskatchewan. The details of the action 

under Section 301 of the Trade Act are 

set out in the annex to this notice. The 

duties will apply to articles entered for 

consumption or withdrawn from 

warehouse for consumption on or after 

April 15, 2009. The procedures set forth 

in the U.S. Customs and Border 

Protection (CBP) test program for post 

entry amendments may not be used by 

participants in that test to submit 

amendments regarding entries affected 

by this action. 

The duties will remain in place until 

such time as the United States has 

collected $54.8 million in duties. USTR 

will notify U.S. Customs and Border 

Protection (CBP) of the date on which to 

cease collecting the additional duties, 

and USTR will make a public 

announcement and publish a notice in 

the Federal Register terminating the 

application of the additional duties. 

C. Opportunity for Public Comments 

In accordance with Section 304 of the 

Trade Act, the Section 301 Committee 

invites comments from interested 

persons with respect to the 

determinations made in this 

investigation. In particular, the 

comments invited by the Committee 

include whether Canada is denying U.S. 

rights under the SLA, and whether the 

imposition of the 10 percent duty 

pursuant to this notice is an appropriate 

action in response. Any comments 

should be submitted within 30 days of 

the publication of this notice (by no 

later than May 11, 2009). 

Section 304 of the Trade Act also 

provides that any interested person may 

request a public hearing on these 

matters. Any request for a public 

hearing should be made within 10 days 

of the publication of this notice (by no 

later than April 20, 2009). In the event 

a hearing is requested, USTR will issue 

a notice specifying the date of the 

hearing and the procedures for 

submitting written testimony. 

To submit comments via http:// 

www.regulations.gov, enter docket 

number USTR–2009–0011 on the home 

page and click ‘‘go’’. The site will 

16438 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 68 / Friday, April 10, 2009 / Notices 

1 In the transaction, UP does not transfer to San 

Benito the right or obligation to conduct common 

carrier freight operations. UP currently conducts 

and will continue to conduct common carrier 

freight operations over the rail line, retaining an 

exclusive and perpetual freight operating easement. 

provide a search-results page listing all 

documents associated with this docket. 

Find a reference to this notice by 

selecting ‘‘Notice’’ under ‘‘Document 

Type’’ on the left side of the searchresults page, and click on the link 

entitled ‘‘Send a Comment or 

Submission.’’ (For further information 

on using the http://www.regulations.gov 

Web site, please consult the resources 

provided on the Web site by clicking on 

‘‘How to Use This Site’’ on the left side 

of the home page.) 

The http://www.regulations.gov site 

provides the option of providing 

comments by filling in a ‘‘General 

Comments’’ field, or by attaching a 

document. Given the detailed nature of 

the comments sought by the Section 301 

Committee, all comments should be 

provided in an attached document. 

Submissions must state clearly the 

position taken and describe with 

specificity the supporting rationale and 

must be written in English. After 

attaching the document, it is sufficient 

to type ‘‘See attached’’ in the ‘‘General 

Comments’’ field. 

Comments will be placed in the 

docket and open to public inspection 

pursuant to 15 CFR 2006.13, except 

confidential business information 

exempt from public inspection in 

accordance with 15 CFR 2006.15 or 

information determined by USTR to be 

confidential in accordance with 19 

U.S.C. 2155(g)(2). Comments may be 

viewed on the http:// 

www.regulations.gov Web site by 

entering docket number USTR–2009– 

0011 in the search field on the home 

page. 

Persons wishing to submit business 

confidential information must certify in 

writing that such information is 

confidential in accordance with 15 CFR 

2006.15(b), and such information must 

be clearly marked ‘‘BUSINESS 

CONFIDENTIAL’’ at the top and bottom 

of the cover page and each succeeding 

page. Any comment containing business 

confidential information must be 

accompanied by a non-confidential 

summary of the confidential 

information. The non-confidential 

summary will be placed in the docket 

and open to public inspection. 

