2018-15891. Notice of Request for Public Comments on Section 232 National Security Investigation of Imports of Uranium

AGENCY:

Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Technology Evaluation, U.S. Department of Commerce.

ACTION:

Notice of request for public comments.

SUMMARY:

The Secretary of Commerce has initiated an investigation to determine the effects on the national security of imports of uranium. This investigation has been initiated under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended.

Interested parties are invited to submit written comments, data, analyses, or other information pertinent to the investigation to the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security. This notice identifies issues on which the Department is especially interested in obtaining the public's views.

DATES:

Comments may be submitted at any time but must be received by September 10, 2018.

ADDRESSES:

All written comments on the notice must be submitted by one of the following methods:

• By the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Comments on this notice may be submitted to regulations.gov docket number BIS-2018-0011.
• By mail or delivery to Michael Vaccaro, Acting Director, Office of Technology Evaluation, Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Room 1093, Washington, DC 20230.
• By email directly to [e-mail].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael Vaccaro, Acting Director, Office of Technology Evaluation, Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce [phone], [e-mail]. For more information about the section 232 program, including the regulations and the text of previous investigations, see www.bis.doc.gov/​232.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On July 18, 2018, the Secretary of Commerce (“Secretary”) initiated an investigation under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1862), to determine the effects on the national security of imports of uranium.

Written Comments

This investigation is being undertaken in accordance with part 705 of the National Security Industrial Base Regulations (15 CFR parts 700 to 709) (“NSIBR”). Interested parties are invited to submit written comments, data, analyses, or information pertinent to this investigation to the Office of Technology Evaluation, U.S. Department of Commerce (“the Department”), no later than September 10, 2018.

The Department is particularly interested in comments and information directed to the criteria listed in § 705.4 of the regulations as they affect national security, including the following: (a) Quantity of or other circumstances related to the importation of uranium; (b) Domestic production and productive capacity needed for uranium to meet projected national defense requirements; (c) Existing and anticipated availability of human resources, products, raw materials, production equipment, and facilities to produce uranium; (d) Growth requirements of the uranium industry to meet national defense requirements and/or requirements to assure such growth; (e) The impact of foreign competition on the economic welfare of the uranium industry; (f) The displacement of any domestic uranium production causing substantial unemployment, decrease in the revenues of government, loss of investment or specialized skills and productive capacity, or other serious effects; (g) Relevant factors that are causing or will cause a weakening of our national economy; and (h) Any other relevant factors.

Material submitted by members of the public that is business confidential information will be exempted from public disclosure as provided for by § 705.6 of the regulations. Anyone submitting business confidential information should clearly identify the business confidential portion of the submission, file a statement justifying nondisclosure and referring to the specific legal authority claimed, and provide a non-confidential submission which can be placed in the public file. Communications from agencies of the United States Government will not be made available for public inspection. If public hearings are held in support of this investigation, a separate Federal Register notice will be published.

The Bureau of Industry and Security does not maintain a separate public inspection facility. Requesters should first view the Bureau's web page, which can be found at https://efoia.bis.doc.gov/​ (see “Electronic FOIA” heading). If requesters cannot access the website, they may call 202-482-0795 for assistance. The records related to this assessment are made accessible in accordance with the regulations published in part 4 of title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations (15 CFR 4.1 et seq.).

Dated: July 19, 2018.

Wilbur Ross,

Secretary of Commerce.