[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 81 (Thursday, April 25, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18379-18380]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-10111]



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COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket 32-96]


Foreign-Trade Zone 31--Granite City, Illinois; Application for 
Subzone Status; Shell Oil Company (Oil Refinery Complex); Madison 
County, Illinois

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the Tri-City Port District, grantee of FTZ 31, 
requesting special-purpose subzone status for the oil refinery complex 
of Shell Oil Company, located in Madison County, Illinois. The 
application was submitted pursuant to the provisions of the Foreign-
Trade Zones Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u), and the regulations of 
the Board (15 CFR part 400). It was formally filed on April 17, 1996.
    The refinery complex (1,922 acres, 1,100 employees) consists of 3 
sites and related pipelines in Madison County, Illinois, some 25 miles 
east of St. Louis, Missouri: Site 1 (1533 acres)--main refinery complex 
(290,000 BPD) located at Hwy 111 in Wood River Township, including 
areas located in the towns of Roxana, Hartford, South Roxana and Wood 
River; Site 2 (289 acres)--crude oil storage facility (3.2 mil. barrel 
capacity) located across Hwy 111 from the refinery, and; Site 3 (100 
acres)--sulfur recovery plant located adjacent to the refinery.
    The refinery complex is used to produce fuels and petrochemical 
feedstocks. Fuels produced include gasoline, jet fuel, distillates, 
diesel, and residual fuels. Petrochemical feedstocks and refinery by-
products may include methane, ethane, propane, butane, butylene, 
toluene, propylene, paraffin wax, carbon black oil, cumene, sulfur and 
petroleum coke. About 60 percent of the crude oil and related products 
(e.g., condensate) (90 percent of inputs), and some feedstocks and 
motor fuel blendstocks used in producing fuel products are sourced 
abroad.
    Zone procedures would exempt the activity from Customs duty 
payments on the foreign products used in its exports. On domestic 
sales, the company would be able to choose the finished product duty 
rate (nonprivileged foreign status--NPF) on certain petrochemical 
feedstocks and refinery by-products (duty-free) instead of the duty 
rates that would otherwise apply to the foreign-sourced inputs (e.g., 
crude oil). The duty rates on crude oil and condensate range from 
5.25 cents/barrel to 10.5 cents/barrel. The application indicates that 
the savings from zone procedures would help improve the refinery's 
international competitiveness.
    In accordance with the Board's regulations, a member of the FTZ 
Staff

[[Page 18380]]

has been designated examiner to investigate the application and report 
to the Board.
    Public comment is invited from interested parties. Submissions 
(original and 3 copies) shall be addressed to the Board's Executive 
Secretary at the address below. The closing period for their receipt is 
June 24, 1996. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted 
during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-
day period (to July 9, 1996).
    A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be 
available for public inspection at each of the following locations:

U.S. Department of Commerce District Office, 8182 Maryland Avenue, 
Suite 303, St. Louis, Missouri 63105
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Room 
3716, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20230.

    Dated: April 17, 1996.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-10111 Filed 4-24-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P