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

42608 

Vol. 74, No. 162 

Monday, August 24, 2009 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration 

9 CFR Part 201 

RIN 0580–AB10 

Required Scale Tests 

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Department of 

Agriculture’s (USDA) Grain Inspection, 

Packers and Stockyards Administration 

(GIPSA) is proposing to amend one 

section of the regulations under the 

Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921, as 

amended (P&S Act), regarding the 

requirement that stockyard owners, 

market agencies, dealers, packers, or 

live poultry dealers that weigh 

livestock, live poultry, or feed, have 

their scales tested at least twice each 

calendar year at intervals of 

approximately 6 months. This proposal 

would amend the current regulations to 

state that the 6-month interval in which 

scale owners must have their scales 

tested each calendar year is no longer 

approximate. Specifically, the proposal 

would require that scale owners 

complete the first of the two scale tests 

between January 1 and June 30 of the 

calendar year. The remaining scale test 

would be required to be completed 

between July 1 and December 31 of the 

calendar year. In addition, a minimum 

period of 120 days would be required 

between these two tests. More frequent 

testing would still be required in cases 

where a scale does not maintain 

accuracy between tests. Finally, we are 

proposing to amend that section of the 

regulations to add ‘‘swine contractors’’ 

to the list of regulated entities to which 

the section applies. GIPSA believes that 

this proposed action would facilitate 

GIPSA’s ability to regulate the business 

operations of stockyard owners, swine 

contractors, market agencies, dealers, 

packers, or live poultry dealers through 

the effective enforcement of the P&S 

Act. 

DATES: Written or electronic comments 

received by October 23, 2009 will be 

considered prior to issuance of a final 

rule. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit your 

written or electronic comments on this 

proposed rule to: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: Tess Butler, GIPSA, USDA, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., room 

1643–S, Washington, DC 20260–3642. 

• E-mail comments to 

comments.gipsa@usda.gov. 

• Fax: (202) 690–2173. 

Comments should be identified as 

‘‘P&SP, Required Scale Tests,’’ and 

should make reference to the date and 

page number of this issue of the Federal 

Register. All comments will become a 

matter of public record and available for 

public inspection at the above address 

during regular business hours (7 CFR 

1.27(b)). Please call the GIPSA 

Management Support Staff at (202) 720– 

7486 for an appointment to view the 

comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: S. 

Brett Offutt, Director, Policy and 

Litigation Division, P&SP, GIPSA, 1400 

Independence Ave., SW., Washington, 

DC 20250, (202) 720–7363, 

s.brett.offutt@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) 

administers and enforces the P&S Act 

(7 U.S.C. et seq.). Under authority 

delegated to GIPSA by the Secretary of 

Agriculture in section 407(a) of the P&S 

Act (7 U.S.C. 228), we are authorized to 

issue regulations necessary to carry out 

the provisions of the P&S Act. 

Section 201.72 of the current 

regulations under the P&S Act (9 CFR 

201.72) requires that each stockyard 

owner, market agency, dealer, packer, or 

live poultry dealer who weighs 

livestock, live poultry, or feed for 

purposes of purchase, sale, acquisition, 

payment, or settlement, or who weighs 

livestock carcasses for the purpose of 

purchase on a carcass weight basis, or 

who furnishes scales for such purposes, 

have such scales tested at least twice 

during each calendar year at intervals of 

approximately 6 months. Scale owners 

must then report the results of the scale 

tests to the GIPSA Packers and 

Stockyards Program (P&SP) regional 

office for the geographical region where 

the scale is located. Section 201.71 (9 

CFR 201.71) requires that scales must 

meet all applicable requirements of the 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology Handbook 44, 

‘‘Specifications, Tolerances, and Other 

Technical Requirements for Weighing 

and Measuring Devices,’’ most recently 

adopted and incorporated by reference 

into the P&S Act regulations (currently, 

the 1996 edition). 

Under current procedures, the P&SP 

regional office, which has enforcement 

responsibility for the geographic 

location where a specific scale is 

located, notifies the scale owner that its 

scale is due for testing in the event that 

the scale owner has not filed a scale test 

report within the required 6-month 

timeframe. Thereafter, GIPSA sends the 

scale owner a follow-up letter, or Notice 

of Default, if GIPSA does not receive the 

scale test report within 30 days from the 

date that the scale test report was due. 

