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

60599 

Vol. 88, No. 170 

Tuesday, September 5, 2023 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 1207 

[Doc. No. AMS–SC–22–0041] 

Potato Research and Promotion Plan; 

Changes to Board Membership and 

Administrative Committee 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would 

implement recommendations from the 

National Potato Promotion Board 

(Board) to change its membership and 

organization by revising the formula 

used to determine the number of 

producer and importer seats on the 

Board, reducing the maximum number 

of importer seats on the Board, and 

indefinitely suspending the 

Administrative Committee. In addition 

to these Board-recommended changes, 

the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) would make several nonsubstantive changes to clarify the start 

of the term of office for Board members 

and modernize the Board’s procedures. 

The Board administers the Potato 

Research and Promotion Plan (Plan) 

with oversight by the Agricultural 

Marketing Service (AMS). 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

October 5, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments 

concerning this proposed rule. 

Comments may be mailed to the Docket 

Clerk, Market Development Division, 

Specialty Crops Program, AMS, USDA, 

1400 Independence Avenue SW, STOP 

0237, Washington, DC 20250–0237; Fax: 

(202) 720–8938; or submitted 

electronically by Email: 

MDDComments@usda.gov; or via 

internet at https://www.regulations.gov. 

Comments should reference the 

document number and the date and 

page number of this issue of the Federal 

Register. All comments will be made 

available for public inspection in the 

Office of the Docket Clerk during regular 

business hours or can be viewed at 

https://www.regulations.gov. Comments 

submitted in response to this proposed 

rule will be included in the rulemaking 

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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Alexandra Caryl, Branch Chief, MidAtlantic Region Branch, Market 

Development Division, Specialty Crop 

Program, AMS, USDA, STOP 0244, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Room 1406– 

S, Washington, DC 20250–0244; 

Telephone: (202) 720–8805; or Email: 

Alexandra.Caryl@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

proposed rule affecting the Plan (7 CFR 

part 1207) is authorized under the 

Potato Research and Promotion Act of 

1971 (Act) (7 U.S.C. 2611–2627). 

Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 

14094 

USDA is issuing this proposed rule in 

conformance with Executive Orders 

12866, 13563, and 14094. Executive 

Orders 12866 and 13563 direct agencies 

to assess all costs and benefits of 

available regulatory alternatives and, if 

regulation is necessary, to select 

regulatory approaches that maximize 

net benefits (including potential 

economic, environmental, public health 

and safety effects, distributive impacts, 

and equity). Executive Order 13563 

emphasizes the importance of 

quantifying both costs and benefits, 

reducing costs, harmonizing rules, and 

promoting flexibility. Executive Order 

14094 reaffirms, supplements, and 

updates Executive Order 12866 and 

further directs agencies to solicit and 

consider input from a wide range of 

affected and interested parties through a 

variety of means. This proposed rule is 

not a significant regulatory action 

within the meaning of Executive Order 

12866. Accordingly, this action has not 

been reviewed by the Office of 

Management and Budget under section 

6 of the Executive Order. 

Executive Order 13175 

This action has been reviewed in 

accordance with the requirements of 

Executive Order 13175, Consultation 

and Coordination with Indian Tribal 

Governments. AMS has assessed the 

impact of this proposed rule on Indian 

Tribes and determined that this rule 

would not have Tribal implications that 

require consultation under Executive 

Order 13175. AMS hosts a quarterly 

teleconference with Tribal leaders 

where matters of mutual interest 

regarding the marketing of agricultural 

products are discussed. Information 

about the proposed changes to the 

regulations will be shared during an 

upcoming quarterly call, and Tribal 

leaders will be informed about the 

proposed revisions to the regulation and 

the opportunity to submit comments. 

AMS will work with the USDA Office 

of Tribal Relations to ensure meaningful 

consultation is provided as needed with 

regard to these proposed changes to the 

Plan. 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposal has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform. It is not intended to 

have retroactive effect. 

The Act provides that administrative 

proceedings must be exhausted before 

parties may file suit in court. Under sec. 

