This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

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

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

3301 

Vol. 79, No. 13 

Tuesday, January 21, 2014 

1NOSB Recommendation: Clarifying Limitations 

of § 205.101(b). Issued on October 28, 2010. 

Available on the NOP Web site at: http://

www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/

getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5087789&acct=nosb. 

2February 2012 OIG Audit on National Organic 

Program: Organic Milk. Available on the NOP Web 

site at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/

getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5100590. July 2013 

OIG Audit on National Organic Program: Organic 

Milk. Available from OIG at: http://www.usda.gov/ 

oig/webdocs/01601-0002-32.pdf. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 205 

[Document Number AMS–NOP–11–0073; 

NOP–11–14] 

National Organic Program: Notice of 

Final Guidance on Certification 

Requirements for Handling 

Unpackaged Organic Products 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of final 

guidance. 

SUMMARY: The National Organic 

Program (NOP) is announcing the 

availability of a final guidance 

document intended for use by 

accredited certifying agents, certified 

operations and non-certified handlers of 

certified organic products. The guidance 

document is entitled: Certification 

Requirements for Handling Unpackaged 

Organic Products (NOP 5031). This 

guidance document is intended to 

inform the public of NOP’s current 

thinking on this topic. 

DATES: The final guidance document 

announced by this notice is effective on 

January 22, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Melissa Bailey, Ph.D., Director, 

Standards Division, National Organic 

Program, USDA–AMS–NOP, 1400 

Independence Ave. SW., Room 2646- 

So., Ag Stop 0268, Washington, DC 

20250, Email: Melissa.bailey@

ams.usda.gov; Telephone: (202) 720– 

3252; Fax: (202) 205–7808. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

On February 3, 2012, the National 

Organic Program (NOP) published in the 

Federal Register a notice of availability 

with request for public comment on a 

draft guidance document addressing the 

certification requirements for handlers 

of unpackaged products (76 FR 5415). 

The NOP selected the topic for the draft 

guidance in response to a 

recommendation issued by the National 

Organic Standards Board (NOSB) in 

October 2010. On October 28, 2010, the 

NOSB finalized a recommendation 

requesting that the NOP clarify the 

requirements and limitations of 7 CFR 

section 205.101(b) of the USDA organic 

regulations.1 This section of the 

regulations addresses the conditions 

that a handling operation must meet in 

order to be excluded from the organic 

certification requirements of 7 CFR Part 

205. The NOSB recommended that the 

NOP issue guidance to clarify how these 

conditions apply to handlers of bulk, 

unpackaged organic products. The draft 

guidance can be viewed on the NOP 

Web site at http://www.ams.usda.gov/

NopDraftGuidance. The 60-day 

comment period closed on April 3, 

2012. 

NOP received approximately 25 

individual comments on the draft 

guidance document. Based upon the 

comments received, the NOP revised 

and is publishing a final guidance 

document on Certification Requirements 

for Handling Unpackaged Organic 

Products (NOP 5031). The guidance 

document includes an appendix (NOP 

5031–1) where the NOP provides a 

complete discussion of the comments 

received and the rationale behind any 

changes made to the guidance 

documents. 

In addition to responding to the 

NOSB’s October 2010 recommendation, 

this final guidance addresses a finding 

from a February 2012 Office of Inspector 

General (OIG) audit and a July 2013 OIG 

audit on organic milk.2 The OIG audits 

stated that the NOP needs to ensure that 

organic milk is not coming into contact 

with prohibited substances while being 

transported. In OIG’s recommendations, 

it stated that the NOP should ensure 

that transporters are either certified or 

included in the responsible parties’ 

Organic System Plan (OSP). 

In response to the OIG, this final 

guidance clarifies that transporters of 

unpackaged bulk products such as 

organic milk are not considered 

handlers under the USDA organic 

regulations and, therefore, do not need 

to obtain certification. The guidance 

states that it is the certified organic 

operation responsible for the organic 

products that are transported who must 

prevent commingling and 

contamination of the organic products 

during transportation, fully describe the 

transportation practices in their organic 

system plan, maintain sufficient records 

for the auditing and traceability of 

transported organic products, and 

ensure that the transportation records 

for organic products are available for 

inspection. This approach ensures that 

certifying agents have oversight 

regarding the transport of unpackaged 

organic products through their certified 

operations and can ensure that 

prohibited substances have not come 

into contact with these products 

through a complete, verifiable audit 

trail. 

The final guidance is available from 

the NOP through ‘‘The Program 

Handbook: Guidance and Instructions 

for Accredited Certifying Agents (ACAs) 

and Certified Operations’’. This 

Handbook provides those who own, 

manage, or certify organic operations 

with guidance and instructions that can 

assist them in complying with the 

USDA organic regulations. The current 

edition of the Program Handbook is 

available online at http://

www.ams.usda.gov/nop. 

II. Significance of Guidance 

This final guidance document is being 

issued in accordance with the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

Bulletin on Agency Good Guidance 

Practices (GGPs) (January 25, 2007, 72 

FR 3432–3440). The purpose of GGPs is 

to ensure that program guidance 

documents are developed with adequate 

public participation, are readily 

available to the public, and are not 

applied as binding requirements. This 

guidance represents the NOP’s current 

thinking on the topic. It does not create 

or confer any rights for, or on, any 

person and does not operate to bind the 

NOP or the public. Guidance documents 

are intended to provide a uniform 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with RULES
3302 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 13 / Tuesday, January 21, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

1Treasury and General Government 

Appropriations Act, 2000, Public Law 106–58, sec. 

640, 113 Stat. 430, 476–77 (1999). 

2Act of Oct. 16, 2008, Public Law 110–433, sec. 

1(a), 122 Stat. 4971 (extending authorization 

through Dec. 31, 2013); Transportation, Treasury, 

Housing and Urban Development, The Judiciary, 

The District of Columbia, and Independent 

Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006, Public Law 

109–115, sec. 721, 119 Stat. 2396, 2493–94 (2005) 

(extending through Dec, 31, 2008); Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2004, Public Law 108–199, sec. 

639, 118 Stat. 3, 359 (extending through Dec. 31, 

2005); Treasury and General Government 

Appropriations Act, 2002, Public Law 107–67, sec. 

642, 115 Stat. 514, 555 (2001) (extending through 

Dec. 31, 2003). 

3 In addition to extending the end date of the AFP 

statute, the 2013 act also authorized the 

Commission to expand the scope of the AFP to 

encompass additional categories of reporting 

violations. The Commission intends to address that 

expansion of the AFP through a separate 

rulemaking. 

4Extension of Administrative Fines Program, 73 

FR 72687 (Dec. 1, 2008); Extension of 

Administrative Fines Program, 70 FR 75717 (Dec. 

21, 2005); Extension of Administrative Fines 

Program, 69 FR 6525 (Feb. 11, 2004); Extension to 

Administrative Fines, 66 FR 59680 (Nov. 30, 2001). 

5These reports are: (1) Post-general reports in 

relation to the December 17, 2013, special general 

election in Alabama’s 1st congressional district; and 

(2) 48-hour contribution notices in relation to the 

January 14, 2014, special primary election in 

Florida’s 13th congressional district. 

method for operations to comply with 

the Organic Foods Production Act 

(OFPA) and the USDA organic 

regulations that can reduce the burden 

of developing their own methods and 

simplify audits and inspections. 

Alternative approaches that can 

demonstrate compliance with the 

OFPA, as amended (7 U.S.C. 6501– 

6522), and its implementing regulations 

are also acceptable. As with any 

alternative compliance approach, the 

NOP strongly encourages industry to 

discuss alternative approaches with the 

NOP before implementing them to avoid 

unnecessary or wasteful expenditures of 

resources, and to ensure the proposed 

alternative approach complies with the 

OFPA and its implementing regulations. 

Electronic Access 

Persons with access to Internet may 

obtain the final guidance at the NOP’s 

Web site at http://www.ams.usda.gov/

nop. Request for hard copies of the final 

guidance document can be obtained by 

submitting a written request to the 

person listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

Notice. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 6501–6522. 

Dated: January 15, 2014. 

Rex A. Barnes, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–01071 Filed 1–17–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

11 CFR Part 111 

[Notice 2014–01] 

Extension of Administrative Fines 

Program 

AGENCY: Federal Election Commission. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: Under the Federal Election 

Commission’s Administrative Fines 

Program (‘‘AFP’’), the Commission may 

assess civil monetary penalties for 

certain violations of the reporting 

requirements of the Federal Election 

Campaign Act of 1971, as amended 

(‘‘FECA’’). Congress recently amended 

FECA to extend the end date of the 

statutory authorization for the AFP to 

December 31, 2018. Accordingly, the 

Commission is extending its AFP 

regulations through the new statutory 

expiration date. The Commission is also 

deleting one administrative provision 

from its AFP regulations. Further 

information is provided in the 

Supplementary Information that 

follows. 

DATES: Effective Date: January 21, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robert M. Knop, Assistant General 

Counsel, 999 E Street NW., Washington, 

DC 20463, (202) 694–1650 or (800) 424– 

9530. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under 2 

U.S.C. 437g(a)(4)(C), the Commission is 

authorized to assess civil monetary 

penalties for certain violations of 

FECA’s reporting requirements. 

Congress initially enacted this 

authorization in 2000 with a sunset date 

of December 31, 2001.1 Congress has 

since extended the AFP’s statutory 

authorization several times.2 Most 

recently, Congress extended the statute 

to encompass violations relating to 

reporting periods that end on or before 

December 31, 2018. Act of Dec. 26, 

2013, Public Law 113–72, sec. 1.3

The Commission’s regulations 

implementing the AFP can be found at 

11 CFR 111.30–111.46. Section 111.30 

specifies the end date of the program; 

each time Congress has extended the 

statute that authorizes the AFP, the 

Commission has revised the end date in 

section 111.30 accordingly.4 To 

implement Congress’s most recent 

extension of the AFP’s authorization — 

and to obviate the need to revise section 

111.30 each time Congress extends the 

statute—this final rule revises section 

111.30 to provide that the AFP applies 

to reporting periods that ‘‘end on or 

before the date specified in 2 U.S.C. 

437g(a)(4)(C)(v).’’ 

The Commission’s current AFP 

regulations apply ‘‘to reporting periods 

that . . . end on or before December 31, 

2013.’’ 11 CFR 111.30. Because the 

statutory extension was not enacted 

until late December 2013, there is a 

short gap between the end date of the 

Commission’s current regulations and 

the effective date of this final rule on 

January 21, 2014. Reports covering 

reporting periods that end during this 

gap are not subject to the AFP; they are 

instead subject to the Commission’s 

enforcement procedures set forth at 11 

CFR part 111, subpart A.5 See 11 CFR 

111.31(a). 

This final rule also deletes 11 CFR 

111.41, which requires administrative 

fines to be paid by check or money 

order. Deleting this requirement will 

enable the Commission to provide filers 

with additional and convenient ways to 

pay administrative fines, such as by 

credit card. 

The Commission is promulgating this 

final rule without advance notice or an 

opportunity for comment because it falls 

under the ‘‘good cause’’ exemption of 

the Administrative Procedure Act. See 5 

U.S.C. 553(b)(B). That exemption allows 

agencies to dispense with notice and 

comment when ‘‘impracticable, 

unnecessary, or contrary to the public 

interest.’’ Id. The Commission finds that 

notice and comment are unnecessary 

here because this final rule merely 

extends the applicability of the existing 

AFP and deletes one administrative 

provision; the final rule makes no 

substantive changes to the AFP. See 

Extension of Administrative Fines 

Program, 73 FR 72687 (Dec. 1, 2008) 

(extending AFP’s effective date and 

making one non-substantive change 

without notice and comment, and 

observing that all substantive AFP 

regulations were subject to notice and 

comment in 2000, 2002, and 2006). In 

addition, this final rule falls within the 

‘‘good cause’’ exception to the delayed 

effective date provisions of the 

Administrative Procedure Act and the 

Congressional Review Act. 5 U.S.C. 

553(d), 808(2). Accordingly, this final 

rule is effective upon publication in the 

Federal Register. The Commission is 

not required to submit this rule for 

congressional review. See 2 U.S.C. 

438(d)(1), (4). 

Certification of No Effect Pursuant to 5 

U.S.C. 605(b) (Regulatory Flexibility 

Act) 

The provisions of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act are not applicable to this 


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