This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

46905 

Vol. 78, No. 149 

Friday, August 2, 2013 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Commodity Credit Corporation 

Tobacco Transition Program; Final 

Assessment Procedures 

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice provides 

information about the final quarterly 

assessments for the Tobacco Transition 

Program (TTP). Through the Tobacco 

Transition Payment Program (TTPP), 

which is part of the TTP, eligible former 

tobacco quota holders and tobacco 

producers receive payments in 10 

annual installments in fiscal years (FY) 

2005 through 2014. To fund TTPP, the 

Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) 

collects quarterly assessments from 

domestic manufacturers and importers 

of tobacco products. As specified in the 

Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act 

of 2004 (FETRA), the Secretary must 

ensure the final assessment is collected 

no later than September 30, 2014. Also, 

as specified in the TTP regulations, the 

final two calendar quarterly payments 

are both due to CCC on September 30, 

2014. This notice provides information 

about the final monthly reporting date 

by domestic manufacturers and 

importers, the final date for revisions of 

volume or tax data by domestic 

manufacturers and importers of tobacco 

products, and other information about 

how the assessment part of TTP will be 

operated in the final months. TTP will 

continue to operate as specified in 

existing regulations, which are not 

changing with this notice. 

DATES: Effective August 2, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: USDA Farm Service 

Agency, Economic and Policy Analysis 

Staff, 1400 Independence Ave. SW., 

Room 3722–S, STOP 0515, Washington, 

DC 20250–0515. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Darlene Soto; telephone: (202)720–0542. 

Persons with disabilities who require 

alternative means for communications 

(Braille, large print, audio tape, etc.) 

should contact the USDA Target Center 

at (202)720–2600 (voice and TDD). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The TTP regulations are located in 7 

CFR part 1463; TTP was authorized by 

Title VI of the American Jobs Creation 

Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108–357). Title VI 

is also known as FETRA (7 U.S.C. 518– 

519a). FETRA repealed the tobacco 

marketing quota and related price 

support programs authorized by Title III 

of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 

1938 and by the Agricultural Act of 

1949 and provides for payments to 

persons who were owners of farms with 

tobacco quotas (referred to as tobacco 

quota holders), or who produced 

regulated tobacco. As specified in 

FETRA, TTPP is funded using 

assessments collected quarterly from 

domestic tobacco manufacturers and 

importers. 

This notice provides the following 

information, for domestic manufacturers 

and importers of tobacco products, 

about the conclusion of the TTP: 

• Issuance of the final quarterly TTP 

assessment invoice, 

• Final monthly reports (including 

final revisions of individual monthly 

reports), 

• Final revisions of quarterly 

assessment calculations, 

• Calculation of CCC estimated 

interest and actual daily net interest in 

calendar year 2014, 

• Penalty calculations for calendar 

year 2014, 

• Appeals or disputes, and 

• Archiving of TTP assessment 

documents. 

Issuance of Final Quarterly TTP 

Assessment Invoice 

The 40th quarterly assessment 

(quarter ending December 2014 

assessment) will be the final TTP 

assessment. FETRA and the TTP 

regulations in 7 CFR 1463.9(c) specify 

that the last assessment payment must 

be sent to CCC by September 30, 2014. 

CCC will issue the 40th (final) quarterly 

assessment invoice on September 1, 

2014, along with the 39th quarterly 

assessment. Consequently, no 

assessment invoice will be issued in 

December 2014. Section 625(d)(3)(A) of 

FETRA specifies that the Secretary must 

ensure that the final assessment is 

collected no later than September 30, 

2014, and the TTP regulations in 7 CFR 

1463.8(b) specify that manufacturers 

and importers will receive the 

assessment invoice for each quarter 30 

calendar days before the end of the 

quarter. For these reasons, as noted 

above, the final assessment notification 

must be no later than September 1, 

2014. 

The adjusted market share for the 

39th and 40th quarterly assessment 

payments due on September 30, 2014, 

will be based on the assessed entity’s 

market activity during April 1 to June 

30, 2014. The 40th quarterly assessment 

will be initially determined by using the 

same adjusted market share of an entity 

that was used to determine the 39th 

quarterly assessment; this is the 

‘‘original’’ adjusted market share for the 

40th quarterly assessment (see below for 

information on revisions to quarterly 

assessments). Adjusted market share is 

the market share of a domestic 

manufacturer or domestic importer of 

tobacco products adjusted to reflect 

such entity’s share of a class of tobacco 

during the immediately preceding 

calendar year quarter. 

Final Individual Entity Monthly 

Reports 

The final TTP monthly report 

(Tobacco Products Subject to Tax for the 

Tobacco Transition Assessment 

Program) for September 2014 will be 

due to CCC no later than October 20, 

2014. The monthly reporting 

requirements are described in 7 CFR 

1463.6, ‘‘Determination of Persons 

Liable for Payment of Assessments.’’ 

