Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2004 / Proposed Rules 68829

pass any motion or approve any 

committee action. 

(b) The quorum and voting 

requirements of paragraph (a) of this 

section shall not apply to the 

designation of temporary alternates as 

provided in § 946.23. 

(c) The committee may provide for 

meetings by telephone, telegraph, or 

other means of communication and any 

vote cast at such a meeting shall be 

confirmed promptly in writing: 

Provided, That if any assembled 

meeting is held, all votes shall be cast 

in person. 

7. Section 946.25 is amended by: 

A. Revising paragraph (a). 

B. Revising paragraph (c). 

The revisions read as follows:

§ 946.25 Selection. 

(a) Persons selected as committee 

members or alternates to represent 

producers shall be individuals who are 

producers of fresh potatoes in the 

respective district for which selected, or 

officers or employees of a corporate 

producer in such district. Such 

individuals must also have produced 

potatoes for the fresh market for at least 

three out of the five years prior to 

nomination. 

(b) * * *

(c) The Secretary shall select 

committee membership so that, during 

each fiscal period, each district, as 

designated in § 946.31, will be 

represented as follows: 

(1) District No. 1—Three producer 

members and one handler member; 

(2) District No. 2—Two producer 

members and one handler member; 

(3) District No. 3—Two producer 

members and one handler member; 

(4) District No. 4—Two producer 

members and one handler member; 

(5) District No. 5—One producer 

member and one handler member. 

8. Revise § 946.26 to read as follows:

§ 946.26 Acceptance. 

Any person nominated to serve as a 

member or alternate member of the 

committee shall, prior to selection by 

USDA, qualify by filing a written 

background and acceptance statement 

indicating such person’s willingness to 

serve in the position for which 

nominated. 

9. Amend § 946.27 by revising 

paragraph (a) to read as follows:

§ 946.27 Term of office. 

(a) The term of office of each member 

and alternate member of the committee 

shall be for 3 years beginning July 1 and 

continuing until their successors are 

selected and have qualified. The terms 

of office of members and alternates shall 

be determined so that about one-third of 

the total committee membership is 

selected each year. Committee members 

shall not serve more than 2 consecutive 

terms. Members who have served for 2 

consecutive terms will be ineligible to 

serve as a member for 1 year.

* * * * *

10. Revise § 946.31 to read as follows:

§ 946.31 Districts. 

For the purpose of determining the 

basis for selecting committee members, 

the following districts of the production 

area are hereby established: 

(a) District No. 1—The counties of 

Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille, Spokane, 

Whitman, and Lincoln, plus the East 

Irrigation District of the Columbia Basin 

Project, plus the area of Grant County 

not included in either the Quincy or 

South Irrigation Districts which lies east 

of township vertical line R27E, plus the 

area of Adams County not included in 

either of the South or Quincy Irrigation 

Districts. 

(b) District No. 2—The counties of 

Kittitas, Douglas, Chelan, and 

Okanogan, plus the Quincy Irrigation 

District of the Columbia Basin Project, 

plus the area of Grant County not 

included in the East or South Irrigation 

Districts which lies west of township 

line R28E. 

(c) District No. 3—The counties of 

Benton, Klickitat, and Yakima. 

(d) District No. 4—The counties of 

Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield, and 

Asotin, plus the South Irrigation District 

of the Columbia Basin Project, plus the 

area of Franklin County not included in 

the South District. 

(e) District No. 5—All of the 

remaining counties in the State of 

Washington not included in Districts 

No. 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this section. 

11. Amend § 946.32 by revising 

paragraph (a) to read as follows:

§ 946.32 Nomination.

* * * * *

(a) Nominations for Committee 

members and alternate members shall 

be made at a meeting or meetings of 

producers held by the Committee or at 

other industry meetings or events not 

later than May 1 of each year; or the 

Committee may conduct nominations by 

mail not later than May 1 of each year 

in a manner recommended by the 

Committee and approved by the 

Secretary.

* * * * *

12. Amend § 946.52 by adding a new 

paragraph (a)(5) to read as follows:

§ 946.52 Issuance of regulations. 

(a) * * *

(5) To regulate the size, capacity, 

weight, dimensions, pack, and marking 

or labeling of the container, or 

containers, which may be used in the 

packing or handling of potatoes, or both.

* * * * *

13. In § 946.63, redesignate paragraph 

(d) as paragraph (e) and add a new 

paragraph (d) to read as follows:

§ 946.63 Termination.

* * * * *

(d) The Secretary shall conduct a 

referendum six years after the effective 

date of this paragraph and every sixth 

year thereafter to ascertain whether 

producers favor continuance of this 

part.

