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
28638 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 109 / Wednesday, June 5, 1996 / Notices

1The ICC Termination Act of 1995, Pub. L. No.

104–88, 109 Stat. 803 (ICCTA), which was enacted

on December 29, 1995, and took effect on January

1, 1996, abolished the Interstate Commerce

Commission (ICC) and transferred certain functions

and proceedings to the Surface Transportation

Board (Board). Section 204(b)(1) of ICCTA provides,

in general, that proceedings pending before the ICC

on the effective date of that legislation shall be

decided under the law in effect prior to January 1,

1996, insofar as they involve functions retained by

ICCTA. This decision relates to a proceeding that

was pending with the ICC prior to January 1, 1996,

and to functions that are subject to Board

jurisdiction pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 10704.

1The ICC Termination Act of 1995, Pub. L. No.

104–88, 109 Stat. 803, which was enacted on

December 29, 1995, and took effect on January 1,

1996, abolished the Interstate Commerce

Commission and transferred certain functions to the

Surface Transportation Board (Board). This notice

relates to functions that are subject to Board

jurisdiction pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 10901.

2LVR and C&G are owned by CAGY Industries,

Inc., a noncarrier that controls several class III rail

carriers. Because CAGY Industries owns other

carriers, it would require the prior approval of this

Board under 49 U.S.C. 11323(a)(5) and 11324(d), or

exemption therefrom under 49 U.S.C. 10502, to

continue in control of these other carriers when

LVR becomes a carrier by its acquisition of the line

in question. In STB Finance Docket No. 32968 (SubNo. 1), CAGY Industries has filed a petition for

exemption to permit such continuance in control.

Because LVR will connect with another carrier

controlled by CAGY Industries (C&G), CAGY

Industries cannot invoke the class exemption at 49

CFR 1180.2(d)(2) for continuance-in-control

transactions. Prior to closure of this transaction and

pending approval of the exemption sought in the

(Sub-No. 1) proceeding, LVR’s stock will be place

into an independent voting trust.

Saint Lawrence Seaway Development

Corporation

Advisory Board; Notice of Meeting

Pursuant to Section 10(a)(2) of the

Federal Advisory Committee Act (Public

Law 92–463; 5 U.S.C. App. I) notice is

hereby given of a meeting of the

Advisory Board of the Saint Lawrence

Seaway Development Corporation, to be

held at 2:00 p.m., June 20, 1996, at the

Corporation’s Washington, D.C. office,

400 7th Street, S.W., Suite 5424,

Washington, D.C. 20590. The agenda for

this meeting will be as follows: Opening

Remarks; Consideration of Minutes of

Past Meeting; Review of Programs;

Business; and Closing Remarks.

Attendance at meeting is open to the

interested public but limited to the

space available. With the approval of

the Administrator, members of the

public may present oral statements at

the meeting. Persons wishing further

information should contact not later

than June 17, 1996, Marc C. Owen,

Advisory Board Liaison, Saint Lawrence

Seaway Corporation, 400 Seventh

Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590;

202–366–0091.

Any member of the public may

present a written statement to the

Advisory Board at any time.

Issued at Washington, D.C. on May 29,

1996.

Marc C. Owen,

Advisory Board Liaison.

[FR Doc. 96–14012 Filed 6–4–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–61–M

Surface Transportation Board 1

[STB Ex Parte No. 523 (Sub-No. 1)]

Railroad Cost of Capital—1995

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.

ACTION: Notice of decision.

SUMMARY: On June 5, 1996, the Board

served a decision to update its estimate

of the railroad industry’s cost of capital

for 1995. The composite cost of capital

rate for 1995 is found to be 11.7%,

based on a current cost of debt of 7.4%,

a cost of common equity capital of

13.4%, a cost of preferred equity capital

of 3.2%, and a 26.0% debt, 72.8%

common equity, 1.2% preferred equity

capital structure mix. The cost of capital

finding made in this proceeding will be

used in a variety of Board proceedings.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This action is effective

June 6, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Leonard J. Blistein, (202) 927–6171.

(TDD for the hearing impaired: (202)

927–5721.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The cost

of capital finding in this decision shall

be used to evaluate the adequacy of

railroad revenues for 1995 under the

standards and procedures promulgated

in Standards for Railroad Revenue

Adequacy, 3 I.C.C.2d 261 (1986). This

finding may also be used in other Board

proceedings involving, for example, the

prescription of maximum reasonable

rate levels and proposed abandonments

of rail lines. Additional information is

contained in the Board’s decision. To

obtain a copy of the full decision, write

to, call, or pick up in person from: DC

NEWS & DATA, INC., Room 2229, 1201

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,

DC 20423. Telephone: (202) 289–4357/

4359. (Assistance for the hearing

impaired is available through TDD

services (202) 927–5721.)

Environmental and Energy

Considerations

This action will not significantly

affect either the quality of the human

environment or the conservation of

energy resources.

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), we

conclude that our action in this

proceeding will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities. The purpose

and effect of this action are to update

the annual railroad industry cost of

capital finding by the Board. No new

reporting or other regulatory

requirements are imposed, directly or

indirectly, on small entities.

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 10704(a).

Decided: May 22, 1996.

By the Board, Chairman Morgan, Vice

Chairman Simmons, and Commissioner

Owen.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–14088 Filed 6–4–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

Surface Transportation Board 1

[STB Finance Docket No. 32968]

Luxapalila Valley Railroad, Inc.—

Acquisition and Operation

Exemption—Rail Lines of Norfolk

Southern Railway Co. and Columbus

and Greenville Railway Co.

Luxapalila Valley Railroad, Inc.

(LVR), a noncarrier, filed a verified

notice of exemption under 49 CFR

1150.31 to acquire and to operate

approximately 34.2 miles of connecting,

separately owned main rail lines in

Mississippi and Alabama. The lines to

be acquired are currently owned by

Norfolk Southern Railway Company

(NS) and Columbus and Greenville

Railway Company (C&G).2 The trackage

lies between NS milepost 884.9 at Belk,

AL, and NS milepost 919.1 at

Columbus, MS. NS currently owns and

operates the 24.5-mile Alabama portion,

lying between NS milepost 884.9 at Belk

and NS milepost 909.4 at the

Mississippi-Alabama state line. The 9.7-

mile Mississippi portion, lying between

NS milepost 909.4 and NS milepost

919.1 at Columbus, is owned by C&G

but has been operated by NS since 1926

under a lease that expired in 1995.

The transaction was intended to be

consummated shortly after May 30,

1996.

If the verified notice contains false or

misleading information, the exemption

is void ab initio. Petitions to reopen the

proceeding to revoke the exemption

under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) may be filed

at any time. The filing of a petition to

reopen will not automatically stay the

transaction.

An original and 10 copies of all

pleadings, referring to STB Finance

Docket No. 32968, must be filed with