[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 250 (Thursday, December 29, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81912-81913]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-33486]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 84-2011]


Foreign-Trade Zone 226--Merced, Madera, Fresno and Tulare 
Counties, CA; Application for Reorganization Under Alternative Site 
Framework

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZ) 
Board (the Board) by the County of Merced, California, grantee of FTZ 
226, requesting authority to reorganize the zone under the alternative 
site framework (ASF) adopted by the Board (74 FR 1170, 01/12/2009 
(correction 74 FR 3987, 01/22/2009); 75 FR 71069-71070, 11/22/2010). 
The ASF is an option for grantees for the establishment or 
reorganization of general-purpose zones and can permit significantly 
greater flexibility in the designation of new ``usage-driven'' FTZ 
sites for operators/users located within a grantee's ``service area'' 
in the context of the Board's standard 2,000-acre activation limit for 
a general-purpose zone project. The application was submitted pursuant 
to 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 
December 23, 2011.

[[Page 81913]]

    FTZ 226 was approved by the Board on December 22, 1997 (Board Order 
946, 63 FR 778-779, 01/07/1998) and expanded on May 14, 2003 (Board 
Order 1276, 68 FR 27985, 05/22/2003).
    The current zone project includes the following sites: Site 1 (791 
acres)--Castle Airport/Morimoto Industrial Park, 2507 Heritage Drive, 
Atwater (Merced County); Site 2 (242 acres)--within the MidState 99 
Distribution Center, Visalia (Tulare County) (includes 65 acres located 
at 2525 North Plaza Drive approved on a temporary basis until 12/31/
2013); Site 3 (191 acres)--Mid Cal Business Park, Highway 33, Gustine 
(Merced County); Site 4 (101 acres)--within the Applegate Business 
Park, Highway 33 and Air Park Road, Atwater (Merced County); Site 6 (87 
acres)--City of Madera Airport Industrial Park/State Center Commerce 
Park, Falcon Drive, Madera (Madera County); Site 7 (10 acres)--City of 
Madera Industrial Park, 2500 West Industrial Avenue, Madera (Madera 
County); Site 8 (27.56 acres)--Airways East Business Park, East Shields 
Avenue and North Business Park Avenue, Fresno (Fresno County); Site 9 
(225 acres)--Central Valley Business Park, East North Avenue, Fresno 
(Fresno County); Site 10 (492 acres)--Fresno Airport Industrial Park, 
East Airways Boulevard and East Anderson and East Clinton Avenues, 
Fresno, and adjacent City of Clovis Industrial Park located at West 
Dakota Avenue & West Pontiac Way, Clovis (Fresno County); Site 11 (35 
acres)--Reedley Industrial Park II, 1301 South Buttonwillow Avenue, 
Reedley (Fresno County); Site 12 (128 acres)--City of Selma Industrial 
Park, East Nebraska Avenue, Selma (Fresno County); and, Site 13 (15 
acres)--810 East Continental Avenue, Tulare, (Tulare County).
    The grantee's proposed service area under the ASF would be portions 
of Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Stanislaus and Tulare 
Counties, California, as described in the application. If approved, the 
grantee would be able to serve sites throughout the service area based 
on companies' needs for FTZ designation. The proposed service area is 
both within and adjacent to the Fresno U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection port of entry.
    The applicant is requesting authority to reorganize its existing 
zone project to include Sites 1, 2 and 9 through 11 as ``magnet'' 
sites. The ASF allows for the possible exemption of one magnet site 
from the ``sunset'' time limits that generally apply to sites under the 
ASF, and the applicant proposes that Site 1 be so exempted. The 
applicant is also requesting authority to include existing Site 8 as a 
usage-driven site. Additionally, the applicant is requesting authority 
to reduce acreage at Site 1 and remove Sites 3, 4, 6, 7, 12 and 13 from 
the zone project due to changed circumstances. The applicant is not 
proposing any additional new sites.
    In accordance with the Board's regulations, Christopher Kemp of the 
FTZ Staff is designated examiner to evaluate and analyze the facts and 
information presented in the application and case record and to report 
findings and recommendations 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 the address below. The closing period for their receipt is 
February 27, 2012. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted 
during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-
day period to March 13, 2012.
    A copy of the application will be available for public inspection 
at the Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, 
Room 2111, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20230-0002, and in the ``Reading Room'' section of the 
Board's Web site, which is accessible via www.trade.gov/ftz.  FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT Christopher Kemp at 
[email protected] or (202) 482-0862.

    Dated: December 23, 2011.
Elizabeth Whiteman,
Acting Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-33486 Filed 12-28-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P