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Rules and Regulations Federal Register

9575 

Vol. 78, No. 28 

Monday, February 11, 2013 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 985 

[Doc. No. AMS–FV–12–0014; FV12–985–2 

FR] 

Marketing Order Regulating the 

Handling of Spearmint Oil Produced in 

the Far West; Change to 

Administrative Rules Regarding the 

Transfer and Storage of Excess 

Spearmint Oil 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This rule revises the 

administrative rules prescribed under 

the marketing order regulating the 

handling of spearmint oil produced in 

the Far West. The marketing order is 

administered locally by the Spearmint 

Oil Administrative Committee 

(Committee). This rule changes the date 

by which a producer must transfer 

excess spearmint oil to another 

producer, or deliver such oil to the 

Committee or its designees for storage, 

from November 1 to December 1. This 

rule also changes the date that the 

Committee must pool identified excess 

oil as reserve oil from November 1 to 

December 1. The changes are a 

relaxation of the handling regulations 

and are expected to benefit producers, 

handlers, and consumers. 

DATES: Effective March 13, 2013. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Barry Broadbent, Marketing Specialist, 

or Gary Olson, Regional Director, 

Northwest Marketing Field Office, 

Marketing Order and Agreement 

Division, Fruit and Vegetable Program, 

AMS, USDA; Telephone: (503) 326– 

2724, Fax: (503) 326–7440, or Email: 

Barry.Broadbent@ams.usda.gov or 

GaryD.Olson@ams.usda.gov. 

Small businesses may request 

information on complying with this 

regulation by contacting Laurel May, 

Marketing Order and Agreement 

Division, Fruit and Vegetable Program, 

AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW., STOP 0237, Washington, 

DC 20250–0237; Telephone: (202) 720– 

2491, Fax: (202) 720–8938, or Email: 

Laurel.May@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final 

rule is issued under Marketing Order 

No. 985 (7 CFR part 985), as amended, 

regulating the handling of spearmint oil 

produced in the Far West (Washington, 

Idaho, Oregon, and designated parts of 

Nevada and Utah), 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 final rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform. This rule is not intended 

to have retroactive effect. 

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 final rule revises the 

administrative rules prescribed under 

the order. This rule changes the date by 

which a producer must transfer excess 

spearmint oil to another producer, or 

deliver such oil to the Committee or its 

designees for storage, from November 1 

to December 1. This rule also changes 

the date that the Committee must pool 

identified excess oil as reserve oil from 

November 1 to December 1. The changes 

were unanimously recommended at a 

February 22, 2012, meeting of the full 

Committee. 

Section 985.56(a) of the spearmint 

order specifies that before October 15, or 

such other date as the Committee with 

the approval of the Secretary may 

establish, a producer, following 

notification of the Committee, may 

transfer excess oil to another producer 

to fill a deficiency in that producer’s 

annual allotment. In addition, 

§ 985.56(b) specifies that before 

November 1, or such other date as the 

Committee with the approval of the 

Secretary may establish, excess oil not 

used to fill another producer’s 

deficiency shall be delivered to the 

Committee or its designees for storage. 

Section 985.57(a) provides that on 

November 1, or such other date as the 

Committee with the approval of the 

Secretary may establish, the Committee 

shall pool identified excess oil as 

reserve oil in such manner as to 

accurately account for its receipt, 

storage, and disposition. 

In a rule published on October 30, 

1980 (45 FR 71759), § 985.156 was 

added to the order’s administrative rules 

and regulations, effectively changing the 

date by which the transfer of excess oil 

between producers to fill deficiencies 

must be completed from October 15 to 

November 1. 

At the February 22, 2012, meeting, the 

Committee unanimously recommended 

changing the date by which all transfers 

of excess oil between producers, to fill 

deficiencies, must be completed from 

November 1 to December 1. In addition, 

the Committee recommended changing 

the date by which all excess oil not used 

to fill another producer’s deficiency 

must be delivered to the Committee or 

its designees for storage from November 

1 to December 1. Lastly, the Committee 

recommended changing the date that 

the Committee must pool identified 

excess oil as reserve oil from November 

1 to December 1. 

