DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Boards
[Docket No. 43-87]
52 FR 48556
December 23, 1987
Proposed Foreign-Trade Zone, St. Paul, AK; Application and Public Hearing
TEXT: An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(the Board) by the City of St. Paul, Alaska, requesting authority to
establish a general-purpose foreign-trade zone on St. Paul Island. 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 December 14, 1987. The City is
authorized to apply for a foreign-trade zone under section 45.77.010 of
the Alaska Statutes.
The municipality of St. Paul encompasses St. Paul Island, one of the two
inhabitated Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea, off the southwest coast of
Alaska, some 275 miles northwest of the City of Unalaska (Dutch Harbor).
The island covers 44 square miles and has a population of 750 people. The
St. Paul Municipal Airport was designated a "user fee" airport by the U.S.
Customs Service in September 1987.
The proposal requests general-purpose zone status for four sites (629
acres). Site 1 (Harbor Site -- 386 acres) adjoins Village Cove Harbor and
the Salt Lagoon. Site 2 (Gravel Pit Site -- 93 acres) adjoins the Harbor
Site, on its north. Site 3 (Airport Site -- 70 acres) is immediately
adjacent to the west side of the St. Paul Municipal Airport. Site 4 (LORAN
Site -- 80 acres) is located on the Airport road on a site adjoining the
base camp of ARCO, Exxon and Amoco, near the LORAN navigation facility.
The application contains evidence of the need for a zone to assist the
City in its economic development efforts. Several firms have indicated an
interest in using zone procedures for warehousing/distribution activity
involving ships stores, spare parts for vessels, and oil and gas production
equipment. Also, the City is engaged in discussions with two foreign firms
interested in establishing fish processing plants primarily for export
operations, if they can operate under foreign zone procedures. Zone
procedures would be used mainly to obtain exemption from Customs duties on
the ingredients and packaging materials used in processing fish for export
(foreign-trade zones are subject to the Nicholson Act). Requests for
manufacturing approvals would be made to the Board on a case-by-case basis
as other proposed activities arise.
In accordance with the Board's regulations, an examiners committee has
been appointed to investigate the application and report to the Board. The
committee consists of: John J. Da Ponte, Jr. (Chairman), Director,
Foreign-Trade Zones Staff, U. S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC
20230; Duane Oveson, District Director, U.S. Customs Service, Pacific
Region, 620 East 10th Avenue, Suite 101, Anchorage, Alaska 99501; and,
Colonel Wilbur T. Gregory, Jr., District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer
District Alaska, P.O. Box 898, Anchorage, Alaska 99506-0898. the examiners
are being assisted by Richard Lenahan, District Director, U.S. Department
of Commerce, 701 C St., Anchorage, Alaska 99513.
As part of its investigation, the examiners committee will hold a public
hearing on February 2, 1988, beginning at 10 a.m. (AST), at the Anchorage
Legislative Affairs Office, 3111 C St., Anchorage, Alaska. The hearing
will be conducted under a simultaneous teleconference format, which will
allow St. Paul Island residents to participate in the proceeding at the
City Manager's Office, City Hall, St. Paul. There will also be a
teleconference connection to the hearing from Room 121, Capitol Bldg.,
Juneau, Alaska 99811.
Interested parties are invited to present their views at the hearing,
including comments as to whether a Customs "user-fee" airport may be
considered the equivalent of a port of entry under the FTZ Act and as to
environmental impact. Persons wishing to testify should notify the Board's
Executive Secretary in writing at the address below or by phone
(202/377-2862) by January 22, 1988. Instead of an oral presentation,
written statements may be submitted in accordance with the Board's
regulations to the examiners committee, care of the Executive Secretary,
at any time from the date of this notice through March 4, 1988.
Copies of the application and accompanying exhibits will be available
during this time for pubic inspection at each of the following locations:
City Manager's Office,
City Hall,
St. Paul, Alaska
U.S. Department of Commerce, District Office,
701 C Street, Room B-116,
Anchorage, Alaska 99513
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 1529,
14th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20230
Dated: December 18, 1987.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 87-29394 Filed 12-22-87; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M