Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 221 / Wednesday, November 17, 2004 / Notices 67299

1400 Independence Ave., SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–0514. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: Deliver to 

the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mary Tjeerdsma by phone at: (202) 690–

2524; by fax at (202) 720–6426 or by email at mary.tjeerdsma@usda.gov.

Persons with disabilities who require 

special accommodation to attend or 

participate in the meeting should 

contact Mary Tjeerdsma by November 

18, 2004.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Fair and Equitable Tobacco 

Reform Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108–357) 

(the Act) was enacted on October 22, 

2004. The Act terminated the Federal 

Tobacco Marketing Quota and Price 

Support Loan Programs beginning with 

the 2005 crop year and provided that 

USDA will offer to enter into contracts 

with tobacco quota holders and 

producers for transitional payments. 

In order to enter into a contract to 

receive these payments, a person must 

submit an application containing 

sufficient information to determine 

eligibility. For each of the 10 fiscal years 

beginning with 2005, a payment will be 

made to each eligible quota holder or 

producer. Total payments of up to $7.00 

per pound to quota holders and up to 

$3.00 per pound to quota producers will 

be paid over the 10-year period, not to 

exceed $10,140,000,000. 

In order to fund the contract 

payments to quota holders and 

producers, the Secretary is required to 

impose quarterly assessments on each 

manufacturer and importer of tobacco 

products sold in the United States. 

Assessments will be deposited in a 

revolving trust fund within the 

Commodity Credit Corporation, to be 

known as the Tobacco Trust Fund. 

Beginning with the calendar quarter 

ending on December 31 of each of the 

fiscal years 2005 through 2014, the 

assessment payments for each of the 

four calendar-quarter periods must be 

sufficient to cover contract payments to 

quota holders and producers and other 

expenditures from the Tobacco Trust 

Fund that correspond to that period. 

The Act provided the percentages of 

the total amount to be paid in fiscal year 

2005 by manufacturers and importers of 

each class of tobacco product as follows: 

• Cigarette—96.331%. 

• Cigar—2.783%. 

• Snuff—0.539%. 

• Roll-your-own—0.171%. 

• Pipe—0.066%. 

The percentages for subsequent fiscal 

years will be adjusted to reflect any 

change in the share of gross domestic 

sales volume held by each class of 

product. 

The quarterly assessment to be paid 

by each manufacturer or importer of a 

class of tobacco product will be 

determined by the manufacturer’s or 

importer’s market share of that class of 

tobacco product for the quarter. 

The full text of the Act is available at 

http://www.fsa.usda.gov/buyout/.

II. Registration 

Registration may be by e-mail at 

tob_comments@wdc.usda.gov or you 

may contact the Public Meeting 

Coordinator, Mary Tjeerdsma, to register 

by phone at (202) 690–2524 or by fax at 

(202) 720–6426. The following 

information must be provided when 

registering to attend the meeting: Name, 

company name and address, telephone 

and fax numbers, e-mail addresses and 

special needs information. A staff 

member will confirm your registration 

by e-mail, fax, or phone. You may also 

register in person at the meeting. 

III. Presentations and Comment Format 

A. Primary Speaker Presentations 

Persons who wish to be primary 

speakers must register to attend the 

meeting before the day of the meeting 

using the registration procedures 

described above. At the time of 

registration, primary speakers must 

provide a brief, written statement 

regarding the nature of the information 

they intend to provide. In addition, on 

the day of the meeting, primary speakers 

must provide a written summary of their 

comments to the Public Meeting 

Coordinator. 

B. ‘‘5-Minute’’ Speaker Presentations 

Other attendees will be permitted to 

sign up at the meeting, on a first-come, 

first-served basis, to make 5-minute 

presentations on individual agenda 

items. Based on the number of items on 

the agenda and the progress of the 

meeting, a determination will be made 

at the meeting by the Public Meeting 

Coordinator and the meeting moderator 

regarding how many 5-minute speakers 

can be accommodated. In order to offer 

the same opportunity to all attendees, 

there is no pre-registration for 5-minute 

speakers. Attendees may sign up only 

on the day of the meeting to make a 5-

minute presentation. They must provide 

their name, company name and address, 

contact information as specified on the 

sign up sheet, and identify the specific 

agenda item that will be addressed. 

