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Rules and Regulations Federal Register

63317

Vol. 69, No. 210

Monday, November 1, 2004

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Foreign Agricultural Service 

7 CFR Part 1580 

RIN 0551–AA66 

Trade Adjustment Assistance for 

Farmers

AGENCY: Foreign Agricultural Service, 

USDA.

ACTION: Final rule; Technical 

amendments. 

SUMMARY: This final rule makes 

technical amendments to the regulation 

implementing the Trade Adjustment 

Assistance for Farmers (TAA) program.

DATES: Effective on November 1, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jean-Louis Pajot, Import Policies and 

Programs Division, Foreign Agricultural 

Service, 1400 Independence Avenue, 

SW., STOP 1021, by e-mail at: 

trade.adjustment@fas.usda.gov,

telephone 202–720–2916, or fax at 202–

720–0876.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

regulation implementing the TAA 

program is codified at 7 CFR part 1580. 

The program is authorized by Chapter 6 

of Title II of the Trade Act of 1974, as 

amended by Subtitle C of Title I of the 

Trade Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107–210) (19 

U.S.C. 2551, et seq.) (the Trade Act). 

This regulation makes the following 

five technical corrections to 7 CFR Part 

1580: 

The first correction specifies the 

documentation required to certify the 

net farm income of agricultural 

cooperatives, partnerships and 

corporations. These entities are eligible 

to apply for TAA because § 1580.102 

defines a ‘‘producer’’ as a person who is 

either an owner, operator, landlord, 

tenant, or sharecropper, who shares in 

the risk of producing a crop and who is 

entitled to share in the crop available for 

marketing from the farm, or a qualified 

fisherman, and the same section defines 

a ‘‘person’’ to mean an individual, 

partnership, joint stock owner, 

corporation, association, trust, estate, or 

another legal entity as defined in 7 CFR 

1400.3. The current regulation, 

however, only specifies documentation 

for certifying the net farm income of 

self-employed farmers, i.e., those filing 

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Schedule 

F (Form 1040): Profit or Loss From 

Farming, and Form 4835: Farm Rental 

Income and Expenses. Therefore, to 

correct this deficiency, all references to 

IRS forms are removed from § 1580.102. 

The amended rule sets forth a complete 

list of acceptable forms and schedules 

supporting net income certifications 

under §1580.502 of the regulation, 

where record maintenance is addressed. 

The second change corrects an 

inconsistency in identifying the relevant 

tax year to be used when producers 

certify to lower net farm or fishing 

incomes. Producers petition for TAA 

with respect to the most recent 

marketing year for which national 

average prices are available. Section 

1580.102 defines net farm and fishing 

income as income earned during the tax 

year that most closely corresponds with 

the marketing year being considered for 

TAA. To be eligible for payments, 

producers must certify under 

§ 1580.301(e)(4) that their net farm or 

fishing income for the most recent tax 

year was less than that during their preadjustment year. Because national 

average prices take months to be 

gathered and published by the 

Department, a producer’s most recent 

tax year may follow the tax year that 

most closely corresponds with the 

marketing year being considered for 

TAA. Therefore, to correct this 

deficiency, § 1580.301(e)(4) is amended 

to delete reference to ‘‘the most recent 

tax year’’. Consequently producers are 

required to certify that net farm or 

fishing income during the tax year that 

most closely corresponds with the 

marketing year under consideration was 

less than that during their preadjustment tax year, in order to receive 

payments. 

The third change authorizes the use of 

alternative procedures for producers to 

certify to their adjusted gross income 

(AGI) authorized by section 296 

(a)(2)(A)(ii)(II) of the Trade Act. Section 

1580.301(e)(6) describes the 

documentation that a producer shall 

provide to support certification that 

their AGI, as determined in accordance 

with 7 CFR 1400.601, for the 3 

preceding tax years does not exceed 

$2,500,000. Section 1580.301(e) is 

therefore amended to allow producers to 

certify their AGI limitation by either 

providing specified documentation or 

by providing other information 

prescribed by the Department. This 

amendment will permit FAS to conform 

the TAA procedures to those adopted by 

the Farm Service Agency (FSA) 

regarding certification of AGI. Producers 

will still be obligated to provide specific 

documents supporting their AGI, when 

requested by the Department. 

The fourth correction concerns the 

deadline by which applicants must 

provide certifications to qualify for 

adjustment assistance payments. Under 

§ 1580.301(c) producers must submit 

documentation to support the amount of 

their production when submitting an 

application for TAA. The purpose of 

this requirement is twofold. First, it 

assures that only verifiable producers of 

the commodity are referred to the 

Extension Service for free technical 

assistance and services; and second, it 

establishes a fiscal obligation for each 

applicant, upon which the Department 

builds its estimate of program 

expenditures and calculates prorated 

payments, when appropriated funds are 

insufficient. Section 1580.303(a) 

requires applicants to satisfy by 

September 30 all the conditions of 

§ 1580.301 to qualify for TAA payments. 

This statement could be misinterpreted 

to mean that producers have until 

September 30, to provide 

documentation supporting the amount 

of their production. Therefore, 

§ 1580.303(a) is amended to clarify that 

the September 30 deadline applies only 

to the certifications under § 1580.301(e). 

The fifth correction concerns the 

appeals procedure under § 1580.505. 

The regulation designated the FSA 

administrative appeal procedure to 

resolve disputes involving applications 

for program benefits. This has led to 

some confusion that entities applying 

for TAA benefits could appeal denials to 

the National Appeals Division (NAD) 

within USDA. This was not intended, 

and would not be appropriate, because 

appeals from NAD go to the United 

States District Courts, whereas the Trade 

Act (19 U.S.C. 2395) grants to the 

63318 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 210 / Monday, November 1, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

United States Court of International 

Trade jurisdiction over of all claims 

arising under the TAA program. 

Therefore, § 1580.505 is amended to 

delete the utilization of FSA’s 

administrative appeals process, 

including oversight by the FSA Deputy 

Administrator and State committees. 

Corrections to the Final Rule

■ Accordingly, for the reasons set forth 

in the preamble, FAS amends 7 CFR part 

1580 to read as follows:

PART 1580—[CORRECTED]

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 

1580 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 19 U.S.C. 2401.

§ 1580.102 [Corrected]

■ 2. In § 1580.102, the definition of 

‘‘Deputy Administrator’’ is deleted, and 

the definitions for ‘‘net farm income’’, 

‘‘net fishing income,’’ and ‘‘qualified 

fisherman’’ are revised to read as follows:

§ 1580.102 Definitions.

* * * * *

Net farm income means net farm 

profit or loss, excluding payments under 

this part, reported to the Internal 

Revenue Service for the tax year that 

most closely corresponds with the 

marketing year under consideration.

Net fishing income means net profit 

or loss, excluding payments under this 

part, reported to the Internal Revenue 

Service for the tax year that most closely 

corresponds with the marketing year 

under consideration.

* * * * *

Qualified fisherman means a person 

whose catch competes in the 

marketplace with like or directly 

competitive aquaculture products and 

report net fishing income to the Internal 

Revenue Service.

* * * * *

§ 1580.301 [Corrected]

■ 3. Section 1580.301 is amdended by 

revising paragaraphs (e)(4)and (e)(6) and 

by adding paragraph (e)(7) to read as 

follows:

§ 1580.301 Application for trade 

adjustment assistance.

* * * * *

(e) * * * 

(4) Certification that net farm or 

fishing income was less than that during 

the producer’s pre-adjustment year.

* * * * *

(6) To comply with certifications in 

paragraph (e)(4) of this section, an 

applicant shall provide either—

* * * * *

(7) To comply with certifications in 

paragraph (e)(5) of this section, an 

applicant shall provide either—

(i) Supporting documentation from a 

certified public accountant or attorney, 

(ii) Relevant documentation and other 

supporting financial data, such as 

financial statements, balance sheets, and 

reports prepared for or provided to the 

Internal Revenue Service or another 

U.S. Government agency, or 

(iii) Information prescribed by the 

Department.

* * * * *

§ 1580.303 [Corrected]

■ 4. Section 1580.303(a) is revised to 

read as follows:

§ 1580.303 Adjustment assistance 

payments. 

(a) Applicants shall satisfy by 

September 30 all certifications of 

§ 1580.301(e) to qualify for adjustment 

assistance payments.

* * * * *

■ 5. Section 1580.501 is revised as 

follows:

§ 1580.501 Administration. 

(a) The application process shall be 

carried out in the field by FSA county 

committees. 

(b) FSA county committees and 

representatives do not have the 

authority to modify or waive any of the 

provisions of this part. 

(c) The Administrator, may, by timely 

and appropriate public notification, 

modify non-statutory opening dates and 

deadlines for submitting petitions. 

(d) The Administrator may authorize 

the FSA county committees to waive or 

modify non-statutory application 

deadlines or other program 

requirements in cases where lateness or 

failure to meet such other requirements 

by applicants does not adversely affect 

the operation of the program.

§ 1580.502 [Corrected]

■ 6. Section 1580.502 is amended by 

adding paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) and 

by revising paragraph (d) to read as 

follows:

§ 1580.502 Maintenance of records, audits 

and compliance. 

(a) * * * 

(1) Acceptable production 

documentation may include copies of 

receipts, ledgers, income statements, 

deposit slips, register tapes, invoices for 

custom harvesting, records to verify 

production costs, contemporaneous 

measurements, truck scale tickets, fish 

tickets, landing reports, and 

contemporaneous diaries that are 

determined acceptable by the county 

committee. 

(2) Acceptable income documentation 

shall include, as appropriate, copies of 

Internal Revenue Service Form 990–C, 

Farmers’ Cooperative Association 

Income Tax Return; Form 1040, U.S. 

Individual Income Tax Return; 

Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss 

From Business; Schedule F (Form 1040), 

Profit or Loss From Farming; Form 

1065, U.S. Return of Partnership 

Income; Form 1120, U.S. Corporation 

Income Tax Return; or Form 4835, Farm 

Rental Income and Expenses.

* * * * *

(d) If requested in writing by the 

United States Department of Agriculture 

or the Comptroller General of the United 

States, the producer shall provide all 

information and documentation the 

reviewing authority determines 

necessary to verify any information or 

certification provided under this 

subpart, including all documents 

referred to in § 1580.301(c), within 30 

days. Documentation may be submitted 

by facsimile, in person, or by mail. 

Failure to provide necessary and 

accurate information to verify 

compliance, or failure to comply with 

the subpart’s requirements, will result 

in ineligibility for all program benefits 

subject to this subpart for the year or 

years subject to the request.

■ 7. Section 1580.505 is revised to read 

as follows:

§ 1580.505 Appeals 

Any person aggrieved by a final 

determination made with respect to an 

application for program benefits under 

this part may appeal to the United 

States Court of International Trade for a 

review of such determination, in 

accordance with its rules and 

procedures.

Signed at Washington, DC, on October 14, 

2004. 

A. Ellen Terpstra, 

Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service.

[FR Doc. 04–24352 Filed 10–29–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–10–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 97 

[Docket No. 30428; Amdt. No. 3108] 

Standard Instrument Approach 

Procedures; Miscellaneous 

Amendments

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Final rule.