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

50929 

Vol. 76, No. 159 

Wednesday, August 17, 2011 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Federal Crop Insurance Corporation 

7 CFR Part 402 

[Docket No. FCIC–11–0003] 

RIN 0563–AC31 

Catastrophic Risk Protection 

Endorsement 

AGENCY: Federal Crop Insurance 

Corporation, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Crop Insurance 

Corporation (FCIC) proposes to amend 

the Catastrophic Risk Protection 

Endorsement. The intended effect of 

this action is to clarify existing policy 

provisions and to incorporate changes 

that are consistent with those made in 

the Common Crop Insurance Policy 

Basic Provisions and to incorporate 

provisions regarding catastrophic risk 

protection coverage for area yield plans 

from the Group Risk Plan (GRP) of 

Insurance Basic Provisions. The 

proposed changes will be effective for 

the 2013 and succeeding crop years. 

DATES: Written comments and opinions 

on this proposed rule will be accepted 

until close of business October 17, 2011 

and will be considered when the rule is 

to be made final. 

ADDRESSES: FCIC prefers that comments 

be submitted electronically through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal. You may 

submit comments, identified by Docket 

ID No. FCIC–11–0003, by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Director, Product 

Administration and Standards Division, 

Risk Management Agency, United States 

Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 

419205, Kansas City, MO 64133–6205. 

All comments received, including those 

received by mail, will be posted without 

change to http://www.regulations.gov, 

including any personal information 

provided, and can be accessed by the 

public. All comments must include the 

agency name and docket number or 

Regulatory Information Number (RIN) 

for this rule. For detailed instructions 

on submitting comments and additional 

information, see http:// 

www.regulations.gov. If you are 

submitting comments electronically 

through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 

and want to attach a document, we ask 

that it be in a text-based format. If you 

want to attach a document that is a 

scanned Adobe PDF file, it must be 

scanned as text and not as an image, 

thus allowing FCIC to search and copy 

certain portions of your submissions. 

For questions regarding attaching a 

document that is a scanned Adobe PDF 

file, please contact the RMA Web 

Content Team at (816) 823–4694 or by 

e-mail at 

rmaweb.content@rma.usda.gov. 

Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search 

the electronic form of all comments 

received for any dockets by the name of 

the individual submitting the comment 

(or signing the comment, if submitted 

on behalf of an association, business, 

labor union, etc.). You may review the 

complete User Notice and Privacy 

Notice for Regulations.gov at http:// 

www.regulations.gov/#!privacyNotice. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Director, Product Administration and 

Standards Division, Risk Management 

Agency, United States Department of 

Agriculture, Beacon Facility, Stop 0812, 

Room 421, P.O. Box 419205, Kansas 

City, MO 64141–6205, telephone (816) 

926–7730. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Order 12866 

This rule has been determined to be 

non significant for the purposes of 

Executive Order 12866 and, therefore, it 

has not been reviewed by the OMB. 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

Pursuant to the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. chapter 35), the collections of 

information in this rule have been 

approved by the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) under control 

number 0563–0053. 

E-Government Act Compliance 

FCIC is committed to complying with 

the E-Government Act of 2002, 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. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 

1995 

Title II of the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) establishes 

requirements for Federal agencies to 

assess the effects of their regulatory 

actions on State, local, and tribal 

governments and the private sector. 

This rule contains no Federal mandates 

(under the regulatory provisions of title 

II of the UMRA) for State, local, and 

tribal governments or the private sector. 

Therefore, this rule is not subject to the 

requirements of sections 202 and 205 of 

UMRA. 

Executive Order 13132 

It has been determined under section 

1(a) of Executive Order 13132, 

Federalism, that this rule does not have 

sufficient implications to warrant 

consultation with the States. The 

provisions contained in this rule will 

not have a substantial direct effect on 

States, or on the relationship between 

the national government and the States, 

or on the distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government. 

Executive Order 13175 

This rule has been reviewed in 

accordance with the requirements of 

Executive Order 13175, Consultation 

and Coordination with Indian Tribal 

Governments. The review reveals that 

this regulation will not have substantial 

and direct effects on Tribal governments 

and will not have significant Tribal 

implications. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

FCIC certifies that this regulation will 

not have a significant economic impact 

on a substantial number of small 

entities. Program requirements for the 

Federal crop insurance program are the 

same for all producers regardless of the 

size of their farming operation. For 

instance, all producers are required to 

submit an application and acreage 

report to establish their insurance 

guarantees and all producers are 

required to submit a notice of loss and 

production information to determine the 

amount of an indemnity payment in the 

event of an insured cause of crop loss. 


Emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS
50930 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 159 / Wednesday, August 17, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

Whether a producer has 10 acres or 

1000 acres, there is no difference in the 

kind of information collected. To ensure 

crop insurance is available to small 

entities, the Federal Crop Insurance Act 

authorizes FCIC to waive collection of 

administrative fees from limited 

resource farmers. FCIC believes this 

waiver helps to ensure that small 

entities are given the same opportunities 

as large entities to manage their risks 

through the use of crop insurance. A 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis has not 

been prepared since this regulation does 

not have an impact on small entities, 

and, therefore, this regulation is exempt 

from the provisions of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 605). 

Federal Assistance Program 

This program is listed in the Catalog 

of Federal Domestic Assistance under 

No. 10.450. 

Executive Order 12372 

This program is not subject to the 

provisions of Executive Order 12372, 

which require intergovernmental 

consultation with State and local 

officials. See the Notice related to 7 CFR 

part 3015, subpart V, published at 48 FR 

29115, June 24, 1983. 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposed rule has been reviewed 

in accordance with Executive Order 

12988 on civil justice reform. The 

provisions of this rule will not have a 

retroactive effect. The provisions of this 

rule will preempt State and local laws 

to the extent such State and local laws 

are inconsistent herewith. With respect 

to any direct action taken by FCIC or to 

require the insurance provider to take 

specific action under the terms of the 

crop insurance policy, the 

administrative appeal provisions 

published at 7 CFR part 11 must be 

exhausted before any action against 

FCIC for judicial review may be brought. 

Environmental Evaluation 

This action is not expected to have a 

significant economic impact on the 

quality of the human environment, 

health, or safety. Therefore, neither an 

Environmental Assessment nor an 

Environmental Impact Statement is 

needed. 

Background 

FCIC proposes to amend the 

Catastrophic Risk Protection 

Endorsement (7 CFR part 402), to be 

effective for the 2013 and succeeding 

crop years. The proposed changes are as 

follows: 

1. FCIC proposes to revise the 

paragraph immediately preceding 

section 1 which refers to the order of 

priority in the event of a conflict to 

include the actuarial documents and the 

Commodity Exchange Price Provisions, 

if applicable, in the order of priority. 

2. Section 1—FCIC proposes to 

remove the definitions of ‘‘approved 

yield,’’ ‘‘county,’’ ‘‘FSA,’’ ‘‘household,’’ 

‘‘limited resource farmer,’’ and ‘‘USDA’’ 

because these terms are already defined 

in the applicable Basic Provisions. 

FCIC also proposes to remove the 

definition of ‘‘expected market price’’ 

because the term is no longer applicable 

to any plan of insurance for which 

catastrophic risk protection coverage is 

available (e.g., the Yield Protection plan 

of insurance uses a projected price). 

FCIC proposes to remove the 

definition of ‘‘Secretary’’ because the 

term is not used in the Endorsement. 

3. Section 2—FCIC proposes to revise 

section 2(a)(1) to clarify catastrophic 

risk protection coverage is not available 

under individual revenue plans of 

insurance such as Revenue Protection 

and Revenue Protection with Harvest 

Price Exclusion plans of insurance. 

FCIC proposes to revise section 2(a)(2) 

to allow the Group Risk Plan of 

Insurance Basic Provisions, or its 

successor provisions, to elect the 

Catastrophic Risk Protection 

Endorsement. FCIC also proposes to 

clarify that catastrophic risk protection 

coverage is not available under area 

revenue plans of insurance such as 

Group Risk Income Protection—Harvest 

Price Option or Group Risk Income 

Protection plans of insurance or 

successor plans of insurance. 

4. Section 3—FCIC proposes to revise 

section 3(a) to clarify this section is not 

applicable if the policyholder elected 

catastrophic risk protection coverage 

under the Group Risk Plan of Insurance 

Basic Provisions (7 CFR 407.9) and Crop 

Provisions, or its successor provisions. 

The Group Risk Plan of Insurance Basic 

Provisions and Crop Provisions do not 

have unit provisions. Therefore, the unit 

division provisions in section 3 cannot 

be used in lieu of the unit provisions of 

the Group Risk Plan of Insurance Basic 

Provisions. 

5. Section 4—FCIC proposes to revise 

section 4(a) to allow the actuarial 

documents to revise the amount of 

protection offered under catastrophic 

risk protection coverage in the event 

this amount is changed in the future by 

Congress. 

FCIC proposes to revise section 4(a) to 

replace the reference to ‘‘expected 

market price’’ with ‘‘price election or 

projected price, as applicable.’’ 

