Executive Office of the President August 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents
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Fiscal Year 2011 Tariff-rate Quota Allocations for Raw Cane Sugar, Refined and Specialty Sugar, and Sugar-containing Products; Revision
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published a notice in the Federal Register of August 17, 2010 concerning Fiscal Year 2011 tariff-rate quota allocations of raw cane sugar, refined and special sugar, and sugar-containing products. USTR is revising the effective date of that notice to September 1, 2010 from October 1, 2010.
Notice and Modification of Action: Canada-Compliance with Softwood Lumber Agreement
Under the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA), Canada agreed to impose export measures on Canadian exports of softwood lumber products to the United States. At the request of the United States, an arbitral tribunal established under the SLA determined in March 2008 that Canada had breached certain SLA obligations. In February 2009, the tribunal issued a remedy award instructing Canada to collect an additional 10 percent ad valorem export charge on softwood lumber shipments from Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, until an entire amount of CDN $68 million has been collected. Canada did not begin collecting the additional export charge. In April 2009, the United States Trade Representative (``Trade Representative'') initiated an investigation under Section 302 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (``Trade Act''). In that investigation, the Trade Representative determined that Canada's failure to implement the tribunal's remedy award had the effect of denying U.S. rights under the SLA; and, pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act, the Trade Representative imposed 10 percent ad valorem duties on imports of softwood lumber products subject to the SLA from the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan (the April 2009 action). Under the April 2009 action, the duties are to remain in place until such time as the United States collects $54.8 million, the U.S. dollar equivalent of CDN $68 million at the time. The Government of Canada, however, has now
Membership of the Performance Review Board (PRB)
The following staff members have been appointed to serve on the Performance Review Board:
Designation of Nine Counties as High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas
The Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy designated nine additional counties as High Drug Trafficking Areas pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 1706. The new counties are (1) Shelby County in Tennessee as part of the Gulf Coast HIDTA, (2) Navajo County in Arizona as part of the Southwest Border HIDTAArizona Region, (3) Jefferson County in New York as part of the New York/New Jersey HIDTA, (4) Mecklenburg, Gaston, Union Buncombe, Henderson, and McDowell Counties in North Carolina as part of the Atlanta HIDTA.
CAFTA-DR Consultation Request Regarding Guatemala's Apparent Failure to Effectively Enforce its Labor Laws
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is providing notice that on July 30, 2010, pursuant to the Labor Chapter (Chapter 16) of the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), the United States requested consultations with the Government of Guatemala to discuss Guatemala's apparent failure to meet its obligation under Article 16.2.1(a) to effectively enforce its labor laws. The consultations request may be found at https://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/ cafta-dr-dominican-republic-central-america-fta/kirk-solis-le . USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the issues that will be raised in consultations.
Fiscal Year 2011 Tariff-Rate Quota Allocations for Raw Cane Sugar, Refined and Specialty Sugar, and Sugar-Containing Products
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is providing notice of country-by-country allocations of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 in-quota quantity of the tariff-rate quotas for imported raw cane sugar, refined and specialty sugar, and sugar-containing products.
WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding Regarding United States-Measures Affecting the Production and Sale of Clove Cigarettes
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (``USTR'') is providing notice that on June 10, 2010, the United States received a request from the Republic of Indonesia (``Indonesia'') for the establishment of a dispute settlement panel under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (``WTO Agreement'') regarding a provision of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Pub. L. 111-31). That request may be found at https:// www.wto.org in a document designated as WT/DS406/2. USTR invites written comments from the public concerning the issues raised in this dispute.
Draft Guidance, “Federal Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting”
This notice extends the comment period on draft guidance published in the Federal Register on July 16, 2010. The original date that the comment period would end was August 16, 2010. That date will now be extended until September 1, 2010
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice Extending Deadline for Submission of Petitions for the 2010 Annual GSP Product Review
On July 15, 2010, a public notice was published in the Federal Register on pages 41274-41276 requesting petitions by August 3, 2010, to modify the list of products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. This notice extends the deadline for submission of petitions for the 2010 Annual GSP Product Review to 5 p.m., Friday, August 13, 2010. Notification of which petitions are accepted for the 2010 Annual GSP Review and of other relevant dates will be announced in the Federal Register at a later date.
Revision of Freedom of Information Act Regulations
This document amends the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) regulations governing the disclosure of information pursuant to the requests made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). These revisions also reflect the principles established by President Obama's Presidential Memoranda on ``Transparency and Open Government'' and ``Freedom of Information Act'' issued on January 21, 2009 and Attorney General Holder's Memorandum on ``The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)'' issued on March 19, 2009. Additionally, the regulations have been updated to reflect CEQ's policy and practices and reaffirm its commitment to providing the fullest possible disclosure of records to the public. The regulations provide for an online FOIA Requester Service Center and Reading Room; electronic FOIA requests; access to records published or released under FOIA in electronic format, provided the record is readily reproducible in that form or format; designation of a Chief FOIA Officer and FOIA Public Liaison; referral of requests to appropriate Federal agencies or consultation with another agency, if appropriate; review of requests in order of receipt; multi-tacking of FOIA requests based on the amount of time and work involved in processing requests; revision of CEQ's initial determination period from 10 days to 20 days, beginning on the date CEQ receives a written request; assignment of individualized tracking numbers for certain requests; tolling of the time limit for CEQ to act on a request; expedited processing of FOIA requests upon showing a showing of compelling need; CEQ consultations with a requester to determine if a FOIA request may be modified to allow for a more timely response, or to arrange an alternative time frame for a response; informing the requester of the volume of requested material withheld and the extent of deletions in records released in response to a FOIA request; increase in time for appeal from 45 to 60 days from the date of denial of a request; extension of the time limit to respond to a request in ``unusual circumstances,'' and aggregation of clearly related requests by a single requester or group of requesters. Further, CEQ's fee structure is revised to include a method for computing fees based upon the classification of the requester and the base pay of the employee making the search, an increase of copying costs from $0.10 to $0.15 per page, and a provision for waiving fees. Additional administrative changes include reorganizing, renumbering, and renaming of the FOIA
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice Regarding the Announcement of Petitions Accepted for the 2009 Annual GSP Country Practices Review, Acceptance of Pre-Hearing Comments and Requests To Testify for the 2009 Annual GSP Country Practices Review Hearing, and the Initiation of the 2010 Annual GSP Country Practices Review
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) accepted petitions in connection with the 2009 GSP Annual Review to modify the GSP status of certain GSP beneficiary developing countries because of country practices. This notice sets forth the schedule for comment and public hearings on the newly accepted petitions for the 2009 Country Eligibility Practices Review, for requesting participation in the hearings, and for submitting pre-hearing and post-hearing briefs, and determines that the deadline for submitting pre-hearing comments and requesting participation in the hearings is 5 p.m., Friday, September 3, 2010. The list of newly accepted petitions is available at: http: //www.ustr.gov/trade-topics/trade-development/ preference-programs/generalized-system-preference-gsp/current -review-1 in ``List of Country Practice Petitions Accepted in the 2009 GSP Annual Review.'' The petitions accepted include a Worker Rights petition regarding Sri Lanka filed by the AFL-CIO and two Arbitral Awards petitions regarding Argentina filed by Azurix Corporation and Blue Ridge Investments, LLC. The petitions themselves can be found in docket USTR-2009-0015 at https://www.regulations.gov.
Request for Public Comments To Compile the National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers and Reports on Sanitary and Phytosanitary and Standards-Related Foreign Trade Barriers
Pursuant to section 181 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2241), the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is required to publish annually the National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE). With this notice, the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is requesting interested persons to submit comments to assist it in identifying significant barriers to U.S. exports of goods, services, and U.S. foreign direct investment for inclusion in the NTE.
President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
This notice sets forth the schedule and summary agenda for a partially closed meeting of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), and describes the functions of the Council. Notice of this meeting is required under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C., App.
Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force-Final Recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force
On June 12, 2009, the President established an Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, led by the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality. The Task Force was charged with developing, with appropriate public input, a recommended national policy for the stewardship of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes; a framework for policy coordination, including specific recommendations to improve coordination and collaboration among Federal, State, tribal, and local authorities, and regional governance structures; an implementation strategy that identifies a set of priority objectives; and a framework for effective costal and marine spatial planning.
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