[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 138 (Tuesday, July 18, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44523-44524]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-18063]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army


Inland Waterways Users Board

AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.

ACTION: Notice or request for nominations.

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SUMMARY: Section 302 of Public Law (PL) 99-662 established the Inland 
Waterways Users board. The Board is an independent Federal advisory 
committee. Its 11 members are appointed by the Secretary of the Army. 
This notice is to solicit nominations for six (6) appointments or 
reappointments to two-year terms that will begin January 1, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), 
Department of the Army, Washington, D.C. 20310-0103. Attention: Inland 
Waterways Users Board Nominations Committee.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Joseph W. Westphal, Assistant 
Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), (703) 697-8986.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The selection, service, and appointment of 
Board members are covered by provisions of Section 302 of PL 99-662. 
The substance of those provisions is as follows:
    a. Selection. Members are to be selected from the spectrum of 
commercial carriers and shippers using the inland and intracoastal 
waterways, to represent geographical regions, and to be representative 
of waterborne commerce as determined by commodity ton-miles statistics.
    b. Service. The Board is required to meet at least semi-annually to 
develop and make recommendations to the Secretary of the Army on 
waterways construction and rehabilitation priorities and spending 
levels for commercial navigation improvements, and report its 
recommendations annually to the Secretary and Congress.
    c. Appointment. The operation of the Board and appointment of its 
members are subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (PL 92-463, 
as amended) and departmental implementing regulations. Members serve 
without compensation but their expenses due to Board activities are 
reimbursable. The considerations specified in section 302 for the 
selection of the Board members, and certain terms used therein, have 
been interpreted, supplemented, or otherwise clarified as follows:
(1) Carriers and Shippers
    The law uses the terms ``primary users and shippers.'' Primary 
users has been interpreted to mean the providers of transportation 
services on inland waterways such as barge or towboat operators. 
Shippers has been interpreted to mean the purchasers of such services 
for the movement of commodities they own or control. Individuals are 
appointed to the Board, but they must be either a carrier or shipper, 
or represent a firm that is a carrier or shipper. For that purpose a 
trade or regional association is neither a shipper or primary user.
(2) Geographical Representation
    The law specifies ``varous'' regions. For the purpose of selecting 
Board members, the waterways subjected to fuel taxes and described in 
PL 95-502, as amended, have been aggregated into six regions. They are 
(1) the Upper Mississippi River and its tributaries above the mouth of 
the Ohio; (2) the Lower Mississippi River and its

[[Page 44524]]

tributaries below the mouth of the Ohio and above Baton Rouge; (3) the 
Ohio River and its tributaries; (4) the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in 
Louisiana and Texas; (5) the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway east of New 
Orleans and associated fuel-taxed waterways including the Tennessee-
Tobigbee, plus the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway below Norfolk; and 
(6) the Columbia-Snake Rivers System and Upper Willamette. The intent 
is that each region shall be represented by at least one Board member, 
with the representation determined by the regional concentration of the 
individual's traffic on the waterways.
(3) Commodity Representation
    Waterway commerce has been aggregated into six commodity categories 
based on ``inland'' ton-miles shown in Waterborne Commerce of the 
United States. These categories are (1) Farm and Food Products; (2) 
Coal and Coke; (3) Petroleum, Crude and Products; (4) Minerals, Ores, 
and Primary Metals and Mineral Products; (5) Chemicals and Allied 
Products; and (6) All other. A consideration in the selection of Board 
members will be that the commodities carried or shipped by those 
individuals or their firms will be reasonably representative of the 
above commodity categories.
    D. Nomination. Reflecting preceding selection criteria, the current 
representation by the six (6) Board members whose terms expire December 
31, 2000, is one member representing region 1, two members representing 
region 3, one member representing region 4, one member representing 
region 5, and one member representing region 6. Also, these Board 
members represent four carriers and two shipper/carriers.
    Four (4) of the six members whose terms expire December 31, 2000, 
are eligible for reappointment. Nominations to replace Board members 
whose terms expire December 31, 2000, may be made by individuals, firms 
or associations. Nominations will:

    (1) State the region to be represented;
    (2) State whether the nominee is representing carriers, shippers or 
both;
    (3) Provide information on the nominee's personal qualifications;
    (4) Include the commercial operations of the carrier and/or shipper 
with whom the nominee is affiliated. This commercial operations 
information will show the actual or estimated ton-miles of each 
commodity carried or shipped on the inland waterways system in a recent 
year (or years) using the waterway regions and commodity categories 
previously listed.

Nominations received in response to last year's Federal Register 
notice, published on July 29, 1999, have been retained for 
consideration. Renomination is not required but may be desirable.
    Deadline for Nominations. All nominations must be received at the 
address shown above no later than August 31, 2000.

John A. Hall,
Alternate Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 00-18063 Filed 7-17-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-08-M