Finally, if the scale owner fails to 

provide GIPSA with the required test 

report, GIPSA issues to the scale owner 

a Notice of Violation, used to inform the 

scale owner that its scale test reports 

were not received within the required 

timeframe under P&S Act regulations. 

GIPSA also notifies the scale owner that 

the scale may not be used further until 

the violation is corrected. 

Because the regulations now state that 

scale tests must be performed at 

‘‘approximately’’ 6-month intervals, 

GIPSA has found that it is difficult to 

determine when a scale owner may be 

in violation of the P&S Act for failing to 

submit a timely scale test report. As a 

result, GIPSA is proposing that section 

201.72(a) (9 CFR 201.72(a)) of the P&SA 

regulations be amended to delete the 

term ‘‘approximately’’ in order to clearly 

state that scale owners must submit a 

scale test report to GIPSA every 6 

months in a calendar year between the 

periods January 1 and June 30, and July 

1 and December 31, respectively. GIPSA 

would continue to require more 

frequent testing of specific scales in 

cases where the scales do not maintain 

accuracy between tests. 

The Farm Security and Rural 

Investment Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107– 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 162 / Monday, August 24, 2009 / Proposed Rules 42609 

1See: http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/ 

documents/sba_homepage/serv_sstd_tablepdf.pdf. 

2See: http://archive.gipsa.usda.gov/pubs/ 

2008_psp_annual_report.pdf. 

171) (Act) amended the P&S Act to add 

‘‘swine contractor’’ as a regulated entity. 

Section 10502 of the Act defined swine 

contractor as ‘‘* * * any person 

engaged in the business of obtaining 

swine under a swine production 

contract for the purpose of slaughtering 

the swine or selling the swine for 

slaughter, if (a) the swine is obtained by 

the person in commerce; or (b) the 

swine (including products from the 

swine) obtained by the person is sold or 

shipped in commerce.’’ 

Adding ‘‘swine contractor’’ to specific 

sections of the regulations would dispel 

any confusion among swine contractors 

regarding which regulations under the 

P&S Act are applicable to them. It 

would also allow GIPSA to more easily 

identify and enforce violations of the 

P&S Act. 

Options Considered 

We considered the option of leaving 

the term ‘‘approximately’’ in the 

regulations and instead issuing 

guidance on what GIPSA considers as 

being a timely report by a scale owner. 

GIPSA determined, however, that the 

regulations should be amended to 

clearly state the requirement for testing 

scales in order to give adequate notice 

to scale owners of when they would be 

in violation of the regulation. We 

believe that this proposed amendment 

to the regulations would enhance our 

effectiveness in regulating the business 

operations of stockyard owners, market 

agencies, dealers, packers, or live 

poultry dealers through the enforcement 

of the P&S Act. 

We considered the option of not 

adding swine contractors to the 

regulations; we would continue to 

protect the interest of swine producers 

indirectly through regulation of packers, 

dealers, and market agencies. That 

option, however, is contrary to the 

intent of Congress, which amended the 

P&S Act to give GIPSA specific 

authority over swine contractors. The 

proposed changes to add swine 

contractor as a regulated entity would 

make this section consistent with other 

regulations under the P&S Act regarding 

regulated entities that have been 

amended to include swine contractors. 

In addition, we are proposing to 

amend the wording of section 201.72 

(9 CFR 201.72) to comply with the 

President’s Memorandum of June 1, 

1998, Plain Language in Government 

Writing (63 FR 31885). We are also 

proposing to amend 201.71(b) to 

substitute ‘‘P&SP’’ for ‘‘P&S’’ to reflect 

the current name of this USDA–GIPSA 

program. 

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory 

Flexibility Act 

This rule has been determined to be 

not significant for the purposes of 

Executive Order 12866 and, therefore, 

has not been reviewed by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB). 

Also, pursuant to the requirements set 

forth in the Regulatory Flexibility Act 

(RFA); GIPSA has considered the 

economic impact of this action on small 

entities. The purpose of the RFA is to 

fit regulatory actions to the scale of 

businesses subject to such actions in 

order that small businesses will not be 

unduly or disproportionately burdened. 