FCIC also proposes to revise section 

4(a) to include information regarding 

the amount of protection a policyholder 

would receive if they elected 

catastrophic risk protection coverage 

under the Group Risk Plan of Insurance 

Basic Provisions or successor 

provisions. Currently, section 4(a) 

simply contains the catastrophic risk 

protection amount of coverage for 

policyholders insured under the 

Common Crop Insurance Policy. The 

information regarding the amount of 

catastrophic risk protection coverage for 

area yield plans is contained in the 

Group Risk Plan of Insurance Basic 

Provisions because section 4(a) of the 

Endorsement allows FCIC to determine 

a comparable amount of coverage. This 

change will place all the provisions 

regarding the catastrophic risk 

protection amount of coverage in one 

place. 

FCIC proposes to revise section 4(b) to 

replace the reference to ‘‘expected 

market price’’ with ‘‘price election.’’ 

FCIC proposes to revise section 4(c) to 

replace the reference to ‘‘Actuarial Table 

or the Special Provisions’’ with 

‘‘actuarial documents.’’ With the 

implementation of the new information 

technology system, FCIC will no longer 

have actuarial tables; all the information 

previously contained in the actuarial 

tables will now be contained in the 

actuarial documents filed electronically 

on RMA’s Web site. 

FCIC proposes to remove section 4(d) 

because information regarding the 

percentage of loss in applicable yield a 

policyholder must have suffered to be 

eligible for an indemnity is contained in 

section 4(a) which contains the coverage 

level. The amount determined by 

subtracting the coverage level from 100 

percent is the amount of loss a 

policyholder must suffer before an 

indemnity is paid under catastrophic 

risk protection coverage. 

6. Section 6—FCIC proposes to revise 

sections 6(b) and 6(b)(1) to replace the 

reference to ‘‘Special Provisions’’ with 

‘‘actuarial documents.’’ 

Section 7—FCIC proposes to remove 

section 7(b) because undivided interest 

will no longer be available as a result of 

the USDA Acreage Crop Reporting 

Streamlining Initiative to establish 

common USDA data standards to 

support producer commodity reporting 

in support of USDA programs. FCIC also 

proposes to remove those provisions 

that suggest that approved insurance 

providers have the option to not offer 

catastrophic risk protection coverage. 

All approved insurance providers must 

offer catastrophic risk protection 

coverage for the policies they sell. 

7. Section 9—FCIC proposes to revise 

section 9 to clarify the price references 

to include projected prices, dollar 

amounts of insurance, or dollar amounts 


Emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 159 / Wednesday, August 17, 2011 / Proposed Rules 50931 

of protection because the term ‘‘price 

election’’ is not applicable to all plans 

of insurance. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 402 

Crop insurance, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Accordingly, as set forth in the 

preamble, the Federal Crop Insurance 

Corporation proposes to amend 7 CFR 

part 402 as follows: 

PART 402—CATASTROPHIC RISK 

PROTECTION ENDORSEMENT 

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 402 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1506(l), 1506(o). 

2. Amend § 402.4 as follows: 

a. Revise introductory text preceding 

section 1; 

b. Remove the definitions in section 1 

for ‘‘approved yield,’’ ‘‘county,’’ 

‘‘expected market price,’’ ‘‘FSA,’’ 

‘‘household,’’ ‘‘limited resource farmer,’’ 

‘‘Secretary,’’ and ‘‘USDA;’’ 

c. Revise section 2(a) introductory 

text; 

d. Revise section 3(a); 

e. Revise section 4(a); 

f. Amend section 4(b) by removing the 

phrase ‘‘expected market price’’ and 

adding the phrase ‘‘price election’’ in its 

place; 

g. Amend section 4(c) by removing 

the phrase ‘‘Actuarial Table or the 

Special Provisions’’ and adding the 

phrase ‘‘actuarial documents’’ in its 

place; 

h. Remove section 4(d); 

i. Amend section 6(b) introductory 

text by removing the phrase ‘‘Special 

Provisions’’ and adding the phrase 

‘‘actuarial documents’’ in its place; 

j. Amend section 6(b)(1) by removing 

the phrase ‘‘Special Provisions’’ and 

adding the phrase ‘‘actuarial 

documents’’ in its place; 

k. Revise section 7; and 

l. Amend section 9 by adding the 

phrase ‘‘, projected prices, dollar 

amounts of insurance, or dollar amounts 

of protection’’ after the phrase ‘‘multiple 

price elections’’ in the two instances 

that it appears. 

The revised text reads as follows: 

§ 402.4 Catastrophic Risk Protection 

Endorsement Provisions. 

* * * * * 

If a conflict exists among the policy 

provisions; the order of priority is: (1) 

This Endorsement; (2) the Special 

Provisions; (3) any other Actuarial 

Documents except the Special 

Provisions; (4) the Commodity Exchange 

Price Provisions, if applicable; and (5) 

any of the policies specified in section 

2, with (1) controlling (2), etc. 

* * * * * 

2. Eligibility, Life of Policy, 

Cancellation, and Termination. 

(a) You must have one of the 

following policies in force to elect this 

Endorsement: 

(1) The Common Crop Insurance 

Policy Basic Provisions (7 CFR 457.8) 

and applicable Crop Provisions 

(Catastrophic risk protection coverage is 

not available under individual revenue 

plans of insurance such as the Revenue 

Protection and Revenue Protection with 

Harvest Price Exclusion plans of 

insurance); 

(2) The Group Risk Plan of Insurance 

Basic Provisions (7 CFR 407.9) and 

applicable Crop Provisions, or its 

successor provisions, if available for 

catastrophic risk protection coverage 

(Catastrophic risk protection coverage is 

not available under area revenue plans 

of insurance such as Group Risk Income 

Protection—Harvest Price Option or 

Group Risk Income Protection plans of 

insurance or successor plans of 

insurance); or 

(3) Other crop policy only if 

catastrophic risk protection coverage is 

provided in the applicable crop policy. 

* * * * * 

3. Unit Division. 

(a) This section is in lieu of the unit 

provisions specified in the applicable 

crop policy and is not applicable if you 

are insured under the Group Risk Plan 

of Insurance Basic Provisions (7 CFR 

407.9) and applicable Crop Provisions, 

or its successor provisions. 

* * * * * 

4. Insurance Guarantees, Coverage 

Levels, and Prices for Determining 

Indemnities. 

(a) Unless otherwise specified in the 

actuarial documents, catastrophic risk 

protection coverage will offer protection 

equal to: 

(1) Fifty percent (50%) of your 

approved yield indemnified at fifty-five 

percent (55%) of the price election or 

projected price, as applicable, if you are 

insured under the Common Crop 

Insurance Policy Basic Provisions (7 

CFR 457.8) and applicable Crop 

Provisions; 

(2) Sixty-five percent (65%) of the 

expected county yield indemnified at 

forty-five percent (45%) of the 

maximum protection per acre if you are 

insured under the Group Risk Plan of 

Insurance Basic Provisions (7 CFR 

407.9) and applicable Crop Provisions, 

or its successor provisions; or 

(3) A comparable coverage as 

established by FCIC for other crop 

policies only if catastrophic risk 

protection coverage is provided in the 

applicable crop policy. 

* * * * * 

7. Insured Crop. 

(a) The crop insured is specified in 

the applicable crop policy, however 

notwithstanding any other policy 

provision requiring the same insurance 

coverage on all insurable acreage of the 

crop in the county, if you purchase 

additional coverage for a crop, you may 

separately insure acreage under 

catastrophic risk protection coverage 

that has been designated as ‘‘high-risk’’ 

land by FCIC, provided that you execute 

a High-Risk Land Exclusion Option and 

obtain a catastrophic risk protection 

coverage policy with the same approved 

insurance provider on or before the 

applicable sales closing date. 

(b) You will be required to pay a 

separate administrative fee for both the 

additional coverage policy and the 

catastrophic risk protection coverage 

policy. 

* * * * * 

Signed in Washington, DC, on August 10, 

2011. 

William J. Murphy, 

Manager, Federal Crop Insurance 

Corporation. 

[FR Doc. 2011–20850 Filed 8–16–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–08–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Internal Revenue Service 

26 CFR Part 1 

[REG–131491–10] 

RIN 1545–BJ82 

Health Insurance Premium Tax Credit 

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 

Treasury. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

and notice of public hearing. 

SUMMARY: This document contains 

proposed regulations relating to the 

health insurance premium tax credit 

enacted by the Patient Protection and 

Affordable Care Act and the Health Care 

and Education Reconciliation Act of 

2010, as amended by the Medicare and 

Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010, the 

Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer 

Protection and Repayment of Exchange 

Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, and 

the Department of Defense and FullYear Continuing Appropriations Act, 

2011. These proposed regulations 

provide guidance to individuals who 

enroll in qualified health plans through 

Affordable Insurance Exchanges and 

claim the premium tax credit, and to 

Exchanges that make qualified health 

plans available to individuals and 


Emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS