DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket No. 17-80]
45 FR 79860
December 2, 1980
Foreign-Trade Zone No. 20, Portsmouth, Va.; Application for Relocation
TEXT: Notice is hereby given that an application has been submitted to the
Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Board) by the Virginia Port Authority, an
agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia and grantee of Foreign-Trade Zone
No. 20, requesting authority to relocate its zone from Portsmouth, Virginia
to Suffolk, Virginia, adjacent to the Norfolk-Newport News Customs port of
entry. The application was submitted pursuant to the provisions of the
Foreign-Trade Zones Act of 1934, as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u), and the
regulations of the Board (15 CFR Part 400). It was formally filed on
November 25, 1980. The applicant is authorized to make this proposal under
Section 62.1-135(i) of the Code of Virginia.
Foreign-Trade Zone No. 20 was authorized by the Board on April 15, 1975
(Board Order 105) and relocated to its present site at 2400 Wesley Street,
Portsmouth, Virginia, in early 1977 (Board Order 114).
The application requests authority to relocate the zone to a 22.6-acre
site zoned for commercial and light industrial uses at 631 Carolina Road,
Suffolk, Virginia, some 20 miles from the current site. Plans call for the
immediate activation of a 5.6-acre parcel which contains two 36,000-square
foot warehouses with office space. The remaining 17-acres will be used
for the construction of an additional 96,000-square foot warehouse and
to accommodate new activity as it develops. The zone will be operated by
Atlantic Warehousing and Distributing, Inc., a division of TRI S
Developers, which owns the site.
The relocation of the zone is being requested because the present site
is limited and the existing facilities are needed for non-zone port-
related activities. The proposed site in Suffolk has adequate space both
for firms actively discussing zone use and for near-term development. An
additional 167 acres are available for future expansion. A number of firms
have expressed an interest in using the proposed site, including producers
of electronic products, fasteners, food products, furniture, tobacco, and
industrial chemicals. They plan to use the zone for export staging,
storage, inspection and distribution.
In accordance with the Board's regulations, an Examiners Committee has
been appointed to investigate the application and report thereon to the
Board. The Committee consists of Hugh J. Dolan (Chairman), Administrative
Law Judge, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce,
Washington, D.C. 20230; Carl W. Johnson, Program Analyst, U.S. Customs
Service, Region III, 40 South Gay Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202; and
Colonel Douglas L. Haller, District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District
Norfolk, 803 Front Street, Norfolk, Virginia 23510.
Comments concerning the proposed zone expansion are invited in writing
from interested persons and organizations. They should be addressed to
the Board's Executive Secretary at the address below and postmarked on or
before December 19, 1980.
A copy of the application is available for public inspection at each of
the following locations:
U.S. Customs Service District Office,
101 E. Main Street,
Norfolk, Virginia 23510
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce,
14th and E Street N.W., Room 2006,
Washington, D.C. 20230.
Dated November 25, 1980.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board.
[FR Doc. 80-37359 Filed 12-1-80; 8:45 am]