C. Written Comments

We welcome written comments from 

anyone, whether or not they have had 

the opportunity to make an oral 

presentation. Written comments may be 

submitted at the meeting or, by 

December 10, 2004 by the following 

methods: 

• E-Mail: Send comments to 

tob_comments@wdc.usda.gov. 

• Mail: Send comments to Director, 

Tobacco Division, Farm Service Agency, 

United States Department of Agriculture 

(USDA), STOP 0514, Room 4080–S, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–0514. 

IV. General Information 

The meeting will be held in a Federal 

government building. Therefore, Federal 

security measures will be in force. In 

planning your arrival, we recommend 

allowing extra time to clear security. 

Entry to the building will be at the 4th 

Wing entrance on Independence 

Avenue. In order to enter the building, 

participants must bring a governmentissued photo identification. Entry may 

be denied to persons without proper 

identification. 

In addition, all persons entering the 

building must pass through a metal 

detector. All items brought to the 

meeting, whether personal or for the 

purposes of demonstration or support of 

a presentation, are subject to inspection. 

We cannot assume responsibility for 

coordinating the receipt, transfer, 

transport, storage, set-up, safety, or 

timely arrival of any personal 

belongings or items used for 

demonstration or support of a 

presentation.

Signed at Washington, DC, November 11, 

2004. 

James R. Little, 

Administrator, Farm Service Agency, and 

Executive Vice-President, Commodity Credit 

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 04–25526 Filed 11–12–04; 3:50 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3410–05–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service 

California Coast Provincial Advisory 

Committee

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: The California Coast 

Provincial Advisory Committee (PAC) 

will meet on December 9, 2004, in 

Eureka, California. The purpose of the 

meeting is to discuss issues relating to 

implementing the Northwest Forest Plan 

(NWFP).

DATES: The meeting will be held from 

8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

67300 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 221 / Wednesday, November 17, 2004 / Notices 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Six Rivers National Forest 

Supervisor’s Office, 1330 Bayshore Way, 

Eureka.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Phebe Brown, Committee Coordinator, 

USDA, Mendocino National Forest, 825 

N. Humboldt Avenue, Willows, CA 

95988, (503) 934–1137; E-MAIL 

pybrown@fs.fed.us.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Agenda 

items to be covered include: (1) 

Regional Exosystem Office (REO) 

update; (2) Provincial Interagency 

Executive Committee (PIEC) feedback to 

the PAC regarding their 

recommendations on watershed 

analyses and Healthy Forest Restoration 

Act projects; (3) Report on the Province 

2004 Implementation Monitoring 

activity held in September; (4) Continue 

panel discussion concerning options for 

silvicultural treatments on federal lands; 

(5) Presentation on the NWFP 10-year 

monitoring program; (6) Presentation on 

Bureau of Land Management/

Department of Fish and Game research 

on impacts of fall, winter and spring 

prescribed burning on avian and 

terrestrial species; and (7) Public 

comment. The meeting is open to the 

public. Public input opportunity will be 

provided and individuals will have the 

opportunity to address the Committee at 

that time.

Dated: November 9, 2004. 

Phebe Y. Brown, 

Committee Staff Coordinator.

[FR Doc. 04–25482 Filed 11–16–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service 

Notice of Southwest Idaho Resource 

Advisory Committee Meeting

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the authorities in 

the Federal Advisory Committee act 

(Pub. L. 92–463) and under the Secure 

Rural Schools and Community SelfDetermination Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106–

393), the Boise and Payette National 

Forests’ Southwest Idaho Resource 

Advisory Committee will conduct a 

business meeting, which is open to the 

public.

DATES: Wednesday, December 1, 2004, 

beginning at 10:30 a.m.