The reporting requirements for the final 

report are the same as for previous 

months of TTP, which are specified in 

the regulations. 

In the event of an error on any 

monthly tobacco report submitted to 

CCC in 2014, tobacco manufacturers or 

importers may submit corrected or 

revised reports up to the final date of 

November 30, 2014. After this date, no 

revisions will be accepted. 

Final Revisions of 2014 Quarterly 

Assessment Calculations 

As noted above, the original adjusted 

market shares for the 40th (final) 

quarterly assessment payment, which is 

due to CCC on September 30, 2014, will 


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be identical to the market shares used 

for the 39th quarterly assessment. 

Revised quarterly assessments for 

2014 will be issued no later than June 

1, 2015. The process is as follows. First, 

CCC will revise the December 2014 

adjusted market shares to reflect actual 

removals, using monthly reports 

submitted by domestic tobacco 

manufacturers and importers for July 

through September 2014, and issue a 

revised December 2014 assessment. 

Next, CCC will further revise all 4 

quarters of 2014 based on the actual 

program costs and actual interest for 

2014, any revisions to any monthly 

tobacco reports, and will include tax 

and volume data received from 

domestic tobacco manufacturers and 

importers not included in previous 

assessment calculations (such as late 

reports and tax and volume data from 

the U.S. Department of Treasury’s 

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade 

Bureau and the U.S. Department of 

Homeland Security’s Customs and 

Border Protection for nonreporting 

entities). 

Calculation of CCC Estimated Interest 

Costs for 2014 

Though the majority of TTPP annual 

payments to eligible former tobacco 

quota holders and producers are made 

in January of each year, the assessment 

payments are not collected until March 

30th, June 30th, September 30th, and 

December 30th. Therefore, CCC borrows 

funds, upfront, from the U.S. Treasury 

to cover these payments. Accordingly, 

CCC’s estimated interest costs are 

included in the quarterly assessments. 

Due to the fact that the final assessment 

will be collected on September 30, 2014, 

the calculation formula for CCC’s 

estimated interest costs will be slightly 

different for 2014. At the beginning of 

each calendar year, CCC estimates the 

amount of interest that will be incurred. 

At the end of the calendar year, CCC 

revises these estimates to reflect actual 

daily net interest, and provides revised 

quarterly assessments for the entire 

previous fiscal year. The following 

paragraphs explain how these 

calculations will be made for 2014. 

The Example of Estimated Interest 

Computation table below shows how 

CCC will compute estimated quarterly 

interest in 2014, using an example 

interest rate of 0.125 percent. The actual 

interest rate may be higher or lower than 

0.125 percent; CCC’s interest borrowing 

rate from the United States Treasury for 

2014 will be published by the USDA 

Farm Service Agency in January 2014 

and will be available from the following 

Web page: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/ 

FSA/webapp?area=about&subject

=landing&topic=sao-cc-cr. The key 

element the table below shows is how 

the estimated interest will be calculated 

for the final 2 quarters of calendar year 

2014. In the example shown, if interest 

rates are 0.125 percent, CCC interest rate 

costs will be approximately $75,000 less 

than if the 40th payment were due 

December 30, 2014. The table shows the 

overall calculations at the national level, 

with the estimated national assessment 

divided for the four estimated quarterly 

assessments. 

BILLING CODE 3410–05–P 


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BILLING CODE 3410–06–C 

In order to provide quarterly 

revised—or true—assessments, CCC will 

recalculate the estimated interest based 

on the daily net interest for the calendar 

year, as well as determine the final 

payment amount dispersed to tobacco 

quota holders and producers of tobacco. 

After each FY closes, CCC runs a query 

against the accounting system to retrieve 

the daily TTPP disbursements paid to 

former tobacco quota holders and 

producers throughout the year. Next, 

CCC calculates the cumulative daily 

disbursements and reduces the 


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cumulative quarterly tobacco 

assessments from that activity. CCC 

computes daily interest against the net 

value of the disbursements minus the 

assessments. Daily interest is based on 

the CCC’s borrowing rate from the U.S. 

Treasury as of January 1. 

Although the last assessment payment 

of TTP is due on September 30, 2014, 

the total net interest calculations based 

on actual interest will include the daily 

net interest through December 31, 2014. 

Penalty Calculations for 2014 

Penalties will be issued to any 

manufacturer or importer that fails to 

submit monthly reports to CCC for any 

month during October 2013 through 

September 2014. The penalties for the 

failure to submit monthly tobacco 

reports and supporting documentation, 

providing false reports, or providing late 

reports (after the deadline of October 20, 

2014) will be determined by CCC in 

accordance with 7 CFR 1463.10. 

Appeals or Disputes 

If a manufacturer or importer wishes 

to appeal its 39th estimated quarterly 

assessment (which, as noted above, will 

also be used as the 40th quarterly 

assessment), a written statement must 

be submitted to CCC within 30 business 

days from the date the manufacturer or 

importer received the assessment 

notification. CCC mails out its 

assessment notices several days before 

the end of the month; absent evidence 

to the contrary, the date the assessment 

notification was received will be 

deemed September 2, 2014. As a result, 

the deadline for appeals will be October 

14, 2014, or 30 business days after 

actual receipt of the notice, whichever 

is later. 