* * * * *

Dated: November 19, 2004. 

A.J. Yates, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service.

[FR Doc. 04–26124 Filed 11–24–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

NATIONAL CREDIT UNION 

ADMINISTRATION 

12 CFR Part 701

Loans to Members and Lines of Credit 

to Members

AGENCY: National Credit Union 

Administration (NCUA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: NCUA is proposing to amend 

three subsections of its lending rule to 

incorporate legal interpretations 

previously issued by its Office of 

General Counsel (OGC) regarding 

permissible maturities for certain types 

of loans and the effect of partial 

government guarantees. The proposal 

clarifies: The conditions for applying 

the lending rule to loans secured by 

mobile homes, recreational vehicles, 

house trailers and boats; that loans 

secured by manufactured homes may be 

considered residential real estate loans; 

and that loans with a partial government 

guarantee, insurance, or advance 

commitment to purchase a portion of a 

loan fall within the rule. The NCUA 

Board is proposing these changes 

because it believes it is helpful to 

federal credit unions (FCUs) and others 

that may consult NCUA regulations to 

incorporate these interpretations as part 

of the rule itself rather than having them 

stated separately in OGC legal opinions.

DATES: The NCUA must receive 

comments on or before January 25, 

2005.

68830 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2004 / Proposed Rules 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods (Please 

send comments by one method only): 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• NCUA Web site: http://

www.ncua.gov/

RegulationsOpinionsLaws/

proposed_regs/proposed_regs.html.

Follow the instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• E-mail: Address to 

regcomments@ncua.gov. Include ‘‘[Your 

name] Comments on Proposed Rule 

701.14, Change in Official in Newly 

Chartered or Troubled Credit Unions’’

in the e-mail subject line. 

• Fax: (703) 518–6319. Use the 

subject line described above for e-mail. 

• Mail: Address to Mary Rupp, 

Secretary of the Board, National Credit 

Union Administration, 1775 Duke 

Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314–

3428. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as 

mail address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dianne M. Salva, Staff Attorney, 

Division of Operations, Office of 

General Counsel, at the above address or 

telephone: (703) 518–6540.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The NCUA Board (the Board) has a 

policy of continually reviewing NCUA 

regulations to ‘‘update, clarify and 

simplify existing regulations and 

eliminate unnecessary and redundant 

and unnecessary provisions.’’ NCUA 

Interpretive Ruling and Policy 

Statement (IRPS) 87–2, Developing and 

Reviewing Government Regulations. As 

a result of NCUA’s 2003 review, the 

Board determined that the rules on loan 

guarantees and loan maturities should 

be updated to reflect recent OGC 

opinions. 

Summary of Proposed Changes 

The Federal Credit Union Act (the 

FCU Act) generally limits an FCU’s 

authority on matters of loan maturity, 

rates of interest, security and 

prepayment penalties. 12 U.S.C. 

1757(5). Where a loan is secured by a 

State or Federal Government insurance 

or guarantee or in the case of a State or 

Federal program providing an advance 

commitment to purchase the loan, the 

FCU Act provides relief from these 

limitations and permits an FCU to make 

the loan for the maturity and under the 

terms and conditions of the government 

program. 12 U.S.C. 1757(5)(A)(iii). The 

FCU Act does not specify the extent to 

which the government program must 

guarantee or insure the loan, or the 

portion of the loan the program must 

commit to purchase. NCUA’s lending 

regulation mirrors this section of the 

FCU Act and adds that FCUs may make 

such loans at rates of interest provided 

in the government program. 12 CFR 

701.21(e). These provisions have the 

effect of enabling FCUs to participate in 

government lending programs that 

might otherwise be out of reach because 

of the FCU Act’s general limitations. 

OGC has issued legal opinions 

clarifying that the regulation applies 

whether the government program offers 

a full or partial guarantee, insurance, or 

commitment to purchase the loan. The 

proposed amendment clarifies that a 

partial government guarantee, 

insurance, or commitment to purchase a 

loan is sufficient to effect the 

application of the regulation. The Board 

believes that adding this clarification to 

the regulation will give full effect to the 

FCU Act and will benefit FCUs and 

their members by encouraging 

participation in government lending 

programs. 

The FCU Act prohibits FCUs from 

granting loans with maturities greater 

than 12 years. 12 U.S.C. 1757(5). It 

permits longer maturities, however, for 

certain loans including those secured by 

residential real estate and mobile 

homes. 12 U.S.C. 1757(5)(A). As 

permitted under the FCU Act, the Board 

has promulgated rules allowing loan 

maturities of 20 years for mobile home 

loans and up to 40 years, or more with 

specific Board approval, on residential 

real estate loans. 12 CFR 701.21(f) and 

(g).