311 of the Act (7 U.S.C. 2620), a person 

subject to the Plan may file a petition 

with USDA stating that the Plan, any 

provision of the Plan, or any obligation 

imposed in connection with the Plan, is 

not in accordance with law and 

requesting a modification of the Plan or 

to be exempted therefrom. Such person 

is afforded the opportunity for a hearing 

on the petition. Thereafter, USDA will 

issue a ruling on the petition. The Act 

provides that the district courts of the 

United States for any district in which 

the petitioner resides or conducts 

business shall have 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 USDA’s final ruling. 

Background 

Under the Plan, which became 

effective on March 9, 1972, the Board 

administers a nationally coordinated 

program of research, development, 

advertising, and promotion designed to 

strengthen potatoes’ competitive 

position and expand domestic and 

foreign markets for potatoes and potato 

products. This program is financed by 

assessments on handlers and importers 

of potatoes and potato products. 


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60600 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 170 / Tuesday, September 5, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

This proposed rule would modify the 

membership of the Board by revising the 

formula to determine the number of 

producer and importer seats on the 

Board. This action would increase the 

current threshold from one member seat 

per five million hundredweight pounds 

of potatoes produced or imported to one 

seat per 10 million hundredweight for 

both producer and importer seats. This 

action would further revise importer 

membership by reducing the maximum 

number of importer seats from five to 

two. Additionally, the action would 

indefinitely suspend the Administrative 

Committee. Finally, this proposed rule 

would clarify the start date of the term 

of office for Board members and 

modernize certain Board procedures 

relating to the submission of votes and 

ballots. 

The Board unanimously 

recommended the proposed changes to 

its membership and the indefinite 

suspension of the Administrative 

Committee at a public meeting on 

March 9, 2022. Board members present 

for the vote represented domestic 

producers, importers, and the public, 

and the recommendations incorporated 

industry feedback collected by the 

Board over a three-year period. 

Board Recommendation To Change 

Membership Rules 

Section 1207.320(b) and (c) of the 

Plan provides the formula used to 

determine the number of producer and 

importer seats on the Board. Under this 

formula, one seat is created for every 

five million hundredweight of potatoes 

produced or imported. Therefore, as 

more potatoes are produced and 

imported, the Board has more seats. 

The Board has encountered 

significant challenges in filling Board 

member seats. First, since the Board’s 

inception, the potato industry has 

experienced both increased production 

and consolidation. Since the 1970s 

when the Board was created, production 

of potatoes in the U.S. as well as 

imports from Canada and other 

countries have increased substantially. 

At the same time, the number of 

commercial potato farmers and 

importers has decreased significantly. 

Accordingly, the number of seats has 

grown but there are fewer eligible 

producers and importers to fill them. 

Second, Board members are volunteers, 

nominated by peers to represent their 

State or importer sector. To be a 

member, domestic producers and 

importers use time otherwise spent with 

their businesses to travel to meetings 

and participate in committees and 

decision making. Board members are 

also expected to communicate the 

activities of the Board to their 

constituencies and recruit future Board 

members. While service as Board 

members is important, it is timeconsuming. 

As a result of these challenges, the 

Board in recent years has typically had 

approximately 125 total seats, of which 

only about 100 have been filled. 

Therefore, the Board has experienced 

roughly 25 vacancies each year. The 

proposal would increase the threshold 

from one member seat per five million 

hundredweight pounds of potatoes 

produced or imported to one seat per 10 

million hundredweight for both 

producer and importer seats. With the 

proposed changes, the Board expects the 

number of member seats to reduce to 80. 

Section 308 of the Act (7 U.S.C. 

2617(b)) and §§ 1207.320(c) and 

1207.322(d) of the Plan currently allow 

for a maximum of five importer seats on 

the Board. Since importers started 

paying assessments in 1991, the Board 

has always included the maximum of 

five importer member seats. Like their 

domestic producer counterparts, 

however, potato importers continue to 

experience industry consolidation. 

According to Customs and Border 

Protection data, in 2022 there were only 

10 importers with annual receipts above 

the Small Business Administration’s 

(SBA) threshold of $34 million. The 

Board has not filled all five positions in 

the last 10 years because of the small 

number of continuously active 

importers. Given that members serve 

three-year terms and cannot serve more 

than two consecutive terms, along with 

the small number of importers, it is 

reasonable to decrease the maximum 

number of importers from five to two. 

