[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 38 (Monday, February 28, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Page 9615]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-3804]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 8-2005]


Foreign-Trade Zone 61--San Juan, PR, Application for 
Manufacturing Authority--Subzone 61I, Shell Chemicals Yabucoa, Inc., 
Yabucoa, PR

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the Puerto Rico Trade and Exports Company, grantee of 
FTZ 61, requesting manufacturing authority on behalf of Shell Chemicals 
Yabucoa, Inc. (Shell) within Subzone 61I at the Shell petrochemical 
complex in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico. 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 February 11, 2005.
    Subzone 61I (76,000 BPD capacity 190 employees) was approved by the 
Board in 1997 for the manufacture of fuel products and certain 
petrochemical feedstocks and refinery by-products (Board Order 893, 62 
FR 32290, 6/13/97). Board Order 893 included a time limit on the 
authority to admit non-privileged foreign status crude into the 
refinery. This authority expired on September 30, 2000, and the 
applicant is now seeking to have the authority reinstated.
    The subzone is located on a 241-acre site at Route 901, Km. 2.7 and 
Yabucoa Harbor, Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, some 45 miles southeast of San 
Juan. The refinery is used to produce fuels and petrochemical products. 
All of the crude oil (80 percent of inputs) is sourced from abroad. 
Shell has also submitted an application for temporary/interim 
manufacturing authority at the subzone (Docket T-1-2005).
    Zone procedures would exempt the refinery from customs duty 
payments on the foreign products used in its exports (37 percent of 
production). On domestic sales, the company would be able to choose the 
customs duty rates that apply to certain petrochemical feedstocks and 
refinery by-products (duty-free) by admitting incoming foreign crude in 
non-privileged foreign status. The duty rates on inputs range from 5.25 
cents/barrel to 10.5 cents/barrel. The application indicates that the 
savings from zone procedures would help improve the refinery's 
international competitiveness.
    In accordance with the Board's regulations, a member of the FTZ 
staff has been appointed examiner to investigate the application and 
report to the Board.
    Public comment is invited from interested parties. Submissions 
(original and 3 copies) shall be addressed to the Board's Executive 
Secretary at one of the following addresses:
    1. Submissions via Express/Package Delivery Services: Foreign-
Trade-Zones Board, U.S. Department of Commerce, Franklin Court 
Building--Suite 4100W, 1099 14th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005; or
    2. Submissions via the U.S. Postal Service: Foreign-Trade-Zones 
Board, U.S. Department of Commerce, FCB--Suite 4100W, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230.
    The closing period for their receipt is April 29, 2005. Rebuttal 
comments in response to material submitted during the foregoing period 
may be submitted during the subsequent 15-day period (to May 16, 2005).
    A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be 
available for public inspection at the Office of the Foreign-Trade 
Zones Board's Executive Secretary at the first address listed above, 
and at the U.S. Export Assistance Center, Midtown Building, 10th floor, 
420 Ponce de Leon Ave., San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918.

    Dated: February 11, 2005.
Dennis Puccinelli,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 05-3804 Filed 2-25-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P