This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

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REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

53639 

Vol. 74, No. 201 

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration 

9 CFR Part 201 

RIN 0580–AB09 

Scales; Accurate Weights, Repairs, 

Adjustments or Replacements After 

Inspection 

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration, USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Department of 

Agriculture’s Grain Inspection, Packers 

and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) 

is amending one section of the 

regulations under the Packers and 

Stockyards Act (P&S Act) to incorporate 

by reference the 2009 edition of the 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST) Handbook 44, 

‘‘Specifications, Tolerances, and Other 

Technical Requirements for Weighing 

and Measuring Devices,’’ and to require 

that scales used by stockyard owners, 

market agencies, dealers, packers, and 

live poultry dealers to weigh livestock, 

livestock carcasses, live poultry, or feed 

for the purposes of purchase, sale, 

acquisition, payment, or settlement, 

meet applicable requirements of the 

2009 edition of NIST Handbook 44. 

GIPSA is also amending that section of 

the regulations to add ‘‘swine 

contractors’’ to the list of regulated 

entities to which the section applies. 

DATES: Effective November 19, 2009. 

The incorporation by reference of a 

certain publication listed in this rule is 

effective as of November 19, 2009. 

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 

GIPSA enforces the P&S Act, as 

amended (7 U.S.C. 181 et seq.). The 

Secretary of Agriculture, is authorized 

(7 U.S.C. 228) to issue regulations 

necessary to carry out the provisions of 

the P&S Act. 

The regulations under the P&S Act 

have specific requirements for (1) scales 

that regulated entities use for weighing 

livestock, poultry or feed and (2) 

packers purchasing livestock on a 

carcass grade, weight, or grade and 

weight basis. 

The Farm Security and Rural 

Investment Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107– 

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.’’ 

GIPSA believes that adding ‘‘swine 

contractor’’ to specific sections of the 

regulations will dispel confusion among 

swine contractors regarding which 

regulations under the P&S Act are 

applicable to them. It will also allow 

GIPSA to more easily identify and 

enforce violations of the P&S Act. 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and 

Final Action 

GIPSA published a Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal 

Register (74 FR 22841) on May 15, 2009, 

seeking comments on amending the 

regulations issued under the P&S Act to 

do the following: (1) Incorporate by 

reference the 2009 edition of the 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST) Handbook 44, 

‘‘Specifications, Tolerances, and Other 

Technical Requirements for Weighing 

and Measuring Devices;’’ (2) require that 

scales used by stockyard owners, market 

agencies, dealers, packers, and live 

poultry dealers to weigh livestock, 

livestock carcasses, live poultry, or feed 

for the purposes of purchase, sale, 

acquisition, payment, or settlement, 

meet applicable requirements of the 

2009 NIST Handbook 44; and, (3) add 

‘‘swine contractors’’ to the list of 

regulated entities to which the section 

applies. Because GIPSA received no 

comments on the proposed rule during 

the 60-day comment period, which 

ended on July 14, 2009, we are 

amending § 201.71 of the regulations 

under the P&S Act (9 CFR 201.71) to 

incorporate by reference the 2009 

edition of NIST Handbook 44. We are 

also amending § 201.71(a) to state that 

swine contractors must operate, 

maintain, and test scales according to 

the requirements of the 2009 edition of 

Handbook 44, Specifications, 

Tolerances, and Other Technical 

Requirements for Weighing and 

Measuring Devices. In addition, we are 

amending § 201.71(b) to require that 

swine contractors use scales equipped 

with a printing device, which shall 

record weight values on a scale ticket or 

other document. Finally, we are 

amending § 201.71(d) to require that 

swine contractors use only scales that 

are found, upon testing and inspection, 

to be in a condition to give accurate 

weights. 

GIPSA believes that adding ‘‘swine 

contractor’’ as a regulated entity to 

section 201.71 makes that section of the 

regulations consistent with other 

regulations under the P&S Act regarding 

regulated entities that have been 

amended to include swine contractors. 

Options Considered 

We considered the option of not 

adding swine contractors to the 

regulations while continuing to protect 

their interests indirectly through the 

regulation of packers, dealers, and 

market agencies. We determined that 

this option, however, was contrary to 

the intent of Congress, which amended 

the P&S Act to give GIPSA specific 

authority over swine contractors. We 

also considered not revising the 

regulations under the P&S Act regarding 

the standards for operating, 

maintaining, and testing scales and 

standards for electronic devices. We 

determined that this option, however, 

would not provide up-to-date standards 

under the P&S regulations for electronic 

devices as new technology emerges, nor 

would it provide consistency with the 

standards imposed by the States’ 

departments of weights and measures. 

Effects on Regulated Entities 

This final rule makes it clear that 

swine contractors as well as other 

regulated entities must operate, 


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53640 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 201 / Tuesday, October 20, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

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

documents/sba_homepage/serv_sstd_tablepdf.pdf. 

maintain, and test scales according to 

the requirements of the 2009 edition of 

NIST Handbook 44, and use scales that 

are in good condition and equipped 

with a printing device to record weight 

values. Since regulated entities are 

required under State law to comply with 

NIST Handbook 44, there are no new 

costs or burden to comply. 

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory 

Flexibility Act 

The Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) has designated this rule as not 

significant for the purposes of Executive 

Order 12866. 

Pursuant to the requirements set forth 

in the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq.), 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 (NAICS).1 This final rule 

affects swine contractors, most of which 

are either slaughterers or processors of 

swine with more than 500 employees 

(NAICS code 311611), or are producers 

with more than $750,000 in annual sales 

(NAICS code 112210), and do not meet 

the applicable size standards for small 

entities under the Small Business Act 

(13 CFR 121.201). Therefore, we have 

determined that this final rule will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities as 

defined in the RFA and are not 

providing an initial regulatory flexibility 

analysis. 

Executive Order 12988 

This final rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform. These actions are not 

intended to have retroactive effect. This 

final rule will 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 final 

rule. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This final rule does not contain new 

or amended information collection 

requirements subject to the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 

et seq.). It does not involve collection of 

new or additional information by the 

federal government. 

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 

Swine, Hogs, Livestock, Measurement 

standards, Incorporation by reference. 

■ For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, we amend 9 CFR part 201 to 

read as follows: 

PART 201—REGULATIONS UNDER 

THE PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS 

ACT 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 201 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 181–229c. 

■ 2. In § 201.71, paragraphs (a), (b) and 

(d) are revised to read as follows: 

§ 201.71 Scales; accurate weights, repairs, 

adjustments or replacements after 

inspection. 

(a) All scales used by stockyard 

owners, swine contractors, market 

agencies, dealers, packers, and live 

poultry dealers to weigh livestock, 

livestock carcasses, live poultry, or feed 

for the purposes of purchase, sale, 

acquisition, payment, or settlement 

shall be installed, maintained, and 

operated to ensure accurate weights. 

Such scales shall meet applicable 

requirements contained in the General 

Code, Scales Code, and Weights Code of 

the 2009 edition of the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology 

(NIST) Handbook 44, ‘‘Specifications, 

Tolerances, and Other Technical 

Requirements for Weighing and 

Measuring Devices,’’ which is hereby 

incorporated by reference. This 

incorporation by reference was 

approved by the Director of the Federal 

Register in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 

552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. These 

materials are incorporated as they exist 

on the date of approval and a notice of 

any change in these materials will be 

published in the Federal Register. All 

approved material is available for 

inspection at the National Archives and 

Records Administration (NARA). For 

more information on the availability of 

this material at NARA, call 202–741– 

6030 or go to http://www.archives.gov/ 

federal_register/ 

code_of_federal_regulations/ 

ibr_locations.html. Also, it is available 

for inspection at USDA, GIPSA, P&SP, 

1400 Independence Ave., SW., 

Washington, DC 20250, (202) 720–7363. 

The handbook is for sale by the National 

Conference of Weights & Measures 

(NCWM), 1135 M Street, Suite-110, 

Lincoln, Nebraska, 68508. Information 

on these materials may be obtained from 

NCWM by calling 402–434–4880, by 

e-mailing nfo@ncwm.net, or on the 

Internet at http://www.nist.gov/owm. 

(b) All scales used by stockyard 

owners, swine contractors, market 

agencies, dealers, packers, and live 

poultry dealers to weigh livestock, 

livestock carcasses, live poultry, or feed 

for the purpose of purchase, sale, 

acquisition, payment, or settlement of 

livestock or live poultry and all scales 

used for the purchase, sale acquisition, 

payment, or settlement of livestock on a 

carcass weight basis shall be equipped 

with a printing device which shall 

record weight values on a scale ticket or 

other document. 

* * * * * 

(d) No scales shall be operated or used 

by any stockyard owners, swine 

contractors, market agencies, dealers, 

packers, or live poultry dealers to weigh 

livestock, livestock carcasses, live 

poultry, or feed for the purposes of 

purchase, sale, acquisition, payment, or 

settlement of livestock, livestock 

carcasses or live poultry unless it has 

been found upon test and inspection, as 

specified in § 201.72, to be in a 

condition to give accurate weight. If a 

scale is inspected or tested and 

adjustments or replacements are made 

to a scale, it shall not be used until it 

has been inspected and tested and 

determined to meet all accuracy 

requirements specified in the 

regulations in this section. 

Alan R. Christian, 

Acting Administrator, Grain Inspection, 

Packers and Stockyards Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–25040 Filed 10–19–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–KD–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

10 CFR Part 430 

[Docket No. EERE–2009–BT–TP–0020] 

RIN 1904–AC09 

Energy Conservation Program: Repeal 

of Test Procedures for Televisions 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Energy (DOE) repeals the regulatory 


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