[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 241 (Wednesday, December 16, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69261-69262]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-33329]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket 56-98]


Foreign-Trade Zone 35--Philadelphia, PA; Application for Subzone 
Status, Kvaerner Philadelphia Shipyard, Inc. (Shipbuilding)

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, grantee of FTZ 
35, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the shipbuilding 
facility of Kvaerner Philadelphia Shipyard, Inc. (KPSI), in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (formerly operated by the U.S. Navy). 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 December 10, 
1998.
    The KPSI shipyard (114 acres, up to 1,000 employees) is located on 
the Delaware River in the Philadelphia Naval Business Center, 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Currently undergoing extensive renovation, 
the facility will be

[[Page 69262]]

used for the construction, repair, and conversion of commercial vessels 
for domestic and international customers. Foreign components that may 
be used at the KPSI shipyard (up to 30% of total) include propulsion 
units, engines and control systems, profile steel, pumps, alarm 
systems, diesel generators, navigation equipment, radio communications, 
rudder systems, radar apparatus, pumps, CO2 discharge 
systems, propellers and shafts, winches, windlass, ships' logs, depth 
sounding equipment, boilers, inert gas plants, electro-hydraulic power 
racks, switchboards/panels/consoles (1998 duty rate range: free--5.7%, 
ad valorem).
    FTZ procedures would exempt KPSI from Customs duty payments on the 
foreign components (except steel mill products) used in export 
activity. On its domestic sales, the company would be able to choose 
the duty rate that applies to finished oceangoing vessels (duty free) 
for the foreign-origin components noted above. The manufacturing 
activity conducted under FTZ procedures would be subject to the 
``standard shipyard restriction'' applicable to foreign-origin steel 
mill products (e.g., angles, pipe, plate), which requires that Customs 
duties be paid on such items. The application indicates that the 
savings from FTZ procedures would help improve the facility's 
international competitiveness.
    In accordance with the Board's regulations, a member of the FTZ 
Staff has been designated examiner to investigate the application and 
report to the Board.
    Public comment on the application is invited from interested 
parties. Submissions (original and three copies) shall be addressed to 
the Board's Executive Secretary at the address below. The closing 
period for their receipt is February 16, 1999. Rebuttal comments in 
response to material submitted during the foregoing period may be 
submitted during the subsequent 15-day period (to March 1, 1999).
    A copy of the application will be available for public inspection 
at the following locations:

U.S. Department of Commerce, Export Assistance Center, 615 Chestnut 
Street, Suite 1501, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Room 
3716, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue, 
NW, Washington, DC 20230.

    Dated: December 10, 1998.
Dennis Puccinelli,
Acting Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-33329 Filed 12-15-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P