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Rules and Regulations Federal Register

64657 

Vol. 79, No. 211 

Friday, October 31, 2014 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 985 

[Doc. No. AMS–FV–13–0087; FV14–985–1A 

IR] 

Marketing Order Regulating the 

Handling of Spearmint Oil Produced in 

the Far West; Revision of the Salable 

Quantity and Allotment Percentage for 

Class 1 (Scotch) Spearmint Oil for the 

2014–2015 Marketing Year 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Interim rule with request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: This interim rule revises the 

quantity of Class 1 (Scotch) spearmint 

oil that handlers may purchase from, or 

handle on behalf of, producers during 

the 2014–2015 marketing year under the 

Far West spearmint oil marketing order. 

This rule increases the Scotch spearmint 

oil salable quantity from 1,149,030 

pounds to 1,984,423 pounds and the 

allotment percentage from 55 percent to 

95 percent. The marketing order 

regulates the handling of spearmint oil 

produced in the Far West and is 

administered locally by the Spearmint 

Oil Administrative Committee 

(Committee). The Committee 

recommended this rule for the purpose 

of maintaining orderly marketing 

conditions in the Far West spearmint oil 

market. 

DATES: Effective October 31, 2014 and 

applicable to the 2014–2015 marketing 

year; comments received by December 

30, 2014 will be considered prior to 

issuance of a final rule. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments 

concerning this rule. Comments must be 

sent to the Docket Clerk, Marketing 

Order and Agreement Division, Fruit 

and Vegetable Program, AMS, USDA, 

1400 Independence Avenue SW., STOP 

0237, Washington, DC 20250–0237; Fax: 

(202) 720–8938; or Internet: http://

www.regulations.gov. All comments 

should reference the document number 

and the date and page number of this 

issue of the Federal Register and will be 

made available for public inspection in 

the Office of the Docket Clerk during 

regular business hours, or can be viewed 

at: http://www.regulations.gov. All 

comments submitted in response to this 

rule will be included in the record and 

will be made available to the public. 

Please be advised that the identity of the 

individuals or entities submitting the 

comments will be made public on the 

Internet at the address provided above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Barry Broadbent, Senior Marketing 

Specialist, or Gary Olson, Regional 

Director, Northwest Marketing Field 

Office, Marketing Order and Agreement 

Division, Fruit and Vegetable Program, 

AMS, USDA; Telephone: (503) 326– 

2724, Fax: (503) 326–7440, or Email: 

Barry.Broadbent@ams.usda.gov or 

GaryD.Olson@ams.usda.gov. 

Small businesses may request 

information on complying with this 

regulation by contacting Jeffrey Smutny, 

Marketing Order and Agreement 

Division, Fruit and Vegetable Program, 

AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW., STOP 0237, Washington, 

DC 20250–0237; Telephone: (202) 720– 

2491, Fax: (202) 720–8938, or Email: 

Jeffrey.Smutny@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

interim rule is issued under Marketing 

Order No. 985 (7 CFR part 985), as 

amended, regulating the handling of 

spearmint oil produced in the Far West 

(Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and 

designated parts of Nevada and Utah), 

hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘order.’’ 

The order is effective under the 

Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act 

of 1937, as amended (7 U.S.C. 601–674), 

hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Act.’’ 

The Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) is issuing this rule in 

conformance with Executive Orders 

12866, 13563, and 13175. 

This rule has been reviewed under 

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 

Reform. Under the provisions of the 

marketing order now in effect, salable 

quantities and allotment percentages 

may be established for classes of 

spearmint oil produced in the Far West. 

This rule increases the quantity of 

Scotch spearmint oil produced in the 

Far West that handlers may purchase 

from, or handle on behalf of, producers 

during the 2014–2015 marketing year, 

which began on June 1, 2014, and ends 

on May 31, 2015. 

