DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

TA-W-38,360
AND
NAFTA-4319

GEORGIA PACIFIC CORPORATION
STRUCTURAL PANEL DIVISION - OSB
BAILEYVILLE, MAINE

Notice of Negative Determination
Regarding Application for Reconsideration


By application of February 20, 2001, the Paper, Allied-
Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International Union (PACE)
request administrative reconsideration of the Department's
negative determination regarding eligibility for workers and
former workers of the subject firm to apply for Trade Adjustment
Assistance (TAA) and North American Free Trade Agreement-
Transitional Adjustment Assistance (NAFTA-TAA). The denial
notices applicable to workers of Georgia Pacific Corporation,
Structural Panel Division-OSB, Baileyville, Maine, were signed on
January 5, 2001, and published in the Federal Register on
February 8, 2001, TA-W-38,360 (66 FR 9599) and NAFTA-4319 (66 FR
9600).
Pursuant to 29 CFR 90.18(c) reconsideration may be granted
under the following circumstances:
(1) If it appears on the basis of facts not previously
considered that the determination complained of
was erroneous;
(2) if it appears that the determination complained of
was based on a mistake in the determination of facts
not previously considered; or
(3) if in the opinion of the Certifying Officer, a mis-
interpretation of facts or of the law justified
reconsideration of the decision.
The TAA petition, filed on behalf of workers producing
oriented strand board at Georgia Pacific, OSB Operations in
Baileyville, Maine, was denied because the "contributed
importantly" group eligibility requirement of Section 222(3) of
the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, was not met. The "contributed
importantly" test is generally demonstrated through a survey of
customers of the workers' firm's. None of the customers reported
increasing import purchases of OSB while decreasing purchases
from Georgia Pacific, OSB Operations in Baileyville, Maine.
The NAFTA-TAA petition for the same worker group was denied
because criteria (3) and (4) of the group eligibility
requirements in paragraph (a)(1) of Section 250 of the Trade Act,
as amended, were not met. A survey of the major declining
customers of Georgia Pacific, Structural Panel Division, showed
that none of the respondents increased import purchases of
oriented strand board from Mexico or Canada, while reducing
purchases from the subject firm. The subject firm did not import
oriented strand board, nor was production of oriented strand
board shifted from the workers' firm to Mexico or Canada.
The petitioner supplemented the application for
reconsideration with information on U.S. imports of OSB-
Waferboard and suggested that increased imports of these articles
from Canada negatively impacted the OSB producers in the
northeastern part of the United States. The Department, when
determining import impact for a worker group, does not break out
import statistics by port of entry but instead use aggregate
import data. For NAFTA-TAA petition investigations the
Department examines aggregate U.S. imports from Mexico and
Canada. While U.S. import data are helpful in identifying trends
in imports of specific products, in most cases, the Department
relies a survey of the major declining customers of the subject
firm.
The petitioner adds that the Department's survey results
regarding customer purchases of oriented strand board are
erroneous, citing that a federal official informed PACE that only
three customers were surveyed, two of which were other Georgia
Pacific divisions, and that Georgia Pacific imports oriented
strand board.
The information collected by the Department during the
petition investigation is business confidential and cannot be
released to the public without express written consent of the
individual and/or company official providing the information.
The Department cannot release how many customers of the subject
firm were surveyed or who responded. The respondents of the
survey group for Georgia Pacific represented the majority of the
subject firm sales of OSB during the time period when the
Baileyville plant had sales and production declines.
The petitioner believes that the subject firm imports OSB.
The Department stands corrected in that Georgia Pacific
Corporation does import oriented strand board, including
purchases from Canada. The investigation, however, showed that
company imports of OSB declined.
The petitioner also states that the Department totally
disregarded the Maine Department of Labor preliminary affirmative
finding that all eligibility criteria for NAFTA-TAA have been
met. The petitioner's statement is true, but all preliminary
findings for NAFTA-TAA petitions are forwarded to the Department
of Labor for a final determination.
Conclusion
After review of the application and investigative findings,
I conclude that there has been no error or misinterpretation of
the law or of the facts which would justify reconsideration of
the Department of Labor's prior decisions. Accordingly, the
application is denied.
Signed at Washington, D.C., this 30th day of April, 2001.
/s/ Linda G. Poole

LINDA G. POOLE
Certifying Officer, Division
of Trade Adjustment Assistance