[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 134 (Friday, July 11, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39952-39953]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-15774]


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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 six (6) appointments or 
reappointments to two-year terms that will begin after March 1, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), 
Attention: Inland Waterways Users Board Nominations Committee, 108 Army 
Pentagon, Washington, DC 20310-0108.

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 nor 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

[[Page 39953]]

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 six (6) Board members whose terms will expire is 
one member each representing regions 3 and 6, and two members 
representing regions 1 and 2. Also, three of these Board members 
represent carriers, one represents a shipper and two represents a 
carrier/shipper.
    Three of the six members whose terms will expire are eligible for 
reappointment. Nominations to replace Board members whose terms expire 
may be made by individuals, firms or associations. Nominations will:
    (1) State the region(s) 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 
published on February 17, 2006 (71 FR 8568), notice published on July 
7, 2006 (71 FR 38629) and notice published on February 16, 2007 (72 FR 
7620) have been retained for consideration. Renomination is not 
required but may be desirable to indicate continued interest and 
provide updated information.
    e. Deadline for Nominations. All nominations must be received at 
the address shown above no later than September 15, 2008.

Brenda S. Bowen,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. E8-15774 Filed 7-10-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-92-P