Comments containing business 

confidential information should not be 

submitted via the http:// 

www.regulations.gov Web site. Instead, 

persons wishing to submit comments 

containing business confidential 

information should contact Sandy 

McKinzy at (202) 395–9483. Information 

or advice contained in a comment 

submitted, other than business 

confidential information, may be 

determined by USTR to be confidential 

in accordance with section 135(g)(2) of 

the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

2155(g)(2)). If the submitter believes that 

information or advice may qualify as 

such, the submitter— 

(1) Must clearly so designate the 

information or advice; 

(2) Must clearly mark the material as 

‘‘SUBMITTED IN CONFIDENCE’’ at the 

top and bottom of the cover page and 

each succeeding page; and 

(3) Must provide a non-confidential 

summary of the information or advice. 

The non-confidential summary will 

be placed in the docket and open to 

public inspection. Comments submitted 

in confidence should not be submitted 

via the http://www.regulations.gov Web 

site. Instead, persons wishing to submit 

such comments should contact Sandy 

McKinzy at (202) 395–9483. 

William L. Busis, 

Chair, Section 301 Committee. 

[FR Doc. E9–8232 Filed 4–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3190–W9–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Finance Docket No. 35231] 

Indiana Northeastern Railroad 

Company—Acquisition and Operation 

Exemption—Pigeon River Railroad 

Company 

Indiana Northeastern Railroad 

Company (INRC), a Class III rail carrier, 

has filed a verified notice of exemption 

under 49 CFR 1150.41 to acquire from 

Pigeon River Railroad Company (PGRV) 

and to operate, approximately 9.27 

miles of rail line extending from 

milepost 122.53, near the Town of 

Ashley, in Steuben County, IN, to 

milepost 131.8, near the unincorporated 

community of South Milford, in 

LaGrange County, IN. 

The transaction is scheduled to be 

consummated on April 25, 2009, the 

effective date of the exemption (30 days 

after the exemption is filed). 

INRC certifies that its projected 

annual revenues as a result of this 

transaction will not result in INRC 

becoming a Class II or Class I rail carrier 

and further certifies that its projected 

annual revenues will not exceed $5 

million. 

According to INRC, there is no 

provision or agreement that may limit 

future interchange with a third-party 

connecting carrier. 

Pursuant to the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2008, Public Law 

110–161, section 193, 121 Stat. 1844 

(2007), nothing in this decision 

authorizes the following activities at any 

solid waste rail transfer facility: 

Collecting, storing or transferring solid 

waste outside of its original shipping 

container; or separating or processing 

solid waste (including baling, crushing, 

compacting and shredding). The term 

‘‘solid waste’’ is defined in section 1004 

of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, 42 

U.S.C. 6903. 

If the notice contains false or 

misleading information, the exemption 

is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the 

exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) 

may be filed at any time. The filing of 

a petition to revoke does not 

automatically stay the effectiveness of 

the exemption. Petitions for stay must 

be filed no later than April 17, 2009 (at 

least 7 days before the exemption 

becomes effective). 

An original and 10 copies of all 

pleadings, referring to STB Finance 

Docket No. 35231, must be filed with 

the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E 

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423– 

0001. In addition, a copy of each 

pleading must be served on Gordon P. 

MacDougall, Esq., 1025 Connecticut 

Avenue, NW., Room 919, Washington, 

DC 20036–5444. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at http:// 

www.stb.dot.gov. 

Decided: April 6, 2009. 

By the Board, Joseph H. Dettmar, Acting 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Jeffrey Herzig, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. E9–8095 Filed 4–9–09; 8:45am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Finance Docket No. 35225] 

San Benito Railroad LLC—Acquisition 

Exemption—Certain Assets of Union 

Pacific Railroad Company 

San Benito Railroad, LLC (San 

Benito), a noncarrier, has filed a verified 

notice of exemption under 49 CFR 

1150.31 to acquire from Union Pacific 

Railroad Company (UP) certain railroad 

assets, including approximately 12.43 

miles of rail line extending between 

approximately milepost 0.07 and 

approximately milepost 12.50 in the 

county of San Benito, CA.1 According to