[Federal Register: November 22, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 226)]
[Notices]
[Page 70475-70476]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22no02-128]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Trade Policy Staff Committee; Initiation of Environmental Review
of Central America Free Trade Negotiations; 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 United States-Central America Free Trade Agreement (US-CAFTA).
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 January 15,
2003.
ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic mail: FR0053@ustr.gov.
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, 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 Jonathan Fritz, Environment and Natural Resources Section,
USTR, telephone (202) 395-7320.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background Information
On October 1, 2002, in accordance with section 2104(a)(1) of the
Trade Act of 2002, the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador
Robert B. Zoellick, notified the Congress of the President's intent to
enter into trade negotiations with the five member countries (i.e.,
Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua) of the
Central American Economic Integration System (CAEIS). Ambassador
Zoellick outlined U.S. objectives for the US-CAFTA in the notification
letters to the Congress. The letters to House Speaker Dennis Hastert
and Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Byrd can be found on the USTR
Website at www.ustr.gov/releases/2002/2002-10-01-centralamerica-
house.PDF and www.ustr.gov/releases/2002/2002-10-01-centralamerica-
senate.PDF, respectively. The TPSC invited the public to provide
written comments and/or oral testimony at a public hearing on the
proposed US-CAFTA scheduled for November 19, 2002, to assist USTR in
formulating positions and proposals with respect to all aspects of the
negotiations (67 FR 63954).
US-CAFTA will build on the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI). Since
1985, the U.S. trade relationship with Central America has been driven
by U.S. unilateral trade preferences through the CBI. By moving from
unilateral trade preferences to a reciprocal FTA, the US-CAFTA will
seek to eliminate duties and unjustified barriers to trade in both
U.S.- and Central American-origin goods and also address trade in
services, trade in agricultural products, investment, trade-related
aspects of intellectual property rights, government procurement, trade-
related environmental and labor matters, and other issues. US-CAFTA is
expected to contribute to stronger economies, the rule of law,
sustainable development, and more accountable institutions of
governance, complementing ongoing domestic, bilateral, and multilateral
efforts in the region. Finally, US-CAFTA will lend momentum to
concluding the Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations by January
2005.
Two-way trade in goods between the United States and the member
countries of the CAEIS totaled $20 billion in 2001, consisting of $9
billion in U.S. exports and $11 billion in U.S. imports. Leading U.S.
exports to Central America include apparel products, machinery,
electrical machinery and equipment, and plastics. Leading U.S. imports
from Central America include apparel and textile products and edible
fruits.
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. Determining the review's scope includes consideration of
the environmental dimensions of the
[[Page 70476]]
regulatory and trade policies at issue, including ways in which the
trade agreement can complement U.S. environmental objectives. 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: ``US-CAFTA Environmental Review'' followed by ``Written
Comments.'' Documents should be submitted as either WordPerfect,
MSWord, or text (.TXT) files. 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 US-CAFTA environmental issues submitted in response to a previous
notice--the Federal Register notice dated October 16, 2002 (67 FR
63954) requesting comments from the public to assist USTR in
formulating positions and proposals with respect to all aspects of the
negotiations, 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. 02-29691 Filed 11-21-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P