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

38846 

Vol. 78, No. 125 

Friday, June 28, 2013 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 1207 

[Document Number AMS–FV–13–0027] 

Potato Research and Promotion Plan; 

Amend the Administrative Committee 

Structure and Delete the Board’s 

Mailing Address 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This proposal invites 

comments on amending the structure of 

the Administrative Committee 

(Committee) of the U.S. Potato Board 

(Board) and deleting the Board’s mailing 

address from the Potato Research and 

Promotion Plan. The Plan is 

administered by the Board with 

oversight by the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA). Under the Plan, 

there are seven Committee ViceChairperson positions. The Board has 

recommended that these positions be 

increased to nine. This proposed change 

is intended to facilitate increased 

involvement in the Board’s leadership 

opportunities. Further, the Board’s 

office is being relocated and the address 

must be changed in the Plan. The 

deletion of the Board’s mailing address 

from the Plan would require no further 

amendment to the Plan if the Board’s 

office is relocated again. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

July 15, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments 

concerning this proposal. Comments 

may be submitted on the Internet at: 

http://www.regulations.gov or to the 

Promotion and Economics Division, 

Fruit and Vegetable Program, AMS, 

USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue 

SW., Room 1406–S, Stop 0244, 

Washington, DC 20250–0244; facsimile: 

(202) 205–2800. All comments should 

reference the docket number and the 

date and page number of this issue of 

the Federal Register and will be made 

available for public inspection, 

including name and address, if 

provided, in the above office during 

regular business hours or it can be 

viewed at http://www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Patricia A. Petrella, Marketing 

Specialist, Promotion and Economics 

Division, Fruit and Vegetable Program, 

AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW., Room 1406–S, Stop 0244, 

Washington, DC 20250–0244; telephone: 

(301) 337–5295; toll free (888) 720– 

9917; facsimile (202) 205–2800; or 

electronic mail: 

Patricia.Petrella@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

proposed rule is issued under the Potato 

Research and Promotion Plan (Plan) (7 

CFR part 1207). The Plan is authorized 

under the Potato Research and 

Promotion Act (Act) (7 U.S.C. 2611– 

2627). 

Executive Order 12866 and Executive 

Order 13563 

Executive Order 12866 and 13563 

direct agencies to assess all costs and 

benefits of available regulatory 

alternatives and, if regulation is 

necessary, to select regulatory 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health and safety 

effects, distributive impacts, and 

equity). Executive order 13563 

emphasizes the importance of 

quantifying both costs and benefits, of 

reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, 

and of promoting flexibility. This rule 

has been designated as ‘‘non-significant 

regulatory action’’ under section 3(f) of 

Executive Order 12866. Accordingly, 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) has waived the review process. 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposal has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform. It 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 311 of the Act (7 U.S.C. 2620), 

a person subject to a plan may file a 

petition with USDA stating that such 

plan, any provision of such plan, or any 

obligation imposed in connection with 

such plan, is not in accordance with law 

and request a modification of such plan 

or to be exempted therefrom. Such 

person 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 such person is an 

inhabitant, or has his or her principal 

place of business, has jurisdiction to 

review USDA’s ruling on the petition, 

provided that a complaint is filed not 

later than 20 days after date of the entry 

of the ruling. 

Background 

This proposed rule invites comments 

on amending the structure of the 

Committee of the Board and to delete 

the Board’s mailing address from the 

Plan. The Plan is administered by the 

Board with oversight by USDA. Under 

the Plan, assessments are collected from 

handlers and importers and used for 

projects to promote potatoes and potato 

products. 

This proposed rule modifies the 

structure of the Board’s Administrative 

Committee as prescribed in the Plan by 

increasing the number of ViceChairperson positions on the Committee 

from seven to nine. These additional 

positions would be allocated, as 

provided in the Board’s bylaws, to the 

Northwest and North Central caucuses. 

The Northwest district includes Alaska, 

Idaho, Montana, Oregon and 

Washington. The North Central district 

includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, 

Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, North 

Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and 

Wisconsin. With this action, Board 

representation at the executive level for 

potato producers in the Northwest 

district increases from 28.5 percent to 

33 percent and in the North Central 

district from 14 percent to 22 percent. 