If a manufacturer or importer wishes 

to appeal its revised—or true—2014 

quarterly assessments, it must submit a 

written statement within 30 business 

days from the date the manufacturer or 

importer received its revised assessment 

notification. Absent evidence to the 

contrary, the date the revised 

assessment notification was received 

will be deemed June 1, 2015. As a 

result, the deadline for appeals will be 

July 13, 2015, or 30 business days after 

actual receipt of the notice, whichever 

is later. 

Appeals of TTP assessments and 

penalties must be in made in 

accordance with the provisions of 7 CFR 

1463.11, except as regarding the address 

for submission of appeals, as noted 

above. 

Archiving of TTP Assessment 

Documents 

CCC will archive all records related to 

the assessment portion of TTP at a 

Federal Records Center. CCC will 

archive FY 2014 tobacco records on or 

about December 30, 2015. 

Signed on: July 29, 2013. 

Juan M. Garcia, 

Administrator, Farm Service Agency, and 

Executive Vice President, Commodity Credit 

Corporation. 

[FR Doc. 2013–18671 Filed 8–1–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utilities Service 

Announcement of Grant Application 

Deadlines and Funding Levels for the 

Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural 

Communities and Bulk Fuel Grants 

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of Funding Availability 

(NOFA). 

SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service 

(RUS), an agency of the United States 

Department of Agriculture (USDA), 

announces the availability of up to 

$7.766 million in fiscal year 2013 

(FY13) for competitive grants to assist 

communities with extremely high 

energy costs and, up to $1 million in 

FY13 for competitive grants to state 

entities to establish and support a 

revolving fund to provide a more costeffective means of purchasing fuel 

where the fuel cannot be shipped by 

means of surface transportation. The 

grant funds to assist communities with 

extremely high energy costs may be 

used to acquire, construct, extend, 

upgrade, or otherwise improve energy 

generation, transmission, or distribution 

facilities serving communities in which 

the average residential expenditure for 

home energy exceeds 275 percent of the 

national average. The grant funds to 

establish and support a revolving fund 

must be used to facilitate cost effective 

fuel purchases for persons, 

communities, and businesses in eligible 

areas. This notice describes the 

eligibility and application requirements, 

the criteria that will be used by RUS to 

award funding, and information on how 

to obtain application materials. 

DATES: You may submit completed grant 

applications on paper or electronically 

according to the following deadlines: 

• Paper applications must be 

postmarked and mailed, shipped, or 

sent overnight, no later than September 

3, 2013, or hand delivered to RUS by 

this deadline, to be eligible under this 

NOFA. Late or incomplete applications 

will not be eligible for FY 2013 grant 

funding. 

• Electronic applications must be 

submitted through Grants.gov no later 

than midnight September 3, 2013 to be 

eligible under this NOFA for FY 2013 

grant funding. Late or incomplete 

electronic applications will not be 

eligible. 

• Applications will not be accepted 

by electronic mail. Applications will be 

accepted upon publication of this notice 

until midnight (EST) of the closing date 

of September 3, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit completed 

applications for grants on paper or 

electronically to the following 

addresses: 

• Paper applications are to be 

submitted to the Rural Utilities Service, 

Electric Programs, United States 

Department of Agriculture, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW., STOP 1560, 

Room 5165 South Building, 

Washington, DC 20250–1560. 

Applications should be marked 

‘‘Attention: High Energy Cost Grant 

Program’’ or ‘‘Attention: Bulk Fuel 

Grant Program’’ 

• Applications may be submitted 

electronically through Grants.gov. 

Information on how to submit 

applications electronically is available 

on the Grants.gov Web site at http:// 

www.Grants.gov. 

Application Guides and materials 

may be obtained electronically through: 

http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/ 

UEP_Our_Grant_Programs.html. Call 

the RUS Electric Programs at (202) 720– 

9545 to request paper copies of 

Application Guides and other materials. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 

CONTACT: 

Kristi Kubista-Hovis, Senior Policy 

Advisor, Rural Utilities Service, Electric 

Programs, United States Department of 

Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue 

SW., STOP 1560, Room 5165 South 

Building, Washington, DC 20250– 1560. 

Telephone (202) 720–9545, Fax 202– 

690–0717, email Kristi.kubistahovis@wdc.usda.gov 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Overview Information 

Federal Agency Name: United States 

Department of Agriculture, Rural 

Utilities Service. 

Funding Opportunity Title: Assistance 

to High Energy Cost Rural Communities 

and the Bulk Fuel Grant Program. 

Announcement Type: Initial 

announcement. 

Funding Opportunity Number: RD– 

RUS–HECG12. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance (CFDA) Number: 10.859. The 


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