[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 76 (Tuesday, April 21, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19753-19754]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-10529]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
[TA-W-34,085 and NAFTA-02071]
Weyerhaeuser Company Coos Bay Export Sawmill North Bend, Oregon;
Notice of Negative Determination Regarding Application for
Reconsideration
By application of February 27, 1998, the I.A.M. Woodworkers Local
W-261, requested administrative reconsideration of the Department's
negative determination regarding eligibility to apply for Trade
Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and NAFTA-Transitional Adjustment
Assistance (NAFTA-TAA), applicable to workers and former workers of the
subject firm. The denial notices applicable to workers of the subject
firm located in North Bend, Oregon, were signed on February 17, 1998.
The TAA and NAFTA-TAA decisions were published in the Federal Register
on March 16, 1998 (63 FR 12830) and (63 FR 12838), respectively.
Pursuant to 29 CFR 90.18(c) reconsideration may be granted under
the following circumstances:
(1) If it appears on the basis of facts not previously
considered that the determination complained of was erroneous;
(2) if it appears that the determination complained of was based
on a mistake in the determination of facts not previously
considered; or
(3) if in the opinion of the Certifying Officer, a
misinterpretation of facts or of the law justified reconsideration
of the decision.
The denial of TAA for workers of Weyerhaeuser's Coos Bay Export
Sawmill in North Bend, Oregon was based on the finding that the
``contributed importantly'' criterion of the group eligibility
requirements of Section 222 of the Trade Act of 1974 was not met. The
subject facility
[[Page 19754]]
produced primarily for the export market. Layoffs were the result of a
loss in export sales by the subject firm. Furthermore, a survey of
major declining domestic customers of the subject firm revealed that
they did not increase import purchases of Douglas Fir planks while
decreasing purchases from the subject firm.
The Department's denial of NAFTA-TAA for the same worker group was
based on the finding that criteria (3) and (4) of the group eligibility
requirements of paragraph (a)(1) of Section 250 of the Trade Act of
1974, as amended, were not met. There was no shift in production of
lumber, primarily post and beams, from the subject firm to Mexico or
Canada, nor were there company or customer imports of like or directly
competitive products from Mexico or Canada.
The I.A.M. Woodworkers Local W-261 asserts that when the Coos Bay
Export Sawmill experienced a sharp decline in sales to Japan, the
company's focus was to increase domestic sales. For a while production
levels became competitive, but the subject firm experienced high log
costs and could not remain competitive. In order to determine worker
group eligibility, the Department must examine the impact of imports of
products like or directly competitive with those articles produced at
the North Bend mill. Pricing and/or the cost of raw material is not a
criterion for worker certification.
The I.A.M. Woodworkers Local W-261 also questioned the time period
used for the survey of customers of the Coos Bay Export Sawmill and
suggest that the time period include late 1996 and full year 1997. The
survey covered the 1997 time period in which plank was produced by Coos
Bay Export Sawmill for domestic sale.
Conclusion
After review of the application and investigative findings, I
conclude that there has been no error or misinterpretation of the law
or of the facts which would justify reconsideration of the Department
of Labor's prior decisions. Accordingly, the application is denied.
Signed at Washington, D.C. this 3rd day of April, 1998.
Grant D. Beale,
Acting Director, Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance.
[FR Doc. 98-10529 Filed 4-20-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-M
