28636 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 109 / Wednesday, June 5, 1996 / Notices

administrative practice to require, at a

minimum, the information requested as

a condition for payment of financial

assistance.

3. Subsidiaries and Affiliates

Comment. The commentor stated

MARAD lacked authority to obtain

information concerning all contractors’

parent companies, affiliates, and

subsidiaries together with an indication

of the business transacted by each.

Response. In the meeting held

between MARAD and the commentor,

the issue was clarified and it was agreed

that the request for information should

be applicable only to parent companies,

affiliates, and subsidiaries that are

involved in the maritime industry for

non-section 2 citizen applicants. Section

2 citizen applicants will be required to

provide information on affiliated

relationships necessary to document

status as a section 2 citizen.

4. Citizenship

Comment. The commentor stated that,

with respect to the extensive disclosure

required with respect to stock

ownership, shareholders, voting trusts

and agreements whereby control of an

applicant is in any way held or

exercised by any person not the holder

of legal title to such shares, it found the

request to be too intrusive. The

commentor suggested that MARAD on

an ad hoc basis continue its practice of

requiring citizenship affidavits from

some applicants.

Response. MARAD conceptually

agrees with the commentor’s suggestion

and will require the submission of such

extensive information only from those

applicants requesting to apply as

citizens of the United States. Other

applicants need only prove lesser levels

of citizenship.

5. Current or Anticipated Agreements

Comment. The commentor stated that

the requested information regarding

current agreements with other carriers

was already available and, with respect

to anticipated agreements, that request

was intrusive and unnecessary for the

administration of the MSP.

Response. During the meeting

between MARAD and the commentor,

the issue was clarified and it was agreed

that current information on operations

and agreements was needed to assist the

agency in identifying potential sealift

capacity available for use in accordance

with an Emergency Preparedness

Program. As a result, the section on

agreements would read: ‘‘Describe any

current agreements and or relationships

with other carriers.’’ All reference to

anticipated agreements will be deleted.

6. Certification of Citizenship

Comment. The commentor stated that

the application required the applicant to

be a citizen of the United States within

the meaning of Section 2, Shipping Act,

1916, as amended, and that requirement

was wrong.

Response. The requirement to certify

Section 2 citizenship as part of the

application was an error and has been

corrected by adding a provision for

applicants who are not applying as

Section 2 citizens which reads: ‘‘* * *

or is eligible to document a vessel under

46 U.S.C. 121 * * *’’.

Dated: May 30, 1996.

By order of the Maritime Administrator.

Joel C. Richard,

Secretary, Maritime Administration.

[FR Doc. 96–14092 Filed 6–4–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–81–M

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

[Docket No. 94–86; Notice 2]

Establishment of Working Groups to

Assist NAFTA Automotive Standards

Council

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of intent to establish

working groups to assist NAFTA

Automotive Standards Council.

SUMMARY: The Automotive Standards

Council, a subcommittee under the

Committee on Standards Related

Measures established by the North

American Free Trade Agreement, has

decided to establish working groups to

assist it in facilitating the attainment of

compatibility among, and review the

implementation of, national standardsrelated measures of Canada, Mexico,

and the United States that apply to

automotive goods. This notice identifies

the United States government co-chairs

for each of the four working groups the

United States will establish. This notice

also solicits interested persons from

outside the government to serve on the

four working groups.

DATES: Requests for membership must

be received not later than July 5, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Requests for membership

should be submitted to the government

co-chair for the appropriate working

group indicated below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

the Working Group on Emissions/

Engines/Fuels: Mr. Thomas M. Baines,

Senior Technical Advisor, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, 2565

Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105.

Mr. Baines can be reached by fax at

(313) 741–7816.

For the Working Group on Light

Vehicle Safety Standards: Mr. Stephen

R. Kratzke, Chief, Planning and Review

Division, Office of Vehicle Safety

Standards, National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration, 400 Seventh

Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. Mr.

Kratzke can be reached by telephone at

(202) 366–5203 or by fax at (202) 366–

4329.

