[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 136 (Thursday, July 16, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 38393]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-19024]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army
Inland Waterways Users Board
AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Section 302 of Public Law (PL) 99-662 established the Inland
Waterways Users Board. The Board is an independent Federal advisory
committee. Its 11 members are appointed by the Secretary of the Army.
This notice is to solicit nominations for six (6) appointments or
reappointments to two-year terms that will begin January 1, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works),
Department of the Army, Washington, DC 20310-0103. Attention: Inland
Waterways Users Board Nominations Committee.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dr. Joseph W. Westphal, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works)
(703) 697-8986.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The selection, service, and appointment of
Board members are covered by provisions of Section 302 of PL 99-662.
The substance of those provisions is as follows:
a. Selection
Members are to be selected from the spectrum of commercial carriers
and shippers using the inland and intracoastal waterways, to represent
geographical regions, and to be representative of waterborne commerce
as determined by commodity ton-miles statistics.
b. Service
The Board is required to meet at least semi-annually to develop and
make recommendations to the Secretary of the Army on waterways
construction and rehabilitations priorities and spending levels for
commercial navigation improvements, and report is recommendations
annually to the Secretary and Congress.
c. Appointment
The operation of the Board and appointment of its members are
subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (PL 92-463, as amended)
and departmental implementing regulations. Members serve without
compensation but their expenses due to Board activities are
reimbursable. The considerations specified in section 302 for the
selection of the Board members, and certain terms used therein, have
been interpreted, supplemented, or otherwise clarified as follows:
(1) Carriers and Shippers
The law uses the terms ``primary users and shippers.'' Primary
users has been interpreted to mean the providers of transportation
services on inland waterways such as barge or towboat operators.
Shippers has been interpreted to mean the purchasers of such services
for the movement of commodities they own or control. Individuals are
appointed to the Board, but they must be either a carrier or shipper,
or represent a firm that is a carrier or shipper. For that purpose a
trade or regional association is neither a shipper or primary user.
(2) Geographical Representation
The law specifies ``various'' regions. For the purpose of selecting
Board members, the waterways subjected to fuel taxes and described in
PL 95-502, as amended, have been aggregated into six regions. The are
(1) the Upper Mississippi River and its tributaries above the mouth of
the Ohio; (2) the Lower Mississippi River and its tributaries below the
mouth of the Ohio and above Baton Rouge; (3) the Ohio River and its
tributaries; (4) the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Louisiana and Texas;
(5) the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway east of New Orleans and associated
fuel-taxed waterways including the Tennessee-Tombigbee, plus the
Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway below Norfolk; and (6) the Columbia-
Snake Rivers System and Upper Willamette. The intent is that each
region shall be represented by at least one Board member, with that
representation determined by the regional concentration of the
individual's traffic on the waterways.
(3) Commodity Representation
Waterway commerce has been aggregated into six commodity categories
based on ``inland'' ton-miles shown in Waterborne Commerce of the
United States. In rank order they are (1) Farm and Food Products; (2)
Coal and Coke; (3) Petroleum, Crude and Products; (4) Minerals, Ores,
and Primary Metals and Mineral Products; (5) Chemicals and Allied
Products; and (6) All other. A consideration in the selection of Board
members will be that the commodities carried or shipped by those
individuals or their firms will be reasonably representative of the
above commodity categories.
d. Nomination
Reflecting preceding selection criteria, the current representation
by the six (6) Board members whose terms expire December 31, 1998, is
one member representing each of the six regions previously described.
Also, these Board members represent three shipper/carriers, one shipper
and two carriers.
Three (3) of the six members whose terms expire December 31, 1998,
are eligible for reappointment.
Nominations to replace Board members whose terms expire December
31, 1998, may be made by individuals, firms or associations.
Nominations will:
(1) State the region to be represented;
(2) State whether the nominee is representing carriers, shippers or
both.
(3) Provide information on the nominee's personal qualifications;
(4) Include the commercial operations of the carrier and/or shipper
with whom the nominee is affiliated. This commercial operations
information will show the actual or estimated ton-miles of each
commodity carried or shipped on the inland waterways system in a recent
year (or years) using the waterway regions and commodity categories
previously listed.
Nominations received in response to last year's Federal Register
notice, published on July 9, 1997, have been retained for
consideration. Renomination is not required but may be desirable.
e. Deadline for Nominations
All nominations must be received at the address shown above no
later than August 31, 1998.
Gregory D. Showalter,
Army Federal Register, Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 98-19024 Filed 7-15-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-08-M
