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

9629 

Vol. 78, No. 28 

Monday, February 11, 2013 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 948 

[Doc. No. AMS–FV–12–0044; FV12–948–2 

PR] 

Irish Potatoes Grown in Colorado; 

Reestablishment of Membership on the 

Colorado Potato Administrative 

Committee, Area No. 2 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This rule invites comments 

on reestablishing the membership on 

the Colorado Potato Administrative 

Committee, Area No. 2 (Committee). 

The Committee locally administers the 

marketing order regulating the handling 

of Irish potatoes grown in Colorado. 

This rule would modify the Committee 

membership structure by amending the 

position allocated to a producer from 

Conejos County. Beginning with the 

2013–2014 term of office, such 

designated Committee position would 

be allocated to an eligible producer 

operating in either Conejos or Costilla 

County. This action is expected to 

improve Committee representation for 

producers from this sub-region of the 

production area. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

April 12, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments 

concerning this rule. Comments must be 

sent to the Docket Clerk, Marketing 

Order and Agreement Division, Fruit 

and Vegetable Program, AMS, USDA, 

1400 Independence Avenue SW., STOP 

0237, Washington, DC 20250–0237; Fax: 

(202) 720–8938; or Internet: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. All comments 

should reference the document number 

and the date and page number of this 

issue of the Federal Register and will be 

made available for public inspection in 

the Office of the Docket Clerk during 

regular business hours, or can be viewed 

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

comments submitted in response to this 

rule will be included in the record and 

will be made available to the public. 

Please be advised that the identity of the 

individuals or entities submitting the 

comments will be made public on the 

Internet at the address provided above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Barry Broadbent, Marketing Specialist, 

or Gary Olson, Regional Director, 

Northwest Marketing Field Office, 

Marketing Order and Agreement 

Division, Fruit and Vegetable Program, 

AMS, USDA; Telephone: (503) 326– 

2724, Fax: (503) 326–7440, or Email: 

Barry.Broadbent@ams.usda.gov or 

GaryD.Olson@ams.usda.gov. 

Small businesses may request 

information on complying with this 

regulation by contacting Laurel May, 

Marketing Order and Agreement 

Division, Fruit and Vegetable Program, 

AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW., STOP 0237, Washington, 

DC 20250–0237; Telephone: (202) 720– 

2491, Fax: (202) 720–8938, or Email: 

Laurel.May@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

proposal is issued under Marketing 

Agreement No. 97 and Marketing Order 

No. 948, both as amended (7 CFR part 

948), regulating the handling of Irish 

potatoes grown in Colorado, 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 proposal 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 

§ 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 proposal invites comments on 

reestablishing the membership structure 

of the Committee. This rule would 

modify the current Committee 

membership structure by amending the 

position currently allocated to a 

producer from Conejos County. 

Beginning with the 2013–2014 term of 

office, such designated Committee 

position would be allocated to an 

eligible producer operating in either 

Conejos or Costilla County. This action 

is expected to improve Committee 

representation for producers from this 

sub-region of the production area. This 

change was unanimously recommended 

by the Committee at a meeting held on 

July 19, 2012. 

Section 948.4 of the order divides the 

State of Colorado into three areas of 

regulation for marketing order purposes. 

These areas include: Area No. 1, 

commonly known as the Western Slope; 

Area No. 2, commonly known as San 

Luis Valley; and, Area No. 3, which 

consists of the remaining producing 

areas within the State of Colorado not 

included in the definition of Area No. 

1 or Area No. 2. Currently, the order 

only regulates the handling of potatoes 

produced in Area No. 2 and Area No. 3. 

Regulation for Area No. 1 has been 

suspended. 

Section 948.50 of the order establishes 

committees as administrative agencies 

for each of the areas set forth under 

§ 948.4. The reestablishment of areas, 

subdivisions of areas, the distribution of 

representation among the subdivision of 

areas, or among marketing organizations 

within the areas is authorized under 

§ 948.53. Such reestablishment is made 

by the Secretary upon the 

recommendation of the affected area 

committee. In recommending any such 

changes, the area committee shall 

consider, among other things, the 

relative production and the geographic 

locations of producing sections as they 

would affect the efficiency of 

administration of the order. 

Section 948.150(a) of the order’s 

administrative rules prescribes the Area 

No. 2 Committee membership, as 

reestablished under previous 


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9630 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 28 / Monday, February 11, 2013 / Proposed Rules 

rulemaking actions, with nine producer 

members and five handler members. 

The nine producer positions are 

designated to represent various subregions of the production area. 

Currently, § 948.150(a)(3) specifically 

dedicates one of those producer 

positions to a producer from Conejos 

County. 

At its meeting on July 19, 2012, the 

Committee unanimously recommended 

modifying the Committee membership 

structure by amending the position 

allocated to a producer from Conejos 

County. The Committee acknowledged 

that the position has been increasingly 

hard to fill as the number of potato 

producers located in Conejos County 

eligible to serve on the Committee has 

declined. The Committee attributed the 

decrease in the number of producers to 

a number of issues in that area, 

including competition from alternative 

crops and industry consolidation. 

