This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

5415 

Vol. 77, No. 23 

Friday, February 3, 2012 

1NOSB Recommendation: Clarifying Limitations 

of § 205.101(b). Issued on October 28, 2010. 

Accessible on the NOP Web site at: http:// 

www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ 

getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5087789&acct=nosb. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 205 

[Doc. #AMS–NOP–11–0073; NOP–11–14] 

National Organic Program: Notice of 

Draft Guidance for Accredited 

Certifying Agents, Certified 

Operations, and Non-Certified 

Handlers of Certified Organic Products 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of availability with 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The National Organic 

Program (NOP) is announcing the 

availability of a draft guidance 

document intended for use by 

accredited certifying agents, certified 

operations and non-certified handlers of 

certified organic products. The draft 

guidance document is entitled as 

follows: Handling Bulk, Unpackaged 

Organic Products (NOP 5031). 

This draft guidance document is 

intended to inform the public of NOP’s 

current thinking on this topic. The NOP 

is seeking comments on this draft 

guidance document. A notice of 

availability of final guidance on this 

topic will be issued upon its final 

approval. Once finalized, this guidance 

document will be available from the 

NOP through ‘‘The Program Handbook: 

Guidance and Instructions for 

Accredited Certifying Agents (ACAs) 

and Certified Operations.’’ This 

Handbook provides those who own, 

manage, or certify organic operations 

with guidance and instructions that can 

assist them in complying with the NOP 

regulations. The current edition of the 

Program Handbook is available online at 

http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop or in 

print upon request. 

DATES: To ensure that NOP considers 

your comment on this draft guidance 

before it begins work on the final 

version of the guidance, submit written 

comments on the draft guidance by 

April 3, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Submit written requests for 

hard copies of this draft guidance 

document to Toni Strother, Agricultural 

Marketing Specialist, National Organic 

Program, USDA–AMS–NOP, 1400 

Independence Ave. SW., Room 2646 

So., Ag Stop 0268, Washington, DC 

20250–0268. See the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section for electronic 

access to the draft guidance documents. 

Interested persons may comment on 

this draft guidance document using the 

following procedures: 

Internet: http://www.regulations.gov. 

Mail: Comments may be submitted by 

mail to: Toni Strother, Agricultural 

Marketing Specialist, National Organic 

Program, USDA–AMS–NOP, 1400 

Independence Ave. SW., Room 2646 

So., Ag Stop 0268, Washington, DC 

20250–0268. 

Written comments responding to this 

request should be identified with the 

document number AMS–NOP–11–0073; 

NOP–11–14. You should clearly 

indicate your position and the reasons 

for your position. If you are suggesting 

changes to the draft guidance document, 

you should include recommended 

language changes, as appropriate, along 

with any relevant supporting 

documentation. 

USDA intends to make available all 

comments, including names and 

addresses when provided, regardless of 

submission procedure used, on 

www.regulations.gov and at USDA, 

AMS, NOP, Room 2646–South building, 

1400 Independence Ave. SW., 

Washington, DC, from 9 a.m. to noon 

and from 1 to 4 p.m., Monday through 

Friday (except official Federal holidays). 

Persons wanting to visit the USDA 

South building to view comments from 

the public to this notice are requested to 

make an appointment by calling (202) 

720–3252. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Melissa R. Bailey, Ph.D., Director, 

Standards Division, National Organic 

Program (NOP), USDA–AMS–NOP, 

1400 Independence Ave. SW., Room 

2646–So., Ag Stop 0268, Washington, 

DC 20250–0268, Telephone: (202) 720– 

3252, Email: 

NOP.guidance@ams.usda.gov, or visit 

the NOP Web site at: 

www.ams.usda.gov/nop. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The NOP selected the topic for the 

draft guidance announced through this 

notice in response to a recommendation 

issued by the National Organic 

Standards Board (NOSB) in October 

2010. On October 28, 2010, the NOSB 

finalized a recommendation requesting 

that the NOP clarify the requirements 

and limitations of 7 CFR 205.101(b) of 

the NOP regulations.1 This section of 

the regulations addresses the conditions 

that a handling operation must meet in 

order to be excluded from the organic 

certification requirements of Part 205. 

The NOSB recommended that NOP 

issue guidance to clarify how these 

conditions apply to handlers of bulk, 

unpackaged organic products. The NOP 

is responding to this recommendation 

by issuing draft guidance to outline the 

types of handling operations that are or 

are not excluded from organic 

certification. The draft guidance 

proposes that brokers, traders or 

distributors of bulk, unpackaged organic 

commodities or livestock are not 

excluded from certification and, 

therefore, must be certified organic 

operations. 

II. Significance of Guidance 

This draft guidance document is being 

issued in accordance with the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

Bulletin on Agency Good Guidance 

Practices (GGPs) (January 25, 2007, 

72 FR 3432–3440). 

The purpose of GGPs is to ensure that 

program guidance documents are 

developed with adequate public 

participation, are readily available to the 

public, and are not applied as binding 

requirements. The draft guidance, when 

finalized, will represent the NOP’s 

current thinking on the topic. It does not 

create or confer any rights for, or on, any 

person and does not operate to bind the 

NOP or the public. Guidance documents 

are intended to provide a uniform 

method for operations to comply that 

can reduce the burden of developing 

their own methods and simplify audits 

and inspections. Alternative approaches 

that can demonstrate compliance with 

the Organic Foods Production Act 

(OFPA), as amended (7 U.S.C. 6501– 

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5416 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 23 / Friday, February 3, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

1 Interest rate risk refers to the vulnerability of a 

credit union’s financial condition to adverse 

movements in market interest rates. For example, 

changes to a credit union’s funding costs generally 

are considered part of the inherent interest rate risk 

associated with a fixed-rate mortgage loan. A 

borrower with a fixed-rate mortgage loan is 

unaffected by increases in market interest rates 

because his payment is based on a ‘‘fixed’’ rate. The 

credit union that originated the mortgage loan, 

however, is subject to losses in the market value of 

these mortgages from the increases in market 

interest rates. Furthermore, as market interest rates 

rise, there is a concomitant increase in the credit 

union’s funding costs, or the interest rate the credit 

union pays on the money it uses to ‘‘fund’’ the 

mortgage loan. 

