[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 42 (Friday, March 1, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8041-8042]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-4754]



-----------------------------------------------------------------------


DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Applications for Duty-Free Entry of Scientific Instruments

    Pursuant to Section 6(c) of the Educational, Scientific and 
Cultural Materials Importation Act of 1966 (Pub. L. 89-651; 80 Stat. 
897; 15 CFR part 301), we invite comments on the question of whether 
instruments of equivalent scientific value, for the purposes for which 
the instruments shown below are intended to be used, are being 
manufactured in the United States.
    Comments must comply with 15 CFR 301.5(a)(3) and (4) of the 
regulations and be filed within 20 days with the Statutory Import 
Programs Staff, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 20230. 
Applications may be examined between 8:30 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. in Room 
4211, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, 
N.W., Washington, D.C.
    Docket Number: 96-001. Applicant: University of California, Davis, 
174 Physics/Geology Bldg., Davis, CA 95616-8605. Instrument: Water Gas 
Phase Equilibration System. Manufacturer: Finnigan MAT, Germany. 
Intended Use: The instrument will be used to analyze the stable oxygen 
and hydrogen isotopic composition (180/160 and D(euterium) /
H) of water samples derived from seawater samples collected during 
experimental research and ground water samples from hydrographic 
studies. The experiments will involve studies of the physiological and 
environmental parameters responsible for stable isotope variability in 
the calcium carbonate shells of fossil organisms via the study of 
living representatives in the laboratory and field. In addition, the 
instrument will be used in the course Geology 227, Stable Isotope 
Biochemistry introducing graduate students to different applications of 
stable isotope geochemistry in the research environment. Application 
Accepted by Commissioner of Customs: January 3, 1996.
    Docket Number: 96-002. Applicant: DHHS/Food and Drug 
Administration, National Center for Toxicological Research, Division of 
Chemistry, 3900 NCTR Road, Jefferson, AR 72079. Instrument: ICP Mass 
Spectrometer, Model PlasmaQuad XR. Manufacturer: Fisons Instruments, 
United Kingdom. Intended Use: The instrument will be used for studies 
of food, food ingredients, animal diets, animal tissues and water to 
determine the quantitation of the levels of trace elements of interest 
in these samples. The instrument will also be used for speciation 
studies for toxicologically important elements such as As, Cr, and Mn 
among others. Application Accepted by Commissioner of Customs: January 
4, 1996.
    Docket Number: 96-003. Applicant: Mount Holyoke College, 50 College 
Street, South Hadley, MA 01075. Instrument: Electron Microscope, Model 
CM100. Manufacturer: Philips, The Netherlands. Intended Use: The 
instrument will be used in a wide variety of research projects in the 

[[Page 8042]]
biological sciences which include but are not limited to: (a) 
assessment of which structural components of the nucleus remain after 
progressive dismantling of nuclear components by high salt, nuclease, 
and detergent treatment in research designed to probe nuclear matrix 
structure and function in plant cells and (b) characterization of 
cellular defects in various Drosophila mutants which figure prominently 
in molecular biology. In addition, the instrument will be used for 
educational purposes in several biology courses. Application Accepted 
by Commissioner of Customs: January 4, 1996.
    Docket Number: 96-004. Applicant: University of California at 
Berkeley, 485 Hearst Mining Bldg., Berkeley, CA 94720. Instrument: 
Mass/Energy Spectrometer. Manufacturer: Hiden Analytical Ltd., United 
Kingdom. Intended Use: The instrument will be used for determining the 
mass, energy and flux of ions, neutrals and radicals generated by an 
activated nitrogen source. It will also be used for trace impurity 
measurements. Application Accepted by Commissioner of Customs: January 
11, 1996.
    Docket Number: 96-005. Applicant: Scripps Research Institute, 10666 
North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037. Instrument: Electron 
Microscope, Model CM120. Manufacturer: Philips, The Netherlands. 
Intended Use: The instrument will be used for studies of the structure 
of tobacco, alfalfa, and cucumber mosaic viruses, muscle proteins, 
nuclear pore complexes, microtubules, CHIP28 water channels, 
acetylcholine receptors, gap junctions, rotavirus and reovirus, and 
rice yellow mottle virus. The goals of the investigations are in 
general to understand the structural basis for how the subcellular 
organelles and supramolecular assemblies function and to elucidate the 
role that they play in the life of the cell. In addition, the 
instrument will be used to provide training in use of the electron 
microscope as a research tool. Application Accepted by Commissioner of 
Customs: February 6, 1996.
    Docket Number: 96-007. Applicant: U.S. Department of Commerce, 
NOAA/ERL/CMDL, R/E/CGI, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303. Instrument: 
Stable Isotope Mass Spectrometer, Model OPTIMA. Manufacturer: Fisons 
Instruments, United Kingdom. Intended Use: The instrument will be used 
to measure the stable isotope ratios of CO2 from flask samples of 
atmospheric air sampled weekly from about 50 sites worldwide and 
analyzed for the mixing ratios of methane, carbon monoxide and other 
gases. The instrument will also be used to measure the stable isotope 
ratios of CO2 from standard and reference materials as required to 
maintain the integrity and calibration of the data base of atmospheric 
measurements. Application Accepted by Commissioner of Customs: February 
6, 1996.
    Docket Number: 96-008. Applicant: University of California, Los 
Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 990, Los Alamos, NM 87545. 
Instrument: Mass Spectrometer, Model Plasma Trace 2. Manufacturer: 
Fisons Instruments, United Kingdom. Intended Use: The instrument will 
be used for studies of soils, high purity silicon chips, waters and low 
level waste streams to determine trace analytes in a given sample. 
Application Accepted by Commissioner of Customs: February 7, 1996.


Frank W. Creel
Director, Statutory Import Programs Staff
[FR Doc. 96-4754 Filed 2-29-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-F