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

44029 

Vol. 72, No. 151 

Tuesday, August 7, 2007 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 989 

[Docket No. AMS–FV–07–0083; FV07–989– 

3 IFR] 

Raisins Produced From Grapes Grown 

in California; Change in Requirements 

for Interhandler Transfers of Raisins 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Interim final rule with request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: This rule revises the 

requirements for interhandler transfers 

of raisins under the administrative rules 

and regulations of the California raisin 

marketing order (order). The order 

regulates the handling of raisins 

produced from grapes grown in 

California and is administered locally 

by the Raisin Administrative California 

(Committee). This rule requires handlers 

who transfer raisins to other handlers 

within the State of California to certify 

to the Committee that only acquired, 

free-tonnage raisins that meet all 

applicable order requirements are being 

transferred to receiving handlers. This 

action should help maintain the 

integrity of the order by ensuring that 

handlers only transfer acquired, freetonnage raisins that meet applicable 

order requirements. 

DATES: Effective August 1, 2007; 

comments received by August 22, 2007 

will be considered prior to issuance of 

a final rule. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments 

concerning this rule. Comments must be 

sent to the Docket Clerk, Marketing 

Order Administration Branch, Fruit and 

Vegetable Programs, 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 docket 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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rose 

M. Aguayo, Marketing Specialist, or 

Kurt J. Kimmel, Regional Manager, 

California Marketing Field Office, 

Marketing Order Administration 

Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, 

AMS, USDA, Telephone: (559) 487– 

5901, Fax: (559) 487–5906, or E-mail: 

Rose.Aguayo@usda.gov, or 

Kurt.Kimmel@usda.gov. 

Small businesses may request 

information on complying with this 

regulation by contacting Jay Guerber, 

Marketing Order Administration 

Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, 

AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW., STOP 0237, Washington, 

DC 20250–0237; Telephone: (202) 720– 

2491, Fax: (202) 720–8938, or E-mail: 

Jay.Guerber@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule 

is issued under Marketing Agreement 

and Order No. 989 (7 CFR part 989), 

both as amended, regulating the 

handling of raisins produced from 

grapes grown in California, 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 rule has been reviewed under 

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 

Reform. This rule 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. 

The Act provides that administrative 

proceedings must be exhausted before 

parties may file suit in court. Under 

section 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 rule revises the requirements for 

interhandler transfers of raisins under 

the administrative rules and regulations 

of the California raisin order. This rule 

requires handlers who transfer raisins to 

other handlers within the State of 

California to certify to the Committee 

that only acquired, free-tonnage raisins 

that meet all applicable order 

requirements are being transferred. 

Pursuant to § 989.17, ‘‘acquire means 

to have or obtain physical possession of 

raisins by a handler at his packing or 

processing plant or at any other 

established receiving station operated 

by him.’’ However, handlers are not 

deemed to acquire raisins if they are 

being stored for another, being 

reconditioned, or held for inspection. 

Also the term only applies to the 

handler who first obtains possession of 

the raisins. Free tonnage raisins are 

those raisins which have been acquired, 

not placed in the reserve pool, and for 

which producers receive payment for 

100 percent of handler purchases. This 

change should help maintain the 

integrity of the order and was 

unanimously recommended by the 

Committee at a public meeting on April 

12, 2007. 

Section 989.59(e) of the order 

provides authority for handlers who 

acquire free-tonnage raisins to transfer 

such raisins to other handlers within the 

State of California. It also specifies that 

transferring handlers shall promptly 

report such transfers to the Committee, 

unless transfers are between plants 

owned or operated by the same handler. 

Further, it specifies that receiving 

handlers shall comply with all 

applicable order requirements before 

shipping or otherwise making final 

disposition of such raisins. 

