Department of State April 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This final rule amends the Department of State's regulations related to application for a nonimmigrant visa, to offer a completely electronic application procedure as an alternative to submission of the Form DS-156.

Notice is hereby given of the following determinations: Pursuant to the authority vested in me by the Act of October 19, 1965 (79 Stat. 985; 22 U.S.C. 2459), Executive Order 12047 of March 27, 1978, the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (112 Stat. 2681, et seq.; 22 U.S.C. 6501 note, et seq.), Delegation of Authority No. 234 of October 1, 1999, Delegation of Authority No. 236 of October 19, 1999, as amended, and Delegation of Authority No. 257 of April 15, 2003 [68 FR 19875], I hereby determine that the objects to be included in the exhibition ``Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture Around the Bay of Naples'', imported from abroad for temporary exhibition within the United States, are of cultural significance. The objects are imported pursuant to loan agreements with the foreign owners or custodians. I also determine that the exhibition or display of the exhibit objects at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, from on or about October 19, 2008, until on or about March 22, 2009; at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, from on or about May 3, 2009, until on or about October 4, 2009, and at possible additional exhibitions or venues yet to be determined, is in the national interest. Public Notice of these Determinations is ordered to be published in the Federal Register.

Notice is hereby given of the following determinations: Pursuant to the authority vested in me by the Act of October 19, 1965 (79 Stat. 985; 22 U.S.C. 2459), Executive Order 12047 of March 27, 1978, the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (112 Stat. 2681, et seq.; 22 U.S.C. 6501 note, et seq.), Delegation of Authority No. 234 of October 1, 1999, Delegation of Authority No. 236 of October 19, 1999, as amended, and Delegation of Authority No. 257 of April 15, 2003 [68 FR 19875], I hereby determine that the objects to be included in the exhibition ``Joseph Wright of Derby in Liverpool'', imported from abroad for temporary exhibition within the United States, are of cultural significance. The objects are imported pursuant to loan agreements with the foreign owners or custodians. I also determine that the exhibition or display of the exhibit objects at the Yale Center of British Art, New Haven, Connecticut, from on or about May 22, 2008, until on or about August 31, 2008, and at possible additional exhibitions or venues yet to be determined, is in the national interest. Public Notice of these Determinations is ordered to be published in the Federal Register.

The Department of State has submitted the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the emergency review procedures of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The U.S. National Commission for UNESCO will meet via telephone conference on Wednesday, April 23, 2008, from 11 a.m. until 12 p.m. Eastern Time. The purpose of the teleconference meeting is for the Commission to make recommendations related to the UNESCO university twinning and networking program (UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Program). The U.S. National Commission for UNESCO was asked to provide recommendations on a proposal received to establish a UNESCO Chair. For more information about the Program see https://www.state.gov/p/io/ unesco/c14222.htm. This meeting notice may provide less than 15 days calendar notice due to an external UNESCO deadline of April 30th for member states' submissions. The call will also be an opportunity to provide an update on recent and upcoming Commission and UNESCO activities. The Commission will accept brief oral comments during a portion of this conference call. This public comment period will last up to 15 minutes, and comments are limited to two minutes per person. Members of the public who wish to present oral comments or to listen to the conference call must make arrangements with the Executive Secretariat of the National Commission by April 22, 2008. For more information or to arrange to participate in the teleconference meeting, contact Alex Zemek, Deputy Executive Director of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO, Washington, DC 20037. Telephone: (202) 663-0026; Fax: (202) 663-0035; E-mail: DCUNESCO@state.gov.

Notice is hereby given that the Department of State has forwarded the attached Notifications of Proposed Export Licenses to the Congress on the dates indicated pursuant to sections 36(c) and 36(d) and in compliance with section 36(f) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776).

The Department of State is proposing to amend the text of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Part 121, to add language clarifying how the criteria of Section 17(c) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (``EAA'') are implemented in accordance with the Department of State's obligations under the Arms Export Control Act (``AECA''), and restating the Department's longstanding policy and practice of implementing the criteria of this provision.

The Office of Citizen Exchange Programs of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces an open competition for projects in support of the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) to provide short, medium, and/or long-term foreign language instruction and cultural immersion programs overseas for American high school students and those who have just graduated. Public and private non-profit organizations, or consortia of such organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3), may submit proposals to implement these programs in countries where the following target languages are widely spoken: Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Turkish, Indic, and Farsi. Programs will be designed for U.S. citizens aged 15 to 18 at the start of the program who are either currently enrolled in high school or have just graduated. These programs should offer at least 550 U.S. high school students structured classroom instruction and less formal interactive learning opportunities through a comprehensive exchange experience that primarily emphasizes language learning. The program is designed to develop additional language study opportunities for U.S. students. Proposals from applicant organizations should clearly indicate the building of new, additional institutional language- teaching capacity overseas for these programs. ECA plans to award a single grant for the recruitment and administration of all NSLI-Y programs in all world regions. The Bureau expects that most students will be placed in host families, but will consider alternative housing arrangements, such as dormitories. Alternative arrangements must include adult resident daily supervision and be combined with brief home stays. In either case, the student must be ensured his or her own bed. The exchange programs will take place between January 2009 and December 2010, and we anticipate that recruitment and planning will begin during the summer/early fall of 2008. The program builds on two years of short (summer-only) intensive language programs in Arabic and Chinese conducted in 2006 and 2007. Information on these programs is available at the NSLI Youth Web site: https://www.exchanges.state.gov/education/citizens/students/ programs/nsli.htm.

The Cultural Programs Division of the Office of Citizen Exchanges, in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces an open competition for grants to implement programs that utilize the arts to engage civil societyparticularly youth and diverse and underserved populationsand that foster linkages and build partnerships between U.S. and overseas non-profit arts and cultural organizations, and local communities. These international arts exchange projects will encourage democracy building by demonstrating opportunities for freedom of thought and expression and by underscoring the importance of empowerment in an open society. The Bureau anticipates that approximately 1,250,000 will be available to support this competition. ECA/PE/C/CU expects to fund approximately two to four projects under this competition in FY-2008. Public and non-profit arts and cultural organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue code section 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) may submit proposals that support the goals of the Arts Exchanges on International Issues Program. As applicable, programs should include two-way exchanges of participants from the U.S. and foreign countries. Proposed projects should transform institutional and individual understanding of key international, arts and/or cultural issues, foster dialogue, develop professional expertise and develop leadership capacity. Through these people-to-people exchanges, the Bureau seeks to reach out to young people, counter negative perceptions, promote good governance, contribute to conflict prevention and management, and build respect for cultural expression and identity in the world. Projects should be structured to encourage American professionals and their international counterparts in eligible countries to develop a common dialogue for dealing with shared challenges and concerns. The Bureau is especially interested in engaging socially and economically diverse groups that may not have had extensive contact with counterpart institutions in the United States. Applicants may only submit one proposal under this open competition. An applicant may not include in its project proposal countries not eligible under each specific theme as designated in the RFGP. Proposals that contain countries that are not listed under each theme in the RFGP will be considered technically ineligible, and will not receive further consideration in the review process. For this competition, all eligible organizations must demonstrate a minimum of five years' experience successfully conducting international arts exchange programs that involved the exchange of participants. The Bureau is interested in receiving proposals from organizations with a strong interest, thematic expertise, institutional commitment and a successful track-record in conducting international exchanges. We welcome proposals from organizations that have not previously received ECA funding. Organizations that have the expertise, interest and institutional commitment but lack the required experience of conducting exchanges may wish to consider developing proposals based on consortia- type relationships with more experienced, eligible organizations. Please note that for these proposals, the role of each organization must be clearly defined and any sub-granting agreements must be included in the proposal submission.

The Department of State has submitted the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Title of Information Collection: Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor (J-1) Status. OMB Control Number: 1405-0119. Type of Request: Revision of a Currently Approved Collection. Originating Office: Office of Exchange Coordination & Designation, ECA/EC. Form Number: Form DS-2019. Respondents: U.S. Department of State Designated Sponsors. Estimated Number of Respondents: 1460. Estimated Number of Responses: 350,000 annually. Average Hours per Response: 45 minutes. Total Estimated Burden: 262,500 hours. Frequency: On occasion. Obligation to Respond: Required to Obtain or Retain a Benefit.

Notice is hereby given of the following determinations: Pursuant to the authority vested in me by the Act of October 19, 1965 (79 Stat. 985; 22 U.S.C. 2459), Executive Order 12047 of March 27, 1978, the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (112 Stat. 2681, et seq.; 22 U.S.C. 6501 note, et seq.), Delegation of Authority No. 234 of October 1, 1999, Delegation of Authority No. 236 of October 19, 1999, as amended, and Delegation of Authority No. 257 of April 15, 2003 [68 FR 19875], I hereby determine that the objects to be included in the exhibition ``The Horse'', imported from abroad for temporary exhibition within the United States, are of cultural significance. The objects are imported pursuant to loan agreements with the foreign owners or custodians. I also determine that the exhibition or display of the exhibit objects at the American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, from on or about May 17, 2008, until on or about January 4, 2009; at the Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois, from on or about February 11, 2011, until on or about July 4, 2011; at the San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego, California, from on or about April 1, 2012, until on or about September 30, 2012; and at possible additional exhibitions or venues yet to be determined, is in the national interest. Public Notice of these Determinations is ordered to be published in the Federal Register.

The Charter of the United States International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) has been renewed for an additional two years. ITAC was established pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act under the general authority of the Secretary of State and the Department of State as set forth in Title 22, sections 2656 and 2707, of the United States Code. The purpose of the ITAC is to advise the Department of State with respect to, and provide strategic planning recommendations on, telecommunication and information policy matters related to the United States' participation in the work of the International Telecommunication Union, the Permanent Consultative Committees of the Organization of American States Inter-American Telecommunication Commission, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and other international bodies addressing telecommunications. ITAC provides advice on matters of U.S. policy and preparation of positions for meetings of international and regional organizations pertaining to telecommunication and information issues.

This rule finalizes the second phase of a joint Department of Homeland Security and Department of State plan, known as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, to implement new documentation requirements for U.S. citizens and certain nonimmigrant aliens entering the United States. This final rule details the documents U.S. citizens\1\ and nonimmigrant citizens of Canada, Bermuda, and Mexico will be required to present when entering the United States from within the Western Hemisphere at sea and land ports-of-entry.

Notice is hereby given of the following determinations: Pursuant to the authority vested in me by the Act of October 19, 1965 (79 Stat. 985; 22 U.S.C. 2459), Executive Order 12047 of March 27, 1978, the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (112 Stat. 2681, et seq.; 22 U.S.C. 6501 note, et seq.), Delegation of Authority No. 234 of October 1, 1999, Delegation of Authority No. 236 of October 19, 1999, as amended, and Delegation of Authority No. 257 of April 15, 2003 [68 FR 19875], I hereby determine that the objects in the exhibition: ``Muraqqa': Imperial Mughal Albums from the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin,'' imported from abroad for temporary exhibition within the United States, are of cultural significance. The objects are imported pursuant to a loan agreement with the foreign owner or custodian. I also determine that the exhibition or display of the exhibit objects at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, from on or about May 3, 2008, until on or about August 3, 2008; Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI, from on or about August 23, 2008, until on or about November 16, 2008; Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, HI, from on or about December 17, 2008, until on or about March 1, 2009; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, from on or about March 21, 2009, until on or about June 14, 2009; Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, from on or about July 4, 2009, until on or about September 27, 2009, and at possible additional exhibitions or venues yet to be determined, is in the national interest. Public Notice of these Determinations is ordered to be published in the Federal Register.

Notice is hereby given that the Charter of the Defense Trade Advisory Group (DTAG) has been renewed for a two-year period. The membership of this advisory committee consists of private sector defense trade specialists appointed by the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs. The DTAG advises the Department on policies, regulations, and technical issues affecting defense trade.