Additionally, the Board conducted 

extensive outreach to affected 

stakeholders and received their support 

for the change, as evidenced by the 

unanimous vote for this change. 

The initial request for these proposed 

changes came from domestic producers 

and importers. Since 2020, the Board 

has met with various State organizations 

across the country to discuss the 

proposed changes. USDA and members 

of industry also participated in 

numerous public meetings conducted 

by the Board to discuss the chronic 

vacancies experienced by the Board as 

a result of its current size and structure. 

The proposed solution developed by the 

Board reflects the input from these 

stakeholders. 

Board Recommendation To Suspend 

the Administrative Committee 

Section 1207.507 of the Plan 

establishes an Administrative 

Committee composed of 38 producer 

members, one importer member, and the 

public member, as provided for in the 

Board’s bylaws. The Administrative 

Committee is selected annually. The 

Administrative Committee acts for the 

Board in implementing marketing 

research, development, advertising, 

and/or promotion activities as directed 

by the Board and is charged with 

developing and submitting to USDA for 

approval specific programs or projects. 

The Administrative Committee also acts 

for the Board in authorizing contracts or 

agreements for the development and 

carrying out of such programs or 

projects and the payment of the costs 

thereof with funds collected pursuant to 

the Plan. Finally, the Administrative 

Committee acts for the Board in 

contracting with cooperating agencies 

for the collection of assessments 

pursuant to the Plan. 

Due to the proposed changes to the 

Board’s membership, which would 

reduce membership seats to 

approximately 80, the Board believes 

the Administrative Committee is no 

longer needed. Currently, the Board 

uses the Administrative Committee like 

a smaller Board that meets twice a year, 

while the full Board only meets once. It 

is easier and cheaper for the 

Administrative Committee to convene 

and conduct business because of its 

reduced size. While the Board, with the 

proposed changes, would still be larger 

than the current Administrative 

Committee, the reduced membership 

under the proposed changes allows the 

full Board to meet in lieu of the 

Administrative Committee. Meeting 

more frequently addresses a major 

industry concern that only members of 

committees, which make up the 

Administrative Committee, have 

sufficient interaction with staff to fully 

understand the programs and activities 

the Board implements. Although 

meeting more frequently may require a 

greater time commitment from Board 

members, the Board believes the 

benefits of this change would outweigh 

any additional burden on members. 

Furthermore, as explained in the next 

section, USDA proposes to amend the 

regulations to permit voting and 

balloting via electronic methods, which 

is expected to increase the efficiency of 

the Board’s operations and make it 

easier for members to participate. By 

reducing the Board size to a more 

reasonable number of members, the 

Board hopes to include all members on 

committees to promote Board member 

interaction and involvement. Therefore, 

the proposed changes would 

indefinitely suspend the Administrative 

Committee. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
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USDA Proposed Changes 

Under § 1207.321(a), the term of office 

of Board members starts on July 1, or 

such other date as may be specified in 

the regulations. In 1973, USDA added 

§ 1207.504, which provided that the 

term of office would instead start on 

April 1. In 1984, § 1207.504 was 

amended to require the term of office to 

start on March 1. Since then, each 

member’s term has started on March 1. 

USDA proposes to change the start date 

in § 1207.321(a) from July 1 to March 1 

to match § 1207.504 and be consistent 

with the current practice of the Board. 

In § 1207.325(c), the Plan provides 

that Board members may vote on noncontroversial matters and matters of an 

emergency nature when there is not 

enough time to call an assembled 

meeting by mail, telegraph, or 

telephone. USDA proposes changing 

this language to remove the reference to 

telegraph as a means for voting and to 

allow for voting by mail, electronic 

mail, facsimile, or any other means of 

communication. In § 1207.503(a), (b), 

and (c), the Plan provides that 

producers and importers may nominate 

Board members at meetings or by mail 

ballots. USDA proposes changing this 

language to allow ballots to be 

submitted by mail, electronic mail, 

facsimile, or any other means of 

communication. These proposed 

changes would modernize the sections 

and increase accessibility to the voting 

and balloting processes by providing 

additional options. 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Pursuant to the requirements set forth 

in the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

(5 U.S.C. 601–612), 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 businesses subject to such 

actions so that small businesses will not 

be unduly or disproportionately 

burdened. The RFA requires, where 

feasible, an estimate of the number of 

small businesses affected by the rule. 