ADDRESSES: Idaho Counties Risk 

Management Program Building, 3100 

South Vista Avenue, Boise, Idaho.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Agenda 

topics will include review and approval 

of project proposals, and is an open 

public forum.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Doug Gochnour, Designated Federal 

Officer, at 208–392–6681 or e-mail 

dgouchnour@fs.fed.us.

Dated: November 12, 2004. 

Bruce A. Waite, 

Acting Forest Supervisor, Boise National 

Forest.

[FR Doc. 04–25592 Filed 11–16–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Utilities Service 

Household Water Well System 

Program; Notice of Finding of No 

Significant Impact

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of finding of no 

significant impact. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) has 

made a finding of no significant impact 

(FONSI) for a new grant program that 

will implement the Household Water 

Well System Program (HWWSP) lending 

program.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mark S. Plank, Senior Environmental 

Scientist, RUS, Water and 

Environmental Programs, Engineering 

and Environmental Staff, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., Stop 1571, 

Washington, DC 20250–1571, telephone: 

(202) 720–1649 or email: 

mark.plank@usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 

13, 2002, the Farm Security and Rural 

Investment Act of 2002 (Farm Bill) was 

signed into law as Public Law 107–171. 

Section 6012 of the Farm Bill amended 

Section 306E of the Consolidated Farm 

and Rural Development Act (CONACT) 

by adding a grant program to establish 

a lending program. The program will 

provide grants to private nonprofit 

organizations for the purpose of 

providing loans to eligible individuals 

for the construction, refurbishing, and 

servicing of individual household water 

well systems in rural areas that are or 

will be owned by the eligible 

individuals. The program is called the 

Household Water Well System Program 

(HWWSP). This program was authorized 

to appropriate up to $10,000,000 for 

Fiscal Years (FY) 2003 through 2007. 

There was no funding appropriated in 

FY 2003. However, the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2004 (Pub. L. 108–

199), includes $1,000,000 for the 

program. 

The USDA, Rural Utilities Service 

issued proposed regulations to 

implement the HWWSP (69 FR 59836, 

October 6, 2004). The final rule outlines 

the procedures for providing grants to 

eligible applicants to establish a 

revolving loan fund and to pay 

reasonable administrative expenses. The 

revolving loan fund will be used to 

make loans to eligible applicants for the 

construction, refurbishing, and servicing 

of individual household water well 

systems in rural areas that are or will be 

owned by the eligible individuals. The 

CONACT defines an ‘‘eligible 

individual’’ as a person who is a 

member of a household in which all 

members have a combined income that 

is 100 percent or less of the median nonmetropolitan household income for the 

State or territory in which the person 

resides. The combined household 

income must be for the most recent 12-

month period for which the information 

is available, according to the most 

recent decennial census of the United 

States. The maximum statutory limit per 

loan per household water well system is 

$8,000. 

Due to similar project activities and a 

limited area of potential effect of most 

HWWSP loan approval actions, RUS 

prepared and published, on September 

30, 2004 (69 FR 58389), a Programmatic 

Environmental Assessment (PEA) to 

evaluate two Federal actions related to 

the HWWSP: 

(1) Grants awarded by RUS to eligible 

grant recipients; and (2) Loans made by 

the grant recipient to eligible loan 

recipients using the direct or indirect 

proceeds of a HWWSP grant awarded 

under this program. 

The PEA was available for a 30-day 

review and comment period; only one 

comment was received. The comment 

related to loan recipients and potential 

construction (as defined in the HWWSP) 

in special flood hazard areas identified 

as Zone A or V by the Federal 

Emergency Management Agency Flood 

Insurance Rate Maps. The commenter 

was concerned whether loan proceeds 

could be used in conjunction with the 

construction of new homes and, if so, 

that the construction should be 

evaluated in accordance with Executive 

Order 11988, Floodplain Management 

and other applicable requirements. The 

HWWSP’s authorizing legislative is 

clear that eligible individuals are 

limited by definition to the following: 7 

CFR 1776.3, ‘‘Construction means 

building or assembling a water well 

system or portion thereof that is not a 

water well system or portion thereof 

being constructed in connection with a