The Act provides that administrative 

proceedings must be exhausted before 

parties may file suit in court. Under 

section 608c(15)(A) of the Act, any 

handler subject to an order may file 

with USDA a petition stating that the 

order, any provision of the order, or any 

obligation imposed in connection with 

the order is not in accordance with law 

and request a modification of the order 

or to be exempted therefrom. A handler 

is afforded the opportunity for a hearing 

on the petition. After the hearing USDA 

would rule on the petition. The Act 

provides that the district court of the 

United States in any district in which 

the handler is an inhabitant, or has his 

or her principal place of business, has 

jurisdiction to review USDA’s ruling on 

the petition, provided an action is filed 

not later than 20 days after the date of 

the entry of the ruling. 

This rule revises the quantity of 

Scotch spearmint oil that handlers may 

purchase from, or handle on behalf of, 

producers during the 2014–2015 

marketing year under the Far West 

spearmint oil marketing order. This rule 

increases the Scotch spearmint oil 

salable quantity from 1,149,030 pounds 

to 1,984,423 pounds and the allotment 

percentage from 55 percent to 95 

percent. 

Under the volume regulation 

provisions of the order, the Committee 

meets each year to adopt a marketing 

policy for the ensuing year. When the 

Committee’s marketing policy 

considerations indicate a need for 

limiting the quantity of spearmint oil 

available to the market to establish or 

maintain orderly marketing conditions, 

the Committee submits a 

recommendation to the Secretary for 

volume regulation. 

Volume regulation under the order is 

effectuated through the establishment of 

a salable quantity and allotment 

percentage applicable to each class of 

spearmint oil handled in the production 

area during a marketing year. The 

salable quantity is the total quantity of 

each class of oil that handlers may 

purchase from, or handle on behalf of, 

producers during a given marketing 

year. The allotment percentage for each 


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64658 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 211 / Friday, October 31, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

class of oil is derived by dividing the 

salable quantity by the total industry 

allotment base for that same class of oil. 

The total industry allotment base is the 

aggregate of all allotment base held 

individually by producers. Producer 

allotment base is the quantity of each 

class of spearmint oil that the 

Committee has determined is 

representative of a producer’s spearmint 

oil production. Each producer is allotted 

a pro rata share of the total salable 

quantity of each class of spearmint oil 

each marketing year. Each producer’s 

annual allotment is determined by 

applying the allotment percentage to the 

producer’s individual allotment base for 

each applicable class of spearmint oil. 

The full Committee met on November 

6, 2013, to consider its marketing policy 

for the ensuing year. At that meeting, 

the Committee determined that 

marketing conditions indicated a need 

for volume regulation of both classes of 

spearmint oil for the 2014–2015 

marketing year. The Committee 

recommended salable quantities of 

1,149,030 pounds and 1,090,821 

pounds, and allotment percentages of 55 

percent and 46 percent, respectively, for 

Scotch and Native spearmint oil. A 

proposed rule to that effect was 

published in the Federal Register on 

March 14, 2014 (79 FR 14441). 

Comments on the proposed rule were 

solicited from interested persons until 

March 31, 2014. No comments were 

received. Subsequently, a final rule 

establishing the salable quantities and 

allotment percentages for Scotch and 

Native spearmint oil for the 2014–2015 

marketing year was published in the 

Federal Register on May 8, 2014 (79 FR 

26359). 

Pursuant to authority contained in 

§§ 985.50, 985.51, and 985.52 of the 

order, the full eight member Committee 

met again on September 11, 2014, to 

consider pertinent market information 

on the current supply, demand, and 

price of spearmint oil. After some 

deliberation, the Committee 

recommended increasing the 2014–2015 

marketing year Scotch spearmint oil 

salable quantity from 1,149,030 pounds 

to 1,984,423 pounds and the allotment 

percentage from 55 percent to 95 

percent. The motion to increase the 

salable quantity and allotment 

percentage for Scotch passed with six 

members in favor and one member 

opposed. The public member, while 

present, abstained from the vote. The 

member opposed to the motion agreed 

with the other members of the 

Committee that an increase in the 

salable quantity and allotment 

percentage was necessary for the 

industry to respond to increasing 

demand. However, he cast his vote 

against the motion based on his opinion 

that an 835,393 pound increase in the 

salable quantity, and a corresponding 40 

percent increase in the allotment 

percentage, was too large of an increase 

this early in the marketing year. The 

member felt that it would be better to be 

conservative at this point in the 

marketing year, given that the 

Committee had the ability to further 

increase the volume control provisions 

later if marketing conditions warranted. 

Thus, taking into consideration the 

following discussion, this rule makes 

additional amounts of Scotch spearmint 

oil available to the market by increasing 

the salable quantity and allotment 

percentage. This rule increases the 

2014–2015 marketing year Scotch 

spearmint oil salable quantity from 

1,149,030 pounds to 1,984,423 pounds 

and raises the allotment percentage from 

55 percent to 95 percent. Such 

additional oil may come from excess 

Scotch spearmint oil produced in the 

current marketing year or by releasing 

Scotch spearmint oil held in the reserve 

pool. As of May 31, 2014, the 

Committee records show that the Scotch 

spearmint oil reserve pool contained 

just 551 pounds of oil. In addition, the 

Committee estimates that producers 

have produced 222,544 pounds of 

Scotch spearmint oil production in 

excess of their annual allotments for the 

2014–2015 marketing year. 

The increase in the salable quantity as 

a result of this rule represents an 

additional 835,393 pounds of Scotch 

spearmint oil being made available to 

the market. However, due to the limited 

amount of Scotch spearmint oil held by 

individual producers (oil produced in 

the current year or held in reserve from 

past years production), the Committee 

expects that only 211,877 pounds of 

additional Scotch spearmint oil will 

actually be made available to the 

spearmint oil market. The relatively 

high salable quantity resulting from this 

action, as compared to the actual 

quantity of spearmint oil that will be 

made available to the market, is 

necessary to ensure that those producers 

that have Scotch spearmint oil in 

inventory have enough annual allotment 

to be able to market that oil. Producers 

that do not have additional Scotch 

spearmint oil in inventory (either oil 

held in the reserve pool or from excess 

production in the current year) will not 

be able to utilize the additional annual 

allotment issued to them as a result of 

this action and the additional annual 

allotment will go unused. 

The 2014–2015 marketing year began 

on June 1, 2014, with an estimated 

carry-in of 7,064 pounds of salable 

Scotch spearmint oil. When the 

estimated carry-in is added to the 2014– 

2015 salable quantity of 1,149,030 

pounds initially established for Scotch 

spearmint oil, the result is a total 

available supply for the 2014–2015 

marketing year of 1,156,094 pounds. 

However, the Committee estimates that 

some Scotch spearmint oil producers do 

not have sufficient production from the 

2014 crop to fill approximately 190,174 

pounds of their respective 2014–2015 

marketing year annual allotment. As 

such, the Committee estimates that the 

total actual supply of Scotch spearmint 

oil available to the market prior to the 

issuance of this rule is 965,920 pounds, 

not the 1,156,094 pounds as originally 

estimated. Of this amount, the 

Committee estimates that 927,675 

pounds of Scotch spearmint oil have 

already been sold or have been 

committed to be sold as of the 

September 11, 2014, meeting date. This 

leaves just 38,245 pounds of 

uncommitted salable Scotch spearmint 

oil actually available for sale for the 

remainder of the 2014–2015 marketing 

year. The Committee believes that 

maintaining such a small amount of 

salable Scotch spearmint oil would be 

detrimental to the industry. 

In making the recommendation to 

increase the salable quantity and 

allotment percentage of Scotch 

spearmint oil, the Committee 

considered all currently available 

information on the price, supply, and 

demand of spearmint oil. The 

Committee also considered reports and 

other information from handlers and 

producers in attendance at the meeting. 

Lastly, the Committee manager 

presented information and reports that 

were provided to the Committee staff by 

handlers and producers who were not in 

attendance at the September 11, 2014, 

meeting. 

This action increases the 2014–2015 

marketing year Scotch spearmint oil 

salable quantity by 835,393 pounds, to 

a total of 1,984,423 pounds. However, as 

mentioned previously, the net effect of 

the increase will be much less than the 

calculated increase due to the amount of 

actual oil individual producers have 

available to market from the current 

year’s excess production and from 

reserve pool inventory. The Committee 

estimates that this action will actually 

make an additional 211,877 pounds of 

Scotch spearmint oil available to the 

market. That amount, combined with 

the 38,245 pounds of salable Scotch 

spearmint oil currently available, will 

make a total of 250,122 pounds that may 

be marketed through the remainder of 

the marketing year. The total supply of 

Scotch spearmint oil that is anticipated 


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to be available to the market will be 

increased to 1,177,797 pounds. Actual 

sales of Scotch spearmint oil for the 

2013–2014 marketing year totaled 

1,065,725 pounds. 

The Committee estimates that this 

action will completely deplete reserve 

pool stocks of Scotch spearmint oil 

during the course of the 2014–2015 

marketing year. In addition, the 

Committee estimates that all but 11,218 

pounds of the current year’s Scotch 

spearmint oil production will be 

available to enter the market. While 

these inventory levels are low, the 

Committee believes that trying to hold 

any Scotch spearmint oil in reserve 

under the current market conditions 

could result in the market experiencing 

a shortage of Scotch spearmint oil 

during the course of the 2014–2015 

marketing year. Further, the Committee 

expects the Scotch spearmint oil 

industry to respond to the current 

market conditions with increased 

production in the coming years, and 

that Scotch spearmint oil inventory 

levels will quickly return to normal 

levels. 

When the original 2014–2015 

marketing policy statement was drafted, 

handlers estimated the demand for 

Scotch spearmint oil for the 2014–2015 

marketing year to be 1,000,000 pounds. 

The Committee’s initial 

recommendation for the establishment 

of the Scotch spearmint oil salable 

quantity and allotment percentage for 

the 2014–2015 marketing year was 

based on that estimate and did not 

anticipate the increase in demand for 

Scotch spearmint oil that the market is 

currently experiencing. Handlers now 

estimate that Scotch spearmint oil 

demand for the 2014–2015 marketing 

year could be as much as 1,100,000 to 

1,200,000 pounds. As such, the 

Committee believes that the supply of 

Scotch spearmint oil available to the 

market under the initially established 

salable quantity and allotment 

percentage is insufficient to satisfy the 

current level of demand for oil at 

reasonable price levels. The Committee 

further believes that the increase in the 

salable quantity and allotment 

percentage effectuated by this action is 

vital to ensuring an adequate supply of 

Scotch spearmint oil is available to the 

market moving forward. 

As previously stated, this action will 

make nearly all of the Scotch spearmint 

oil held by the industry available to the 

market. However, to achieve that 

desired net effect under the current 

supply conditions in the industry, it is 

necessary for the salable quantity and 

allotment percentage established under 

the volume regulation provisions of the 

order to be set at historically high levels. 

The Committee records show that very 

few producers hold Scotch spearmint 

oil in reserve. In addition, not every 

producer produced Scotch spearmint oil 

in excess of his/her annual allotment. 

Given the process by which volume 

regulation is effectuated under the 

order, those producers with large 

amounts of excess Scotch spearmint oil 

production are only able to market their 

entire inventory of Scotch spearmint oil 

when the allotment percentage is set 

very high. Likewise, producers that do 

not have excess Scotch spearmint oil 

production from the current year, or 

reserve oil from previous years, will not 

have any Scotch spearmint oil inventory 

to market, regardless of the level of 

increase in the allotment percentage. As 

such, the Committee expects that 

establishing a high salable quantity and 

allotment percentage for Scotch 

spearmint oil will translate into a large 

amount of the increased salable quantity 

going unused, as a number of producers 

have little or no Scotch spearmint oil 

available to sell. 

As an example, assume Producer A 

has 2,000 pounds of Scotch spearmint 

oil allotment base. In addition, assume 

that during the 2014–2015 marketing 

year Producer A produced 1,900 pounds 

of Scotch spearmint oil. Producer A 

currently holds no Scotch spearmint oil 

in reserve from production in prior 

years. Given that the initial 2014–2015 

marketing year allotment percentage 

was established at 55 percent, Producer 

A would be able to market 1,100 pounds 

of the current year production (55 

percent allotment percentage × 2,000 

pounds of allotment base), leaving the 

producer with 800 pounds of excess 

production that was initially not 

available to market. Without an increase 

in the allotment percentage, the 

producer would not be able to market 

any of the 800 pounds of excess oil 

produced and the oil would be placed 

in the reserve pool for marketing in 

subsequent years. For Producer A to 

market all 1,900 pounds of his/her 

current year Scotch spearmint oil 

production, the allotment percentage 

would need to be increased by 40 

percent to a total of 95 percent (95 

percent × 2,000 pounds = 1,900 

pounds). An increase in the allotment 

percentage of anything less than 40 

percent would fail to release all of the 

Scotch spearmint oil that the producer 

produced in the current year. 

In contrast, assume that another 

producer, Producer B, likewise has 

2,000 pounds of Scotch spearmint oil 

allotment base, but produced just 1,100 

pounds of Scotch spearmint oil during 

the 2014–2015 marketing year. Producer 

B also has no oil held in reserve. As in 

the first case, Producer B would be able 

to market all of his/her current year 

production under the initial allotment 

percentage of 55 percent. However, a 

subsequent increase in the allotment 

percentage of 40 percent would have no 

impact on Producer B, as the producer 

has no excess Scotch spearmint oil 

production or reserve pool oil available 

to deliver to the market. As a result, the 

800 pounds of additional annual 

allotment allocated to Producer B after 

a 40 percent increase in the allotment 

percentage would go unfilled. 

The Committee estimates that a 40 

percent increase in the salable quantity 

and allotment percentage is required to 

make all of the Scotch spearmint oil 

reserve pool, and most of the 2014 crop 

year excess Scotch spearmint oil 

production, available to the market. As 

mentioned previously, the Committee 

estimates that producers hold just 551 

pounds of Scotch spearmint oil in the 

reserve pool that could enter the market 

under the increase. As such, the 

Committee believes that the majority of 

the Scotch spearmint oil that may be 

released to the market as a result of this 

action will come from the estimated 

222,544 pounds of 2014 crop year 

production that is in excess of the 

producer’s annual allotments. The 

Committee expects that all but 

approximately 11,218 pounds of Scotch 

spearmint oil will be available after the 

40 percent increase in salable quantity 

and allotment percentage. By the 

Committee’s calculation, the salable 

quantity would need to be increased by 

5,431,052 pounds and the allotment 

percentage increased by 260 percent for 

the last 11,218 pounds of the Scotch 

spearmint oil to be released to the 

market under the volume control 

provisions of the order. It is anticipated 

that the 11,218 pounds of Scotch 

spearmint oil will be available to the 

market at the beginning of the 2015– 

2016 marketing year on June 1, 2015. 

The Committee acknowledges that the 

high salable quantity, and the 

corresponding high allotment 

percentage, will create a large quantity 

of available Scotch spearmint oil for 

which no Scotch spearmint oil actually 

exists. Accordingly, the Committee 

expects that 623,516 pounds of the 

recommended 835,393 pound increase 

in salable quantity will go unfilled. The 

potentially large underutilized salable 

quantity has been factored into the 

Committee’s recommendation. 

The Committee’s stated intent in the 

use of marketing order volume control 

regulation is to keep adequate supplies 

available to meet market needs and to 

maintain orderly marketing conditions. 


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With that in mind, the Committee 

developed its recommendation for 

increasing the Scotch spearmint oil 

salable quantity and allotment 

percentage for the 2014–2015 marketing 

year based on the information discussed 

above, as well as the summary data 

outlined below. 

(A) Estimated 2014–2015 Scotch 

Allotment Base—2,089,146 pounds. 

This is the estimate on which the 

original 2014–2015 salable quantity and 

allotment percentage was based. 

(B) Revised 2014–2015 Scotch 

Allotment Base—2,088,866 pounds. 

This is 280 pounds less than the 

estimated allotment base of 2,089,146 

pounds. The difference is the result of 

annual adjustments made to the 

allotment base according to the 

provisions of the order. 

(C) Original 2014–2015 Scotch 

Allotment Percentage—55 percent. This 

was unanimously recommended by the 

Committee on November 6, 2013. 

(D) Original 2014–2015 Scotch 

Salable Quantity—1,149,030 pounds. 

This figure is 55 percent of the original 

estimated 2014–2015 allotment base of 

2,089,146 pounds. 

(E) Adjusted 2014–2015 Scotch 

Salable Quantity—1,148,898 pounds. 

This figure reflects the salable quantity 

actually available at the beginning of the 

2014–2015 marketing year. This 

quantity is derived by applying the 55 

percent allotment percentage to the 

revised allotment base of 2,088,866. 

(F) Current Revision to the 2014–2015 

Scotch Salable Quantity and Allotment 

Percentage: 

(1) Increase in Scotch Allotment 

Percentage—40 percent. The Committee 

recommended a 40 percent increase at 

its September 11, 2014, meeting. 

(2) 2014–2015 Scotch Allotment 

Percentage—95 percent. This figure is 

derived by adding the increase of 40 

percent to the original 2014–2015 

allotment percentage of 55 percent. 

(3) Calculated Revised 2014–2015 

Scotch Salable Quantity—1,984,423 

pounds. This figure is 95 percent of the 

revised 2014–2015 allotment base of 

2,088,866 pounds. 

(4) Computed Increase in the 2014– 

2015 Scotch Salable Quantity—835,546 

pounds. This figure is 40 percent of the 

revised 2014–2015 allotment base of 

2,088,866 pounds. 

(5) Expected Actual Increase in the 

2014–2015 Scotch Spearmint Oil 

Available to the Market—211,877 

pounds. This figure is based on the 

Committee’s estimation of oil actually 

held by producers that may enter the 

market as a result of this rule. 

Native spearmint oil is also regulated 

by the order. As mentioned previously, 

a salable quantity and allotment 

percentage for Native spearmint oil was 

established in a final rule published in 

the Federal Register on May 8, 2014 (79 

FR 26359). At the September 11, 2014, 

meeting, the Committee considered the 

current production, inventory, and 

marketing conditions for Native 

spearmint oil. After receiving reports 

from the Committee staff and comments 

from the industry, the consensus of the 

Committee was that the previously 

established salable quantity and 

allotment percentage for Native 

spearmint oil was appropriate for the 

current market conditions. As such, the 

Committee took no action with regards 

to Native spearmint oil. 

This rule relaxes the regulation of 

Scotch spearmint oil and will allow 

producers to meet market demand while 

improving producer returns. In 

conjunction with the issuance of this 

rule, the Committee’s revised marketing 

policy statement for the 2014–2015 

marketing year has been reviewed by 

USDA. The Committee’s marketing 

policy statement, a requirement 

whenever the Committee recommends 

implementing volume regulations or 

recommends revisions to existing 

volume regulations, meets the intent of 

§ 985.50 of the order. During its 

discussion of revising the 2014–2015 

salable quantities and allotment 

percentages, the Committee considered: 

(1) The estimated quantity of salable oil 

of each class held by producers and 

handlers; (2) the estimated demand for 

each class of oil; (3) the prospective 

production of each class of oil; (4) the 

total of allotment bases of each class of 

oil for the current marketing year and 

the estimated total of allotment bases of 

each class for the ensuing marketing 

year; (5) the quantity of reserve oil, by 

class, in storage; (6) producer prices of 

oil, including prices for each class of oil; 

and (7) general market conditions for 

each class of oil, including whether the 

estimated season average price to 

producers is likely to exceed parity. 

Conformity with USDA’s ‘‘Guidelines 

for Fruit, Vegetable, and Specialty Crop 

Marketing Orders’’ has also been 

reviewed and confirmed. 

The increase in the Scotch spearmint 

oil salable quantity and allotment 

percentage allows for anticipated market 

needs for that class of oil. In 

determining anticipated market needs, 

the Committee considered changes and 

trends in historical sales, production, 

and demand. 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Pursuant to requirements set forth in 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 

U.S.C. 601–612), the Agricultural 

Marketing Service (AMS) has 

considered the economic impact of this 

action on small entities. Accordingly, 

AMS has prepared this initial regulatory 

flexibility analysis. 

The purpose of the RFA is to fit 

regulatory actions to the scale of 

businesses subject to such actions in 

order that small businesses will not be 

unduly or disproportionately burdened. 

Marketing orders issued pursuant to the 

Act, and the rules issued thereunder, are 

unique in that they are brought about 

through group action of essentially 

small entities acting on their own 

behalf. 

There are 8 spearmint oil handlers 

subject to regulation under the order, 

and approximately 39 producers of 

Scotch spearmint oil and approximately 

91 producers of Native spearmint oil in 

the regulated production area. Small 

agricultural service firms are defined by 

the Small Business Administration 

(SBA) as those having annual receipts of 

less than $7,000,000, and small 

agricultural producers are defined as 

those having annual receipts of less than 

$750,000 (13 CFR 121.201). 

Based on the SBA’s definition of 

small entities, the Committee estimates 

that only two of the eight handlers 

regulated by the order could be 

considered small entities. Most of the 

handlers are large corporations involved 

in the international trading of essential 

oils and the products of essential oils. 

In addition, the Committee estimates 

that 22 of the 39 Scotch spearmint oil 

producers and 29 of the 91 Native 

spearmint oil producers could be 

classified as small entities under the 

SBA definition. Thus, the majority of 

handlers and producers of Far West 

spearmint oil may not be classified as 

small entities. 

The use of volume control regulation 

allows the spearmint oil industry to 

fully supply spearmint oil markets 

while avoiding the negative 

consequences of over-supplying these 

markets. Without volume control 

regulation, the supply and price of 

spearmint oil would likely fluctuate 

widely. Periods of oversupply could 

result in low producer prices and a large 

volume of oil stored and carried over to 

future crop years. Periods of 

undersupply could lead to excessive 

price spikes and could drive end users 

to source flavoring needs from other 

markets, potentially causing long-term 

economic damage to the domestic 

spearmint oil industry. The marketing 

order’s volume control provisions have 

been successfully implemented in the 

domestic spearmint oil industry since 

1980 and provide benefits for producers, 


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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 211 / Friday, October 31, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 64661 

handlers, manufacturers, and 

consumers. 

This rule increases the quantity of 

Scotch spearmint oil that handlers may 

purchase from, or handle on behalf of, 

producers during the 2014–2015 

marketing year, which ends on May 31, 

2015. The 2014–2015 Scotch spearmint 

oil salable quantity was initially 

established at 1,149,030 pounds and the 

allotment percentage initially set at 55 

percent. This rule increases the Scotch 

spearmint oil salable quantity to 

1,984,423 pounds and the allotment 

percentage from 55 percent to 95 

percent. 

Based on the information and 

projections available at the September 

11, 2014, meeting, the Committee 

considered a number of alternatives to 

this increase. The Committee not only 

considered leaving the salable quantity 

and allotment percentage unchanged, 

but also considered other potential 

levels of increase. The Committee 

reached its recommendation to increase 

the salable quantity and allotment 

percentage for Scotch spearmint oil after 

careful consideration of all available 

information and input from all 

interested industry participants, and 

believes that the levels recommended 

will achieve the objectives sought. 

Without the increase, the Committee 

believes the industry would not be able 

to satisfactorily meet market demand. 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35), the order’s information 

collection requirements have been 

previously approved by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) and 

assigned OMB No. 0581–0178, 

Vegetable and Specialty Crop Marketing 

Orders. No changes in those 

requirements as a result of this action 

are necessary. Should any changes 

become necessary, they would be 

submitted to OMB for approval. 

This rule will not impose any 

additional reporting or recordkeeping 

requirements on either small or large 

spearmint oil handlers. As with all 

Federal marketing order programs, 

reports and forms are periodically 

reviewed to reduce information 

requirements and duplication by 

industry and public sector agencies. 