The Committee believes that 

allocating the position specified in 

§ 948.150(a)(3) to a producer from either 

Conejos or Costilla County, instead of 

just from Conejos County, would 

increase the pool of potential Committee 

participants from that general subregion of the production area. Conejos 

County and Costilla County adjoin each 

other on the southern boundary of the 

production area and share similar 

climates, soils, production resources, 

and marketing opportunities. Producers 

from either of the two counties would 

be able to adequately represent this subregion of the production area on the 

Committee. Producers from Costilla 

County are currently able to serve on the 

Committee in the position allocated in 

§ 948.150(a)(5). This position is 

designated to a producer from all other 

counties in the Area No. 2 production 

area that do not have specified 

representation as provided in 

§ 948.150(a)(1) through (4). This change 

is expected to increase the pool of 

potential participants eligible to serve 

on the Committee and to improve 

representation for producers from both 

Conejos and Costilla Counties. This 

proposed action was unanimously 

recommended by the full Committee. 

Initial 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 initial 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 approximately 80 handlers 

of Colorado Area No. 2 potatoes subject 

to regulation under the order and 

approximately 180 producers in the 

regulated production area. Small 

agricultural service firms are defined by 

the Small Business Administration (13 

CFR 121.201) as those having annual 

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

small agricultural producers are defined 

as those having annual receipts of less 

than $750,000. 

During the 2010–2011 marketing year, 

the most recent full marketing year for 

which statistics are available, 

15,583,512 hundredweight of Colorado 

Area No. 2 potatoes were inspected 

under the order and sold into the fresh 

market. Based on an estimated average 

f.o.b. price of $12.75 per 

hundredweight, the Committee 

estimates that 71 Area No. 2 handlers, 

or about 89 percent, had annual receipts 

of less than $7,000,000. In view of the 

foregoing, the majority of Colorado Area 

No. 2 potato handlers may be classified 

as small entities. 

In addition, based on information 

provided by the National Agricultural 

Statistics Service, the average producer 

price for Colorado fall potatoes for 

2010–2011 was $9.37 per 

hundredweight. The average annual 

fresh potato revenue for each of the 180 

Colorado Area No. 2 potato producers is 

therefore calculated to be approximately 

$811,208. Consequently, on average, 

many of the Area No. 2 Colorado potato 

producers may not be classified as small 

entities. 

This rule would reestablish the Area 

No. 2 Committee membership structure 

currently prescribed under § 948.150(a) 

of the order by amending the position 

allocated to a producer from Conejos 

County (§ 948.150(a)(3)). Beginning with 

the 2013–2014 term of office, such 

designated Committee position would 

be allocated to an eligible producer 

operating in either Conejos or Costilla 

County. Authority for this action is 

contained in §§ 948.50 and 948.53. 

At the meeting, the Committee 

discussed the potential impact of this 

change on handlers and producers. The 

proposed change is expected to improve 

Committee representation for producers 

from this general sub-region of the 

production area. Further, the proposed 

modification is not anticipated to have 

any financial or regulatory impact on 

the area’s potato producers or handlers. 

Lastly, the benefits resulting from this 

rule are not expected to be 

disproportionately greater or less for 

small handlers or producers than for 

larger entities. 

The Committee discussed alternatives 

to this proposed change including 

taking no immediate action, reviewing 

the issue in the future, and 

redesignating the Committee position to 

be an at-large position that could be 

filled by producers from across the 

entire production area. 

The Committee believes that 

representation on the Committee by 

producers from each of the sub-regions 

of the production area is important for 

the efficient administration of the order. 

The Committee also feels that the 

declining trend in the number of 

producers in Conejos County is not 

likely to be self-reversing. As such, the 

Committee determined that there would 

not be any benefit to delaying corrective 

action to resolve this Committee 

representation issue and readdressing it 

in the future. In addition, the Committee 

determined that changing the position 

designated to a producer from Conejos 

County into an at-large position could 

jeopardize the representation for 

producers from that southern subregion. As such, the Committee 

concluded that both of the above 

options would not be sufficiently 

responsive to the current situation and 

modifying the membership structure as 

recommended is the best course of 

action to take at this time. 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

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

Chapter 35), the order’s information 

collection requirements have been 

previously approved by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) and 

assigned OMB No. 0581–0178. No 

changes in those requirements as a 

result of this action are necessary. 

Should any changes become necessary, 

they would be submitted to OMB for 

approval. 

This rule will not impose any 

additional reporting or recordkeeping 

requirements on either small or large 

potato 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. In 

addition, USDA has not identified any 


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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 28 / Monday, February 11, 2013 / Proposed Rules 9631 

relevant Federal rules that duplicate, 

overlap, or conflict with this rule. 

Further, the Committee’s meeting was 

widely publicized throughout the 

Colorado potato industry and all 

interested persons were invited to 

attend the meeting and participate in 

Committee deliberations. Like all 

Committee meetings, the July 19, 2012, 

meeting was a public meeting and all 

entities, both large and small, were able 

to express their views on this issue. 

