101088 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 240 / Friday, December 13, 2024 / Notices 

cannot be made before the exemption’s effective 

date. See Exemption of Out-of-Serv. Rail Lines, 5 

I.C.C.2d 377 (1989). Any request for a stay should 

be filed as soon as possible so that the Board may 

take appropriate action before the exemption’s 

effective date. 

4Filing fees for OFAs and trail use requests can 

be found at 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25) and (27), 

respectively. 

formal expressions of intent to file an 

OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2), and 

interim trail use/railbanking requests 

under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by 

December 23, 2024.4 Petitions to reopen 

and requests for public use conditions 

under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by 

January 2, 2025. 

All pleadings, referring to Docket No. 

AB 541 (Sub–No. 5X), must be filed 

with the Surface Transportation Board 

either via e-filing on the Board’s website 

or in writing addressed to 395 E Street, 

SW, Washington, DC 20423–0001. In 

addition, a copy of each pleading must 

be served on PNWR’s representative, 

Justin J. Marks, Clark Hill PLC, 1001 

Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 1300 

South, Washington, DC 20004. 

If the verified notice contains false or 

misleading information, the exemption 

is void ab initio. 

PNWR has filed a combined 

environmental and historic report that 

addresses the potential effects, if any, of 

the abandonment on the environment 

and historic resources. OEA will issue a 

Draft Environmental Assessment (Draft 

EA) by December 20, 2024. The Draft EA 

will be available to interested persons 

on the Board’s website, by writing to 

OEA, or by calling OEA at (202) 245– 

0294. If you require an accommodation 

under the Americans with Disabilities 

Act, please call (202) 245–0245. 

Comments on environmental or historic 

preservation matters must be filed 

within 15 days after the Draft EA 

becomes available to the public. 

Environmental, historic preservation, 

public use, or trail use/railbanking 

conditions will be imposed, where 

appropriate, in a subsequent decision. 

Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR 

1152.29(e)(2), PNWR shall file a notice 

of consummation with the Board to 

signify that it has exercised the 

authority granted and fully abandoned 

the Line. If consummation has not been 

effected by PNWR’s filing of a notice of 

consummation by December 13, 2025, 

and there are no legal or regulatory 

barriers to consummation, the authority 

to abandon will automatically expire. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available at www.stb.gov. 

Decided: December 10, 2024. 

By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Zantori Dickerson, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2024–29378 Filed 12–12–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

[Docket Nos. USTR–2024–0021 and USTR– 

2024–0022] 

Initiation of Section 301 Investigation, 

Hearing, and Request for Public 

Comments: Nicaragua’s Acts, Policies, 

and Practices Related to Labor Rights, 

Human Rights, and Rule of Law 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative (USTR). 

ACTION: Notice of initiation of 

investigation, hearing, and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Representative has 

initiated an investigation of Nicaragua’s 

acts, policies, and practices related to 

labor rights, human rights, and the rule 

of law. The inter-agency Section 301 

Committee is holding a public hearing 

and seeking public comments in 

connection with this investigation. 

DATES: 

December 10, 2024: The date the U.S. 

Trade Representative initiated the 

investigation. 

January 8, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. EST: 

Deadline for submitting written 

comments and requests to appear at the 

hearing. The request to appear must 

include a summary of testimony. 

January 16, 2025: The Section 301 

Committee will convene a public 

hearing in the main hearing room of the 

U.S. International Trade Commission, 

500 E Street SW, Washington, DC 

20436, beginning at 10 a.m. If necessary, 

the hearing may continue on the next 

business day. 

January 23, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. EST: 

Deadline for submitting post-hearing 

rebuttal comments. 

ADDRESSES: Submit documents in 

response to this notice, including 

written comments, hearing appearance 

requests, summaries of testimony, and 

post-hearing rebuttal comments through 

the appropriate online USTR portal at: 

https://comments.ustr.gov/s/. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Megan Grimball and Philip Butler, 

Chairs of the Section 301 Committee; 

Leigh Bacon, Chief Counsel for 

Negotiations, Legislation, and 

Administrative Law; or Henry Smith 

and Erin Biel, Assistant General 

Counsels, at 202.395.5725. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Numerous credible reports by the U.S. 

Government and United Nations bodies 

document that the Government of 

Nicaragua has engaged in persistent 

attacks on labor rights, human rights, 

and the rule of law. These actions 

include politically-motivated arrests 

and imprisonments, repression of 

members of religious groups and nongovernmental organizations, 

extrajudicial killings, cruel, inhuman or 

degrading treatment, restrictions on 

freedom of expression and movement, 

violence against members of 

marginalized groups, repression of 

freedom of association and collective 

bargaining, forced labor, human 

trafficking, eliminating legislative and 

judicial independence, spurious 

seizures of property, arbitrary fines and 

rulings, and other harmful acts. The 

Nicaraguan Government’s increasing 

and pervasive labor and human rights 

violations and dismantling of the rule of 

law may, directly or indirectly, impact 

U.S. workers and companies, including 

through the exploitation of workers, 

harming both Nicaraguans directly and 

U.S. workers and businesses indirectly 

through unfair competition; by 

negatively impacting the Nicaraguan 

economy and market, with lost sales 

and exports for U.S. enterprises; and by 

lost investment and business 

opportunities for U.S. workers and 

companies, including through the 

creation of a high-risk environment to 

invest or conduct business. 

II. Initiation of Section 301 

Investigation 

Section 302(b)(1)(A) of the Trade Act 

of 1974, as amended (Trade Act), 

authorizes the U.S. Trade 

Representative to initiate an 

investigation to determine whether an 

act, policy, or practice of a foreign 

country is actionable under section 301 

of the Trade Act. Actionable matters 

under section 301 include acts, policies, 

and practices of a foreign country that 

are unreasonable or discriminatory and 

burden or restrict U.S. commerce. An 

act, policy, or practice is unreasonable 

if, while not necessarily in violation of, 

or inconsistent with, the international 

legal rights of the United States, it is 

otherwise unfair and inequitable. 

Unreasonable acts, policies, and 

practices include any act, policy, or 

practice, or combination thereof, that 

constitutes a persistent pattern of 

conduct that denies workers the right of 

association, denies workers the right to 

organize and bargain collectively, 

permits any form of forced or 


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compulsory labor, fails to provide a 

minimum age for the employment of 

children, or fails to provide standards 

for minimum wages, hours of work, and 

occupational safety and health of 

workers. 

On December 10, 2024, the U.S. Trade 

Representative initiated a section 301 

investigation to examine whether 

Nicaragua’s acts, policies, and practices 

related to labor rights, human rights, 

and the rule of law are unreasonable or 

discriminatory and burden or restrict 

U.S. commerce. 

Pursuant to section 302(b)(1)(B), the 

U.S. Trade Representative consulted 

with the appropriate advisory 

committees. The U.S. Trade 

Representative also consulted with the 

inter-agency Section 301 Committee. 

Pursuant to section 303(a) of the Trade 

Act, the U.S. Trade Representative has 

requested consultations with the 

Government of Nicaragua. 

Pursuant to section 304 of the Trade 

Act, the U.S. Trade Representative must 

determine whether the act, policy, or 

practice under investigation is 

actionable under section 301. If that 

determination is affirmative, the U.S. 

Trade Representative must determine 

what action to take. 

The investigation initially will focus 

on the following issues: 

(1) Evidence indicates that the 

Government of Nicaragua has 

committed or allowed violations and 

abuses of internationally recognized 

labor rights. Actions related to such 

abuses and violations include: the 

ruling party’s use of control over major 

unions to harass and intimidate 

workers; repression of freedom of 

association; elimination of workers’ 

right to organize and join independent 

unions of their choice; routine 

violations of collective bargaining and 

labor laws with impunity; interference 

in worker and employer organizations; 

seizure of assets and steps to remove the 

citizenship of members of worker and 

employer organizations; dissolution of 

at least 19 labor unions; arbitrary 

dismissals, arrests, and imprisonment of 

key union leaders; child and forced 

labor; human trafficking; discrimination 

against women and on the basis of 

political opinion; negligence in 

protecting health in the workplace; 

wage deductions and theft; and 

retaliation for claiming rights violations. 

The Government’s arbitrary closure of 

civil society organizations that provide 

services to prevent child and forced 

labor and support victims exacerbates 

labor rights violations and abuses. 

(2) Evidence indicates that the 

Government of Nicaragua has 

committed human rights violations 

against citizens of Nicaragua and foreign 

residents, including through political 

imprisonments, arrests, banishments, 

property expropriation (including 

property belonging to U.S. citizens), and 

efforts to arbitrarily strip citizens of 

their Nicaraguan nationality. The 

Government of Nicaragua systematically 

has cancelled the legal status of, thereby 

closing, religious institutions and faithbased humanitarian organizations, 

independent higher education 

institutions, and thousands of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) 

under spurious accusations. As a result 

of these arbitrary closures, the 

Government of Nicaragua has 

expropriated the assets and properties of 

these organizations and institutions. 

There is credible reporting that the 

Government of Nicaragua has engaged 

in the cruel, degrading, and inhuman 

treatment of political prisoners, 

extrajudicial killings, and torture of its 

citizens and foreign residents. The 

Government of Nicaragua also has 

severely restricted the exercise of 

freedoms of expression, movement, and 

religion or belief (including by taking 

steps to strip Nicaraguan clergy and 

religious actors of their citizenships, 

hounding Nicaraguan and foreign 

resident religious actors into exile, 

confiscating property, and punishing 

free expression of religion or belief with 

unjust detention, reprisals, and threats). 

