[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]


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

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