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contains regulatory documents having general

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are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

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Rules and Regulations Federal Register

1525 

Vol. 75, No. 7 

Tuesday, January 12, 2010 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 984 

[Doc. No. AMS–FV–09–0050; FV09–984–5 

FR] 

Walnuts Grown in California; Changes 

to Regulations Governing Voting 

Procedures 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This rule revises the 

administrative regulations governing 

voting procedures for the California 

Walnut Board (Board). The Board 

locally administers the marketing order 

that regulates the handling of walnuts 

grown in California (order). This rule 

specifies the voting procedures to be 

used for expanded types of nonassembled meetings and removes voting 

by telegraph. This will enable the Board 

to conduct business using current 

communication methods, which will 

result in time and cost savings to the 

Board and its members. 

DATES: Effective Date: January 13, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Debbie Wray, Marketing Specialist, or 

Kurt J. Kimmel, Regional Manager, 

California Marketing Field Office, 

Marketing Order Administration 

Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, 

AMS, USDA; Telephone: (559) 487– 

5901, Fax: (559) 487–5906, or e-mail: 

Debbie.Wray@ams.usda.gov or 

Kurt.Kimmel@ams.usda.gov. 

Small businesses may request 

information on complying with this 

regulation by contacting Jay Guerber, 

Marketing Order Administration 

Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, 

AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW., STOP 0237, Washington, 

DC 20250–0237; Telephone: (202) 720– 

2491, Fax: (202) 720–8938, or e-mail: 

Jay.Guerber@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final 

rule is issued under Marketing Order 

No. 984, as amended (7 CFR part 984), 

regulating the handling of walnuts 

grown in California, 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 Order 

12866. 

This final rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform. This rule is not intended 

to have retroactive effect. 

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 final rule revises the 

administrative regulations governing the 

Board’s voting procedures to implement 

authority from a recent amendment to 

the order. It expands the current 

procedures for voting by allowing voting 

by e-mail, facsimile, telephone, and 

videoconference, or by other means of 

communication. This rule was 

unanimously recommended by the 

Board at a meeting on May 18, 2009. 

Section 984.45(b) of the California 

walnut marketing order specifies the 

percentage requirements for quorum 

and voting procedures of the Board. 

Section 984.45(c) of the order provides 

authority for the Board to vote by mail 

or telegram, or by any other means of 

communication, and to prescribe, with 

the approval of USDA, the minimum 

number of votes that must be cast, as 

well as any other procedures that are 

necessary when the voting is by any of 

these communication methods. Section 

984.45(d) of the order provides 

authority for the Board to meet by 

telephone or other means of 

communication. 

Currently, Section 984.445 of the 

order’s administrative regulations 

prescribes procedures for voting by mail 

or telegram but does not include 

procedures for voting by other means of 

communication, such as e-mail, 

facsimile, telephone, or 

videoconference. 

At its meeting on May 18, 2009, the 

Board discussed the need to change the 

order’s administrative regulations to 

include the use of current 

communication technologies to conduct 

business at non-assembled meetings, as 

authorized by a recent amendment to 

the order (73 FR 11328, March 3, 2008). 

Prior to the amendment, the Board had 

the authority to vote by mail or telegram 

upon due notice to all members but not 

to hold non-assembled meetings. As 

amended, the order provides for nonassembled meetings, but voting 

requirements and procedures for all 

such communication methods needed to 

be recommended by the Board and 

established through informal 

rulemaking. The Board unanimously 

recommended these changes at its 

meeting on May 18, 2009. 

Using current communication 

methods and technology to vote at nonassembled meetings on matters deemed 

to be non-controversial, administrative, 

or of an emergency nature will result in 

cost savings by reducing time and travel 

expenses of Board members, many of 

whom are walnut producers and 

handlers who must travel long distances 

within California to attend meetings. 

Other Board expenses associated with 

holding assembled meetings, such as 

reserving meeting spaces, may also be 

reduced. 

This final rule expands the 

procedures currently prescribed for 

voting by mail or telegram to include 

voting by e-mail and facsimile. In 

addition, reference to voting by telegram 

will be removed from the regulations 

since this communication method 

generally has been replaced by newer 

technology. Finally, voting by roll call 

will be prescribed for meetings 

conducted by telephone, 

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1526 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 7 / Tuesday, January 12, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

videoconference, or any other method of 

communication that enables interaction 

of Board members to ensure each 

member’s vote by such method is 

accurately recorded. 

Final 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 final regulatory 

flexibility analysis. 

The purpose of the RFA is to fit 

regulatory actions to the scale of 

business 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 currently 58 handlers of 

California walnuts subject to regulation 

under the marketing order, and there are 

approximately 4,500 growers in the 

production area. Small agricultural 

service firms are defined by the Small 

Business Administration (SBA) (13 CFR 

121.201) as those having annual receipts 

of less than $7,000,000, and small 

agricultural growers are defined as those 

having annual receipts of less than 

$750,000. 

USDA’s National Agricultural 

Statistics Service (NASS) reports that 

California walnuts were harvested from 

a total of 223,000 bearing acres during 

2008–09. The average yield for the 

2008–09 crop was 1.96 tons per acre, 

which is higher than the 1.56 tons per 

acre average for the previous five years. 

NASS reported the value of the 2008– 

09 crop at $1,210 per ton, which is 

lower than the previous five-year 

average of $1,598 per ton. 

At the time of the 2007 Census of 

Agriculture, which is the most recent 

information available, approximately 89 

percent of California’s walnut farms 

were smaller than 100 acres. Fifty-four 

percent were between 1 and 15 acres. A 

100-acre farm with an average yield of 

1.96 tons per acre would have been 

expected to produce about 196 tons of 

walnuts during 2008–09. At $1,210 per 

ton, that farm’s production would have 

had an approximate value of $237,000. 

Assuming that the majority of 

California’s walnut farms are still 

smaller than 100 acres, it could be 

concluded that the majority of the 

growers had receipts of less than 

$237,000 in 2008–09. This is well below 

the SBA threshold of $750,000; thus, the 

majority of California’s walnut growers 

would be considered small growers 

according to SBA’s definition. 

According to information supplied by 

the industry, approximately one-half of 

California’s walnut handlers shipped 

merchantable walnuts valued under 

$7,000,000 during the 2008–09 

marketing year and would therefore be 

considered small handlers according to 

the SBA definition. 

This final rule revises procedures 

currently prescribed under § 984.445 of 

the order for voting by mail and 

telegram to include other means of 

communication, including e-mail, 

facsimile, telephone, and 

videoconference. This revision to the 

regulations incorporates authority from 

a recent amendment to the order 

concerning voting procedures and 

allows the Board to conduct business at 

non-assembled meetings using current 

methods of communication. Authority 

for this action is provided in § 984.45 of 

the order. 

The majority of the Board’s members 

are walnut producers and handlers who 

are located at various locations 

throughout California, and it can be 

difficult to assemble these members in 

one location for a meeting, especially 

during harvest season. By prescribing 

procedures for voting by the 

communication methods authorized by 

the order, the Board will be able to vote 

on non-controversial, administrative, or 

emergency matters at non-assembled 

meetings, which will reduce travel time 

and expenses for producer and handler 

Board members. Board expenses 

associated with holding assembled 

meetings, such as the cost of reserving 

a meeting room, may also be reduced. 

The Board unanimously 

recommended these changes, which are 

necessary to implement authority 

provided by a recent amendment to the 

order. Therefore, no alternatives to these 

changes were considered practicable. 

This action will not impose any 

additional reporting or recordkeeping 

requirements on either small or large 

walnut 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. 

USDA has not identified any relevant 

Federal rules that duplicate, overlap or 

conflict with this rule. 

The Board’s meeting was widely 

publicized throughout the walnut 

industry, and all interested persons 

were invited to attend the meeting and 

participate in Board deliberations on all 

issues. Like all Board meetings, the May 

18, 2009, meeting was a public meeting, 

and all entities, both large and small, 

were able to express views on this issue. 

A proposed rule concerning this 

action was published in the Federal 

Register on October 9, 2009 (74 FR 

52154). Copies of the proposed rule 

were also mailed or sent via facsimile to 

Board members and walnut handlers. 

Finally, the rule was made available 

through the Internet by USDA and the 

Office of the Federal Register. A 60-day 

comment period ending December 8, 

2009, was provided to allow interested 

persons to respond to the proposal. No 

comments were received. 

A small business guide on complying 

with fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop 

marketing agreements and orders may 

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

AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.

do?template=TemplateN&page=

MarketingOrdersSmallBusinessGuide. 

Any questions about the compliance 

guide should be sent to Jay Guerber at 

the previously mentioned address in the 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section. 

After consideration of all relevant 

matters presented, including the 

information and recommendation 

submitted by the Board and other 

available information, it is hereby found 

that this rule, as hereinafter set forth, 

will tend to effectuate the declared 

policy of the Act. 

It is further found that good cause 

exists for not postponing the effective 

date of this rule until 30 days after 

publication in the Federal Register 

(5 U.S.C. 553) because the regulations 

governing voting procedures should 

reflect the authority that was 

implemented by a recent amendment to 

the order. Also, this action was 

recommended at a public meeting. 

Finally, a 60-day comment period was 

provided for in the proposed rule, and 

no comments were received. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 984 

Marketing agreements, Nuts, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Walnuts. 

■ For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 984 is amended as 

follows: 

PART 984—WALNUTS GROWN IN 

CALIFORNIA 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 984 continues to read as follows: 

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 7 / Tuesday, January 12, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 1527 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674. 

■ 2. Section 984.445 is revised to read 

as follows: 

§ 984.445 Procedures for voting by mail, email, telephone, videoconference, facsimile, 

or any other means of communication. 

(a) Whenever the Board votes upon 

any proposition by mail, e-mail, or 

facsimile, at least six members or 

alternates acting as members must vote 

and one dissenting vote shall prevent its 

adoption. Each proposition to be voted 

upon by mail, e-mail, or facsimile shall 

specify a time limit for members to vote, 

after which the alternates shall be given 

the opportunity to vote. 