This regulatory flexibility analysis 

estimates a proportion of small 

businesses where it is not feasible to 

estimate a number. 

The Small Business Administration 

(SBA) has established size standards 

that determine whether a business 

entity is a small business. The size 

standards are based on the entity’s 

economic activity, or industry, and 

generally use the North American 

Industry Classification System (NAICS). 

The size standards are expressed in 

annual receipts in millions of dollars or 

in number of employees, and indicate 

the maximum allowed for an entity to 

be considered a small business. 

The SBA defines small potato 

producers as those having annual 

receipts equal to or less than $4.25 

million (Potato Farming, NAICS code 

111211). Small agricultural service firms 

(handlers and importers) are defined as 

those having annual receipts equal to or 

less than $34 million (Postharvest Crop 

Activities, NAICS code 115114) (13 CFR 

121.201). These were the numbers in 

effect when this initial regulatory 

flexibility analysis was prepared in May 

2023. 

According to the Board, in 2021 there 

were approximately 1,500 producers 

and 955 handlers of potatoes. Since data 

was not available on the number of 

producers that are small businesses 

according to the SBA standard, this 

analysis computes an estimate of the 

number of small farms using census 

data from the USDA’s National 

Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). 

Producers that pay Board assessments 

have a minimum of five acres of 

potatoes. The 2017 Agricultural Census 

(the most recent census data available) 

reported 2,420 farms with five or more 

harvested acres of potatoes, which is 

reasonably close to the Board estimate 

of 1,500 producers that paid 

assessments in 2021. 

NASS reported a 2022 U.S. potato 

crop value of $5,069,511,000 and 

895,600 harvested acres (the most recent 

annual data available). The estimated 

average value per harvested acre is 

$5,660 (obtained by dividing the crop 

value of $5,069,511,000 by the number 

of acres, 895,600). Thus, on average, a 

farm would have to harvest 751 or fewer 

acres of potatoes to meet the SBA’s 

definition of a small business (obtained 

by dividing the SBA threshold of $4.25 

million by the estimated 2022 average 

value per acre, $5,660). 

According to the 2017 Agricultural 

Census, out of the 2,420 potato farms 

with five or more harvested acres, 2,030 

farms (84 percent) harvested 749 or 

fewer acres, very close to the 751 or 

fewer acres in the previous 

computation. Based on these 

computations, and assuming a normal 

distribution, a large majority of potato 

farms paying assessments to the Board 

are small businesses according to SBA 

criteria. 

As noted above, the SBA threshold 

size for a small agricultural service 

business is $34 million in annual sales. 

The Board estimate of the number of 

potato handlers in 2021 was 955. 

Dividing the $5.07 billion NASS crop 

revenue estimate by 955 yields an 

annual estimate of potato sales per 

handler of approximately $5.3 million 

(farm level value), which is well below 

$34 million, the SBA threshold size for 

a small agricultural service business. 

Potato handlers perform various 

procedures to get the potatoes to market, 

including grading, sorting, packaging, 

and shipment. What handlers are paid 

can be estimated by obtaining an annual 

average shipping point price for 

potatoes from AMS Market News. AMS 

shipping point prices capture the prices 

received by shippers (handlers) after 

buying potatoes from growers, and then 

grading, sorting, packaging, and 

shipping. The 2022 average AMS 

shipping point price received for 

potatoes ($0.20 per pound) is 55 percent 

higher than the 2022 average annual 

NASS price of $0.129 per pound 

received by growers. Adding 55 percent 

to the $5.3 million potato sales per 

handler at the farm level yields an 

estimate of $8.2 million average annual 

sales at the handler level, which is also 

well below the SBA small business 

threshold size of $34 million or less in 

annual sales. Assuming a normal 

distribution, a majority of potato 

handlers are small agricultural service 

businesses, according to SBA criteria. 

Based on a review of 2022 potato 

import data from U.S. Customs and 

Border Protection, there were 

approximately 140 importers. Of those 

140 importers, 130 (93 percent) had 

potato imports valued at $34 million or 

less, the SBA size threshold for small 

agricultural service firms. Therefore, 

130 potato importers are small 

businesses in terms of potato import 

value, using SBA business size criteria. 

This proposal would amend 

§§ 1207.320, 1207.321, 1207.322, 

1207.325, and 1207.503, and suspend 

§ 1207.507. The changes would modify 

the membership of the Board by revising 

the formula to determine the number of 

seats on the Board and reducing the 

maximum number of importer seats on 

the Board. The changes would also 

indefinitely suspend the Administrative 

Committee, clarify the start date of the 

term of office of Board members, and 

modernize the Board’s voting and 

balloting procedures. 

This proposed rule would not impose 

any new costs on producers, handlers, 

or importers. This proposal would also 

not impose any additional reporting, 

recordkeeping, or information collection 

requirements on affected entities. The 

proposed changes are administrative in 

nature and would allow the Board to 

more effectively carry out the 

requirements of the Plan while 

potentially reducing costs and 

increasing participation. With these 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
60602 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 170 / Tuesday, September 5, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

changes, fewer individuals would be 

required to attend meetings, reducing 

the time burden and costs associated 

with traveling and attending meetings. 

Further, modernizing the Board’s 

procedures to authorize additional 

methods for casting votes and ballots 

could help increase participation. 

The Board considered taking no 

action and continuing to experience 

significant membership vacancies. The 

Board decided against this option 

because vacancies have become 

pervasive. Therefore, these alternatives 

were rejected. 

As with all Federal promotion 

programs, reports and forms are 

periodically reviewed to reduce 

information requirements and 

duplication by industry and public 

sector agencies. USDA has not 

identified any relevant Federal rules 

that duplicate, overlap, or conflict with 

this proposed rule. 

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. 

Regarding outreach efforts, all the 

Board’s meetings, including the March 

9, 2022, meeting during which the 

Board recommendations relevant to this 

action were discussed, are open to the 

public and interested persons are 

invited to participate and express their 

views. No concerns were raised in these 

meetings about the changes proposed in 

this document. 

We have performed this initial 

regulatory flexibility analysis regarding 

the impact of this proposed action on 

small entities, and we invite comments 

concerning potential effects of this 

action on small businesses. 

While this proposed rule as set forth 

below has not yet received the approval 

of USDA, it has been determined that it 

is consistent with and would effectuate 

the purposes of the Act. 

A 30-day comment period is provided 

to allow interested persons to respond 

to this proposal. All written comments 

received in response to this proposed 

rule will be considered prior to 

finalizing this action. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1207 

Advertising, Agricultural research, 

Potatoes, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, the Agricultural Marketing 

Service proposes to amend 7 CFR part 

1207 as follows: 

PART 1207—POTATO RESEARCH 

AND PROMOTION PLAN 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 1207 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 2611–2627; 7 U.S.C. 

7401. 

■ 2. Amend § 1207.320 by revising 

paragraphs (b) and (c) to read as follows: 

§ 1207.320 Establishment and 

membership. 

* * * * * 

(b) Producer membership upon the 

Board shall be determined on the basis 

of the potato production reported in the 

latest Crop Production Annual 

Summary Report issued by the National 

Agricultural Statistics Service of the 

U.S. Department of Agriculture. If a 

State’s potato production data is not 

provided by the National Agricultural 

Statistics Service, the Board may use an 

alternative data source that reliably 

reflects potato production in the United 

States. Unless the Secretary, upon 

recommendation of the Board, 

determines an alternate basis, for each 

10 million hundredweight of such 

production, or major fraction thereof, 

produced within each State, such State 

shall be entitled to one member. 

However, each State shall initially be 

entitled to at least one member. 

(c) The number of importer member 

positions on the Board shall be based on 

the hundredweights of potatoes, potato 

products equivalent to fresh potatoes, 

and seed potatoes imported into the 

United States but shall not exceed two 

importer members. Unless the Secretary, 

upon recommendation of the Board, 

determines an alternate basis, there 

shall be one importer member position 

for each 10 million hundredweight, or 

major fraction thereof, of potatoes, 

potato product equivalents, and seed 

potatoes imported into the United 

States. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Amend § 1207.321 by revising 

paragraph (a) to read as follows: 

§ 1207.321 Term of office. 

(a) The term of office of Board 

members shall be 3 years, beginning 

March 1, or such other beginning date 

as may be approved pursuant to 

regulations. 

* * * * * 

■ 4. Amend § 1207.322 by revising 

paragraph (d) to read as follows: 

§ 1207.322 Nominations and appointment. 

* * * * * 

(d) The importer members shall be 

nominated by importers of potatoes, 

potato products and/or seed potatoes. 

The number of importer members on the 

Board shall be announced by the 

Secretary and shall not exceed two 

members. The Board may call upon 

organizations of potato, potato products 

and/or seed potato importers to assist in 

nominating importers for membership 

on the Board. If such organizations fail 

to submit nominees or are determined 

by the Board to not adequately represent 

importers, then the Board may conduct 

meetings of importers to nominate 

eligible importers for Board member 

positions. In determining if importer 

organizations adequately represent 

importers, the Board shall consider: 

(1) How many importers belong to the 

association; 

(2) What percentage of the total 

number of importers is represented by 

the association; 

(3) Is the association representative of 

the potato, potato product, and seed 

potato import industry; 

(4) Does the association speak for 

potato, potato product, and seed potato 

importers; and 

(5) Other relevant information as may 

be warranted. 

* * * * * 

■ 5. Amend § 1207.325 by revising 

paragraph (c) to read as follows: 

§ 1207.325 Procedure. 

* * * * * 

(c) For routine and noncontroversial 

matters which do not require 

deliberation and the exchange of views, 

and for matters of an emergency nature 

when there is not enough time to call an 

assembled meeting, the Board may act 

upon a majority of concurring votes of 

its members cast by mail, telephone, 

electronic mail, facsimile, or any other 

means of communication. Any vote cast 

by telephone shall be confirmed 

promptly in writing. 

■ 6. Amend § 1207.503 by revising 

paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) to read as 

follows: 

§ 1207.503 Nominations. 

(a) Pursuant to § 1207.322 of the plan, 

the Board shall assist producers in 

producing sections or States each year 

to nominate producer members for the 

Board. Such nominations may be 

conducted at meetings or with ballots 

submitted by mail, electronic mail, 

facsimile, or any other means of 

communication. One individual shall be 

nominated for each position to become 

vacant. A list of nominees shall be 

submitted to the Secretary for 

consideration by November 1 of each 

year. 

(b) Pursuant to § 1207.322 of the plan, 

the Board shall assist importers each 

year to nominate importer members for 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 170 / Tuesday, September 5, 2023 / Proposed Rules 60603 

the Board. Such nominations may be 

conducted at meetings or with ballots 

submitted by mail, electronic mail, 

facsimile, or any other means of 

communication. 

(c) Nomination meetings or balloting 

by mail, electronic mail, facsimile, or 

any other means of communication 

shall be well publicized with notice 

given to producers, importers, and the 

Secretary at least 10 days prior to each 

meeting or distribution of ballots. 

* * * * * 

§ 1207.507 [Stayed] 

■ 7. Stay § 1207.507 indefinitely. 

Erin Morris, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–19003 Filed 9–1–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2023–1647; Project 

Identifier AD–2023–00487–E] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; General 

Electric Company Engines 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: The FAA proposes to adopt a 

new airworthiness directive (AD) for 

certain General Electric Company (GE) 

Model GE90–90B, GE90–94B, GE90– 

110B1, and GE90–115B engines. This 

proposed AD was prompted by a 

manufacturer investigation that revealed 

certain high-pressure turbine (HPT) 

stage 1 disks, HPT stage 2 disks, forward 

HPT rotor seals, interstage HPT seals, 

and stages 7–9 compressor rotor spools 

were manufactured from powder metal 

material suspected to contain iron 

inclusion. This proposed AD would 

require replacement of affected HPT 

stage 1 disks, HPT stage 2 disks, forward 

HPT rotor seals, interstage HPT seals, 

and stages 7–9 compressor rotor spools. 

The FAA is proposing this AD to 

address the unsafe condition on these 

products. 

DATES: The FAA must receive comments 

on this proposed AD by October 20, 

2023. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, 

using the procedures found in 14 CFR 

11.43 and 11.45, by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

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: Deliver to Mail 

address above between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

AD Docket: You may examine the AD 

docket at regulations.gov by searching 

for and locating Docket No. FAA–2023– 

1647; or in person at Docket Operations 

between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

The AD docket contains this NPRM, any 

comments received, and other 

information. The street address for 

Docket Operations is listed above. 

Material Incorporated by Reference: 

• For service information 

incorporated by reference in this NPRM, 

contact General Electric Company, 1 

Neumann Way, Cincinnati, OH 45215; 

phone: (513) 552–3272; email: 

aviation.fleetsupport@ge.com; website: 

ge.com. 

• You may view this service 

information at the FAA, Airworthiness 

Products Section, Operational Safety 

Branch, 1200 District Avenue, 

Burlington, MA 01803. For information 

on the availability of this material at the 

FAA, call (817) 222–5110. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Alexei Marqueen, Aviation Safety 

Engineer, FAA, 2200 South 216th Street, 

Des Moines, WA 98198; phone: (781) 

238–7178; email: Alexei.T.Marqueen@

faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments Invited 

The FAA invites you to send any 

written relevant data, views, or 

arguments about this proposal. Send 

your comments to an address listed 

under ADDRESSES. Include ‘‘Docket No. 

FAA–2023–1647; Project Identifier AD– 

2023–00487–E’’ at the beginning of your 

comments. The most helpful comments 

reference a specific portion of the 

proposal, explain the reason for any 

recommended change, and include 

supporting data. The FAA will consider 

all comments received by the closing 

date and may amend this proposal 

because of those comments. 

Except for Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) as described in the 

following paragraph, and other 

information as described in 14 CFR 

11.35, the FAA will post all comments 

received, without change, to 

regulations.gov, including any personal 

information you provide. The agency 

will also post a report summarizing each 

substantive verbal contact received 

about this NPRM. 

Confidential Business Information 

CBI is commercial or financial 

information that is both customarily and 

actually treated as private by its owner. 

Under the Freedom of Information Act 

(FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt 

from public disclosure. If your 

comments responsive to this NPRM 

contain commercial or financial 

information that is customarily treated 

as private, that you actually treat as 

private, and that is relevant or 

responsive to this NPRM, it is important 

that you clearly designate the submitted 

comments as CBI. Please mark each 

page of your submission containing CBI 

as ‘‘PROPIN.’’ The FAA will treat such 

marked submissions as confidential 

under the FOIA, and they will not be 

placed in the public docket of this 

NPRM. Submissions containing CBI 

should be sent to Alexei Marqueen, 

Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 2200 

South 216th Street, Des Moines, WA 

98198. Any commentary that the FAA 

receives which is not specifically 

designated as CBI will be placed in the 

public docket for this rulemaking. 

Background 

The FAA was notified by the 

manufacturer of the detection of iron 

inclusion in a turbine disk 

manufactured from the same powder 

metal material used to manufacture 

certain HPT stage 1 disks, HPT stage 2 

disks, forward HPT rotor seals, 

interstage HPT seals, and stages 7–9 

compressor rotor spools for GE90–90B, 

GE90–94B, GE90–110B1, and GE90– 

115B engines. Further investigation by 

the manufacturer determined that the 

iron inclusion is attributed to 

deficiencies in the manufacturing 

process and may cause reduced material 

properties and a lower fatigue life 

capability, which may result in 

premature fracture and subsequent 

uncontained failure. The FAA has been 

informed that GE has communicated 

with affected operators with affected 

HPT stage 1 and stage 2 disks regarding 

the proposed corrective action for this 

unsafe condition. As a result, affected 

operators are already aware of the 

proposed corrective action and have 

already performed the actions proposed 

in this AD. Therefore, the FAA has 

determined that the compliance time to 

replace the affected HPT stage 1 and 

stage 2 disks before further flight is 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1