4738 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 17 / Wednesday, January 27, 2016 / Notices 

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES: 

Individuals who wish to contest 

records pertaining to themselves should 

write to the Director; Office of 

Information Programs and Services 

(address above). 

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES: 

These records contain information 

obtained directly from individuals who 

interact with the Department of State 

through social media sites or who 

communicate electronically with the 

Department in response to public 

outreach. 

SYSTEMS EXEMPTED FROM CERTAIN PROVISIONS

OF THE ACT: 

None. 

[FR Doc. 2016–01648 Filed 1–26–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–45–P 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD 

[Docket No. EP 526 (Sub-No. 7)] 

Decision; Notice of Railroad-Shipper 

Transportation Advisory Council 

Vacancy 

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board 

(Board). 

ACTION: Notice of vacancy on the 

Railroad-Shipper Transportation 

Advisory Council (RSTAC) and 

solicitation of nominations. 

SUMMARY: The Board hereby gives notice 

of a vacancy for a small railroad 

representative on RSTAC. The Board is 

soliciting suggestions for candidates to 

fill this vacancy. 

DATES: Nominations are due on 

February 22, 2016. 

ADDRESSES: Suggestions may be 

submitted either via the Board’s e-filing 

format or in the traditional paper 

format. Any person using e-filing should 

attach a document and otherwise 

comply with the instructions at the E– 

FILING link on the Board’s Web site, at 

http://www.stb.dot.gov. Any person 

submitting a filing in the traditional 

paper format should send an original 

and 10 copies to: Surface Transportation 

Board, Attn: Docket No. EP 526 (SubNo. 7), 395 E Street SW., Washington, 

DC 20423–0001 (if sending via express 

company or private courier, please use 

zip code 20024). Please note that 

submissions will be available to the 

public at the Board’s offices and posted 

on the Board’s Web site under Docket 

No. EP 526 (Sub-No. 7). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Stephanie Lyons at 202–245–0536. 

Assistance for the hearing impaired is 

available through the Federal 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1– 

800–877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Board, created in 1996 to take over 

many of the functions previously 

performed by the Interstate Commerce 

Commission, exercises broad authority 

over transportation by rail carriers, 

including regulation of railroad rates 

and service (49 U.S.C. 10701–47, 

11101–24), as well as the construction, 

acquisition, operation, and 

abandonment of rail lines (49 U.S.C. 

10901–07) and railroad line sales, 

consolidations, mergers, and common 

control arrangements (49 U.S.C. 10902, 

11323–27). 

RSTAC was established upon the 

enactment of the ICC Termination Act of 

1995 (ICCTA), on December 29, 1995, to 

advise the Board’s Chairman, the 

Secretary of Transportation, the 

Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation of the Senate, and the 

Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure of the House of 

Representatives with respect to rail 

transportation policy issues RSTAC 

considers significant. RSTAC focuses on 

issues of importance to small shippers 

and small railroads, including car 

supply, rates, competition, and 

procedures for addressing claims. 

ICCTA directs RSTAC to develop 

private-sector mechanisms to prevent, 

or identify and address, obstacles to the 

most effective and efficient 

transportation system practicable. 

RSTAC also prepares an annual report 

concerning its activities and 

recommendations on whatever 

regulatory or legislative relief it 

considers appropriate. RSTAC is not 

subject to the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act. 

Nine members of RSTAC are voting 

members and are appointed from senior 

executive officers of organizations 

engaged in the railroad and rail 

shipping industries. At least four of the 

voting members must be representatives 

of small shippers as determined by the 

Chairman, and at least four of the voting 

members must be representatives of 

Class II or III railroads. The remaining 

six members to be appointed—three 

representing Class I railroads and three 

representing large shipper 

organizations—serve in a nonvoting, 

advisory capacity, but are entitled to 

participate in RSTAC deliberations. 

RSTAC is required by statute to meet 

at least semi-annually. In recent years, 

RSTAC has met four times a year. 

Meetings are generally held at the 

Board’s headquarters in Washington, 

DC, although some are held in other 

locations. 