AMS is committed to complying with 

the E-Government Act, to promote the 

use of the Internet and other 

information technologies to provide 

increased opportunities for citizen 

access to Government information and 

services, and for other purposes. 

In addition, USDA has not identified 

any relevant Federal rules that 

duplicate, overlap or conflict with this 

rule. 

Further, the Committee’s meeting was 

widely publicized throughout the 

spearmint oil industry, and all 

interested persons were invited to 

attend the meeting and participate in 

Committee deliberations. Like all 

Committee meetings, the September 11, 

2014, meeting was a public meeting, 

and all entities, both large and small, 

were able to express their views on this 

issue. Finally, interested persons are 

invited to submit information on the 

regulatory and informational impacts of 

this action on small businesses. 

A small business guide on complying 

with fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop 

marketing agreements and orders may 

be viewed at: www.ams.usda.gov/ 

MarketingOrdersSmallBusinessGuide. 

Any questions about the compliance 

guide should be sent to Jeffrey Smutny 

at the previously mentioned address in 

the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section. 

This rule invites comments on a 

change to the salable quantity and 

allotment percentage for Scotch 

spearmint oil for the 2014–2015 

marketing year. Any comments received 

will be considered prior to finalization 

of this rule. 

After consideration of all relevant 

material presented, including the 

Committee’s recommendation, and 

other information, it is found that this 

interim rule, as hereinafter set forth, 

will tend to effectuate the declared 

policy of the Act. 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is also 

found and determined upon good cause 

that it is impracticable, unnecessary, 

and contrary to the public interest to 

give preliminary notice prior to putting 

this rule into effect and that good cause 

exists for not postponing the effective 

date of this rule until 30 days after 

publication in the Federal Register 

because: (1) This rule increases the 

quantity of Scotch spearmint oil that 

may be marketed during the marketing 

year, which ends on May 31, 2015; (2) 

the current quantity of Scotch spearmint 

oil may be inadequate to meet demand 

for the 2014–2015 marketing year, thus 

making the additional oil available as 

soon as is practicable will be beneficial 

to both handlers and producers; (3) the 

Committee recommended these changes 

at a public meeting and interested 

parties had an opportunity to provide 

input; and (4) this rule provides a 60- 

day comment period, and any 

comments received will be considered 

prior to finalization of this rule. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 985 

Marketing agreements, Oils and fats, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Spearmint oil. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 985 is amended as 

follows: 

PART 985—MARKETING ORDER 

REGULATING THE HANDLING OF 

SPEARMINT OIL PRODUCED IN THE 

FAR WEST 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 985 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674. 

■ 2. In § 985.233, remove the note 

preceding the section that states ‘‘[Note: 

This section will not appear in the 

annual Code of Federal Regulations.]’’ 

and revise paragraph (a) to read as 

follows: 

§ 985.233 Salable quantities and allotment 

percentages—2014–2015 marketing year. 

* * * * * 

(a) Class 1 (Scotch) oil—a salable 

quantity of 1,984,423 pounds and an 

allotment percentage of 95 percent. 

* * * * * 

Dated: October 23, 2014. 

Rex A. Barnes, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25646 Filed 10–30–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE BOARD 

12 CFR Part 907 

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE 

AGENCY 

12 CFR Parts 1201 and 1211 

RIN 2590–AA66 

Procedures and General Definitions 

AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance 

Agency; Federal Housing Finance 

Board. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Housing Finance 

Agency (FHFA) is amending its 

regulations by relocating to the FHFA 

chapter of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) a Federal Housing 

Finance Board (Finance Board) 

regulation relating to procedures under 

which the Federal Home Loan Banks 

(Banks) and the Office of Finance (OF) 

may request waivers, approvals, noaction letters, and regulatory 

interpretations. The final rule modifies 

these regulations to make them also 

applicable to the Federal National 

Mortgage Association and the Federal 

Home Loan Mortgage Corporation 

(collectively, Enterprises) and repeals 


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