The Small Business Administration 

(SBA) defines small businesses by their 

North American Industry Classification 

System Codes.1 The affected entities 

and size threshold under the proposed 

rule would define as a small business: 

NAICS code 12111, cattle producers; 

NAICS code 112210, hog producers and 

swine contractors; and NAICS codes 

112320 and 112330, broiler and turkey 

producers if their sales are less than 

$750,000 per year, respectively. Live 

poultry dealers, NACIS code 31165; and 

hog and cattle slaughterers, NACIS code 

311611, respectively, are considered as 

small businesses if they have fewer than 

500 employees. Stockyards are found 

under NACIS code 424520, ‘‘Livestock 

Merchant Wholesalers,’’ and are 

considered to be small businesses if 

they have fewer than 100 employees. 

According to the 2008 Annual Report, 

Packers and Stockyards Program,2

published on March 1, 2009, there were 

339 bonded livestock slaughter firms, 

126 live poultry dealers, 4,685 bonded 

dealers, 1,326 bonded market agencies, 

and 1,392 posted stockyards operating 

subject to the P&S Act. While many of 

these entities would be considered as 

small businesses by the SBA, we believe 

that our proposal would not affect those 

entities significantly since all of the 

entities, as scale owners, are already 

required to report scale test results to 

GIPSA twice in a calendar year at 6- 

month intervals. Again, we are 

proposing this amendment to the 

regulations to clarify the time interval 

that scale owners must have their scales 

tested in order to enhance GIPSA’s 

ability to enhance its enforcement of the 

P&S Act. GIPSA believes that the 

benefits of this proposed rule outweigh 

the costs because every scale owner 

needs to understand the requirements 

for having their scales tested in order to 

avoid violating the P&S Act. While this 

proposed rule would also affect swine 

contractors, most such entities do not 

meet the definition for small entities 

under the SBA. Therefore, we are not 

providing an initial regulatory flexibility 

analysis. 

We have considered the effects of this 

rulemaking action under the RFA and 

we believe that it will not have a 

significant impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. We welcome 

comments on the cost of compliance 

with this rule, and particularly on the 

impact of this proposed rule on small 

entities. We also welcome comments on 

alternatives to the proposed rule that 

would achieve the same purpose with 

less cost to, or burden upon scale 

owners. 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposed rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform. These actions are not 

intended to have retroactive effect. This 

rule would not pre-empt state or local 

laws, regulations, or policies, unless 

they present an irreconcilable conflict 

with this rule. There are no 

administrative procedures that must be 

exhausted prior to any judicial 

challenge to the provisions of this rule. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

In accordance with the Office of 

Management and Budget regulations 

(5 CFR Part 1320) that implement the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. Chapter 35), the information 

collection and recordkeeping 

requirements that are covered by this 

proposed rule were approved under 

OMB number 0580–0015 on January 30, 

2009, and expire on January 31, 2011. 

E-Government Act Compliance 

GIPSA 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. 

List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 201 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Measurement standards, 

Trade practices. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, we propose to amend 9 CFR 

part 201 as follows: 

PART 201—REGULATIONS UNDER 

THE PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS 

ACT 

1. The authority citation for part 201 

would continue to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 181–229c. 


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42610 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 162 / Monday, August 24, 2009 / Proposed Rules 

2. Section 201.72 is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 201.72 Scales; testing of. 

(a) As a stockyard owner, swine 

contractor, market agency, dealer, 

packer, or live poultry dealer who 

weighs livestock, live poultry, or feed 

for purposes of purchase, sale, 

acquisition, payment, or settlement of 

livestock or live poultry, or who weighs 

livestock carcasses for the purpose of 

purchase on a carcass weight basis, or 

who furnishes scales for such purposes, 

you must have your scales tested by 

competent persons at least twice during 

each calendar year. As a scale owner, 

you must complete the first of the two 

scale tests between January 1 and June 

30 of the calendar year. The remaining 

scale test must be completed between 

July 1 and December 31 of the calendar 

year. You must have a minimum period 

of 120 days between these two tests. 

More frequent testing will be required in 

cases where the scale does not maintain 

accuracy between tests. 