In its deliberations, the Committee 

commented that a number of factors 

have contributed to the need to establish 

later dates for the transfer, storage, and 

reserve pooling of excess oil. The largest 

factor driving the recommended change 

is the shift towards harvesting 

spearmint oil later in the year. 

Historically, the harvest of spearmint oil 

has concluded by the end of September. 


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9576 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 28 / Monday, February 11, 2013 / Rules and Regulations 

However, in recent years, many 

producers have extended the harvest of 

spearmint oil into the middle of 

October. This current trend towards 

harvesting later into the year has been 

facilitated by advances in the 

equipment, technology, and cultural 

practices employed by spearmint 

producers. While extending harvest 

further into October has benefited 

producers, it has also made the 

identification and transfer of excess oil 

prior to the current November 1 

deadline increasingly difficult. 

In addition, after harvest is complete, 

many producers now deliver their 

spearmint to a handler to remove excess 

water from the spearmint oil in order to 

derive a ‘‘dewatered’’ net quantity of oil 

produced. This dewatering process can 

take up to several weeks to complete, 

further tightening the timeframe that 

spearmint producers must operate 

under to meet the current volume 

regulation deadlines. 

Lastly, many spearmint oil producers 

have diversified their farming 

operations and are typically involved in 

the harvest of other late-bearing crops 

during the month of October. These 

producers may be preoccupied with 

their other farm obligations and may not 

have the time to review their spearmint 

production, ensure all paperwork is in 

order, make marketing decisions, and 

execute any transfers of excess oil prior 

to the current November 1 deadline. 

The Committee staff must account for 

all of the production, transfer, sale, and 

reserve pooling of spearmint oil before 

an accurate determination of the 

statistics can be compiled for the 

marketing year. The Committee believes 

that extending the deadline by which 

producers must transfer or store their 

excess oil, and that the Committee must 

pool identified excess oil, from 

November 1 to December 1 will have 

minimal impact on the Committee 

staff’s ability to perform their required 

functions in a timely manner. 

The changes are expected to benefit 

producers, handlers, and consumers of 

spearmint oil by ensuring that all 

spearmint oil eligible to enter the 

market under volume regulation is 

actually available to the market. 

Final 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 action on small entities. 

Accordingly, AMS has prepared this 

final 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 8 spearmint oil handlers 

subject to regulation under the order. In 

addition, there are approximately 32 

producers of Scotch spearmint oil and 

approximately 88 producers of Native 

spearmint oil in the regulated 

production area. Small agricultural 

service firms are defined by the Small 

Business Administration (SBA) as those 

having annual receipts of less than 

$7,000,000, and small agricultural 

producers are defined as those having 

annual receipts of less than $750,000. 

(13 CFR 121.201) 

Based on the SBA’s definition of 

small entities, the Committee estimates 

that two of the eight handlers regulated 

by the order could be considered small 

entities. Most of the handlers are large 

corporations involved in the 

international trading of essential oils 

and the products of essential oils. In 

addition, the Committee estimates that 

15 of the 32 Scotch spearmint oil 

producers and 26 of the 88 Native 

spearmint oil producers could be 

classified as small entities under the 

SBA definition. Thus, a majority of 

handlers and producers of Far West 

spearmint oil may not be classified as 

small entities. 

The Far West spearmint oil industry 

is characterized by producers whose 

farming operations generally involve 

more than one commodity and whose 

income from farming operations is not 

exclusively dependent on the 

production of spearmint oil. A typical 

spearmint oil-producing operation has 

enough acreage for rotation such that 

the total acreage required to produce the 

crop is about one-third spearmint and 

two-thirds rotational crops. Thus, the 

typical spearmint oil producer has to 

have considerably more acreage than is 

planted to spearmint during any given 

season. Crop rotation is an essential 

cultural practice in the production of 

spearmint oil for weed, insect, and 

disease control. To remain economically 

viable with the added costs associated 

with spearmint oil production, most 

spearmint oil-producing farms fall into 

the SBA category of large businesses. 

Small spearmint oil producers 

generally are not as extensively 

diversified as larger ones and as such 

are more at risk to market fluctuations. 

Such small producers generally need to 

market their entire annual crop and do 

not have the luxury of having other 

crops to cushion seasons with poor 

spearmint oil returns. Conversely, large 

diversified producers have the potential 

to endure one or more seasons of poor 

spearmint oil markets because income 

from alternate crops could support the 

operation for a period of time. Being 

reasonably assured of a stable price and 

market provides small producing 

entities with the ability to maintain 

proper cash flow and to meet annual 

expenses. Thus, the market and price 

stability provided by the order 

potentially benefit the small producer 

more than such provisions benefit large 

producers. 

This final rule changes the date by 

which transfers of excess spearmint oil 

between producers to fill deficiencies in 

annual allotments must be completed 

from November 1 to December 1. This 

rule also changes the date by which all 

excess oil not used to fill deficiencies 

must be transferred to the Committee for 

storage from November 1 to December 1. 

Lastly, this rule extends the date that 

the Committee must pool identified 

excess oil as reserve oil from November 

1 to December 1. 

The Committee recommended 

extending the dates to give producers 

more time to assess the quantity of 

spearmint oil they produced relative to 

their annual allotment, to determine if 

there is a deficiency or an excess of such 

oil, and to make decisions regarding any 

transfers of oil. This action is expected 

to benefit producers, handlers, and 

consumers by ensuring that the market 

is adequately supplied with spearmint 

oil. The authority for this action is 

provided in §§ 985.56 and 985.57 of the 

order. 

At the February 22, 2012, meeting, the 

Committee discussed the impact of 

these changes on handlers and 

producers. This action is a relaxation of 

the current handling regulation, 

allowing an additional 30 days for 

industry participants to fully supply the 

market with the total amount of 

spearmint oil allotted under the volume 

regulation provisions of the order. The 

benefits of this rule are not expected to 

be disproportionately greater or less for 

small handlers or producers than for 

larger entities. 

The Committee discussed alternatives 

to these changes, including making no 

changes at all, changing the dates but 

keeping them within the month of 

November, and extending the dates 

further into December or into January. 

The Committee thought that 

maintaining the dates in the current 

regulations would not be responsive to 

the changing production practices of the 

industry. In addition, they felt that the 

dates should be extended at least 30 


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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 28 / Monday, February 11, 2013 / Rules and Regulations 9577 

days for the change to be meaningful. 

However, the Committee believed that 

extending the dates any further than the 

proposed dates would affect the 

Committee’s ability to establish accurate 

reports for the completed harvest season 

in a timely manner. The Committee 

members unanimously agreed that 

changing the dates for transferring, 

storing, and pooling excess oil from 

November 1 to December 1 addresses 

the industry’s current needs without 

negatively impacting the operation of 

the Committee. 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35), the order’s information 

collection requirements have been 

previously approved by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) and 

assigned OMB No. 0581–0178, 

Vegetable and Specialty Crops. No 

changes in those requirements as a 

result of this action are necessary. 

Should any changes become necessary, 

they would be submitted to OMB for 

approval. 

This final rule changes the date by 

which excess oil must be transferred 

between producers to fill annual 

allotment deficiencies or delivered to 

the Committee or its designees for 

storage from November 1 to December 1. 

In addition, the rule changes the date 

the Committee must pool identified 

excess oil as reserve oil from November 

1 to December 1. This rule is a 

relaxation of the volume regulation 

provisions of the order. Accordingly, 

this rule does not impose any additional 

reporting or recordkeeping requirements 

on either small or large spearmint oil 

producers or handlers. As with all 

Federal marketing order programs, 

reports and forms are periodically 

reviewed to reduce information 

requirements and duplication by 

industry and public sector agencies. 

Furthermore, USDA has not identified 

any relevant Federal rules that 

duplicate, overlap, or conflict with this 

final 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. 

In addition, the Committee’s meeting 

was widely publicized throughout the 

spearmint oil industry and all interested 

persons were invited to attend the 

meeting and participate in Committee 

deliberations on all issues. Like all 

Committee meetings, the February 22, 

2012, meeting was a public meeting and 

all entities, both large and small, were 

able to express views on this issue. 

A proposed rule concerning this 

action was published in the Federal 

Register on September 17, 2012 (77 FR 

57037). Copies of the rule were 

provided to the Committee, which in 

turn made it available to all Far West 

spearmint oil producers, handlers, and 

interested persons. Finally, the rule was 

made available through the Internet by 

USDA and the Office of the Federal 

Register. A 60-day comment period 

ending November 16, 2012, was 

provided to allow interested persons to 

respond to the proposal. 

Two comments were received during 

the comment period in response to the 

proposal. One of the comments was in 

support of the proposed changes, while 

the other was not substantive in nature 

and did not address the merits of the 

proposal. The commenter in support of 

the action believes that the proposed 

changes would be beneficial to the 

industry and would facilitate the 

orderly marketing of spearmint oil. 

Accordingly, no changes will be made 

to the rule, as proposed, based on the 

comments received. 

A small business guide on complying 

with fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop 

marketing agreements and orders may 

be viewed at: www.ams.usda.gov/ 

MarketingOrdersSmallBusinessGuide. 

Any questions about the compliance 

guide should be sent to Laurel May at 

the previously mentioned address in the 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section. 

After consideration of all relevant 

matter presented, including the 

information and recommendation 

submitted by the Committee and other 

available information, it is hereby found 

that this rule, as hereinafter set forth, 

will tend to effectuate the declared 

policy of the Act. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 985 

Marketing agreements, Oils and fats, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Spearmint oil. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 985 is amended as 

follows: 

PART 985—MARKETING ORDER 

REGULATING THE HANDLING OF 

SPEARMINT OIL PRODUCED IN THE 

FAR WEST 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 985 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674. 

■ 2. Revise § 985.156 to read as follows: 

§ 985.156 Transfer of excess oil by 

producers. 

(a) Pursuant to § 985.56(a), before 

December 1 of each marketing year, a 

producer, following notification of the 

Committee, may transfer excess oil to 

another producer to enable that 

producer to fill a deficiency in that 

producer’s annual allotment. 

(b) Pursuant to § 985.56(b), before 

December 1 of each marketing year, 

excess oil not used to fill another 

producer’s deficiency shall be delivered 

to the Committee or its designees for 

storage. 

■ 3. Add § 985.157 to read as follows: 

§ 985.157 Reserve pool requirements. 

Pursuant to § 985.57(a), on December 

1, the Committee shall pool identified 

excess oil as reserve oil in such manner 

as to accurately account for its receipt, 

storage, and disposition. 

Dated: February 5, 2013. 

David R. Shipman, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–02972 Filed 2–8–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

9 CFR Part 93 

[Docket No. APHIS–2008–0112] 

RIN 0579–AD31 

Importation of Horses From 

Contagious Equine Metritis-Affected 

Countries 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are adopting as a final 

rule, with changes, an interim rule that 

amended the regulations regarding the 

importation of horses from countries 

affected with contagious equine metritis 

(CEM) by incorporating an additional 

certification requirement for imported 

horses 731 days of age or less and 

adding new testing protocols for test 

mares and imported stallions and mares 

more than 731 days of age. This 

document revises certain CEM-testing 

requirements for imported stallions and 

mares, and for test mares, that were 

amended in the interim rule. The 

interim rule was necessary to provide 

additional safeguards against the 

introduction of CEM through the 

importation of affected horses. 

DATES: Effective Date: March 13, 2013. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Ellen Buck, Senior Staff Veterinarian, 

Equine Imports, National Center for 

Import and Export, VS, APHIS, 4700 


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