(b) Whenever the Board conducts 

meetings by telephone, 

videoconference, or any technology that 

enables member interaction, the vote 

shall be conducted by roll call. 

Dated: January 6, 2010. 

David R. Shipman, 

Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–316 Filed 1–11–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 25 

[Docket No. NM405, Special Conditions No. 

25–394–SC] 

Special Conditions: Bombardier, Inc., 

Model DHC–8–100, –200, –300, and 

–400 Series Airplanes; Passenger 

Seats With Non-Traditional, Large, 

Non-Metallic Panels 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final special conditions; request 

for comments; correction. 

SUMMARY: This document makes a 

correction to a Final special conditions; 

request for comment document, 

published in the Federal Register on 

June 5, 2009 (74 FR 26946), which 

issued special conditions for the 

Bombardier, Inc., Model DHC–8–100, 

–200, –300, and –400 series airplanes, 

for passenger seats with non-traditional, 

large, non-metallic panels. The Final 

special conditions; request for comment 

document, included an incorrect 

Special Conditions number. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Menkin, FAA, Standardization 

Branch, ANM–113, Transport Airplane 

Directorate, Aircraft Certification 

Service, 1601 Lind Avenue, SW., 

Renton, Washington 98057–3356; 

telephone (425) 227–22793 facsimile 

(425) 227–1230; or e-mail: 

Michael.Menkin@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

document designated as ‘‘Docket No. 

NM405, Special Conditions No. 25– 

283–SC’’ was published in the Federal 

Register on June 5, 2009 (74 FR 26946). 

The document issued special conditions 

pertaining to passenger seats with nontraditional, large, non-metallic panels 

for the Bombardier, Inc., Model DHC–8– 

100, –200, –300, and –400 series 

airplanes. 

As published, the document 

contained an incorrect Special 

Conditions number; one that was used 

for a different set of special conditions. 

To correct that problem, the special 

conditions number pertaining to these 

special conditions is being changed. 

Since no part of the regulatory 

information has been changed, the 

special conditions are not being 

republished. 

Correction 

In Final special conditions; request 

for comment document FR Doc. E9– 

13187, published on June 5, 2009 (74 FR 

26946), make the following correction: 

1. On page 26946, in the first column, 

fifth line, change No. 25–283–SC to No. 

25–394–SC. 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on 

December 28, 2009. 

Ali Bahrami, 

Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, 

Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–290 Filed 1–11–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2009–0788; Directorate 

Identifier 2009–NM–193–AD; Amendment 

39–16167; AD 2010–01–09] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing 

Company Model 737–300, –400, and 

–500 Series Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are adopting a new 

airworthiness directive (AD) for certain 

Model 737–300, –400, and –500 series 

airplanes. This AD requires repetitive 

external non-destructive inspections to 

detect cracks in the fuselage skin along 

the chem-mill step at stringers S–1 and 

S–2 right, between station (STA) 827 

and STA 847, and repair if necessary. 

This AD results from a report of a hole 

in the fuselage skin common to stringer 

S–1 and S–2 left, between STA 827 and 

STA 847 on an airplane that diverted to 

an alternate airport due to cabin 

depressurization and subsequent 

deployment of the oxygen masks. We 

are issuing this AD to detect and correct 

fatigue cracking of the fuselage skin 

panels at the chem-milled steps, which 

could result in sudden fracture and 

failure of the fuselage skin panels, and 

consequent rapid decompression of the 

airplane. 

DATES: This AD is effective February 16, 

2010. 

The Director of the Federal Register 

approved the incorporation by reference 

of a certain publication listed in the AD 

as of February 16, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: For service information 

identified in this AD, contact Boeing 

Commercial Airplanes, Attention: Data 

& Services Management, P.O. Box 3707, 

MC 2H–65, Seattle, Washington 98124– 

2207; telephone 206–544–5000, 

extension 1; fax 206–766–5680; e-mail 

me.boecom@boeing.com; Internet 

https://www.myboeingfleet.com. 

Examining the AD Docket 

You may examine the AD docket on 

the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov; or in person at the 

Docket Management Facility between 9 

a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. The AD 

docket contains this AD, the regulatory 

evaluation, any comments received, and 

other information. The address for the 

Docket Office (telephone 800–647–5527) 

is the Document Management Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 

Docket Operations, M–30, West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 

Washington, DC 20590. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Wayne Lockett, Aerospace Engineer, 

Airframe Branch, ANM–120S, FAA, 

Seattle Aircraft Certification Office, 

1601 Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, 

Washington 98057–3356; telephone 

(425) 917–6447; fax (425) 917–6590. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Discussion 

We issued a notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPRM) to amend 14 CFR 

part 39 to include an airworthiness 

directive (AD) that would apply to 

certain Model 737–300, –400, and –500 

series airplanes. That NPRM was 

published in the Federal Register on 

September 15, 2009 (74 FR 47148). That 

NPRM proposed to require repetitive 

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