(b) As a stockyard owner, swine 

contractor, market agency, dealer, 

packer, or live poultry dealer who 

weighs livestock, livestock carcasses, 

live poultry, or feed for purposes of 

purchase, sale, acquisition, payment, or 

settlement of livestock, livestock 

carcasses or live poultry, you must 

furnish reports of tests and inspections 

on forms approved by the 

Administrator. You must retain one 

copy of the test and inspection report 

for yourself, and file a second copy with 

the P&SP regional office for the 

geographical region where the scale is 

located. 

(c) When scales used for weighing 

livestock, livestock carcasses, live 

poultry, or feed are tested and inspected 

by a State agency, municipality, or other 

governmental subdivision, the forms 

used by such agency for reporting such 

scale tests and inspections may be 

accepted in lieu of the forms approved 

for this same purpose by the 

Administrator if the forms contain 

substantially the same information. 

J. Dudley Butler, 

Administrator, Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–20337 Filed 8–21–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–KD–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2008–0821; Directorate 

Identifier 2008–NE–20–AD] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; General 

Electric Company (GE) CF34–8E Series 

Turbofan Engines 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: The FAA proposes to 

supersede an existing airworthiness 

directive (AD) for GE CF34–8E series 

turbofan engines with certain part 

number (P/N) full authority digital 

electronic controls (FADECs) installed. 

That AD currently requires removing 

certain P/N FADECs. This proposed 

superseding AD would require removal 

of 12 more P/Ns of FADECs. This 

proposed AD results from 20 additional 

reports received of loss of thrust control 

events since AD 2008–16–01 was 

issued. We are proposing this AD to 

prevent loss of thrust control of the 

airplane. 

DATES: We must receive any comments 

on this proposed AD by October 23, 

2009. 

ADDRESSES: Use one of the following 

addresses to comment on this proposed 

AD. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and follow 

the instructions for sending your 

comments electronically. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery: Deliver to Mail 

address above between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

• Fax: (202) 493–2251. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Alan Strom, Aerospace Engineer, Engine 

Certification Office, FAA, Engine & 

Propeller Directorate, 12 New England 

Executive Park, Burlington, MA 01803; 

e-mail: alan.strom@faa.gov; telephone 

(781) 238–7143; fax (781) 238–7199. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments Invited 

We invite you to send any written 

relevant data, views, or arguments 

regarding this proposal. Send your 

comments to an address listed under 

ADDRESSES. Include ‘‘Docket No. FAA– 

2008–0821; Directorate Identifier 2008– 

NE–20–AD’’ in the subject line of your 

comments. We specifically invite 

comments on the overall regulatory, 

economic, environmental, and energy 

aspects of the proposed AD. We will 

consider all comments received by the 

closing date and may amend the 

proposed AD in light of those 

comments. 

We will post all comments we 

receive, without change, to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information you provide. We 

will also post a report summarizing each 

substantive verbal contact with FAA 

personnel concerning this proposed AD. 

Using the search function of the Web 

site, anyone can find and read the 

comments in any of our dockets, 

including, if provided, the name of the 

individual who sent the comment (or 

signed the comment on behalf of an 

association, business, labor union, etc.). 

You may review the DOT’s complete 

Privacy Act Statement in the Federal 

Register published on April 11, 2000 

(65 FR 19477–78). 

Examining the AD Docket 

You may examine the AD docket on 

the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov; or in person at the 

Docket Operations office between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. The AD docket 

contains this proposed AD, the 

regulatory evaluation, any comments 

received, and other information. The 

street address for the Docket Operations 

office (telephone (800) 647–5527) is the 

same as the Mail address provided in 

the ADDRESSES section. Comments will 

be available in the AD docket shortly 

after receipt. 

Discussion 

The FAA proposes to amend 14 CFR 

part 39 by superseding AD 2008–16–01, 

Amendment 39–15619 (73 FR 44628, 

July 31, 2008). That AD requires 

removal of certain P/N FADECs. That 

AD was the result of six loss of thrust 

control events from the same software 

fault scenario. That condition, if not 

corrected, could result in loss of thrust 

control of the airplane. 

Actions Since AD 2008–16–01 Was 

Issued 

Since AD 2008–16–01 was issued, we 

have received 20 additional reports of 

loss of thrust control events, totaling 26 

events to-date. Those loss of thrust 

control events were due to fuel metering 

valve feedback faults caused by 

connector pin micro-arcing. As a result 


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