RSTAC members receive no 

compensation for their services and are 

required to provide for the expenses 

incidental to their service, including 

travel expenses, as the Board cannot 

provide for these expenses. RSTAC may 

solicit and use private funding for its 

activities, again subject to certain 

restrictions in ICCTA. RSTAC members 

currently have elected to submit annual 

dues to pay for RSTAC expenses. 

RSTAC members must be citizens of 

the United States and represent as 

broadly as practicable the various 

segments of the railroad and rail shipper 

industries. They may not be full-time 

employees of the United States. 

According to revised guidance issued by 

the Office of Management and Budget, 

it is permissible for federally registered 

lobbyists to serve on advisory 

committees, such as RSTAC, as long as 

they do so in a representative capacity, 

rather than an individual capacity. See 

Revised Guidance on Appointment of 

Lobbyists to Federal Advisory 

Committees, Boards, and Commissions, 

79 FR 47482 (Aug. 13, 2014). Members 

of RSTAC are appointed to serve in a 

representative capacity. 

RSTAC members are appointed for 

three-year terms. A member may serve 

after the expiration of his or her term 

until a successor has taken office. No 

member will be eligible to serve in 

excess of two consecutive terms. 

Due to the expiration of one RSTAC 

member’s second term, a vacancy exists 

for a small railroad representative. Upon 

appointment by the Chairman, the new 

representative will serve for three years, 

and may be eligible to serve a second 

three-year term following the end of 

their first term. 

Suggestions for candidates to fill the 

vacancy should be submitted in letter 

form, identify the name of the 

candidate, provide a summary of why 

the candidate is qualified to serve on 

RSTAC, and contain a representation 

that the candidate is willing to serve as 

a member of RSTAC effective 

immediately upon appointment. RSTAC 

candidate suggestions should be filed 

with the Board by February 22, 2016. 

Members selected to serve on RSTAC 

are chosen at the discretion of the 

Board’s Chairman. Please note that 

submissions will be available to the 

public at the Board’s offices and posted 

on the Board’s Web site under Docket 

No. EP 526 (Sub-No. 7). 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 726. 

Decided: January 22, 2016. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 17 / Wednesday, January 27, 2016 / Notices 4739 

By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Tia Delano, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2016–01642 Filed 1–26–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Office of the Secretary 

Mounir R. Khouri; Public Interest 

Exclusion Order 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DOT. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: On January 20, 2016, the 

Department of Transportation (DOT) 

issued a decision and order under the 

Procedures for Transportation 

Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing 

Programs that excludes a service agent, 

Mounir R. Khouri, from providing drug 

and alcohol testing services in any 

capacity to any DOT-regulated employer 

for a period of 5 years. Mr. Khouri 

provided Consortium/Third Party 

Administrator Services (C/TPA) and 

Medical Review Officer (MRO) services 

to DOT-regulated trucking companies. 

Mr. Khouri pled guilty to criminal 

charges that he made materially false 

statements that an MRO had reviewed 

drug test results, when a qualified MRO 

had not done so. This Federal Register 

publication serves as notice to the 

public that DOT-regulated employers or 

their service agents must stop using the 

services of Mounir R. Khouri for 

administering their DOT-regulated drug 

and/or alcohol testing programs. 

DATES: The effective date of the Public 

Interest Exclusion is January 20, 2016 

and it will remain in effect until January 

20, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Patrice M. Kelly, Acting Director, U.S. 

Department of Transportation, Office of 

Drug and Alcohol Policy and 

Compliance, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 

SE., Washington, DC 20590; (202) 366– 

3784 (voice), (202) 366–3897 (fax), or 

patrice.kelly@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

In accordance with the provisions of 

the Department’s regulation at 49 CFR 

part 40 (Part 40), Subpart R, Public 

Interest Exclusions (PIE), the Federal 

Motor Carrier Safety Administration 

(FMCSA) issued a Notice of Proposed 

Exclusion (NOPE) to Mr. Khouri on 

August 27, 2015, notifying him that he 

had engaged in serious noncompliance. 

In the NOPE, the FMCSA stated that the 

Department’s Office of the Inspector 

General had conducted a criminal 

investigation that revealed that Mr. 

Khouri subverted the MRO’s role in the 

testing process. Specifically, Mr. Khouri 

held out as performing C/TPA services 

and he: Received laboratory confirmed 

drug test results and falsely certified 

that those results were reviewed by a 

qualified MRO; acted as an MRO, 

without qualifications to do so, by 

verifying laboratory confirmed positive 

test results; and prepared false Federal 

Drug Testing Custody and Control 

Forms (CCFs) for untested specimens 

and misrepresented that the specimens 

had tested negative. In the United States 

District Court for the District of 

Vermont, Mr. Khouri pled guilty and 

was convicted for making false 

statements on a CCF. Those false 

statements indicated that an MRO had 

reviewed a drug test, when Mr. Khouri 

knew that had not occurred. 

Public Interest Exclusion Decision and 

Order 

On January 20, 2016, the Department 

issued a PIE against Mounir R. Khouri. 

This PIE prohibits all DOT-regulated 

employers and service agents from 

utilizing Mounir R. Khouri for drug and 

alcohol testing services in any capacity 

for a period of 5 years. A full copy of 

the Department’s Decision and Order 

can be found at http://www.dot.gov/

odapc. 

In accordance with the terms of the 

Department’s Decision and Order and 

per 49 CFR 40.403(a), Mounir R. Khouri 

is required to directly notify each of the 

affected DOT-regulated employer clients 

in writing about the issuance, scope, 

duration, and effect of the PIE. The 

Department is notifying employers and 

the public about this PIE by publishing 

it in a ‘‘List of Excluded Drug and 

Alcohol Service Agents’’ on its Web site 

at http://www.dot.gov/odapc/ and will 

make the list available upon request. As 

required by 49 CFR 40.401(d), the 

Department is publishing this Federal 

Register notice to inform the public that 

Mounir R. Khouri is subject to a PIE for 

5 years. After January 20, 2021, Mounir 

R. Khouri, will be removed from the list 

and the public will be notified of that 

removal, also in accordance with 49 

CFR 40.401(d). 

Any DOT-regulated employer who 

uses the services of Mounir R. Khouri 

between January 20, 2016 and January 

20, 2021 may be subject to a civil 

penalty for violation of Part 40. 

Dated this 20th day of January, 2016, at 

Washington, DC. 

Patrice M. Kelly, 

Acting Director, Office of Drug and Alcohol 

Policy Compliance. 

[FR Doc. 2016–01630 Filed 1–26–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of the Secretary 

List of Countries Requiring 

Cooperation With an International 

Boycott 

In accordance with section 999(a)(3) 

of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 

the Department of the Treasury is 

publishing a current list of countries 

which require or may require 

participation in, or cooperation with, an 

international boycott (within the 

meaning of section 999(b)(3) of the 

Internal Revenue Code of 1986). 

On the basis of the best information 

currently available to the Department of 

the Treasury, the following countries 

require or may require participation in, 

or cooperation with, an international 

boycott (within the meaning of section 

999(b)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code 

of 1986). 

Iraq 

Kuwait 

Lebanon 

Libya 

Qatar 

Saudi Arabia 

Syria 

United Arab Emirates 

Yemen 

Dated: January 19, 2016. 

Danielle Rolfes, 

International Tax Counsel, (Tax Policy). 

[FR Doc. 2016–01622 Filed 1–26–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–25–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Multiemployer Pension Plan 

Application To Reduce Benefits 

AGENCY: Department of the Treasury. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; Request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Board of Trustees of the 

Iron Workers Local 17 Pension Plan, a 

multiemployer pension plan, has 

submitted an application to Treasury to 

reduce benefits under the plan in 

accordance with the Multiemployer 

Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA). 

The purpose of this notice is to 

announce that the application submitted 

by the Board of Trustees of the Iron 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES