Foreign-Trade Zone 98Birmingham, Alabama; Application for Expansion

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 39-97]

Foreign-Trade Zone 98--Birmingham, Alabama; Application for

Expansion

An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZ)

Board (the Board) by the City of Birmingham, Alabama, grantee of

Foreign-Trade Zone 98, requesting authority to expand FTZ 98 to include

additional sites in Birmingham, within the Birmingham Customs port of

entry. The application was submitted pursuant to the provisions of 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 29, 1997.

FTZ 98 was approved on April 27, 1984 (Board Order 247, 49 FR

19367, 5/7/84) and expanded on May 8, 1986 (Board Order 330, 51 FR

17782, 5/15/86). The general-purpose zone currently consists of two

sites in Birmingham: Site 1 (116 acres)--within the 442-acre Airport

North/Northeast Industrial Park, adjacent to the Birmingham

International Airport; and Site 2 (10 acres)--Shaw Warehouse Company

facilities on 2nd Avenue South, 113-115 South 35th, and 3601 First

Avenue South.

The applicant, in a major revision to its zone plan, now requests

authority to expand the general-purpose zone to include six new sites

in Birmingham (Proposed Sites 3-8): Site 3 (283 acres)--``ACIPCO''

industrial area (owned by the City), Coalburg Road and Daniel Payne

Drive, Birmingham; Site 4 (29 acres)--Oxmoor Industrial Park (owned by

the City), Oxmoor West Industrial Drive, Birmingham; Site 5 (50

acres)--Air Cargo facility, Birmingham International Airport,

Birmingham; Site 6 (128,000 square feet, 13.9 acres)--Pizitz/McRae's

Warehouse, 4500 First Avenue South, Birmingham; Site 7 (100 acres)--

Munger/Valley East II Industrial Park (owned by the City), immediately

adjacent to the Valley East Industrial Park, Alabama Highway 79 and

Sterilite Drive, Birmingham; and, Site 8 (32 acres)--Airport Industrial

Center (owned by Landonomics Group), adjacent to Birmingham

International Airport, East Lake Boulevard, Birmingham. No specific

manufacturing requests are being made at this time. Such requests would

be made to the Board on a case-by-case basis.

In accordance with the Board's regulations, a member of the FTZ

Staff has been designated examiner to investigate the application and

report to the Board.

Public comment on the application 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 July 14, 1997. Rebuttal comments in response to

material submitted during the foregoing period may be submitted during

the subsequent 15-day period (to July 29, 1997).

A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be

available for public inspection at each of the following locations:

U.S. Department of Commerce, Export Assistance Center, Medical Forum

Building, 7th Floor, 950 22nd Street North, Birmingham, Alabama 35203

Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Room

3716, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th & Pennsylvania Avenue NW.,

Washington, DC 20230.

Dated: May 8, 1997.

John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,

Executive Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97-12795 Filed 5-14-97; 8:45 am]

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