Section 989.73 of the order provides 

authority for the RAC to collect reports 

from handlers and specifies that, upon 

request by the RAC, with the approval 

of the Secretary, handlers shall furnish 

to the RAC other information as may be 


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44030 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 151 / Tuesday, August 7, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

necessary to enable it to exercise its 

powers and perform its duties. The RAC 

meets routinely to make decisions on 

various programs authorized under the 

order such as interhandler transfers. The 

RAC utilizes information collected 

under the order in its decision making. 

Section 989.173 of the order’s 

administrative rules and regulations 

specifies certain reports that handlers 

are currently required to submit to the 

RAC. Under § 989.173(d)(1) of the 

order’s rules and regulations any 

handler who transfers free-tonnage 

raisins to another handler within the 

State of California shall submit a report 

to the Committee showing information 

regarding the interhandler transfer not 

later than five calendar days following 

such transfer. 

Such information includes the 

transfer date; the names and addresses 

of the transferring parties; the variety, 

net weight, and condition of the raisins 

transferred; and the inspection 

certificate number, if the raisins have 

already been packed. Transferring 

handlers are required to forward two 

copies of the RAC Form No. 6, 

‘‘Interhandler Transfers of Free-Tonnage 

Raisins,’’ to the receiving handler at the 

same time the report is submitted to the 

Committee. The receiving handler is 

required to certify receiving the raisins 

and to submit one copy of the 

certification report to the Committee 

within five calendar days of receiving 

the raisins or the copies of RAC Form 

No. 6, whichever is later. 

The Committee is concerned that 

some handlers may be transferring 

California raisins which are not 

acquired or which do not meet all 

applicable order requirements. Such 

requirements include proper reporting, 

inspection, assessments, and volume 

regulation. To help ensure that handlers 

only transfer acquired, free-tonnage 

raisins that meet all applicable order 

requirements, the Committee 

unanimously recommended at its April, 

12, 2007, meeting that the transferring 

handlers certify on RAC Form No. 6, 

‘‘Interhandler Transfer of Free-Tonnage 

Raisins,’’ that only acquired, freetonnage raisins that meet all applicable 

order requirements are being 

transferred. The Committee expects that 

requiring this certification should help 

maintain the integrity of the order. 

This rule modifies § 989.173(d)(1) by 

deleting the word ‘‘and’’ from paragraph 

(iii); by changing the period to a semicolon and adding the word ‘‘and’’ at end 

of paragraph (iv); and by adding a new 

subparagraph (v), which requires 

handlers to certify that the raisins being 

transferred are acquired, free-tonnage 

raisins that meet all applicable order 

requirements including proper 

reporting, incoming inspection, 

assessments, and volume regulation. 

The current RAC Form No. 6, 

‘‘Interhandler Transfer of Free-Tonnage 

Raisins’’ will be modified by the 

addition of the following paragraph: ‘‘To 

Be Completed by Transferring Handler: 

The undersigned certifies that the 

raisins being transferred have met all 

Federal order requirements, including 

proper reporting, incoming inspection, 

assessments, and volume regulations, if 

applicable.’’ No additional reporting 

burden is placed upon reporting 

handlers. 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Pursuant to requirements set forth in 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), the 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) 

has considered the economic impact of 

this rule 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 23 handlers 

of California raisins who are subject to 

regulation under the order and 

approximately 4,000 raisin producers in 

the regulated area. Small agricultural 

service firms are defined by the Small 

Business Administration (SBA) (13 CFR 

121.601) as those having annual receipts 

of less than $6,500,000, and small 

agricultural producers are defined as 

those having annual receipts of less than 

$750,000. No more than 10 handlers, 

and a majority of producers, of 

California raisins may be classified as 

small entities. Thirteen of the 23 

handlers subject to regulation have 

annual sales estimated to be at least 

$6,500,000, and the remaining 10 

handlers have sales less than 

$6,500,000, excluding receipts from any 

other sources. 

This rule revises § 989.173(d)(1) of the 

order’s administrative rules and 

regulations and requires handlers who 

transfer raisins to other handlers to 

certify on RAC Form No. 6, 

‘‘Interhandler Transfer of Free-Tonnage 

Raisins,’’ that only acquired, freetonnage raisins that meet all applicable 

order requirements are being 

transferred. This should help maintain 

the integrity of the order. 

Section 989.173(d)(1) is modified by 

deleting the word ‘‘and’’ from paragraph 

(iii); by changing the period to a semicolon and adding the word ‘‘and’’ to 

paragraph (iv); and by adding a new 

subparagraph (v) that requires handlers 

to certify that the raisins being 

transferred are acquired and meet all 

order requirements, including proper 

reporting, incoming inspection, 

assessments, and volume regulation, if 

applicable. Authority for interhandler 

transfers is provided in § 989.59, and 

authority to recommend this change is 

provided in § 989.73 of the order. 

Regarding the impact of this action on 

affected entities, it requires handlers 

who transfer raisins to other handlers to 

certify on RAC Form No. 6, 

‘‘Interhandler Transfer of Free-Tonnage 

Raisins,’’ that such raisins are acquired, 

free-tonnage raisins that meet all 

applicable order requirements. 

The Committee considered not 

requiring handlers to certify that their 

transferred raisins are acquired freetonnage raisins and that they meet all 

applicable order requirements. 

However, the Committee is concerned 

that some handlers may be transferring 

California raisins which are not 

acquired or which do not meet all 

applicable order requirements. Such 

requirements include proper reporting, 

incoming inspection, assessments, and 

volume regulation. As receiving 

handlers want additional assurance that 

they are receiving raisins which have 

been acquired and which meet 

applicable order requirements, the 

Committee unanimously recommended 

revising the requirements regarding 

interhandler transfers of free-tonnage 

raisins. 

All handlers must currently report 

their interhandler transfers to the 

Committee on RAC Form No. 6, 

‘‘Interhandler Transfer of Free-Tonnage 

Raisins.’’ This form is currently 

approved by the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) under OMB No. 

0581–0178, Vegetable and Specialty 

Crops. This rule adds a certifying 

statement above the transferring 

handler’s signature block to this form. 

This rule will not impose any 

additional reporting or recordkeeping 

requirements on either small or large 

raisin handlers. As with all Federal 

marketing order programs, reports and 

forms are periodically reviewed to 

reduce information requirements and 

duplication by the industry and public 

sector agencies. 

The 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 


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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 151 / Tuesday, August 7, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 44031 

access to Government information and 

services, and for other purposes. 

USDA has not identified any relevant 

Federal rules that duplicate, overlap or 

conflict with this proposed rule. 

Further, the meetings were widely 

publicized throughout the California 

raisin industry and all interested 

persons were invited to attend the 

meetings and participate in 

deliberations on all issues. The 

Committee’s Administrative Issues 

Work Group discussed this issue at 

length during meetings on January 23, 

and February 1, 2007. The 

Administrative Issues Subcommittee 

thus recommended the change to the 

Committee on April 12, 2007. All of 

these meetings were public meetings 

and all entities, both large and small, 

were able to express views on this issue. 

Finally, interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on this interim final 

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: http://www.ams.usda.gov/ 

fv/moab.html. Any questions about the 

compliance guide should be sent to Jay 

Guerber at the previously mentioned 

address in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section. 

This rule invites comments on a 

change to the handler reporting 

requirements currently prescribed under 

the California raisin marketing order. 

Any comments received will be 

considered prior to finalization of this 

rule. 

After consideration of all relevant 

materials presented, including the 

Committee’s recommendation, and 

other information, it is found that this 

interim final rule, as hereinafter set 

forth, will tend to effectuate the 

declared policy of the Act. 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is also 

found and determined upon good cause 

that it is impracticable, unnecessary, 

and contrary to the public interest to 

give preliminary notice prior to putting 

this rule into effect, and that good cause 

exists for not postponing the effective 

date of this rule until 30 days after 

publication in the Federal Register 

because: (1) The Committee 

unanimously recommended this change 

at a public meeting after a 

recommendation by one of its 

subcommittees, and all interested 

parties had the opportunity to provide 

input; (2) handlers are aware of this 

change, which was discussed at four 

public meetings; and (3) the crop year 

begins August 1, 2007, and this change 

should be in place by that date. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 989 

Grapes, Marketing agreements, 

Raisins, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 989 is amended as 

follows: 

PART 989—RAISINS PRODUCED 

FROM GRAPES GROWN IN 

CALIFORNIA 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 989 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674. 

■ 2. In § 989.173, paragraph (d) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 989.173 Reports. 

* * * * * 

(d) Reports of interhandler transfers—

(1) Free-tonnage. Any handler who 

transfers free-tonnage raisins to another 

handler within the State of California 

shall submit to the Committee not later 

than five calendar days following such 

transfer a report showing: 

(i) The date of transfer; 

(ii) The name(s) and address(es) of the 

handler or handlers and the locations of 

the plants; 

(iii) The varietal type of raisin, with 

organically produced raisins as 

specified in paragraph (g) of this section 

separated out, net weight, and condition 

of the raisins transferred: Provided, 

That, for the Other Seedless varietal 

type, handlers shall report such 

information for the different types of 

Other Seedless raisins; 

(iv) If packed, the inspection 

certificate number in the event such 

raisins have been inspected prior to 

such transfer and a certificate issued. 

Two copies of such report shall be 

forwarded to the receiving handler at 

the time the report is submitted to the 

Committee, on one of which the 

receiving handler shall certify to the 

receipt of such raisins and submit it to 

the Committee within five calendar days 

after the raisins or the copies of such 

report have been received by him, 

whichever is later; and 

(v) If packed, the transferring handler 

shall certify that such handler is 

transferring only acquired, free-tonnage 

raisins that meet all applicable 

marketing order requirements, including 

reporting, incoming inspection, 

assessments, and volume regulation. 

(2) Off-grade and other failing raisins. 

Any handler who transfers off-grade 

raisins or other failing raisins including 

off-grade raisins unsuccessfully 

reconditioned, to another handler, other 

than a processor within the State of 

California, shall submit to the 

Committee (on forms furnished by it) no 

later than Wednesday following the 

week of the transfer: 

(i) The date of transfer; 

(ii) The name and address of the 

receiving handler and the location of his 

plant; 

(iii) The name and address of the 

tenderer of each lot included in the 

transfer and the inspection certificate 

numbers applicable to the lot; and 

(iv) The varietal type, net weight, and 

condition of the raisins. 

* * * * * 

Dated: August 2, 2007. 

Lloyd C. Day, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 07–3856 Filed 8–3–07; 9:12 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utilities Service 

7 CFR Part 1740 

RIN 0572–ACO2 

Public Television Station Digital 

Transition Grant Program 

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, 

Agriculture. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This rule adopts as final, the 

interim final rule published in the 

Federal Register, (71 FR 3205) on 

January 20, 2006. The Rural Utilities 

Service, an agency which administers 

USDA Rural Development’s Utilities 

Programs (hereinafter ‘‘USDA Rural 

Development’’ or the ‘‘Agency’’) is 

publishing this final rule to allow the 

Agency to make grants to enable Public 

Television Stations in rural areas to 

replace current analog television 

broadcasting equipment with digital 

television broadcasting equipment as 

part of the national transition to digital 

television service. 

DATES: This rule is effective on August 

7, 2007. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Orren E. Cameron III, Director, 

Advanced Services Division, USDA 

Rural Development, Room 2845–S, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 

1550, Washington, DC, 20250–1550. 

Telephone: 202–690–4493. FAX: 202–

720–10551. E-mail: 

ed.cameron@wdc.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: An 

interim final rule establishing 7 CFR 

part 1740, was published in the Federal 

Register on January 20, 2006 (71 FR 

3205). The rule outlined statutory 


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