Finally, interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on this proposed rule, 

including the regulatory and 

informational impacts of this action on 

small businesses. 

A small business guide on complying 

with fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop 

marketing agreements and orders may 

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

MarketingOrdersSmallBusinessGuide. 

Any questions about the compliance 

guide should be sent to Laurel May at 

the previously mentioned address in the 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section. 

A 60-day comment period is provided 

to allow interested persons to respond 

to this proposal. All written comments 

timely received will be considered 

before a final determination is made on 

this matter. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 948 

Marketing agreements, Potatoes, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 948 is proposed to 

be amended as follows: 

PART 948—IRISH POTATOES GROWN 

IN COLORADO 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 948 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674. 

■ 2. In § 948.150, paragraph (a)(3) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 948.150 Reestablishment of committee 

membership. 

* * * * * 

(a) * * * 

(3) One (1) producer from either 

Conejos or Costilla County. 

* * * * * 

Dated: February 5, 2013. 

David R. Shipman, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–02979 Filed 2–8–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

10 CFR Part 430 

[Docket No. EERE–2012–BT–STD–0047] 

RIN 1904–AC88 

Energy Efficiency Program for 

Consumer Products: Energy 

Conservation Standards for 

Residential Boilers 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and 

availability of the Framework 

Document. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Energy (DOE) is initiating the 

rulemaking and data collection process 

to consider amending the energy 

conservation standards for residential 

boilers. This rulemaking will satisfy the 

statutory requirement for DOE to 

conduct a second round of energy 

conservation standards rulemaking for 

residential boilers, and it will also fulfill 

DOE’s statutory obligation to review 

energy conservation standards within 

six years after issuance of any final rule 

establishing or amending a standard to 

determine whether such standards 

should be amended. After concluding 

its initial review of the available 

information and public comments, DOE 

will publish either a notice of the 

determination that standards do not 

need to be amended, or a notice of 

proposed rulemaking including new 

proposed standards. To inform 

interested parties and to facilitate this 

process, DOE has prepared a Framework 

Document that details the analytical 

approach and scope of coverage for the 

rulemaking, and identifies several issues 

on which DOE is particularly interested 

in receiving comments. DOE will hold 

a public meeting to discuss and receive 

comments on its planned analytical 

approach and issues it will address in 

this rulemaking proceeding. DOE 

welcomes written comments and 

relevant data from the public on any 

subject within the scope of this 

rulemaking. A copy of the Framework 

Document is available at: http:// 

www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/

appliance_standards/residential/

furnaces_boilers.html. 

DATES: Meeting: DOE will hold a public 

meeting on Wednesday, March 13, 2013, 

from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. directly after 

the Residential Furnace and Boilers Test 

Procedure NOPR Pubic Meeting in 

Washington, DC. Additionally, DOE 

plans to conduct the public meeting via 

webinar. You may attend the public 

meeting via webinar, and registration 

information, participant instructions, 

and information about the capabilities 

available to webinar participants will be 

published on DOE’s Web site at: http:// 

www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/

appliance_standards/residential/

furnaces_boilers.html. Participants are 

responsible for ensuring that their 

systems are compatible with the 

webinar software. 

DOE must receive requests to speak at 

the public meeting before 4:00 p.m., 

Wednesday, February 27, 2013. DOE 

must receive an electronic copy of the 

statement with the name and, if 

appropriate, the organization of the 

presenter to be given at the public 

meeting before 4:00 p.m., Wednesday, 

March 6, 2013. 

Comments: DOE will accept written 

comments, data, and information 

regarding the Framework Document 

before and after the public meeting, but 

no later than March 28, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be 

held at the U.S. Department of Energy, 

Forrestal Building, Room 8E–089, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. Please 

note that foreign nationals planning to 

participate in the public meeting are 

subject to advance security screening 

procedures. If a foreign national wishes 

to participate in the public meeting, 

please inform DOE of this fact as soon 

as possible by contacting Ms. Brenda 

Edwards at (202) 586–2945 so that the 

necessary procedures can be completed. 

Please note that any person wishing to 

bring a laptop computer into the 

Forrestal Building will be required to 

obtain a property pass. Visitors should 

avoid bringing laptops, or allow an extra 

45 minutes. As noted above, persons 

may also attend the public meeting via 

webinar. 

Interested parties are encouraged to 

submit comments electronically. 

However, comments may be submitted 

by any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• E-Mail: 

ResBoilers2012STD0047@ee.doe.gov. 

Include docket number EERE–2012–BT– 

STD–0047 and/or regulatory 

identification number (RIN) 1904–AC88 

in the subject line of the message. All 

comments should clearly identify the 

name, address, and, if appropriate, 

organization of the commenter. Submit 

electronic comments in WordPerfect, 

Microsoft Word, PDF, or ASCII file 

format, and avoid the use of special 

characters or any form of encryption. 

• Postal Mail: Ms. Brenda Edwards, 

U.S. Department of Energy, Building 


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