Section 1207.327(b) of the Plan 

provides the authority to the Board to 

make rules and regulations, with USDA 

approval, to effectuate the terms and 

conditions of the Plan. Section 

1207.328(a) of the Plan provides the 

authority to the Board to select from its 

members such officers as may be 

necessary and to adopt such rules for 

the conduct of its business as the Board 

may deem advisable. 

Section 1207.507(a) of the Plan’s 

administrative rules delineates the 

structure of the Board’s Administrative 

Committee. The Committee is selected 

from among Board members, and is 

composed mostly of producer members, 

with one or more importer member(s), 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 125 / Friday, June 28, 2013 / Proposed Rules 38847 

and the public member. The Board, 

through the adoption of its bylaws, may 

prescribe the manner of selection and 

the number of members; except that the 

regulations mandate that the Committee 

shall include a Chairperson and a fixed 

number of Vice-Chairpersons. The 

proposed change is intended to facilitate 

increased involvement in the Board’s 

leadership opportunities from the 

Northwest and North Central caucuses 

and possibly increase diversity at higher 

positions on the Board. 

Prior to this change, the Plan 

provided for seven Vice-Chairperson 

positions on the Committee. ViceChairperson positions are allocated in 

the Board’s bylaws to represent 

production districts as determined by 

the Board. This action increases the 

number of Vice-Chairperson positions to 

nine. The additional Vice-Chairpersons 

would be allocated to the Northwest and 

North Central caucuses, which 

historically have been the caucuses with 

the greatest production. 

The second proposed change would 

delete the Board’s mailing address from 

the Plan’s rules and regulations. Section 

1207.501 of the Plan specifies that all 

communications in connection with the 

Plan shall be addressed to: National 

Potato Promotion Board, 7555 East 

Hampden Avenue, Suite 412, Denver, 

Colorado, 80231. The Board is in the 

process of moving to a new location 

within Denver, Colorado. Therefore, this 

section would need to be amended. 

However, USDA is recommending that 

this section be deleted so no further 

amendment would be required if the 

Board moves its office in the future. 

Interested persons wanting to contact 

the Board can reach them through their 

Web site, Facebook, or smartphone 

application. 

Board Recommendation 

The Board met on March 14, 2013, 

and unanimously recommended 

amending the Committee structure of 

the Board and amending the Board’s 

mailing address from the Plan. This 

action would contribute to effective 

administration of the program. 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Act 

Analysis 

In accordance with the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601– 

612), AMS is required to examine the 

impact of the proposed rule on small 

entities. Accordingly, AMS has 

considered the economic impact of this 

action on small entities. 

According to the Board, it is estimated 

that in 2013 there are about 2,500 

producers, 1,030 handlers and 240 

importers of potatoes and potato 

products who are subject to the 

provisions of the Plan. 

The purpose of the RFA is to fit 

regulatory actions to the scale of 

businesses subject to such actions so 

that small businesses will not be 

disproportionately burdened. The Small 

Business Administration defines, in 13 

CFR part 121, small agricultural 

producers as those having annual 

receipts of no more than $750,000 and 

small agricultural service firms 

(domestic handlers and importers) as 

those having annual receipts of no more 

than $7.0 million. Under these 

definitions, the majority of the handlers, 

producers and importers that would be 

affected by this rule would be 

considered small entities. 

This proposed rule invites comments 

on amending the structure of the 

Administrative Committee of the Board 

and deleting the Board’s mailing 

address from the Plan. The Plan is 

administered by the Board with 

oversight by the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA). Under the Plan, 

there are seven Committee ViceChairperson positions. The Board has 

recommended that these positions be 

increased to nine Vice-Chairpersons. 

This proposed change is intended to 

facilitate increased involvement in the 

Board’s leadership opportunities. The 

deletion of the Board’s mailing address 

would require no further amendment to 

the Plan if the Board’s office is 

relocated. The Board’s office is being 

relocated so an amendment change was 

necessary to the Plan. 

