[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 226 (Friday, November 22, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70475-70476]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-29691]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Trade Policy Staff Committee; Initiation of Environmental Review 
of Central America Free Trade Negotiations; Public Comments on Scope of 
Environmental Review

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This publication gives notice that, pursuant to the Trade Act 
of 2002, and consistent with Executive Order 13141 (64 FR 63169) (Nov. 
18, 1999) and its implementing guidelines (65 FR 79442), the Office of 
the United States Trade Representative (USTR), through the Trade Policy 
Staff Committee (TPSC), is initiating an environmental review of the 
proposed United States-Central America Free Trade Agreement (US-CAFTA). 
The TPSC is requesting written comments from the public on what should 
be included in the scope of the environmental review, including the 
potential environmental effects that might flow from the free trade 
agreement and the potential implications for U.S. environmental laws 
and regulations, and identification of complementarities between trade 
and environmental objectives such as the promotion of sustainable 
development. The TPSC also welcomes public views on appropriate 
methodologies and sources of data for conducting the review. Persons 
submitting written comments should provide as much detail as possible 
on the degree to which the subject matter they propose for inclusion in 
the review may raise significant environmental issues in the context of 
the negotiation.

DATES: Public comments should be received no later than January 15, 
2003.

ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic mail: [email protected].
    Submissions by facsimile: Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, Trade 
Policy Staff Committee, at (202) 395-6143.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For procedural questions concerning 
public comments, contact Gloria Blue, Executive Secretary, TPSC, Office 
of the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508, telephone (202) 
395-3475. Questions concerning the environmental review should be 
addressed to Jonathan Fritz, Environment and Natural Resources Section, 
USTR, telephone (202) 395-7320.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Background Information

    On October 1, 2002, in accordance with section 2104(a)(1) of the 
Trade Act of 2002, the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador 
Robert B. Zoellick, notified the Congress of the President's intent to 
enter into trade negotiations with the five member countries (i.e., 
Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua) of the 
Central American Economic Integration System (CAEIS). Ambassador 
Zoellick outlined U.S. objectives for the US-CAFTA in the notification 
letters to the Congress. The letters to House Speaker Dennis Hastert 
and Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Byrd can be found on the USTR 
Website at www.ustr.gov/releases/2002/2002-10-01-centralamerica-house.PDF and www.ustr.gov/releases/2002/2002-10-01-centralamerica-senate.PDF, respectively. The TPSC invited the public to provide 
written comments and/or oral testimony at a public hearing on the 
proposed US-CAFTA scheduled for November 19, 2002, to assist USTR in 
formulating positions and proposals with respect to all aspects of the 
negotiations (67 FR 63954).
    US-CAFTA will build on the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI). Since 
1985, the U.S. trade relationship with Central America has been driven 
by U.S. unilateral trade preferences through the CBI. By moving from 
unilateral trade preferences to a reciprocal FTA, the US-CAFTA will 
seek to eliminate duties and unjustified barriers to trade in both 
U.S.- and Central American-origin goods and also address trade in 
services, trade in agricultural products, investment, trade-related 
aspects of intellectual property rights, government procurement, trade-
related environmental and labor matters, and other issues. US-CAFTA is 
expected to contribute to stronger economies, the rule of law, 
sustainable development, and more accountable institutions of 
governance, complementing ongoing domestic, bilateral, and multilateral 
efforts in the region. Finally, US-CAFTA will lend momentum to 
concluding the Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations by January 
2005.
    Two-way trade in goods between the United States and the member 
countries of the CAEIS totaled $20 billion in 2001, consisting of $9 
billion in U.S. exports and $11 billion in U.S. imports. Leading U.S. 
exports to Central America include apparel products, machinery, 
electrical machinery and equipment, and plastics. Leading U.S. imports 
from Central America include apparel and textile products and edible 
fruits.

2. Environmental Review

    USTR, through the TPSC, will perform an environmental review of the 
agreement pursuant to the Trade Act of 2002 and consistent with 
Executive Order 13141 (64 FR 63169) and its implementing guidelines (65 
FR 79442).
    Environmental reviews are used to identify potentially significant, 
reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts (both positive and 
negative), and information from the review can help facilitate 
consideration of appropriate responses where impacts are identified. 
Reviews address potential environmental impacts of the proposed 
agreement and potential implications for environmental laws and 
regulations. Determining the review's scope includes consideration of 
the environmental dimensions of the

[[Page 70476]]

regulatory and trade policies at issue, including ways in which the 
trade agreement can complement U.S. environmental objectives. The focus 
of the review is on impacts in the United States, although global and 
transboundary impacts may be considered, where appropriate and prudent.

3. Requirements for Submissions

    In order to facilitate prompt processing of submissions, USTR 
strongly urges and prefers electronic (e-mail) submissions in response 
to this notice.
    Persons making submissions by e-mail should use the following 
subject line: ``US-CAFTA Environmental Review'' followed by ``Written 
Comments.'' Documents should be submitted as either WordPerfect, 
MSWord, or text (.TXT) files. Supporting documentation submitted as 
spreadsheets are acceptable as Quattro Pro or Excel. For any document 
containing business confidential information submitted electronically, 
the file name of the business confidential version should begin with 
the characters ``BC-'', and the file name of the public version should 
begin with the characters ``P-''. The ``P-'' or ``BC-'' should be 
followed by the name of the submitter. Persons who make submissions by 
e-mail should not provide separate cover letters; information that 
might appear in a cover letter should be included in the submission 
itself. To the extent possible, any attachments to the submission 
should be included in the same file as the submission itself, and not 
as separate files.
    Written comments submitted in response to this request will be 
placed in a file open to public inspection pursuant to 15 CFR 2003.5, 
except business confidential information exempt from public inspection 
in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6. Business confidential information 
submitted in accordance with 15 CFR 2003.6 must be clearly marked 
``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top of each page, including any cover 
letter or cover page, and must be accompanied by a nonconfidential 
summary of the confidential information. All public documents and 
nonconfidential summaries shall be available for public inspection in 
the USTR Reading Room. The USTR Reading Room is open to the public, by 
appointment only, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday 
through Friday. An appointment to review the file must be scheduled at 
least 48 hours in advance and may be made by calling (202) 395-6186.
    USTR also welcomes and will take into account the public comments 
on US-CAFTA environmental issues submitted in response to a previous 
notice--the Federal Register notice dated October 16, 2002 (67 FR 
63954) requesting comments from the public to assist USTR in 
formulating positions and proposals with respect to all aspects of the 
negotiations, including environmental issues. These comments will also 
be made available for public inspection. General information concerning 
the Office of the United States Trade Representative may be obtained by 
accessing its Internet Web site (http://www.ustr.gov).

Carmen Suro-Bredie,
Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee.
[FR Doc. 02-29691 Filed 11-21-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P