[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 23, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29686-29687]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-7852]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Trade Policy Staff Committee; Initiation of Environmental Review 
of Proposed Free Trade Agreement Between the United States and 
Malaysia; 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 free trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and 
Malaysia. 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 July 7, 2006.

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,

[[Page 29687]]

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 Mara Burr or Carlos 
Pachon, Environment and Natural Resources Section, USTR, telephone 
(202) 395-7320.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Background Information

    On March 8, 2006, in accordance with section 2104(a)(1) of the 
Trade Act of 2002, the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador 
Robert Portman, notified Congress of the President's intent to enter 
into trade negotiations with Malaysia. Ambassador Portman outlined 
specific U.S. objectives for these negotiations in the notification 
letter to Congress. A copy of the letter is available at: http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/Malaysia_FTA/Section_Index.html.
    The TPSC also invited the public to provide written comments and/or 
oral testimony at a public hearing held May 3, 2006, to assist USTR in 
amplifying and clarifying negotiating objectives for the proposed FTA 
and to provide advice on how specific goods and services and other 
matters should be treated under the proposed agreement (see 71 FR 
14558).
    Malaysia is an upper middle income economy of 27 million people, 
with a GDP of almost $250 billion in 2005. Malaysia is the United 
States' largest trading partner in Southeast Asia and our 10th largest 
trading partner in the world. The U.S. had more than $44 billion in 
two-way trade with Malaysia in 2005, 60 percent more than our trade 
with India and about a quarter of our trade with Japan. Malaysia's 
economy has sustained rapid growth--an average of 5 percent a year for 
the past ten years--and presents opportunities for U.S. exporters. An 
FTA with Malaysia also will provide U.S. companies with a gateway to 
the dynamic Southeast Asian region--a market approaching $3 trillion.

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. 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: ``FTA between the United States and Malaysia 
Environmental Review'' followed by ``Written Comments.'' Documents 
should be submitted as a WordPerfect, MSWord, or text (.TXT) file. 
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 environmental issues submitted in response to a previous notice--the 
Federal Register notice dated March 22, 2006 (71 FR 14558)--requesting 
comments from the public to assist USTR in formulating positions and 
proposals with respect to all aspects of the negotiation of an FTA 
between the United States and Malaysia, 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. E6-7852 Filed 5-22-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W6-P