[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 27 (Thursday, February 8, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9605-9606]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-3297]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

[TA-W-37,593, 593A, 593B, 593C, 593D, 593E]


Pennzoil-Quaker State Company, Rouseville, PA; Oil City, PA; 
Reno, PA; Roosevelt, UT; Deerfield, OH; Rock Hill, SC; Notice of 
Negative Determination on Reconsideration

    By application of August 8, 2000, the petitioner, requested 
administrative reconsideration of the Department's negative 
determination regarding eligibility to apply for Trade Adjustment 
Assistance (TAA), applicable to workers and former workers of the 
subject firm. The denial notice was signed on July 25, 2000 and 
published in the Federal Register on August 25, 2000 (65 FR 51848).
    The Department initially denied TAA to workers of Pennzoil-Quaker 
State Company producing refined petroleum products because the 
``contributed importantly'' group eligibility requirement of Section 
222(3) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, was not met. The denial 
was based on criterion (3) not being met. Aggregate statistics and 
customer responses indicated that importation of refined petroleum 
products like and directly competitive with those produced by the 
subject firm were not major contributing factors to the layoffs at the 
subject plant.
    The petitioners filing the application asserted the following:
    (a) That the Rouseville refinery lost their ``tote'' business to 
eastern Canadian distribution centers.
    (b) In the months preceding the sale of the Rouseville facility, a 
lot of the neutrals they blended into motor oils essentially came from 
Canada, Venezuela and South America, thereby eroding the company's 
competitiveness.
    (c) Crude oil needs to be over $20 a barrel to be profitable for 
crude oil producers; the low price of crude was the reason for the 
layoffs at Pennzoil-Quaker State Company.
    (d) The flooding of the world market with cheap was products by 
both the Chinese and Japanese added to the demise at the Rouseville 
facility.
    On reconsideration, the Department requested that the Pennzoil-
Quaker City State Company provide additional information concerning the 
factors addressed by the application.
    Additional information provided by the company indicated that 
during April 2000, the Pennzoil-Quaker State Company sold a portion of 
the Rouseville refinery and earlier in the year the company 
discontinued operating the balance of the refinery. As a result of this 
sale/discontinuance of the refinery operations the Rouseville Packaging 
plant was discontinued and transferred to other domestic packaging 
plants. The workers in the ``tote'' business filled the totes with 
lubricants and shipped them to Canada. The empty totes would then be 
shipped back to the Rouseville to be refilled and the cycle would begin 
again. Sometime during 1997 and 1998 the Canadian customer that was 
receiving the totes began receiving the finished lubricant product via 
semi-truck. The customer then filled their own totes and retained them 
in Canada. The business of filling the totes is a service and therefore 
those workers could only be considered for eligibility if the workers 
producing the lubricants at the subject firm were certified eligible 
for TAA.
    In response to factors (b) and (c) depicted above, neutrals and 
crude oil are raw materials in the refinery process

[[Page 9606]]

and even if they were imported, do not meet criteria (3) for 
eligibility. The product imported must be a product that is produced at 
the subject firm to be considered for import impact.
    The flooding of world markets with cheap wax is not a factor in the 
layoff at the subject plant. Waxes accounted for only a small 
percentage of output at the plant. Wax sales and production at the 
subject plant increased up to the sale of the wax operation, therefore 
imports were not an important contributing factor to the layoffs at the 
subject plant.

Conclusion

    After reconsideration, I affirm the original notice of negative 
determination of eligibility to apply for worker adjustment assistance 
for workers and former workers of Pennzoil-Quaker State Company, 
Rouseville, Oil City, and Reno, Pennsylvania, Roosevelt, Utah, 
Deerfield, Ohio, and Rock Hill, South Carolina.

    Signed at Washington, D.C., this 25th day of January 2001.
Linda G. Poole,
Certifying Officer, Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance.
[FR Doc. 01-3297 Filed 2-7-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-M