DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket No. 1-81]
46 FR 3254
January 14, 1981
Foreign-Trade Zone No. 62, Cameron County, Texas (Brownsville Customs Port
of Entry); Application for Expansion
TEXT: Notice is hereby given that an application has been submitted to the
Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Board) by the Brownsville Navigation
District (BND), a Texas public corporation and grantee of Foreign-Trade
Zone No. 62, requesting authority to expand its zone to include two
additional sites in Cameron County, within the Brownsville 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
January 5, 1981. The applicant is authorized to make this proposal under
Senate Bill No. 1105, Texas Legislature, signed June 13, 1979.
The application is a reactivation of a previous request for zone status
for sites 3 and 4 in BND's original application filed October 31, 1979.
While the Board granted BND authority to establish a foreign-trade zone
at several sites within the port complex in Cameron County on October 20,
1980, it denied approval for sites 3 and 4 because the application
contained no clearances from the Department of Energy (DOE). BND has since
then contacted DOE and at the suggestion of that agency has resubmitted
its proposal.
The proposed sites embrace the operations of two independent crude oil
refineries, each with a 10,000 barrel per day capacity: Vedette Oil
Refinery, Inc. (Site 3); and, Petraco Valley Oil Refining Corporation
(Site 4). Both sites are located within the Port of Brownsville, east of
the intersection of State Highway 48 and FM 511.
The application contains information concerning the economic rationale
for granting zone status to the refineries. Both now process foreign crude
oil for the domestic market. Zone procedures will permit the refineries to
use excess capacity to refine additional foreign crude under processing
agreements for re-export. BND feels that this could have a favorable effect
on the U.S. balance of trade, increase U.S. value added, lower consumer
prices through increased efficiency, and provide stability in the supply
of crude oil.
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), Office of the
Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 20230; Donald
Gough, Director (Inspection and Control), Region VI, U.S. Customs Service,
Suite 1240, 500 Dallas Street, Houston, Texas 77002; and Colonel James M.
Sigler, District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District Galveston, P.O. Box
1229, Galveston, Texas 77443.
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 February 6, 1981.
A Copy of the application is available for public inspection at each
of the following locations:
Administrative Offices,
Brownsville Navigation District,
Port of Brownsville,
Highways 48 and 511,
Brownsville, Texas 78520
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce,
14th and E Streets, N.W., Room 2006,
Washington, D.C. 20230
Dated: January 9, 1981.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board.
[FR Doc. 81-1278 Filed 1-13-81; 8:45 am]