[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 93 (Monday, May 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30953-30954]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10284]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Inland Waterways Users Board; Request for Nominations

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, DOD.

ACTION: Notice of request for nominations.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Army is publishing this notice to 
request nominations to serve as representatives on the Inland Waterways 
Users Board (``the Board''), sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers. The Board provides independent advice and recommendations to 
the Secretary of the Army and the Congress. The Secretary of the Army 
recommends its 11 (eleven) representative organizations to the 
Secretary of Defense for approval. This notice is to solicit 
nominations for seven (7) appointments or more for terms that will 
begin by January 31, 2024. For additional information about the Board, 
please visit the committee's website at http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/Inland-Waterways-Users-Board/.

ADDRESSES: Institute for Water Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
ATTN: Mr. Mark R. Pointon, Designated Federal Officer (DFO) for the 
Inland Waterways Users Board, CEIWR-NDC, 7701 Telegraph Road, Casey 
Building, Alexandria, Virginia 22315-3868; by telephone at 703-428-
6438; and by email at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alternatively, contact Mr. Steven D. 
Riley, the Alternate Designated Federal Officer (ADFO), in writing at 
the Institute for Water Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: 
CEIWR-GW, 7701 Telegraph Road, Casey Building, Alexandria, VA 22315-
3868; by telephone at 703-659-3097; and by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The selection, service, and appointment of 
representative organizations to the Board are covered by provisions of 
section 302 of Public Law 99-662. The substance of those provisions is 
as follows:
    a. Selection. Representative organizations 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 and tonnage 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 major 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 
representative organizations are subject to chapter 10, 5 U.S.C. 
(commonly known as the Federal Advisory Committee Act) and departmental 
implementing regulations. Individuals invited or appointed to serve on 
the Board, or its subcommittees, must be U.S. citizens and are 
appointed pursuant to 33 U.S.C. 2251(f)(2), the members of the Board 
serve as representative members and shall be appointed pursuant to 41 
CFR 102-3.130(a), and in accordance with DoD policy and procedures. 
Representative organizations serve without compensation but their 
expenses due to Board activities are reimbursable. The considerations 
specified in section 302 for the selection of representative 
organizations to the Board, 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. Representative companies are appointed to the Board, and they 
must be either a carrier or shipper or both. 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 purposes of the Board, 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 above the mouth of the Ohio; (2) the Lower 
Mississippi River

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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 
representative organization, with that representation determined by the 
regional concentration of the firm'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 representative organizations to the Board will be 
that the commodities carried or shipped by those firms will be 
reasonably representative of the above commodity categories.
    d. Nomination. Reflecting preceding selection criteria, the current 
representation by the six (6) organizations whose terms are expiring 
includes Regions 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, representation of four carriers, 1 
shipper and two of both, and commodity representation of Food and Farm 
Products; Coal and Coke; Petroleum, Crude and Products; Chemicals and 
Allied Products; and Other.
    Individuals, firms or associations may nominate representative 
organizations to serve on the Board. Nominations will:
    (1) Include the commercial operations of the carrier and/or shipper 
representative organization being nominated. This commercial operations 
information will show the actual or estimated ton-miles of each 
commodity carried or shipped on the inland waterways system in the most 
recent year (or years), using the waterway regions and commodity 
categories previously listed.
    (2) State the region(s) to be represented.
    (3) State whether the nominated representative organization is a 
carrier, shipper or both.
    (4) Provide the name of an individual to be the principal person 
representing the organization and information pertaining to their 
personal qualifications, to include a current within six months 
biography or resume.
    Previous nominations received in response to notices published in 
the Federal Register in prior years will not be retained for 
consideration. Re-nomination of representative organizations is 
required.
    e. Deadline for Nominations. All nominations must be received at 
the address shown above no later than June 15, 2023.

Thomas P. Smith,
Chief, Operations and Regulatory Division, Directorate of Civil Works, 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
[FR Doc. 2023-10284 Filed 5-12-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P