This proposed rule would amend 

section 1207.507(a) of the Plan by 

changing the number of ViceChairperson positions from seven to 

nine. Also, the Board’s office address 

would be removed from 1207.501 of the 

Plan. 

Regarding the economic impact of this 

proposed rule on affected entities, this 

action would impose no costs on 

producers, handlers, and importers as a 

result of this action. Both changes are 

administrative in nature; it would 

merely provide additional opportunities 

for increased involvement by producers 

in the Board’s leadership opportunities 

from the larger production areas. 

Regarding alternatives, one option to 

the proposed action would be to 

maintain the status quo and not change 

the Administrative Committee structure. 

This would not alleviate the concerns 

voiced by the Northwest and North 

Central caucuses for more 

representation and leadership 

opportunities. The Board also 

considered combining the Southwest 

caucus into the Northwest caucus. The 

Board concluded that this would cause 

the Southwest producers to lose their 

representation as there are more 

Northwest producers and the available 

seats could possibly be absorbed by all 

Northwest producers. Therefore, the 

proposed recommendation was 

approved, as it would allow greater 

opportunity for producers from the 

Board’s two largest caucus districts to 

become engaged in the Board’s 

leadership structure. This action would 

also make the representation on the 

Board more equitable according to 

production. 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35), the information collection 

and recordkeeping requirements that are 

imposed by the Order have been 

approved previously under OMB 

control number 0581–0093. This 

proposed rule would not result in a 

change to the information collection and 

recordkeeping requirements previously 

approved and would impose no 

additional reporting and recordkeeping 

burden on potato producers, handlers 

and importers. 

As with all Federal promotion 

programs, reports and forms are 

periodically reviewed to reduce 

information requirements and 

duplication by industry and public 

sector agencies. Finally, USDA has not 

identified any relevant Federal rules 

that duplicate, overlap, or conflict with 

this proposed rule. 

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. 

Regarding outreach efforts, this action 

was discussed by the Board at meetings 

over the past year. Board members 

discussed the changes with their 

respective regions. The Board met in 

March 2013 and unanimously made its 

recommendation. All of the Board’s 

meetings, including meetings held via 

teleconference, are open to the public 

and interested persons are invited to 

participate and express their views. 

We have performed this initial RFA 

regarding the impact of this proposed 

action on small entities and we invite 

comments concerning potential effects 

of this action on small businesses. 

A 15-day comment period is provided 

to allow interested persons to respond 

to this proposal. Fifteen days is deemed 

appropriate because this rule would 

need to be in place as soon as possible 

so the additional Vice-Chairperson can 

participate in Committee meetings. In 

addition, the Board’s office has already 

relocated so the address needs to be 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
38848 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 125 / Friday, June 28, 2013 / Proposed Rules 

deleted promptly. All written comments 

timely received will be considered 

before a final determination is made on 

this matter. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1207 

Advertising, Agricultural research, 

Imports, Potatoes, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 1207 is proposed 

to be amended as follows: 

PART 1207—POTATO RESEARCH 

AND PROMOTION PLAN 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 1207 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 2611–2627 and 7 

U.S.C. 7401. 

§ 1207.501 [Removed and Reserved] 

■ 2. Section 1207.501 is removed and 

reserved. 

■ 3. Section 1207.507(a) is revised to 

read as follows: 

§ 1207.507 Administrative Committee. 

(a) The Board shall annually select 

from among its members an 

Administrative Committee composed of 

producer members as provided for in 

the Board’s bylaws, one or more 

importer members, and the public 

member. Selection shall be made in 

such manner as the Board may 

prescribe: Except that such committee 

shall include the Chairperson and nine 

Vice-Chairpersons, one of whom shall 

also serve as the Secretary and Treasurer 

of the Board. 

* * * * * 

Dated: June 24, 2013. 

Rex A. Barnes, 

Associate Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2013–15578 Filed 6–27–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

15 CFR Part 922 

[Docket No. 130405334–3334–01] 

RIN 0648–BD20 

Re-establishing the Sanctuary 

Nomination Process 

AGENCY: Office of National Marine 

Sanctuaries (ONMS), National Ocean 

Service, National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Department of Commerce (DOC). 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

public comments. 

SUMMARY: NOAA’s ONMS is 

announcing that it is re-establishing the 

sanctuary nomination process and is 

proposing to amend its regulations 

governing the process for nominating 

and evaluating sites for eligibility as a 

national marine sanctuary. This action 

would replace the currently inactive 

Sanctuary Evaluation List (SEL) with a 

new process for local communities and 

other interested parties to provide 

NOAA with robust, criteria-driven 

proposals for new national marine 

sanctuaries. To implement this process, 

NOAA is seeking public comment on 

proposed changes to the sanctuary 

nomination and designation procedures, 

and on the criteria by which the agency 

would analyze nominations for 

potential new national marine 

sanctuaries. Once these criteria have 

been made final, NOAA intends to 

solicit nominations for areas of the 

marine and Great Lakes environments 

that satisfy those criteria for possible 

designation as a national marine 

sanctuary. 

DATES: Comments on this proposed rule 

must be received no later than August 

27, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN 0648–BD20, by any 

one of the following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

www.regulations.gov/ 

#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NOS-2013- 

0091, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, 

complete the required fields and enter 

or attach your comments. 

• Mail: Matt Brookhart, Chief, Policy 

& Planning Division, Office of National 

Marine Sanctuaries, 1305 East-West 

Highway, 11th Floor, Silver Spring, MD 

20910. 

All comments received are a part of 

the public record and will be posted to 

http://www.regulations.gov without 

change. All Personal Identifying 

Information (for example, name, 

address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by 

the commenter may be publicly 

accessible. Do not submit confidential 

business information or otherwise 

sensitive or protected information. 

ONMS will accept anonymous 

comments (for electronic comments 

submitted through the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal, enter N/A in the 

required fields if you wish to remain 

anonymous). Attachments to electronic 

comments will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe 

PDF file formats only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matt 

Brookhart, Chief, Policy & Planning 

Division, NOAA Office of National 

Marine Sanctuaries, 1305 East-West 

Highway, 11th Floor, Silver Spring, MD 

20910, (301) 713–7247. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Access 

This Federal Register document is 

also accessible via the Internet at 

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su-docs/ 

aces/aces140.html. 

I. Background 

The National Marine Sanctuaries Act 

(NMSA or Act, 16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.) 

authorizes the Secretary of Commerce 

to, among other things, identify and 

designate as national marine sanctuaries 

areas of the marine environment, 

including the Great Lakes, which are of 

special national significance; to manage 

these areas as the National Marine 

Sanctuary System (NMSS); and to 

provide for the comprehensive and 

coordinated conservation and 

management of these areas and the 

activities affecting them in a manner 

which complements existing regulatory 

authorities. Section 1433 of the NMSA 

provides sanctuary designation 

standards and factors to consider in 

determining whether an area qualifies 

for consideration as a potential 

sanctuary, and section 1434 establishes 

procedures for sanctuary designation 

and implementation. Day-to-day 

management of the NMSS has been 

delegated by the Secretary to the ONMS. 

Regulations implementing the NMSA 

and each sanctuary are codified in Title 

15 Part 922 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR). 

NOAA first developed a formal 

process for identifying and evaluating 

sites for consideration as potential 

national marine sanctuaries in the late 

1970s. In 1983, NOAA replaced this 

process with the Site Evaluation List 

(SEL) (48 FR 24295). As described in 

NOAA regulations at 15 CFR 922.3, the 

SEL was a list of natural and historical 

marine resource sites selected by the 

Secretary as qualifying for further 

evaluation for possible designation as 

national marine sanctuaries. The SEL 

included detailed criteria, relied on 

regional review panels, and was 

intended to be reviewed and updated 

every five years. When it was published 

in 1983, the SEL included 29 sites (48 

FR 35568), four of which were 

subsequently designated as sanctuaries: 

Flower Garden Banks (1991), Stellwagen 

Bank (1992), Western Washington Outer 

Coast (renamed Olympic Coast, 1994), 

and Thunder Bay (2000) national 

marine sanctuaries (NMS). The list of 

sites on the SEL can be found at 

http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/ 

management/fr/54_fr_53432.pdf. 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS