Request for Comments on Israel's and Turkey's Participation in the Environmental Goods Agreement Negotiations, 74803-74804 [2014-29388]

Download as PDF mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 16, 2014 / Notices 11. Has the government investigated, prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced organized crime groups that are involved in trafficking? 12. Is the country a source of sex tourists and, if so, what are their destination countries? Is the country a destination for sex tourists and, if so, what are their source countries? 13. Please provide observations regarding government efforts to address the issue of unlawful child soldiering. 14. Does the government make a coordinated, proactive effort to identify victims? Is there any screening conducted before deportation to determine whether individuals were trafficked? 15. What victim services are provided (legal, medical, food, shelter, interpretation, mental health care, health care, employment, training, etc.)? Who provides these services? If nongovernment organizations provide the services, does the government support their work either financially or otherwise? 16. How could victim services be improved? 17. Are services provided equally and adequately to victims of labor and sex trafficking? Men, women, and children? Citizen and noncitizen? Members of the LGBT community? 18. Do service providers and law enforcement work together cooperatively, for instance, to share information about trafficking trends or to plan for services after a raid? What is the level of cooperation, communication, and trust between service providers and law enforcement? 19. May victims file civil suits or seek legal action against their trafficker? Do victims avail themselves of those remedies? 20. Does the government repatriate victims who wish to return home? Does the government assist with third country resettlement? Does the government engage in any analysis of whether victims may face retribution or hardship upon repatriation to their country of origin? Are victims awaiting repatriation or third country resettlement offered services? Are victims indeed repatriated or are they deported? 21. Does the government inappropriately detain or imprison identified trafficking victims? 22. Does the government punish trafficking victims for forgery of documents, illegal immigration, unauthorized employment, or participation in illegal activities directed by the trafficker? 23. What efforts has the government made to prevent human trafficking? VerDate Sep<11>2014 19:38 Dec 15, 2014 Jkt 235001 24. Has the government entered into effective bilateral, multilateral, or regional information-sharing and cooperation arrangements that have resulted in concrete and measureable outcomes? 25. Does the country have effective policies or laws regulating foreign labor recruiters? 26. Does the government undertake activities that could prevent or reduce vulnerability to trafficking, such as registering births of indigenous populations? 27. Does the government provide financial support to NGOs working to promote public awareness or does the government implement such campaigns itself? Have public awareness campaigns proven to be effective? 28. Please provide additional recommendations to improve the government’s anti-trafficking efforts. 29. Please highlight effective strategies and practices that other governments could consider adopting. Dated: December 9, 2014. Kari Johnstone, Acting Director, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State. [FR Doc. 2014–29472 Filed 12–15–14; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4710–17–P OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE Request for Comments on Israel’s and Turkey’s Participation in the Environmental Goods Agreement Negotiations Office of the United States Trade Representative. ACTION: Request for comments. AGENCY: On March 21, 2014, the United States Trade Representative notified Congress of the Administration’s intention to enter into negotiations for a World Trade Organization (WTO) Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) with an initial group of 13 trading partners. The United States Trade Representative has since notified Congress of the Administration’s intent to join a consensus among EGA participants to invite the Governments of Israel and Turkey to join the EGA negotiations. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, on behalf of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC), is seeking public comment regarding U.S. interests and priorities with respect to this initiative to invite Israel and Turkey to join the EGA negotiations. SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00122 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 74803 Written comments are due by midnight, January 12, 2015. ADDRESSES: Comments from the public should be submitted electronically at www.regulations.gov. If you are unable to provide submissions at www.regulations.gov, please contact Yvonne Jamison, Trade Policy Coordination Assistant, at (202) 395– 3475, to arrange for an alternative method of transmission. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning written comments, please contact Yvonne Jamison, Trade Policy Coordination Assistant, at the above number. All other questions regarding this notice should be directed to Bill McElnea, Director for Environment and Natural Resources, at (202) 395–7320. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DATES: Background On March 21, 2014, the United States Trade Representative notified Congress of the Administration’s intention to enter into the EGA negotiations. This notification states that the EGA negotiations ‘‘are open to all WTO Members that are prepared to eliminate tariffs on a set of environmental goods, building on the list of 54 goods endorsed by APEC Leaders as the starting point.’’ A copy of the notification is available at www.ustr.gov/sites/default/files/ 03212014-Letter-to-Congress.pdf. USTR solicited public comments on this initiative through a notification published in the Federal Register on March 28, 2014 (Document number: 2014–06831). Comments received through that process may be reviewed at https://www.regulations.gov under docket number USTR–2014–0004. On July 8, 2014, the United States and 13 other WTO members, accounting for 86 percent of global trade in environmental goods, launched the EGA negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland. In addition to the United States, Australia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, the European Union, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland and Chinese Taipei are participating in the negotiations. The EGA aims to eliminate tariffs on a set of environmental technologies such as wind turbines, water treatment filters, and solar water heaters. WTO members apply tariffs as high as 35 percent on environmental goods. The Governments of Israel and Turkey notified EGA participants of their interests in joining these negotiations earlier this year. Following these notifications of interest, EGA participants agreed to begin any relevant E:\FR\FM\16DEN1.SGM 16DEN1 74804 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 16, 2014 / Notices mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES domestic procedures so as to allow Israel and Turkey to join the EGA negotiations. On October 20, 2014, the United States Trade Representative notified Congress of the Administration’s intent to join a consensus among EGA participants to invite the Government of Israel to join the EGA negotiations. With respect to the Government of Turkey, the United States Trade Representative sent a similar notification to Congress on November 20, 2014. The Chair of the TPSC invites interested persons to provide written comments that will assist USTR in assessing Israel’s and Turkey’s potential participation in the EGA negotiations. The TPSC Chair invites comments on all relevant matters, and, in particular, with regard to those environmental goods of which Israel and Turkey are significant producers and consumers, as well as current market conditions for environmental technologies in Israel and Turkey. USTR is observing the relevant procedures of the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002 (19 U.S.C. 3804) with respect to notifying and consulting with Congress on the invitation of new members to these negotiations. Requirements for Submissions Persons submitting comments must do so in English and must identify (on the first page of the submission) ‘‘Environmental Goods Agreement— New Participants: Israel and Turkey’’. In order to be assured of consideration, comments should be submitted by 11:59 p.m., January 12, 2015. In order to ensure the timely receipt and consideration of comments, USTR strongly encourages commenters to make on-line submissions using the www.regulations.gov Web site. To submit comments via www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR–2014–0024 on the home page and click ‘‘search.’’ The site will provide a search-results page listing all documents associated with this docket. Find a reference to this notice and click on the link entitled ‘‘Comment Now!’’ (For further information on using the www.regulations.gov Web site, please consult the resources provided on the Web site by clicking on ‘‘How to Use This Site’’ on the left side of the home page). The www.regulations.gov Web site allows users to provide comments by filling in a ‘‘Type Comment’’ field, or by attaching a document using an ‘‘Upload File’’ field. USTR prefers that comments be provided in an attached document. If a document is attached, it is sufficient VerDate Sep<11>2014 19:38 Dec 15, 2014 Jkt 235001 to type ‘‘See attached’’ in the ‘‘Type Comment’’ field. USTR prefers submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). If the submission is in an application other than those two, please indicate the name of the application in the ‘‘Type Comment’’ field. For any comments submitted electronically containing business confidential information, the file name of the business confidential version should begin with the characters ‘‘BC’’. Any page containing business confidential information must be clearly marked ‘‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’’ on the top of that page. Filers of submissions containing business confidential information must also submit a public version of their comments. The file name of the public version should begin with the character ‘‘P’’. The ‘‘BC’’ and ‘‘P’’ should be followed by the name of the person or entity submitting the comments or reply comments. Filers submitting comments containing no business confidential information should name their file using the name of the person or entity submitting the comments. Please do not attach separate cover letters to electronic submissions; rather, include any information that might appear in a cover letter in the comments themselves. Similarly, to the extent possible, please include any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments in the same file as the submission itself, not as separate files. As noted, USTR strongly urges submitters to file comments through www.regulations.gov, if at all possible. Any alternative arrangements must be made with Ms. Jamison in advance of transmitting a comment. Ms. Jamison should be contacted at (202) 395–3475. General information concerning USTR is available at www.ustr.gov. Comments will be placed in the docket and open to public inspection, except business confidential information. Comments may be viewed on the www.regulations.gov Web site by entering the relevant docket number in the search field on the home page. Douglas Bell, Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee. [FR Doc. 2014–29388 Filed 12–15–14; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3290–F5–P PO 00000 Frm 00123 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration [Docket No. FMCSA–2014–0430] Agency Information Collection Activities; Request for Comments; Revision of an Approved Information Collection: Medical Qualification Requirements Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT. ACTION: Notice and request for comments. AGENCY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA announces its plan to submit the Information Collection Request (ICR) described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its review and approval and invites public comment. The FMCSA requests to revise an ICR entitled, ‘‘Medical Qualification Requirements,’’ due to updated information for several of the Information Collections (ICs) discussed. This ICR is needed to ensure that drivers, motor carriers and the States are complying with the medical qualification requirements of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers. The information collected is used to determine and certify driver medical fitness and must be collected in order for our highways to be safe. DATES: We must receive your comments on or before February 17, 2015. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA–2014–0430 using any of the following methods: • Federal eRulemaking Portal: https:// www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. • Fax: 1–202–493–2251. • Mail: Docket Services; U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 20590– 0001. • Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12– 140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and docket number. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and additional information on the exemption process, see the Public Participation heading below. Note that all comments received will be posted without change to SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\16DEN1.SGM 16DEN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 241 (Tuesday, December 16, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74803-74804]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-29388]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Request for Comments on Israel's and Turkey's Participation in 
the Environmental Goods Agreement Negotiations

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: On March 21, 2014, the United States Trade Representative 
notified Congress of the Administration's intention to enter into 
negotiations for a World Trade Organization (WTO) Environmental Goods 
Agreement (EGA) with an initial group of 13 trading partners. The 
United States Trade Representative has since notified Congress of the 
Administration's intent to join a consensus among EGA participants to 
invite the Governments of Israel and Turkey to join the EGA 
negotiations. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, on behalf of 
the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC), is seeking public comment 
regarding U.S. interests and priorities with respect to this initiative 
to invite Israel and Turkey to join the EGA negotiations.

DATES: Written comments are due by midnight, January 12, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Comments from the public should be submitted electronically 
at www.regulations.gov. If you are unable to provide submissions at 
www.regulations.gov, please contact Yvonne Jamison, Trade Policy 
Coordination Assistant, at (202) 395-3475, to arrange for an 
alternative method of transmission.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning 
written comments, please contact Yvonne Jamison, Trade Policy 
Coordination Assistant, at the above number. All other questions 
regarding this notice should be directed to Bill McElnea, Director for 
Environment and Natural Resources, at (202) 395-7320.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On March 21, 2014, the United States Trade Representative notified 
Congress of the Administration's intention to enter into the EGA 
negotiations. This notification states that the EGA negotiations ``are 
open to all WTO Members that are prepared to eliminate tariffs on a set 
of environmental goods, building on the list of 54 goods endorsed by 
APEC Leaders as the starting point.'' A copy of the notification is 
available at www.ustr.gov/sites/default/files/03212014-Letter-to-Congress.pdf. USTR solicited public comments on this initiative through 
a notification published in the Federal Register on March 28, 2014 
(Document number: 2014-06831). Comments received through that process 
may be reviewed at https://www.regulations.gov under docket number USTR-
2014-0004.
    On July 8, 2014, the United States and 13 other WTO members, 
accounting for 86 percent of global trade in environmental goods, 
launched the EGA negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland. In addition to 
the United States, Australia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, the European 
Union, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, 
Switzerland and Chinese Taipei are participating in the negotiations. 
The EGA aims to eliminate tariffs on a set of environmental 
technologies such as wind turbines, water treatment filters, and solar 
water heaters. WTO members apply tariffs as high as 35 percent on 
environmental goods.
    The Governments of Israel and Turkey notified EGA participants of 
their interests in joining these negotiations earlier this year. 
Following these notifications of interest, EGA participants agreed to 
begin any relevant

[[Page 74804]]

domestic procedures so as to allow Israel and Turkey to join the EGA 
negotiations. On October 20, 2014, the United States Trade 
Representative notified Congress of the Administration's intent to join 
a consensus among EGA participants to invite the Government of Israel 
to join the EGA negotiations. With respect to the Government of Turkey, 
the United States Trade Representative sent a similar notification to 
Congress on November 20, 2014.
    The Chair of the TPSC invites interested persons to provide written 
comments that will assist USTR in assessing Israel's and Turkey's 
potential participation in the EGA negotiations. The TPSC Chair invites 
comments on all relevant matters, and, in particular, with regard to 
those environmental goods of which Israel and Turkey are significant 
producers and consumers, as well as current market conditions for 
environmental technologies in Israel and Turkey.
    USTR is observing the relevant procedures of the Bipartisan Trade 
Promotion Authority Act of 2002 (19 U.S.C. 3804) with respect to 
notifying and consulting with Congress on the invitation of new members 
to these negotiations.

Requirements for Submissions

    Persons submitting comments must do so in English and must identify 
(on the first page of the submission) ``Environmental Goods Agreement--
New Participants: Israel and Turkey''. In order to be assured of 
consideration, comments should be submitted by 11:59 p.m., January 12, 
2015. In order to ensure the timely receipt and consideration of 
comments, USTR strongly encourages commenters to make on-line 
submissions using the www.regulations.gov Web site. To submit comments 
via www.regulations.gov, enter docket number USTR-2014-0024 on the home 
page and click ``search.'' The site will provide a search-results page 
listing all documents associated with this docket. Find a reference to 
this notice and click on the link entitled ``Comment Now!'' (For 
further information on using the www.regulations.gov Web site, please 
consult the resources provided on the Web site by clicking on ``How to 
Use This Site'' on the left side of the home page).
    The www.regulations.gov Web site allows users to provide comments 
by filling in a ``Type Comment'' field, or by attaching a document 
using an ``Upload File'' field. USTR prefers that comments be provided 
in an attached document. If a document is attached, it is sufficient to 
type ``See attached'' in the ``Type Comment'' field. USTR prefers 
submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). If the 
submission is in an application other than those two, please indicate 
the name of the application in the ``Type Comment'' field. For any 
comments submitted electronically containing business confidential 
information, the file name of the business confidential version should 
begin with the characters ``BC''. Any page containing business 
confidential information must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS 
CONFIDENTIAL'' on the top of that page. Filers of submissions 
containing business confidential information must also submit a public 
version of their comments. The file name of the public version should 
begin with the character ``P''. The ``BC'' and ``P'' should be followed 
by the name of the person or entity submitting the comments or reply 
comments. Filers submitting comments containing no business 
confidential information should name their file using the name of the 
person or entity submitting the comments. Please do not attach separate 
cover letters to electronic submissions; rather, include any 
information that might appear in a cover letter in the comments 
themselves. Similarly, to the extent possible, please include any 
exhibits, annexes, or other attachments in the same file as the 
submission itself, not as separate files.
    As noted, USTR strongly urges submitters to file comments through 
www.regulations.gov, if at all possible. Any alternative arrangements 
must be made with Ms. Jamison in advance of transmitting a comment. Ms. 
Jamison should be contacted at (202) 395-3475. General information 
concerning USTR is available at www.ustr.gov. Comments will be placed 
in the docket and open to public inspection, except business 
confidential information. Comments may be viewed on the 
www.regulations.gov Web site by entering the relevant docket number in 
the search field on the home page.

Douglas Bell,
Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 2014-29388 Filed 12-15-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F5-P
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.