Neither the FCU Act nor the lending 

regulation defines what constitutes a 

mobile home. Previously OGC had 

narrowly interpreted the term to include 

only homes that met the standards 

established by an industry association to 

describe a manufactured home. More 

recently in legal opinion OGC 01–0262, 

dated June 4, 2001, OGC interpreted the 

term to include homes that qualify for 

the home mortgage interest deduction 

under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). 

26 U.S.C. 163(a), (h)(2)(D). The Internal 

Revenue Service describes three main 

features any first or second home must 

have to qualify for the deduction. The 

home securing the debt must be a house, 

condominium, cooperative, mobile 

home, house trailer or similar property 

that has sleeping, cooking and toilet 

facilities. In the above-referenced 

opinion, and in a subsequent opinion 

dated July 3, 2001, OGC concluded that, 

if a loan for a house trailer, recreational 

vehicle (RV) or a boat is secured by a 

first lien and qualifies for the home 

mortgage interest deduction, then it is 

appropriate to permit an FCU to 

consider it a mobile home loan with a 

maximum maturity of 20 years. 

The Board believes it will be helpful 

to clarify the lending rule by 

incorporating this standard into the 

regulation. An FCU must still ensure 

that it complies with the other 

requirements of the rule, namely, that 

the home is owner-occupied and the 

loan is secured by a first lien. Of course, 

FCUs must also perform due diligence 

to ensure that loans are properly 

secured and safety and soundness 

concerns may dictate against extended 

maturities for any RV, trailer or boat 

loan with a short useful life. 

A third issue OGC recently addressed 

involves whether a loan secured by 

manufactured housing should qualify 

for the longer maturities of residential 

real estate loans. Legal opinion OGC 03–

0934, dated November 17, 2003. 

Previously OGC equated manufactured 

housing with mobile homes. Over the 

past several years, the manufactured 

housing industry has undergone 

significant changes. Enhancements to 

the quality and standards of 

manufactured housing, and the fact that 

manufactured housing is intended to be 

permanently affixed to the land, 

prompted OGC to conclude that loans 

for manufactured houses that are 

permanently affixed to the land and also 

meet all other regulatory requirements 

for residential real estate loans under 12 

CFR 701.21(g) will qualify for the longer 

maturities. The manufactured housing 

must qualify as real property and be 

titled as real property under the laws of 

the state where it is located. The loan 

must have a first lien on the 

manufactured housing as required by 

§ 701.21(g)(5). If the member-borrower 

leases rather than owns the land where 

the manufactured home is located then, 

to preserve the effectiveness of the 

FCU’s first lien position, the FCU and 

the land owner should have an 

agreement providing for cooperation in 

the event of default and foreclosure. Of 

course, as a matter of safety and 

soundness, the FCU should also ensure 

that, when the member-borrower leases 

the land where the manufactured 

housing is located, the lease is at least 

as long as the term of the loan. 

Regulatory Procedures 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

requires NCUA to prepare an analysis to 

describe any significant economic 

impact any proposed regulation may 

have on a substantial number of small 

entities. NCUA considers credit unions 

having less than ten million in assets to 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2004 / Proposed Rules 68831

be small for purposes of RFA. 

Interpretive Ruling and Policy 

Statement (IRPS) 87–2 as amended by 

IRPS 03–2. The proposal clarifies and 

expands the lending rules to incorporate 

recent OGC opinions. The NCUA has 

determined and certifies that this 

proposed rule, if adopted, will not have 

a significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small credit 

unions. Accordingly, the NCUA has 

determined that a Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis is not required. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

NCUA has determined that the 

proposed rule would not increase 

paperwork requirements under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 

regulations of the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB). NCUA currently has 

OMB clearance for § 701.21’s collection 

requirements (OMB No. 3133–0139). 

Executive Order 13132

Executive Order 13132 encourages 

independent regulatory agencies to 

consider the impact of their actions on 

State and local interests. In adherence to 

fundamental federalism principles, 

NCUA, an independent regulatory 

agency as defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(5), 

voluntarily complies with the executive 

order. The proposed rule applies only to 

federal credit unions. NCUA has 

determined that the proposed 

amendments will not have a substantial 

direct effect on the States, on the 

connection between the National 

Government and the States, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government. NCUA has 

determined that this proposed rule does 

not constitute a policy that has 

federalism implications for purposes of 

the executive order. 

