Public Hearings on Section 232 National Security Investigation of Imports of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Export Administration

Public Hearings on Section 232 National Security Investigation of

Imports of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products

AGENCY: Bureau of Export Administration, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public hearings.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) is holding public

hearings on the investigation that the Department of Commerce

initiated, on April 5, 1994, to determine the effects on the national

security of imports of crude oil and refined petroleum products under

section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended. This notice

identifies the issues on which the Department is interested in

obtaining the public's views. It also sets forth the procedures for

public participation in the hearings.

DATES: The hearings will be held in New York, New York, on Monday, June

6, 1994; in Dallas, Texas, on Monday, June 13, 1994; and in Santa

Clara, California, on Thursday, June 16, 1994. Requests to speak are

due by Monday, May 23, 1994. The hearing in New York will be held in

the Ceremonial Courtroom of the U.S. Court of International Trade, One

Federal Plaza. The hearing in Dallas will be held at the Joe C.

Thompson Amphitheatre, Cityplace Center East, 2711 N. Haskill. The

hearing in Santa Clara will be held at the City of Santa Clara Council

Chambers, 1500 Wurburton Avenue.

ADDRESSES: Send requests to speak and written copies of the oral

presentation to Steven C. Goldman, Deputy Director, Office of

Industrial Resource Administration, room 3878, U.S. Department of

Commerce, 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC

20230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bernard Kritzer, Senior Industry

Analyst, Office of Foreign Availability, Telephone: (202) 482-0074.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background and Specific Comments Requested

On March 11, 1994, the Independent Petroleum Association of America

petitioned the Department of Commerce to initiate an investigation

under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (19

U.S.C. 1862), to determine the effects on the national security of

imports of crude oil and petroleum products.

On April 5, 1994, the Department of Commerce formally accepted the

petition and initiated an investigation. The findings and

recommendations of the investigation are to be reported by the

Secretary of Commerce to the President no later than December 31, 1994

(i.e., within 270 days). For further details on this investigation, see

the Federal Register of April 12, 1994 (59 FR 17335).

Consistent with the interest of the U.S. Department of Commerce in

soliciting public comments on issues affecting U.S. industry and

national security, the Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) is holding

public hearings as part of the investigation. The presentations at the

hearings will assist the Department in determining whether imports of

crude oil and petroleum products constitute a threat to the national

security and in formulating remedies if such a threat is found to

exist.

The Department is particularly interested in comments and

information directed to the criteria listed in Sec. 705.4 of the

National Security Industrial Base Regulations (15 CFR parts 700 to 709)

(the ``regulations'') as they affect national security, including the

following:

(a) Quantity of the articles subject to the investigation and other

circumstances related to the importation of such articles;

(b) Domestic production and productive capacity needed for these

articles to meet projected national defense requirements;

(c) Existing and anticipated availability of human resources,

products, raw materials, production equipment, facilities, and other

supplies and services needed to produce these articles;

(d) Growth requirements of domestic industries needed to meet

national defense requirements and the supplies and services (including

investment, exploration and development) necessary to assure such

growth;

(e) The impact of foreign competition on the economic welfare of

the domestic industry;

(f) The displacement of any domestic products causing substantial

unemployment, decrease in the revenues of government, loss of

investment or specialized skills and productive capacity, or other

serious effects; and

(g) Any other factors that are causing, or will cause, a weakening

of our national economy.

II. Public Hearings and Comment Procedures

The public hearings are scheduled to be held in New York, New York

on Monday, June 6, 1994; in Dallas, Texas, on Monday, June 13, 1994;

and in Santa Clara, California, on Thursday, June 16, 1994. The

hearings will commence at 8:30 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. The New York

hearing will be held in the ceremonial courtroom of the U.S. Court of

International Trade, One Federal Plaza. The Dallas hearing will be held

at the Joe C. Thompson Amphitheatre, Cityplace Center East, 2711 N.

Haskill. The Santa Clara hearing will be held at the City of Santa

Clara Council Chambers, 1500 Wurburton Avenue.

A. Procedure for Requesting Participation

The Department encourages interested public participants to present

their views orally at the hearings. Any person wishing to make an oral

presentation at the hearings must submit a written request to the

Department of Commerce at the address indicated in the ADDRESS section

of this notice. The request to participate in the hearings must be

accompanied by 10 copies of a summary of the oral presentation. The

written request and summary must be received by the Department no later

than Monday, May 23, 1994. In addition, the request to speak should

contain a daytime phone number where the person who will be making the

oral presentation may be contacted before the hearing. Please note that

the submission of comments for presentation at the public hearings is

separate from the request for written comments contained in the April

12, 1994, Federal Register notice.

Since it may be necessary to limit the number of persons making

presentations, the written request to participate in the public

hearings should describe the individual's interest in the hearings and,

where appropriate, explain why the individual is a proper

representative of a group or class of persons that has such an

interest. If all interested parties cannot be accommodated at the

hearings, the summaries of the oral presentations will be used to

allocate speaking time and to ensure that a full range of comments are

heard.

Each person selected to make a presentation will be notified by the

Department of Commerce no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 26, 1994.

The Department will arrange the presentation times for the speakers.

Attendees will be seated on a first-come, first-served basis. On the

day of the hearing, persons selected to be heard should bring 100

copies of the summary of their oral presentation to the hearing address

indicated in the DATES section of this notice.

Copies of the requests to participate in the public hearings and

the summaries of the oral presentations will be maintained at the

Bureau of Export Administration's Freedom of Information Records

Inspection Facility, room 4525, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th

Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230, telephone

(202) 482-5653. The records in this facility may be inspected and

copied in accordance with the regulations published in part 4 of title

15 of the Code of Federal Regulations (15 CFR 4.1 et seq.) Information

about the inspection and copying of records at the facility may be

obtained from Ms. Margaret Cornejo, the Bureau of Export

Administration's Freedom of Information Officer, at the above address

and telephone number, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.,

Monday through Friday.

B. Conduct of the Hearing

The Department reserves the right to select the persons to be heard

at the hearings, to schedule their respective presentations, and to

establish the procedures governing the conduct of the hearing. Each

speaker will be limited to 10 minutes, and comments must be directly

related to the criteria listed in Sec. 705.4 of the ``regulations''.

A Commerce official will be designated to preside at the hearings.

Representatives from the Departments of Energy and Interior will also

participate in the hearings. This will not be a judicial or

evidentiary-type hearing. Only those conducting the hearing may ask

questions, and there will be no cross-examination of persons presenting

statements.

Any further procedural rules for the proper conduct of the hearing

will be announced by the presiding officer.

Dated: May 6, 1994.

Sue E. Eckert,

Assistant Secretary for Export Administration.

[FR Doc. 94-11410 Filed 5-6-94; 3:08 pm]

BILLING CODE 3510-DT-P