The Government of Nicaragua has 

suppressed democracy, and committed 

violence against members of minority 

groups, including members of 

Indigenous and Afro-descendant 

communities, primarily located in the 

Caribbean Autonomous regions. The 

Government encourages illegal 

encroachment on protected lands, 

including those belonging to Indigenous 

communities, for mining and cattle 

ranching. 

(3) Evidence indicates that the 

Government of Nicaragua has 

dismantled rule of law in Nicaragua, 

including a radical rewriting of the 

national constitution that centralizes 

power in the presidency and nullifies 

the independence of the courts and the 

legislature. The Government of 

Nicaragua engages in arbitrary or partial 

administration of law; imposes arbitrary 

or incorrect fines, taxes, customs 

inspections, and rulings; has revoked 

the legal status of at least 151 prominent 

business chambers and associations, 

including the American Chamber of 

Commerce; and engages in 

indiscriminate seizures of property. The 

regime has used inspections, reregistration fees, and historical tax 

audits in a prejudicial manner towards 

U.S. and foreign firms to benefit 

domestic competitors and has impeded 

the flow of assets out of the country 

when these companies decide to exit the 

market. 

(4) Evidence indicates that 

Nicaragua’s labor and human rights 

violations and dismantling of rule of 

law, taken jointly or separately, may, 

directly or indirectly, impact U.S. 

workers and companies, including 

through the exploitation of workers, 

harming both Nicaraguans directly and 

U.S. workers and businesses indirectly 

through unfair competition; by 

negatively impacting the Nicaraguan 

economy and market, with lost sales 

and exports for U.S. enterprises; and by 

lost investment and business 

opportunities for U.S. workers and 

companies, including through the 

creation of a high-risk environment to 

invest or conduct business. 

In addition to these issues, interested 

parties may submit for consideration 

information on other acts, policies, and 

practices of Nicaragua related to labor 

rights, human rights, and rule of law 

that might be included in this 

investigation. 

III. Request for Public Comments 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written comments or oral 

testimony on any issue covered by the 

investigation. In particular, USTR 

invites comments with respect to: 

• Nicaragua’s acts, policies, and 

practices related to labor rights, human 

rights, and rule of law. 

• Whether Nicaragua’s acts, policies, 

and practices related to labor rights, 

human rights, and rule of law are 

unreasonable or discriminatory. 

• Whether Nicaragua’s acts, policies, 

and practices related to labor rights, 

human rights, and rule of law burden or 

restrict U.S. commerce, and if so, the 

nature and level of the burden or 

restriction. Such comments may include 

economic assessments of the burden or 

restriction on any sector or industry, as 

well as assessments of the burden or 

restriction on labor in the United States 

related to the acts, policies, and 

practices under investigation. 

• The determinations required under 

section 304 of the Trade Act, that is, 

whether actionable conduct exists under 

section 301(b) and what action, if any, 

should be taken. 

To be assured of consideration, USTR 

must receive written comments by 11:59 

p.m. EST on January 8, 2025, in 

accordance with the instructions in 

section IV below. 

The Section 301 Committee will 

convene a public hearing on January 16, 

2025, in the main hearing room of the 


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101090 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 240 / Friday, December 13, 2024 / Notices 

U.S. International Trade Commission, 

500 E Street SW, Washington DC 20436, 

beginning at 10 a.m. Persons wishing to 

appear at the hearing must provide 

written notification of their intention 

and a summary of the proposed 

testimony by 11:59 p.m. EST on January 

8, 2025, in accordance with the 

instructions in section IV below. 

Remarks at the hearing are limited to 

five minutes to allow for possible 

questions from the Section 301 

Committee. 

Post-hearing rebuttal comments, 

which should be limited to rebutting or 

supplementing testimony at the hearing, 

are due by 11:59 p.m. EST on January 

23, 2025, in accordance with the 

instructions in section IV below. 

IV. Submission Instructions 

Interested persons must submit 

written comments, requests to appear at 

the hearing, summaries of testimony, 

and post-hearing rebuttal comments 

using the appropriate docket on the 

portal at https://comments.ustr.gov/s/. 

To submit written comments, including 

post-hearing rebuttal comments, use the 

docket on the portal entitled ‘Request 

for Comments on the Section 301 

Investigation of Nicaragua’s Acts, 

Policies, and Practices Related to Labor 

Rights, Human Rights, and Rule of Law,’ 

docket number USTR–2024–0021. 

