[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 68 (Monday, April 9, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21081-21082]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-8486]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 27-2012]


Foreign-Trade Zone 149--Freeport, TX, Application for 
Reorganization Under Alternative Site Framework

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZ) 
Board (the Board) by Port Freeport, grantee of FTZ 149, requesting 
authority to reorganize the zone under the alternative site framework 
(ASF) adopted by the Board (74 FR 1170-1173, 01/12/09 (correction 74 FR 
3987, 01/22/09); 75 FR 71069-71070, 11/22/10). 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 April 2, 2012.
    FTZ 149 was approved by the Board on June 28, 1988 (Board Order 
385, 53 FR 26096, 7/11/88), and expanded on August 7, 2001 (Board Order 
1185, 66 FR 42994, 8/16/01), and on February 23, 2010 (Board Order 
1666, 75 FR 12726, 3/17/10).
    The current zone project includes the following sites: Site 1 (280 
acres)--Port Freeport Primary Facility, 1001 Navigation Boulevard, 
Freeport; Site 2 (153.6 acres)--Freeport LNG Terminal, 1500 Lamar 
Street, Quintana; Site 3 (1,063.1 acres)--Port Freeport (Parcels 13, 14 
& 19), State Highway 288, Freeport; Site 4 (242.2 acres)--Port Freeport 
(Parcels 27, 35, 39 & TEPPCO), located on Farm Market Road 1495, 
Freeport; Site 5 (212.9 acres)--Port Freeport (Parcel 30), located on 
County Road 723, Quintana; Site 6 (146 acres)--Texas Gulf Coast 
Regional Airport, located on County Road 220, Angleton; Site 7 (506 
acres)--Pearland Northern Industrial Park, located on State Highway 35, 
Pearland; Site 8 (832 acres)--Pearland Southern Industrial Park, 
located on State Highway 35, Pearland; Site 9 (146 acres)--Pearland 
Bybee-Sterling Complex, located at the intersection of Hooper Road and 
Sam Houston Parkway, Pearland; Site 10 (8 acres)--Alvin Santa Fe 
Industrial Park, 200 Avenue I, Alvin; Site 11 (340 acres, sunset 2/28/
2017)--International Industrial Park, located on State Highway 59 
between Beasley and Kendleton; and, Site 12 (636 acres, sunset 2/28/
2017)--KCS/CenterPoint Intermodal Center, located on State Highway 59 
between Beasley and Kendleton.
    The grantee's proposed service area under the ASF would be the 
Counties of Brazoria and Fort Bend, Texas. 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 
within and adjacent to the Freeport Customs and Border Protection port 
of entry.
    The applicant is requesting authority to reorganize its zone 
project to include existing Sites 1, 3 and 10 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 that Sites 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12 be removed 
from the zone project. No new magnet or usage-driven sites are being 
requested at this time. Because the ASF only pertains to establishing 
or reorganizing a general-purpose zone, the application would have no 
impact on FTZ 149's authorized subzones.
    In accordance with the Board's regulations, Camille Evans 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 
June 8, 2012. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted 
during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-
day period to June 25, 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

[[Page 21082]]

Camille Evans at [email protected] or (202) 482-2350.

    Dated: April 2, 2012.
Elizabeth Whiteman,
Acting Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-8486 Filed 4-6-12; 8:45 am]
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