For the Working Group on Heavy

Vehicle Safety Standards and the

Working Group on Parts and

Equipment: Mr. Clive Van Orden, Chief,

Equipment and Imports Division, Office

of Vehicle Safety Compliance, National

Highway Traffic Safety Administration,

400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington,

DC 20590. Mr. Van Orden can be

reached by telephone at (202) 366–5311

or by fax at (202) 366–1024.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The North

American Free Trade Agreement

(NAFTA) is a trilateral trade agreement

among the Governments of Canada,

Mexico, and the United States. Article

913 of NAFTA establishes a Committee

on Standards-Related Measures,

comprising representatives of each of

the three parties. Paragraph 5 of Article

913 requires the Committee on

Standards-Related Measures to establish

four subcommittees, one of which is the

Automotive Standards Council. The

purpose of the Automotive Standards

Council is ‘‘to the extent practicable, to

facilitate the attainment of compatibility

among, and review the implementation

of, national standards-related measures

of the [three Nations] that apply to

automotive goods, and to address other

related matters.’’ See NAFTA Annex

913.5.a–3. The NAFTA includes nonroad engines as well. Thus, the term

‘‘automotive,’’ as used in this notice,

includes non-road engines.

Annex 913.5.a.–3.3 gives the

Automotive Standards Council

authority to establish consultation

procedures and appropriate operational

mechanisms. At the initial meeting of

the Automotive Standards Council in

Ottawa, the representatives of the three

governments agreed to solicit input from

interested parties in their respective

countries to identify incompatibilities

that have created, or could create,

needless barriers to trade. Pursuant to

this agreement, NHTSA published a

notice asking the public for comments

about regulatory incompatibilities and

barriers to trade on December 23, 1994

(59 FR 66402).

At the second meeting in Mexico City,

each of the three Nations reported on

the inputs from their respective
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 109 / Wednesday, June 5, 1996 / Notices 28637

countries. The Automotive Standards

Council concluded that it should seek

help from outside the governments to

complete the task of eliminating

needless barriers to trade caused by

incompatibilities in automotive-related

standards and regulations among the

three countries. These outside parties

may be in the best position to judge the

extent to which an incompatibility

constitutes a barrier to trade. In

addition, many parties outside the

governments had asked that the Council

try to involve the public to a greater

extent in the Council’s activities.

At the third meeting in Washington,

D.C. on April 30–May 1, 1996, the

Council agreed to establish working

groups to assist it. Based on the public

comments identifying what are believed

to be incompatibilities and experience

in regulating motor vehicles, the

Council will form working groups to

address four different areas. These

would be:

• Emissions/Engines/Fuels

• Light Vehicle Safety Standards

• Heavy Vehicle Safety Standards, and

• Parts and Equipment (both original

equipment and replacement)

The Council also agreed on Terms of

Reference to provide an outline for how

the working groups will function. The

complete text of the Terms of Reference

follows this notice as an appendix.

The United States has decided to

establish four working groups, one in

each of these areas. The United States

has also identified the following

government co-chairs for each of the

four working groups:

• Mr. Thomas M. Baines (Emissions/

Engines/Fuels)

• Mr. Stephen R. Kratzke (Light Vehicle

Safety Standards)

• Mr. Clive Van Orden (Heavy Vehicles

Safety Standards and Parts and

Equipment).

The United States is now soliciting

interested parties from outside the

government to participate in the four

working groups. Interested parties

should write or fax the government cochair for the working group(s) they

would like to participate in by July 5,

1996. The government co-chair will

then contact all respondents to

announce the time and place for an

organizational meeting for each working

group. At the initial meeting, each

working group will decide upon the

internal procedures it wants to follow

and select a co-chair from outside the

government.

Issued on May 30, 1996.

Francis J. Turpin,

Director, Office of International

Harmonization.