6522), and its implementing regulations 

are also acceptable. As with any 

alternative compliance approach, the 

NOP strongly encourages industry to 

discuss alternative approaches with the 

NOP before implementing them to avoid 

unnecessary or wasteful expenditures of 

resources and to ensure the proposed 

alternative approach complies with the 

Act and its implementing regulations. 

Electronic Access 

Persons with access to Internet may 

obtain the draft guidance at either 

NOP’s Web site at http:// 

www.ams.usda.gov/nop or http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Requests for hard 

copies of the draft guidance documents 

can be obtained by submitting a written 

request to the person listed in the 

ADDRESSES section of this Notice. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 6501–6522. 

Dated: January 30, 2012. 

Robert C. Keeney, 

Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–2377 Filed 2–2–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

NATIONAL CREDIT UNION 

ADMINISTRATION 

12 CFR Part 703 

Financial Derivatives Transactions To 

Offset Interest Rate Risk; Investment 

and Deposit Activities 

AGENCY: National Credit Union 

Administration. 

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: Through this Advance Notice 

of Proposed Rulemaking (‘‘ANPR’’), the 

NCUA Board (Board) requests 

additional public comments to identify 

the conditions for federal credit unions 

(FCUs) to engage in certain derivatives 

transactions for the purpose of offsetting 

interest rate risk (IRR).1 This ANPR 

follows an earlier Advance Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR I) on 

derivatives transactions issued for 

comment (76 FR 37030, June 24, 2011). 

This ANPR asks additional questions 

regarding the conditions under which 

NCUA may grant authority for an FCU 

to engage in derivatives transactions 

independently. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before April 3, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any one of the following methods. 

(Please send comments by one 

method only): 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Email: Address to 

regcomments@ncua.gov. Include ‘‘[Your 

name]—Comments on Advance Notice 

of Proposed Rulemaking for Part 703, 

Financial Derivatives Transactions To 

Offset Interest Rate Risk’’ in the email 

subject line. 

• Fax: (703) 518–6319. Use the 

subject line described above for email. 

• 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. 

Public Inspection: You can view all 

public comments on NCUA’s Web site 

at http://www.ncua.gov/Legal/Regs/ 

Pages/PropRegs.aspx as submitted, 

except for those we cannot post for 

technical reasons. NCUA will not edit or 

remove any identifying or contact 

information from the public comments 

submitted. You may inspect paper 

copies of comments in NCUA’s law 

library at 1775 Duke Street, Alexandria, 

Virginia 22314, by appointment 

weekdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. To 

make an appointment, call (703) 518– 

6546 or send an email to 

OGCMail@ncua.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jeremy Taylor, Senior Capital Markets 

Specialist, at (703) 518–6628; or Lance 

Noggle, Staff Attorney, Office of General 

Counsel, at (703) 518–6555. You may 

also contact them at the National Credit 

Union Administration, 1775 Duke 

Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

II. Questions for Comment 

I. Background 

In June 2011, the Board issued ANPR 

I (76 FR 37030, June 24, 2011) 

requesting public comment on whether 

and how to modify its rule on 

investment and deposit activities to 

permit FCUs to enter derivatives 

transactions for the purpose of offsetting 

IRR. It now seeks additional information 

to assist in drafting a proposed rule for 

FCUs to independently engage in 

derivatives transactions (i.e., without 

program oversight by a third-party 

provider). 

ANPR I requested comment in five 

areas. Three areas asked for comments 

on NCUA’s current pilot program and 

third-party programs in general. Only 

two areas concentrated on independent 

derivatives authority. As the Board 

focuses on developing requirements for 

such authority, it seeks additional 

information to help ensure that a rule 

granting independent derivatives 

authority is manageable for both 

participating FCUs and NCUA, while 

simultaneously protecting the credit 

union industry from undue risk. 

II. Questions for Comment 

Since the inception of the derivatives 

pilot program, very few FCUs have 

submitted applications seeking 

permission to independently engage in 

derivatives to offset IRR. In ANPR I, the 

Board sought comment on whether it 

should allow FCUs to independently 

engage in derivatives activities. Nearly 

all commenters who responded to this 

question supported independent 

derivatives authority for FCUs. As 

discussed more fully below, however, 

not all commenters agreed on the 

conditions under which the NCUA 

should grant such authority. 

The Board is assessing the parameters 

under which NCUA may authorize 

FCUs to independently engage in 

derivatives activities, and invites 

comment on the issues raised in this 

ANPR. To facilitate consideration of the 

public’s views, please address your 

comments to the specific questions, and 

organize and identify them by 

corresponding question number so that 

each question is addressed separately. 

To maximize the value of public input 

on each issue, it is also important that 

commenters provide and explain the 

reasons that support each of their 

opinions. There will be a further 

opportunity to comment on these issues 

should the Board issue a proposed rule. 

Eligibility of Applicant FCUs for 

Independent Derivatives Authority 

The Board is considering eligibility 

requirements for FCUs seeking authority 

to independently enter into derivatives 

transactions. ANPR I asked several 

eligibility questions, including what 

criteria NCUA should consider in 

granting or denying a request for 

independent derivatives authority. As 

noted above, nearly all commenters who 

addressed the issue of independent 

derivatives authority supported it. Yet 

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