34868 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 113 / Tuesday, June 12, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

IMPORT ASSESSMENT TABLE— 

Continued 

[Raw cotton fiber] 

HTS No. Conv. factor. Cents/kg. 

6302593020 0.5537 0.7812 

6302600010 1.1073 1.5623 

6302600020 0.9966 1.4061 

6302600030 0.9966 1.4061 

6302910005 0.9966 1.4061 

6302910015 1.1073 1.5623 

6302910025 0.9966 1.4061 

6302910035 0.9966 1.4061 

6302910045 0.9966 1.4061 

6302910050 0.9966 1.4061 

6302910060 0.9966 1.4061 

6302931000 0.4429 0.6249 

6302932000 0.4429 0.6249 

6302992000 0.2215 0.3125 

6303191100 0.8859 1.2499 

6303910010 0.6090 0.8593 

6303910020 0.6090 0.8593 

6303921000 0.2768 0.3906 

6303922010 0.2768 0.3906 

6303922030 0.2768 0.3906 

6303922050 0.2768 0.3906 

6303990010 0.2768 0.3906 

6304111000 0.9966 1.4061 

6304113000 0.1107 0.1562 

6304190500 0.9966 1.4061 

6304191000 1.1073 1.5623 

6304191500 0.3876 0.5468 

6304192000 0.3876 0.5468 

6304193060 0.2215 0.3125 

6304910020 0.8859 1.2499 

6304910070 0.2215 0.3125 

6304920000 0.8859 1.2499 

6304996040 0.2215 0.3125 

6507000000 0.3986 0.5624 

9404901000 0.2104 0.2968 

9404908020 0.9966 1.4061 

9404908040 0.9966 1.4061 

9404908505 0.6644 0.9374 

9404908536 0.0997 0.1406 

9404909505 0.6644 0.9374 

9404909570 0.2658 0.3750 

* * * * * 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 2101–2118. 

Dated: June 6, 2012. 

Ruihong Guo, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–14184 Filed 6–11–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 1280 

[No.AMS–LS–11–0038] 

Lamb Promotion, Research, and 

Information Order; Amendment to the 

Order To Raise the Assessment Rate 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would 

amend the Lamb Promotion, Research, 

and Information Order (Order) to 

increase the assessment rate on all live 

ovine animals sold from $.005 per 

pound to $.007 per pound for 

producers, feeders, and seedstock 

producers, and from $.30 per head of 

ovine animals purchased for slaughter 

to $.42 per head for first handlers. The 

increase is provided for under the 

Order, which is authorized by the 

Commodity Promotion, Research, and 

Information Act of 1996 (Act). The 

American Lamb Board (Board), which 

administers the Order, recommended 

this action to maintain and expand their 

promotional, research, advertising, and 

communications programs. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received by August 13, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Comments must be posted 

online at www.regulations.gov or sent to 

Kenneth Payne, Director, Marketing 

Programs Division, Livestock and Seed 

Program, Agricultural Marketing Service 

(AMS), USDA, Room 2628–S, STOP 

0251, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–0251; or fax to 

(202) 720–1125. All comments should 

reference the docket number, the date, 

and the page number of this issue of the 

Federal Register. Comments will be 

available for public inspection at the 

aforementioned address, as well as on 

the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov/. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Emily DeBord, Agricultural Marketing 

Specialist, Marketing Programs 

Division, on 202/720–1115, fax 202/ 

720–1125, or by email at 

emily.debord@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Order 12866 

The Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) has waived the review process 

required by Executive Order 12866 for 

this action. 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposed rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform. The rule is not intended 

to have retroactive effect and will not 

affect or preempt any other State or 

Federal law authorizing promotion or 

research relating to an agricultural 

commodity. 

Under section 519 of the Act, a person 

subject to the Order may file a petition 

with the Secretary stating that the 

Order, any provision of the Order, or 

any obligation imposed in connection 

with the Order is not established in 

accordance with the law, and may 

request a modification of the Order or 

an exemption from the Order. Any 

petition filed challenging the Order, any 

provision of the Order, or any obligation 

imposed in connection with the Order, 

shall be filed within 2 years after the 

effective date of the Order, provision, or 

obligation subject to challenge in the 

petition. The petitioner will have the 

opportunity for a hearing on the 

petition. Thereafter, the Secretary of 

Agriculture (Secretary) will issue a 

ruling on the petition. The Act provides 

that the district court of the United 

States for any district in which the 

petitioner resides or conducts business 

shall have the jurisdiction to review a 

final ruling on the petition if the 

petitioner files a complaint for that 

purpose not later than 20 days after the 

date of the entry of the Secretary’s final 

ruling. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act and 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

Pursuant to the requirements set forth 

in the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

(5 U.S.C. 601–612), AMS has considered 

the economic effect of this action on 

small entities. The purpose of the RFA 

is to fit regulatory action to scale on 

businesses subject to such action so that 

small businesses will not be 

disproportionately burdened. 

