Establishment and Open Meeting of Policy Dialog Advisory Committee to Assist in the Development of Measures to Significantly Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Personal Motor Vehicles

SUMMARY: The Executive Office of the President has established a Policy

Dialog Advisory Committee to assist in the development of measures to

significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from personal motor

vehicles. This committee has been authorized under the President's

Climate Change Action Plan and Presidential Review Directive NEC-1.

Pursuant to section 9(c) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA, 5

U.S.C. App. 2, sec. 9(c)), a copy of the Committee Charter has been

filed with the Administrator of General Services and with the Library

of Congress.

The first meeting of this committee will be held on September 28

and 29, 1994. The purposes of the meeting is to discuss the charge to

the committee as stated in the Committee Charter, consider information

pertaining to the scope and purpose of the committee and how the

committee will operate, develop a schedule for committee deliberations

and reports, and begin discussion of issues the committee will address.

The committee meeting is open to the public without need for advance

registration.

DATES: The committee will meet on September 28, 1994 from 8:15 a.m. to

6 p.m., and on September 29, 1994 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The September 28 portion of the meeting will be held in room

2230 at the United States Department of Transportation, 400 7th Street,

SW., Washington, DC. The September 29 portion of the meeting will be

held at the White House Conference Center, 726 Jackson Place, NW.,

Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For information pertaining to the substantive issues to be dealt with

by the advisory committee, contact: Ellen Seidman, Special Assistant to

the President for Economic Policy, Washington, DC 20500, phone (202)

456-2802, fax (202) 456-2223; Henry Kelly, Assistant Director for

Technology, Office of Science and Technology Policy, phone (202) 456-

6034, fax (202) 456-6023; Wesley Warren, Associate Director, Office on

Environmental Policy, phone (202) 456-6224, fax (202) 456-2710; or Alan

Krupnick, Senior Economist, Council of Economic Advisors, phone (202)

395-5012, fax (202) 395-6853. For information pertaining to the

establishment of the advisory committee and associated administrative

matters contact: Deborah Dalton, Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460, phone (202) 260-5495.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

On April 14, 1994, the Executive Office of the President published

in the Federal Register a notice of intent to form a 30-member policy

dialog advisory committee to assist in the development of measures to

significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from personal motor

vehicles. That notice set forth the purpose of the committee and its

goals, and asked for suggestions from the public for members of the

committee. The period for public comment in response to the notice

ended May 4, 1994. Over 160 comments, suggesting more than 170

potential committee members, were submitted in response to the notice.

As set forth in the April 14, 1994 notice, the policy dialog arises

out of the President's Climate Change Action Plan, issued in October

1993. The committee will develop recommendations on the sets of

policies that would, if adopted, most cost-effectively obtain a return

to 1990 levels of greenhouse gas emissions from personal motor vehicles

by the years 2005, 2015 and 2025, with no upturn thereafter. This

framework of achievement of 1990 emissions levels in three alternative

years is intended to focus the issues and the recommendations to be

considered by the committee. Decisions on the amount and timing of

reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from personal motor vehicles,

and the policies to attain them, remain the responsibility of the

federal government. The Administration has stated that it is committed

to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from personal

motor vehicles.

The committee will, as stated in the April 14, 1994 notice, include

representatives from state and local governments; the automobile

industry and related parties; labor; transportation fuels; and public

interest groups, including the driving public. Thirty individuals have

been tentatively selected to be members of the committee, though any

formal appointments will be subject to final checks on availability and

other issues. It is contemplated that these checks will be completed

prior to the committee's first meeting on September 28. Announcement of

the full committee membership will be made as soon as all members are

appointed.

II. Schedule for the Committee's Work

The Committee Charter provides that the committee's work shall be

completed, and its report issued, within one year of its first meeting,

unless such period is extended by the President. The Charter also

provides that the committee shall issue an interim report not later

than six months after the date of its first meeting.

III. Committee Procedures

The following procedures and guidelines shall apply to the

committee unless they are modified by the committee.

A. Facilitator

The committee shall be chaired by a neutral facilitator. Suzanne

Orenstein, of Resolve, Inc., has been retained by the federal

government to perform this function. The facilitator will not take

positions about substantive outcomes of the committee's work. The

facilitator's role is to chair committee meetings, help the committee

process run smoothly, and help participants define and reach consensus.

B. Support for Agreement

The committee is charged to work toward a set of consensus policy

options that committee members can, for the foreseeable future, support

individually and on behalf of the constituencies they represent.

C. Meetings

Meetings will be held in Washington, DC and at other locations at

the convenience of the committee. The Executive Office of the President

will announce committee meetings in the Federal Register in accordance

with the FACA. Such meetings will be open to the public as provided in

and subject to the provisions of the FACA.

D. Committee Procedures

Under the general guidance and direction of the facilitator, and

subject to any applicable legal requirements, the members will

establish the detailed procedures for committee meetings which they

consider most appropriate.

E. Use of Electronic Communications

Subject to the further decision of the committee, the committee's

agendas, meeting summaries and related items will be available to the

public through the Technology Transfer Network of the Office of Air

Quality Planning & Standards of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The public may also communicate with the committee and the facilitator

through this facility. The system will be able to be accessed

electronically (for modems up to 14,400 bps) starting October 10, 1994,

by calling (919) 541-5742. Help in accessing the system can be obtained

by calling (919) 541-5384 between 1:00 and 5:00 Eastern Daylight

Savings Time. Neither of these numbers is a toll-free number

F. Record of Meetings

A record will be kept of all advisory committee meetings. This

record will be placed in EPA Air Docket #A-94-24, and will be available

in the EPA Reading Room and on the Technology Transfer Network.

Dated: September 12, 1994.

W. Bowman Cutter,

Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy.

John H. Gibbons,

Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Kathleen A. McGinty,

Director, Office on Environmental Policy.

[FR Doc. 94-22873 Filed 9-12-94; 1:27 pm]

BILLING CODE 3195-01-M