Appendix—Terms of Reference for

Working Groups Under The NAFTA

Automotive Standards Council

Objectives

The Automotive Standards Council (‘‘the

Council’’) has agreed under Annex 913.5.a–

3.3 of the North American Free Trade

Agreement to establish working groups of

interested persons to pursue the following

objectives:

• Facilitate the attainment of compatibility

among, and review the implementation of,

national standards-related measures of the

Parties that apply to automotive goods; and

• Suggest recommendations the Council

could make that would facilitate the

attainment of such compatibility.

Structure of Working Groups

a. Subject Areas To Be Addressed by

Working Groups

1. The Council will initially address four

areas by means of working groups in the

Parties. These four areas are:

i. Emissions/Engines/Fuels

ii. Light Vehicle Safety Standards

iii. Heavy Vehicle Safety Standards and

iv. Parts and Equipment (both Original

Equipment and Replacement)

2. The Council may specify additional

areas to be addressed by working groups, as

needed.

b. General Structure of Working Groups

1. Each Party will establish one or more

working groups to address these four areas.

2. Each working group will be co-chaired

by a representative of the government and a

person not employed by the government. The

government co-chair will serve as a liaison

between the Council and the working group.

3. Members of the working groups not

employed by the government will not be

compensated by the government for their

work on the working groups.

4. Each Party may use whatever procedures

it deems appropriate to decide the

membership of its working groups.

c. General Responsibilities of Working

Groups

1. The working groups will have the

primary responsibility for identifying

incompatibilities among the national

standards-related measures of the Parties that

apply to automotive goods, providing an

assessment of the extent to which such

incompatibilities represent a barrier to trade,

and for offering suggestions to the Council

about ways to remove those

incompatibilities.

2. Each working group will be responsible

for informing other working groups,

including the counterpart working groups in

the other Parties and other working groups

established by the same Party, of its planned

and current activities. The Council will be

responsible for ensuring that information it

receives from any working group is passed on

to all other working groups through the

government co-chairs.

3. Each working group shall report

annually on its activities to the Council. Such

reports shall briefly indicate the activities in

which the working group has been engaged

for the preceding year and the activities the

working group plans for the upcoming year,

any priorities on which the working group

has agreed, and provide a status report on the

current projects of the working group.

4. Each working group may develop its

own internal rules and priorities consistent

with the objectives set forth in these Terms

of Reference.

5. Working groups may hold trilateral

meetings with the working groups in the

other Parties if deemed necessary.

d. Working Group Presentations to the

Council

1. The Council will give the working

groups as much notice as possible of

upcoming Council meetings to allow the

working groups to request some time on the

agenda to make presentations to the full

Council.

2. Before any working group asks to make

a presentation to the full Council, it must

coordinate the presentation with the

appropriate working groups in the other

Parties. For the purposes of this document,

‘‘coordinate’’ means the working group must

inform the appropriate working groups in

other Parties of the planned presentation and

discuss the presentation with those other

working groups. For instance, if the Canadian

working group addressing Light Vehicle

Safety Standards wants to make a

presentation to the Council, it must first

inform the working groups addressing Light

Vehicle Safety Standards in Mexico and the

United States of the presentation and discuss

it with those working groups. Working

groups will, to the maximum extent possible,

make a single presentation that represents the

views of the appropriate working groups in

all Parties, including a statement of any

differing views. This requirement does not

mean that the working groups in the other

Parties must agree to the presentation before

the Council will hear it. Instead, it means

that the working groups in the other Parties

must be fully informed of the details of the

presentation and the intention to present it

to the full Council.

3. The Council encourages working groups

to make joint presentations when possible.

Nongovernment representatives of the

presenting working group or groups would be

permitted to present the suggestions to a

meeting of the full Council.

4. As soon as possible after the Council

completes its internal consideration of the

presentation, the Council will inform the

presenters of the Council’s decision on the

working group recommendations to the

Council.

Amendments

These terms of reference may be amended

at any time with the unanimous consent of

all Parties.

[FR Doc. 96–14063 Filed 5–31–96; 12:25 pm]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P