The Treasury and General Government 

Appropriations Act, 1999—-Assessment 

of Federal Regulations and Policies on 

Families 

NCUA has determined that this 

proposed rule would not affect family 

well-being within the meaning of 

section 654 of the Treasury and General 

Government Appropriations Act, 1999, 

Pub. L. 105–277, 112 Stat. 2681 (1998). 

Agency Regulatory Goal 

NCUA’s goal is clear, understandable 

regulations that impose a minimal 

regulatory burden. We request your 

comments on whether the proposed rule 

is understandable and minimally 

intrusive if implemented as proposed.

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 701

Credit unions, Loans.

By the National Credit Union 

Administration Board on November 18, 2004. 

Mary Rupp, 

Secretary of the Board.

Accordingly, the National Credit 

Union Administration proposes to 

amend 12 CFR part 701 as follows:

PART 701—ORGANIZATION AND 

OPERATIONS OF FEDERAL CREDIT 

UNIONS 

1. The authority citation for part 701 

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 1752(5), 1755, 1756, 

1757, 1759, 1761a, 1761b, 1766, 1767, 1782, 

1784, 1787, 1789.

2. Amend § 701.21 by revising 

paragraphs (e), (f) and (g)(1) to read as 

follows:

§ 701.21 Loans to members and lines of 

credit to members.

* * * * *

(e) Insured, guaranteed and advance 

commitment loans. A loan secured, in 

full or in part, by the insurance or 

guarantee of, or with an advance 

commitment to purchase the loan, in 

full or in part, by the Federal 

Government, a State Government or any 

agency of either, may be made for the 

maturity and under the terms and 

conditions, including rate of interest, 

specified in the law, regulations or 

program under which the insurance, 

guarantee or commitment is provided. 

(f) 20-year loans. (1) Notwithstanding 

the general 12-year maturity limit on 

loans to members, a federal credit union 

may make loans with maturities of up 

to 20 years in the case of: 

(i) A loan to finance the purchase of 

a mobile home if the mobile home will 

be used as the member-borrower’s 

residence and the loan is secured by a 

first lien on the mobile home, and the 

mobile home meets the requirements for 

the home mortgage interest deduction 

under the Internal Revenue Code; 

(ii) A second mortgage loan (or a 

nonpurchase money first mortgage loan 

in the case of a residence on which 

there is no existing first mortgage) if the 

loan is secured by a residential dwelling 

which is the residence of the memberborrower; and 

(iii) A loan to finance the repair, 

alteration, or improvement of a 

residential dwelling which is the 

residence of the member-borrower. 

(2) For purposes of this paragraph (f), 

mobile home may include a recreational 

vehicle, house trailer or boat. 

(g) Long-term mortgage loans—(1) 

Authority. A federal credit union may 

make residential real estate loans to 

members, including loans secured by 

manufactured homes permanently 

affixed to the land, with maturities of up 

to 40 years, or such longer period as 

may be permitted by the NCUA Board 

on a case-by-case basis, subject to the 

conditions of this paragraph (g)).

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 04–25996 Filed 11–24–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7535–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

21 CFR Chapter 1

[Docket No. 2002N–0434]

Withdrawal of Certain Proposed Rules 

and Other Proposed Actions

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, 

HHS.

ACTION: Withdrawal of proposed rules.

SUMMARY: The Food and Drug 

Administration (FDA) is announcing the 

withdrawal of certain advance notice of 

proposed rulemakings (ANPRMs), 

proposed rules, and other proposed 

actions that published in the Federal 

Register more than 5 years ago. These 

proposals are no longer considered 

viable candidates for final action at this 

time. FDA is taking this action to reduce 

its regulatory backlog and focus its 

resources on current public health 

issues. The FDA’s actions are part of an 

overall regulatory reform strategy 

initiated by Health and Human Services 

(HHS) Secretary Tommy G. Thompson.

DATES: The proposed rules are 

withdrawn as of November 26, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lisa 

M. Helmanis, Regulations Policy and 

Management Staff (HF–26), Food and 

Drug Administration, 5600 Fishers 

Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, 301–827–

3480.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

On June 8, 2001, Secretary Thompson 

announced his regulatory reform 

initiative designed to reduce regulatory 

burdens in health care and respond 

faster to the concerns of health care 

providers, State and local governments, 

and individual Americans who are 

affected by HHS rules. In December 

2001, the Secretary announced the 

membership of his Regulatory Reform 

Committee designed to carry out his 

initiative. In November 2002, the 

Committee released its final report with 

over 255 specific recommendations for 

simplifying, streamlining, and generally 

reducing the regulatory burden while