Interested persons wishing to provide 

testimony at the hearing must submit a 

notification of intent and summary of 

testimony using the docket entitled 

‘Request to Appear at the Hearing on the 

Section 301 Investigation of Nicaragua’s 

Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to 

Labor Rights, Human Rights, and Rule 

of Law,’ docket number USTR–2024– 

0022. 

You do not need to establish an 

account to submit comments or a 

notification of intent to testify. The first 

screen allows you to enter identification 

and contact information. Third party 

organizations such as law firms, trade 

associations, or customs brokers should 

identify the full legal name of the 

organization they represent and identify 

the primary point of contact for the 

submission. Information fields are 

optional, however, your comment or 

request may not be considered if 

insufficient information is provided. 

Fields with a gray Business 

Confidential Information (BCI) notation 

are for BCI information that will not be 

made publicly available. Fields with a 

green (Public) notation will be viewable 

by the public. 

After entering the identification and 

contact information, you can complete 

the remainder of the comment, or any 

portion of it, by clicking ‘Next.’ You 

may upload documents at the end of the 

form and indicate whether USTR should 

treat the documents as business 

confidential or public information. 

Any page containing BCI must be 

clearly marked ‘BUSINESS 

CONFIDENTIAL’ on the top of that page 

and the submission should clearly 

indicate, via brackets, highlighting, or 

other means, the specific information 

that is BCI. If you request business 

confidential treatment, you must certify 

in writing that the information would 

not customarily be released to the 

public. 

Parties uploading attachments 

containing BCI also must submit a 

public version of their comments. If 

these procedures are not sufficient to 

protect BCI or otherwise protect 

business interests, please contact the 

USTR section 301 support line at 

202.395.5725 to discuss whether 

alternative arrangements are possible. 

USTR will post attachments uploaded 

to the docket for public inspection, 

except for properly designated BCI. You 

can view submissions on USTR’s 

electronic portal at https://

comments.ustr.gov/s/. 

Juan Millan, 

Acting General Counsel, Office of the United 

States Trade Representative. 

[FR Doc. 2024–29422 Filed 12–12–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3390–F4–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

[Docket No. FAA–2024–2216] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Requests for Comments; 

Clearance of Approval of Information 

Collection To Provide for the Amount 

of Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) 

Located at Part 139 Airports 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA 

invites public comments about our 

intention to request the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

approval for an information collection. 

DATES: Written comments should be 

submitted by February 14, 2025. 

ADDRESSES: Please send written 

comments: 

By Electronic Docket: 

www.regulations.gov. Enter docket 

number: FAA–2024–2216 into search 

field. 

By email: anthony.butters@faa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Anthony Butters by email at: 

anthony.butters@faa.gov; phone: 202- 

267–9616 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

collection involves S.4319—‘‘A bill to 

provide for progress reports on the 

national transition plan related to a 

fluorine-free firefighting foam’’ that 

requires that the FAA provide progress 

reports on the status of part 139 airports 

transition to fluorine-free firefighting 

foam no later than 180 days after the 

date of enactment of this Act, and every 

180 days thereafter until the progress 

report termination date. Within this 

report, a comprehensive list of the 

amount of AFFF at each part 139 airport 

as of the date of the submission of the 

progress report, including the amount of 

such firefighting foam held in 

firefighting equipment and the number 

of gallons regularly kept in reserve at 

each such airport. These progress 

reports on the development and 

implementation of a national transition 

plan related to a fluorine-free 

firefighting foam that meets the 

performance standards referenced in 

chapter 3—Agent Compatibility, 

Substitutions, and Performance 

Requirements of Advisory Circular 150/ 

5210.6E—Aircraft Fire Extinguishing 

Agents for Airports (AC 150/5210.62) 

issued on November 27, 2023 shall be 

submitted to the appropriate committees 

of Congress. 

Public Comments Invited: You are 

asked to comment on any aspect of this 

information collection, including (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for FAA’s 

performance; (b) the accuracy of the 

estimated burden; (c) ways for FAA to 

enhance the quality, utility and clarity 

of the information collection; and (d) 

ways that the burden could be 

minimized without reducing the quality 

of the collected information. The agency 

will summarize and/or include your 

comments in the request for OMB’s 

clearance of this information collection. 

OMB Control Number: 2024–2216. 

Title: Collection for Progress Reports 

related to the National Transition Plan 

for fluorine-free firefighting foam. 

Form Numbers: N/A. 

Type of Review: New information 

collection. 

The required respondents to this new 

information request are civilian U.S. 

part 139 airport certificate holders who 

operate airports that serve scheduled 

and unscheduled operations of air 

carrier aircraft with more than 10 

passenger seats (approximately 517 

airports). These airport operators 


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