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

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

36781

Vol. 65, No. 113

Monday, June 12, 2000

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 29

[Docket No. TB–99–10]

RIN 0581–AB65

Tobacco Inspection; Subpart B—

Regulations

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing

Service (AMS) is adopting, as a final

rule, with changes, an interim final rule

revising the regulations governing

permissive inspection of tobacco that

special tests and services be provided by

AMS, as requested by the industry. This

action incorporates recommendations

made by the Burley Tobacco Advisory

Committee and the buying segment of

the tobacco industry that moisture

testing be performed by AMS on all

burley tobacco marketed during the

1999–2000 marketing season. The

revisions will continue to provide

regulatory authority to conduct moisture

testing and collect fees and charges for

these services.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 12, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John

P. Duncan III, Deputy Administrator,

Tobacco Programs, Agricultural

Marketing Service (AMS), United States

Department of Agriculture (USDA),

Room 502 Annex Building, P.O. Box

96456, Washington, DC 20090–6456; or

Fax: (202) 205–0235.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Department published in the Federal

Register on December 2, 1999 (64 FR

67469) an interim final rule amending

the regulations at 7 CFR part 29, subpart

B. The Department requested comments

on the regulation. The comment period

expired on January 31, 2000, and AMS

received no comments on the

amendments.

This final rule revises the regulations

governing the permissive inspection of

tobacco pursuant to the provisions of

the Tobacco Inspection Act (49 Stat.

741, 7 U.S.C. 511 et seq.).

The Burley Tobacco Advisory

Committee made a recommendation at

its June 10, 1999, meeting that AMS

conduct moisture testing on all burley

tobacco offered for sale at designated

auction markets. The recommendation

was contingent on successful price

negotiations between the buying

segment and burley tobacco warehouse

operators. The committee further

recommended that tobacco marketed in

an experimental unitized package be

turned 90 degrees within the row as a

condition of the testing process.

During the 1998–99 marketing season,

approximately 60 million pounds of

burley tobacco was sold in the

experimental unitized package and

tested for moisture content by the

warehouse operators. The unitized bale

is a new experimental package

consisting of an even number of

traditional burley bales with one

additional bale opened and evenly

arranged on top which is securely

bound with metal wires to form a

rectangular cube.

Due to integrity issues between the

buying and warehouse segments of the

industry, it was recommended that a

third party entity perform the moisture

testing. After three months of

discussions and negotiations by the

buying segment and the Burley Auction

Warehouse Association, representing 95

percent of burley tobacco warehouse

operators, a commitment was obtained

from the four major tobacco companies

purchasing burley tobacco to reimburse

AMS $.0020 per pound for providing

moisture testing services. These testing

services were conducted on all burley

tobacco during the 1999–2000

marketing season, including the

traditional lot consisting of a maximum

of eight bales and the experimental

unitized package, offered for sale at

designated markets.

Therefore, at the recommendation of

the Burley Tobacco Advisory Committee

and the buying segment of the tobacco

industry, the Department implemented

revised regulations to conduct special

testing services for interested parties

and charge fees to recover the costs of

providing the service as determined by

the Deputy Administrator, Tobacco

Programs.

This rule has been determined to be

‘‘non significant’’ for purposes of

Executive Order 12866, and therefore,

has not be reviewed by the Office of

Management and Budget.

This rule has been reviewed under

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice

Reform. This action is not intended to

have retroactive effect. This rule will

not preempt any State or local laws,

regulations, or policies, unless they

present an irreconcilable conflict with

this rule. There are no administrative

procedures which must be exhausted

prior to any judicial challenge to the

provisions of this rule.

Additionally, in conformance with

the provisions of the Regulatory

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), full

consideration has been given to the

potential economic impact upon small

business. All tobacco warehouses and

producers fall within the confines of

‘‘small business’’ which are defined by

the Small Business Administration (13

CFR 121.201) as those having annual

receipts of less than $500,000 and small

agricultural service firms are defined as

those whose annual receipts are less

than $3,500,000. There are

approximately 190 tobacco warehouses

and approximately 30,000 producers

and most warehouses and producers

may be classified as small entities. The

Agricultural Marketing Service has

determined that this action will not

have a significant economic impact on

a substantial number of small entities

because the fees are not mandatory but

apply only when special inspections or

services are requested. This rule

continues revisions that amended the

regulation governing the permissive

inspection of tobacco to conduct special

testing services for interested parties

and charge fees to recover the costs of

providing the service as determined by

the Deputy Administrator, Tobacco

Programs.

The rule is changed slightly to make

it clearer that the amount of the fees for

special tests and services will be

determined by agreement.

Lists of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 29

Administrative practice and

procedure, Advisory committees,

Government publications, Imports,

Pesticides and pests, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements, Tobacco.

36782 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 113 / Monday, June 12, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

Accordingly, the interim final rule

amending 7 CFR part 29 which was

published at 64 FR 67469 on December

2, 1999, is adopted as a final rule with

the following changes:

PART 29—TOBACCO INSPECTION

Subpart B—Permissive Inspection

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR

part 29, subpart B, continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 511m and 511r.

2. Section 29.56 is amended by

revising the last sentence to read as

follows:

§ 29.56 Permissive inspection.

* * * Special tests and services may

be performed for interested persons to

the extent that available facilities will

permit, subject to the payment of fees as

provided in § 29.123.

3. In § 29.123, paragraph (e) is revised

to read as follows:

§ 29.123 Fees and charges.

* * * * *

(e) Fees for special tests and services

will be determined by agreement

between the Deputy Administrator,

Tobacco Programs, and the applicant or

applicants for service.

Dated: June 6, 2000.

Kathleen A. Merrigan,

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing

Service.

[FR Doc. 00–14730 Filed 6–9–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

NATIONAL CREDIT UNION

ADMINISTRATION

12 CFR Part 716

Privacy of Consumer Financial

Information

AGENCY: National Credit Union

Administration (NCUA).

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The NCUA Board is issuing a

final rule to amend the requirements for

privacy and opt out notice where there

is a joint relationship on a loan. The

amendment provides that a credit union

is required to provide a separate initial

notice and a separate opt out notice to

each borrower and guarantor only if the

credit union actually shares their

nonpublic personal information with

nonaffiliated third parties outside of one

of the permissible exceptions. This

amendment does not affect the right of

borrowers and guarantors to receive

notices if they are otherwise entitled to

receive them as members of the credit

union.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This rule is effective

November 13, 2000. However,

compliance is not required until July 1,

2001.

ADDRESSES: National Credit Union

Administration, 1775 Duke Street,

Alexandria, Virginia 22314–3428.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mary F. Rupp or Regina M. Metz, Staff

Attorneys, Division of Operations,

Office of General Counsel, at the above

address or telephone: (703) 518–6540.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On February 24, 2000, the NCUA

Board issued a proposed rule and, on

May 8, 2000, a final rule applicable to

all federally-insured credit unions, as

required by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act

(GLB Act). 65 FR 10988 (March 1, 2000)

and 65 FR 31722 (May 18, 2000). The

Board received 99 comments on its

proposal. The final rule required credit

unions to have a privacy policy and

provide certain disclosures and notices

to individuals about whom credit

unions collect nonpublic personal

information. In drafting the rule, the

NCUA participated as part of an

interagency group composed of

representatives from the NCUA, the

Federal Trade Commission, the Office of

Comptroller of the Currency, Board of

Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, Secretary of the Treasury, and

Securities and Exchange Commission

(collectively, the Agencies). The final

rule took into account the unique

circumstances of federally-insured

credit unions and their members but, as

required by the GLB Act, was consistent

and comparable with the regulations of

the other Agencies.

The other Agencies’ final regulations,

which were issued after the NCUA,

permit a financial institution to provide

a single initial notice and opt out notice

if two or more consumers jointly obtain

a financial product or service. Unlike

the other Agencies, NCUA’s rule

specifically excluded from the

provisions governing joint relationships,

the authority to provide only one notice

in the case of a loan. 65 FR at 31743,

31745. The Board’s rationale for the

exclusion was that ‘‘co-makers and

guarantors should receive the notice and

right to opt out because of the extent

and nature of nonpublic personal

information provided to the credit

union in conjunction with these types of

transactions.’’ 65 FR at 31728. Upon

further reflection, the Board is

persuaded by the 50 commenters that

objected to requiring separate notices for

all joint account holders. The

commenters noted that the

administrative and financial burden of

tracking down joint account holders is

substantial and that one notice is

consistent with other consumer loan

regulations. The Board believes that to

accomplish its goal of protecting

borrowers and guarantors from the

sharing of their nonpublic personal

information, notice to all borrowers and

guarantors is not necessary and has

amended its rule to require notices only

under limited circumstances. The Board

is amending the rule to provide that a

credit union must only provide separate

notices to individuals, other than the

primary borrower, if a credit union is

actually sharing nonpublic personal

information about them.

Final Amendment

Sections 716.4(f)(2) and 716.7(d)(6) of

this amendment only require a credit

union to provide a separate initial

notices and opt out notice to all

borrowers and guarantors if the credit

union shares their nonpublic personal

information with nonaffiliated third

parties other than for purposes

permitted under §§ 716.13, 716.14 and

716.15. In addition, no annual notices

are required.

This amendment does not affect the

notice requirements for existing

members in § 716.4(d) or the duty in

§§ 716.4, 716.5 and 716.7 to provide

initial, annual and opt out notices to coborrowers and guarantors who have a

member relationship with the credit

union, in addition to a co-borrower or

guarantor relationship. Finally, this

provision does not affect the right of a

co-borrower or guarantor to opt out as

permitted for other types of joint

relationships.

This provision is effective November

13, 2000, and compliance is mandatory

July 1, 2001. This means that, like the

recently passed final rule, all notices

required by this amendment must be

mailed by July 1, 2001. 65 FR at 31749.

The Board is issuing this rule as a

final rule because it decreases the

regulatory burden and there is a strong

public interest in having a final privacy

rule in place that allows federallyinsured credit unions ample time to

comply. Accordingly, and for good

cause, because the rule decreases the

regulatory burden, pursuant to 5 U.S.C.

553(b)(3)(B), notice and public

procedures are impracticable,

unnecessary, and contrary to the public

interest.