In the February 2011 publication of 

‘‘Farms, Land in Farms, and Livestock 

Operations,’’ the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture’s (USDA) National 

Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) 

estimates that in 2010 the number of 

operations in the United States with 

sheep totaled approximately 81,000. 

The majority of these operations that are 

subject to the Order may be classified as 

small entities. 

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 (handlers and importers) as those 

having annual receipts of no more than 

$7 million. Under these definitions, the 

majority of the producers, feeders, 

seedstock producers, and first handlers 

that would be affected by this rule 

would be considered small entities 

Funds collected under the programs 

are used for promotion, information, 

research, and advertising of American 

lamb and for the administration, 

maintenance, and functioning of the 

American Lamb Board (Board). At the 

current assessment rate of one-half of a 

cent ($.005) per pound on all live lambs 

sold by producers, feeders, and 

seedstock producers and thirty cents 

($.30) per head of lamb purchased by 

first handlers for slaughter, the program 

generates about $1.8 million in annual 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 113 / Tuesday, June 12, 2012 / Proposed Rules 34869 

revenues. The current assessment rate 

was established in April 11, 2002, when 

the Order was issued (70 FR 17848). The 

Order is administered by the Board 

under USDA oversight. According to the 

Board, additional revenue is required in 

order to sustain and expand the 

promotional, research, advertising and 

communications programs. On May 26, 

2011, the Board passed a motion to raise 

the assessment rate as authorized under 

the Act and Order. This proposed rule 

is consistent with section 1280.217(e) of 

the Order, which states that the rate of 

assessment for producers, seedstock 

producers, and feeders may be raised or 

lowered no more than twentyhundredths of a cent ($.002) in any one 

year. In addition, section 1280.219 

states the rate of assessment for first 

handlers shall be increased or decreased 

proportionately if the assessment paid 

by producers, feeders, and seedstock 

producers is increased or decreased. 

The current rate producers pay on a per 

pound basis, $0.005 per pound, is 1.67 

percent of the rate first handlers pay on 

a per head basis, $0.30 per head. To 

keep the same proportionality when 

producers are assessed a rate of $0.007 

per pound, the first handlers would be 

assessed a rate of $0.42 per head. 

Currently, section 1280.217 of the Order 

states that the rate of assessment shall 

be one-half of a cent ($.005 per pound) 

per pound on all live lambs sold. 

Section 1280.219 currently states each 

first handler, in addition to remitting 

the assessment collected pursuant to 

section 1280.217, shall pay an 

assessment equal to thirty cents ($.30) 

per head of lambs purchased by the first 

handler for slaughter or slaughtered by 

such first handler pursuant to a custom 

slaughter arrangement. This proposed 

rule would amend the aforementioned 

sections. The Board’s most recent return 

on investment study, Analyzing the 

Effectiveness of the Lamb Promotion, 

Research, and Information Order, by 

Oral Capps, Jr. and Gary W. Williams, 

showed that for the period 2002 through 

2010 the Lamb Checkoff Program 

continued to enhance the demand for 

American lamb. The analysis shows that 

the Board’s promotion programs have 

generated roughly 7.1 to 7.5 additional 

pounds of total lamb consumption per 

dollar spent on advertising and 

promotion and $37.16 to $39.34 in 

additional lamb sales per dollar spent 

on advertising and promotion. Copies of 

this study can be obtained from the 

Board. 

Over the last several fiscal years, 

however, several trends have asserted 

downward pressure on the Board’s 

continued ability to sustain the 

industry’s recognized high level of 

return. Domestic lamb production levels 

have continued to decrease. A growing 

percentage of domestic lamb is being 

sold into non-traditional markets and 

higher costs driven by worldwide 

inflation have increased the expense of 

implementing Board programs. The 

Board’s assessment collections have 

continued to decrease from $2.8 million 

in 2003 to $2.0 million in 2010. Over 

the past few years the Board’s budget 

has decreased and business costs have 

increased. The Board has explored ways 

to maintain effective programs by 

cutting programs that are not meeting 

the Board’s expectations. The Board 

believes that marketing and promotions 

programs should not be reduced any 

further at a time when it is critical for 

the industry to protect American lamb’s 

position in retail and foodservice and 

maintain market share. 

The Board states that the proposed 

assessment rate increase would enable it 

to maintain, enhance, and expand its 

efforts to build demand, increase 

awareness and create preference for 

American lamb through targeted 

advertising, retail promotions, public 

relations campaigns and media 

outreach, foodservice programs, 

consumer events, social marketing, and 

nutrition education. The Board strongly 

believes that it is a critical time for the 

industry to protect their position in 

retail and foodservice and maintain 

market share in order for there to be a 

future for domestic lamb. The Board 

believes that it is essential to increase 

the lamb checkoff revenue and get its 

marketing and promotion budget back to 

the original budget levels in fiscal years 

2003 and 2004 in order to maintain its 

efforts to promote American Lamb and 

deliver a good return on the industry’s 

investment. 

This rule does not impose additional 

recordkeeping requirements on 

producers, feeders, seedstock producers, 

or first handlers of American lamb. 

There are no Federal rules that 

duplicate, overlap, or conflict with this 

rule. In accordance with OMB 

regulation [5 CFR Part 1320], which 

implements the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995 [44 U.S.C. Chapter 35], the 

information collection and 

recordkeeping requirements have been 

approved previously under OMB 

control number 0581–0093. This rule 

does not result in a change to the 

information collection and 

recordkeeping requirements previously 

approved. We have performed this 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

regarding the impact of this proposed 

amendment to the Order on small 

entities, and we invite comments 

concerning potential effects of this 

amendment on small businesses. 

Background and Proposed Action 

Under the Order, which became 

effective April 11, 2002, the Board 

administers a nationally coordinated 

program of research, development, 

advertising, and promotion designed to 

strengthen the position of, and to 

develop and expand the markets for, 

ovine animals and ovine products. This 

program is currently financed by 

assessments from producers, feeders, 

and seedstock producers who pay an 

assessment of one-half cent ($.005) per 

pound when live ovine animals are 

sold. First handlers, primarily packers, 

pay an additional $.30 per head on 

ovine animals purchased for slaughter. 

Importers are not assessed. 

This rule proposes to increase the 

assessment rate on all live lambs sold 

from $.005 per pound to $.007 per 

pound for producers, feeders, and 

seedstock producers and from $.30 per 

head of lamb purchased for slaughter to 

$.42 per head for first handlers. 

According to the Board, in order to 

sustain and expand the promotion, 

research, and communications programs 

at present levels, the Board contends 

that additional revenue is required. The 

proposed assessment rate increase is 

estimated to generate $700,000 in new 

revenue, depending upon production 

levels. 

The Board’s budget is based on the 

amount of assessments collected on an 

annual basis. As assessments have 

continued to decline, the Board’s budget 

has decreased from $2.8 million in 2003 

to a projected $1.8 million in 2011. As 

expenses to successfully promote and 

increase the consumption of American 

lamb continue to rise, the Board feels it 

is necessary to amend the Order to 

increase the rate of assessment. 

On May 26, 2011, the Board 

unanimously approved a motion to 

request that the Secretary amend 

sections 1280.217(e) and 1280.219 of the 

Order to increase the assessment rate on 

all live lambs sold from $.005 per pound 

to $.007 per pound for producers, 

feeders, and seedstock producers and 

from $.30 per head of lamb purchased 

for slaughter to $.42 per head for first 

handlers. The Board has not amended 

the Order to raise or lower the 

assessment rate since the inception of 

the program. The vote to recommend 

the assessment increase was unanimous. 

The Act provides for the creation of 

and amendments to the Order. The 

Order provides in section 1280.210 that 

the Board shall have the powers and 

duties to recommend to the Secretary 

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34870 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 113 / Tuesday, June 12, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

such amendments to the Order as the 

Board considers appropriate. 

A 60-day comment period is provided 

to allow interested persons to respond 

to this proposal. All written comments 

received in response to this rule by the 

date specified would be considered 

prior to finalizing this action. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1280 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Advertising, Agricultural 

research, Marketing agreements, Lamb 

and Lamb products, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

For reasons set forth in the preamble, 

it is proposed that 7 CFR part 1280 be 

amended as follows: 

PART 1280—LAMB PROMOTION, 

RESEARCH, and INFORMATION 

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 1280 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7411–7425. 

2. § 1280.217, paragraph (e) and 

§ 1280.219 are revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 1280.217 Lamb Purchases. 

(e) Rate. Except as otherwise 

provided, the rate of assessment shall be 

seven-tenths of a cent ($.007 per pound) 

per pound on all live lambs sold. The 

rate of assessment may be raised or 

lowered no more than twentyhundredths of a cent ($.002) in any one 

year. The Board may recommend any 

change to the Department. Prior to a 

change in the assessment rate, the 

Department will provide notice by 

publishing in the Federal Register any 

proposed changes with interested 

parties allowed to provide comment. 

§ 1280.219 First Handlers. 

Each first handler, in addition to 

remitting the assessment collected 

pursuant to § 1280.217, shall pay an 

assessment equal to forty-two cents 

($.42) per head of lambs purchased by 

the first handler for slaughter or 

slaughtered by such first handler 

pursuant to a custom slaughter 

arrangement. The rates of assessment for 

first handlers shall be increased or 

decreased proportionately. If the 

assessment paid by producers, 

seedstock producers, and feeders is 

increased or decreased. Such 

assessment shall be remitted with the 

assessments collected pursuant to 

§ 1280.217. 

* * * * * 

Dated: June 6, 2012. 

David R. Shipman, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–14187 Filed 6–11–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2012–0592; Directorate 

Identifier 2011–NM–253–AD] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Bombardier, 

Inc. Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: We propose to supersede an 

existing airworthiness directive (AD) 

that applies to certain Bombardier, Inc. 

Model CL–600–2B19 (Regional Jet 

Series 100 & 440) airplanes. The existing 

AD currently requires a one-time 

inspection of the shafts of the main 

landing gear (MLG) side-brace fittings to 

detect corrosion, and the forward and 

aft bushings in the left-hand and righthand MLG side-brace fittings to detect 

discrepancies. The existing AD also 

requires corrective and related actions if 

necessary. Since we issued that AD, we 

have received reports that the side brace 

fitting shafts of the MLG continue to 

fail. This proposed AD would require 

repetitive detailed inspections for 

corrosion and damage of the MLG sidebrace fitting and replacing the sidebrace fitting shaft with the re-designed 

side-brace fitting shaft of the MLG if 

necessary. This AD would also require 

eventual replacement of certain sidebrace fitting shafts with the re-designed 

part. Replacement with a re-designed 

side-brace fitting shaft of the MLG is 

terminating action for the repetitive 

inspections. We are proposing this AD 

to prevent fractures of the side-brace 

fitting shafts of the MLG, and possible 

collapse of the MLG. 

DATES: We must receive comments on 

this proposed AD by July 27, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments by 

any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: (202) 493–2251. 

• Mail: U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations, M– 

30, West Building Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations, M– 

30, West Building Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 

5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

For service information identified in 

this proposed AD, contact Bombardier, 

Inc., 400 Coˆte-Vertu Road West, Dorval, 

Que ́bec H4S 1Y9, Canada; telephone 

514–855–5000; fax 514–855–7401; email 

thd.crj@aero.bombardier.com; Internet 

http://www.bombardier.com. You may 

review copies of the referenced service 

information at the FAA, Transport 

Airplane Directorate, 1601 Lind Avenue 

SW., Renton, Washington. For 

information on the availability of this 

material at the FAA, call 425–227–1221. 

Examining the AD Docket 

You may examine the AD docket on 

the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov; or in person at the 

Docket Operations office between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. The AD docket 

contains this proposed AD, the 

regulatory evaluation, any comments 

received, and other information. The 

street address for the Docket Operations 

office (telephone (800) 647–5527) is in 

the ADDRESSES section. Comments will 

be available in the AD docket shortly 

after receipt. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jeffrey Zimmer, Aerospace Engineer, 

Airframe and Mechanical Systems 

Branch, ANE–171, FAA, New York 

Aircraft Certification Office, 1600 

Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, Westbury, 

New York 11590; telephone (516) 228– 

7306; fax (516) 794–5531. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments Invited 

We invite you to send any written 

relevant data, views, or arguments about 

this proposed AD. Send your comments 

to an address listed under the 

ADDRESSES section. Include ‘‘Docket No. 

FAA–2012–0592; Directorate Identifier 

2011–NM–253–AD’’ at the beginning of 

your comments. We specifically invite 

comments on the overall regulatory, 

economic, environmental, and energy 

aspects of this proposed AD. We will 

consider all comments received by the 

closing date and may amend this 

proposed AD based on those comments. 

We will post all comments we 

receive, without change, to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information you provide. We 

will also post a report summarizing each 

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