[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 14, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2122-2123]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-826]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army


Inland Waterways Users Board; Request for Nominations

AGENCY: Department of the Army, DOD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Section 302 of Public Law 99-662 established the Inland 
Waterways Users Board. The Board is an independent Federal advisory 
committee. The Secretary of the Army appoints its 11 members. This 
notice is to solicit nominations for five (5) appointments or 
reappointments to two-year terms that will begin after April 5, 2004.

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Office of the 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 Public Law 
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 (Pub. L. 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 have been interpreted to mean the 
providers of transportation services on inland waterways such as barge 
or towboat operators. Shippers have 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 ``various'' 
regions. For the purpose of selecting Board members, the waterways 
subjected to fuel taxes and described in Public Law 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 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-Tombigbee, 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 that 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 five (5) Board members whose terms expire April 
5, 2004, is two members representing region 1, one member representing 
region 2, one member representing region 3, and one member representing 
region 6. Also, these Board members represent two carriers, one 
shipper, and two shipper/carriers. Three of the five members whose 
terms expire April 5, 2004, are eligible for reappointment. Nominations 
to replace Board members whose terms expire April 5, 2004, 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 Federal Register notice (67 FR 
47525) published on July 19, 2002, have been retained for 
consideration.

[[Page 2123]]

Renomination is not required but may be desirable.
    e. Deadline for Nominations. All nominations must be received at 
the address shown above no later than March 5, 2004.

Luz D. Ortiz,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-826 Filed 1-13-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-92-M