Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 192 / Thursday, October 5, 2023 / Proposed Rules 69113 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade 

Bureau 

27 CFR Part 9 

Docket No. TTB–2022–0014; Notice No. 

219A, Ref: Notice No. 219] 

RIN 1513–AC84 

Proposed Establishment of the 

Wanapum Village Viticultural Area; 

Proposed Name Change to Beverly, 

Washington 

AGENCY: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and 

Trade Bureau, Treasury. 

ACTION: Supplemental notice of 

proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax 

and Trade Bureau (TTB) is soliciting 

comments on a proposal to change the 

name of the proposed ‘‘Wanapum 

Village’’ American viticultural area 

(AVA) to ‘‘Beverly, Washington.’’ The 

proposed AVA area is located in Grant 

County, Washington and is entirely 

within the existing Columbia Valley 

AVA. TTB designates viticultural areas 

to allow vintners to better describe the 

origin of their wines and to allow 

consumers to better identify wines they 

may purchase. TTB invites comments 

on these proposals. 

DATES: TTB must receive your 

comments on or before December 4, 

2023. 

ADDRESSES: You may electronically 

submit comments to TTB on this 

proposal and view copies of this 

document, the original notice of 

proposed rulemaking, any supporting 

materials, and any comments TTB 

receives on this proposal within Docket 

No. TTB–2022–0014 as posted on 

Regulations.gov (https://

www.regulations.gov), the Federal 

e-rulemaking portal. Please see the 

‘‘Public Participation’’ section of this 

document below for full details on how 

to comment on this supplemental 

proposal via Regulations.gov or U.S. 

mail, and for full details on how to 

obtain copies of this document, its 

supporting materials, and any 

comments related to this proposal. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mimi Torello, Regulations and Rulings 

Division, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and 

Trade Bureau, 1310 G Street NW, Box 

12, Washington, DC 20005; phone 202– 

453–1039, ext. 432. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

original petition for the proposed 

Wanapum Village AVA was submitted 

by Kevin Pogue, a professor of geology 

at Whitman College. Dr. Pogue 

submitted the petition on behalf of 

Zirkle Fruit Company and local 

vineyard owners and winemakers. The 

proposed AVA covers approximately 

2,415 acres and is located entirely 

within the existing Columbia Valley 

AVA in Grant County, Washington. 

Notice No. 219, which proposed the 

AVA, was published in the Federal 

Register on November 28, 2022 (87 FR 

72927), and the original comment 

period closed on January 27, 2023. TTB 

received no comments in response to 

Notice No. 219. For a discussion of the 

distinguishing features and name 

evidence of the proposed AVA, see 

Notice No. 219. 

Petition To Change the Proposed AVA 

Name 

After the comment period closed, the 

petitioner requested that TTB change 

the name of the proposed AVA based on 

a request from members of the 

Wanapum tribe who expressed concerns 

about the use of their tribe’s name for 

an AVA. To address those concerns, the 

petitioner amended his petition to 

instead request the AVA be named 

‘‘Beverly, Washington.’’ No information 

regarding the proposed AVA other than 

information related to the name 

evidence has changed from the 

information published in Notice No. 

219. 

Beverly is the name of a small, 

unincorporated community that lies 

entirely within the proposed AVA. 

Name evidence provided in the 

petitioner’s amended request includes a 

Wikipedia page describing the 

community of Beverly as established 

around 1905 by H.R. Williams and 

named after the city of Beverly, 

Massachusetts. The 2017 edition of the 

1:24,000-scale topographic U.S.G.S. 

quadrangle map included with the 

original petition and used to draw the 

proposed AVA boundary is labeled 

‘‘Beverly Quadrangle’’ and contains the 

community of Beverly. Further current 

name usage provided by the petitioner 

includes the name ‘‘Beverly’’ on local 

road signs along WA Hwy 243 and the 

intersection of Beverly-Burke Rd and 

WA Hwy 243. One of the vineyards 

located within the proposed AVA is 

named ‘‘Beverly Vineyards,’’ in addition 

to a local apartment complex named 

Beverly Apartments. 

TTB Determination 

After reviewing the petitioner’s 

request to change the name of the 

proposed AVA and the supporting 

evidence, TTB believes that the request 

has merit. TTB is issuing this 

supplemental notice of proposed 

rulemaking specifically to seek 

comments on the new proposed name of 

‘‘Beverly, Washington.’’ 

Impact on Current Wine Labels 

Part 4 of the TTB regulations prohibits 

any label reference on a wine that 

indicates or implies an origin other than 

the wine’s true place of origin. For a 

wine to be labeled with an AVA name 

or with a brand name that includes an 

AVA name, at least 85 percent of the 

wine must be derived from grapes 

grown within the area represented by 

that name, and the wine must meet the 

other conditions listed in 27 CFR 

4.25(e)(3). If the wine is not eligible for 

labeling with an AVA name and that 

name appears in the brand name, then 

the label is not in compliance and the 

bottler must change the brand name and 

obtain approval of a new label. 

Similarly, if the AVA name appears in 

another reference on the label in a 

misleading manner, the bottler would 

have to obtain approval of a new label. 

Different rules apply if a wine has a 

brand name containing an AVA name 

that was used as a brand name on a 

label approved before July 7, 1986. See 

27 CFR 4.39(i)(2) for details. 

If TTB establishes this proposed AVA, 

its name, ‘‘Beverly, Washington,’’ will 

be recognized as a name of viticultural 

significance under § 4.39(i)(3) of the 

TTB regulations (27 CFR 4.39(i)(3)). The 

text of the proposed regulation clarifies 

this point. Consequently, wine bottlers 

using ‘‘Beverly, Washington’’ in a brand 

name, including a trademark, or in 

another label reference as to the origin 

of the wine, would have to ensure that 

the product is eligible to use the 

viticultural area’s name, ‘‘Beverly, 

Washington.’’ The approval of the 

proposed Beverly, Washington AVA 

would not affect any existing AVA, and 

any bottlers using ‘‘Columbia Valley’’ as 

an appellation of origin or in a brand 

name for wines made from grapes grown 

within the Beverly, Washington AVA 

would not be affected by the 

establishment of this new AVA. If 

approved, the establishment of the 

proposed Beverly, Washington AVA 

would allow vintners to use ‘‘Beverly, 

Washington,’’ ‘‘Columbia Valley,’’ or 

both AVA names as appellations of 

origin for wines made from grapes 

grown within the proposed AVA, if the 

wines meet the eligibility requirements 

for the appellation. 

Public Participation 

Comments Invited 

TTB invites comments from interested 

members of the public on whether TTB 

should establish the proposed ‘‘Beverly, 


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69114 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 192 / Thursday, October 5, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

Washington’’ AVA, which was 

originally proposed as the ‘‘Wanapum 

Village’’ AVA in Notice No. 219. Please 

provide any available specific 

information in support of your 

comments. 

Because of the potential impact of the 

establishment of the proposed Beverly, 

Washington AVA on wine labels that 

include the term ‘‘Beverly, Washington’’ 

as discussed above under Impact on 

Current Wine Labels, TTB is 

particularly interested in comments 

regarding whether there will be a 

conflict between the proposed area 

names and currently used brand names. 

If a commenter believes that a conflict 

will arise, the comment should describe 

the nature of that conflict, including any 

anticipated negative economic impact 

that approval of the proposed AVA will 

have on an existing viticultural 

enterprise. TTB is also interested in 

receiving suggestions for ways to avoid 

conflicts, for example, by adopting a 

modified or different name for the 

proposed AVA. 

Submitting Comments 

You may submit comments on this 

document, Notice No. 219A, by using 

one of the following methods: 

• Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: You 

may send comments via the online 

comment form posted with Notice No. 

219A within Docket No. TTB–2022– 

0014 on ‘‘Regulations.gov,’’ the Federal 

e-rulemaking portal, at https://

www.regulations.gov. A direct link to 

that docket is available under Notice 

No. 219A on the TTB website at https:// 

www.ttb.gov/wine/notices-of-proposedrulemaking. Supplemental files may be 

attached to comments submitted via 

Regulations.gov. For complete 

instructions on how to use 

Regulations.gov, visit the site and click 

on the ‘‘About’’ link. 

• U.S. Mail: You may send comments 

via postal mail to the Director, 

Regulations and Rulings Division, 

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade 

Bureau, 1310 G Street NW, Box 12, 

Washington, DC 20005. 

Please submit your comments by the 

closing date shown above in this 

document. Your comments must 

reference Notice No. 219A and include 

your name and mailing address. Your 

comments also must be made in 

English, be legible, and be written in 

language acceptable for public 

disclosure. TTB does not acknowledge 

receipt of comments, and TTB considers 

all comments as originals. 

In your comment, please clearly state 

if you are commenting for yourself or on 

behalf of an association, business, or 

other entity. If you are commenting on 

behalf of an entity, your comment must 

include the entity’s name, as well as 

your name and position title. If you 

comment via Regulations.gov, please 

enter the entity’s name in the 

‘‘Organization’’ blank of the online 

comment form. If you comment via 

postal mail or hand delivery/courier, 

please submit your entity’s comment on 

letterhead. 

You may also write to the TTB 

Administrator before the comment 

closing date to ask for a public hearing. 

The TTB Administrator reserves the 

right to determine whether to hold a 

public hearing. 

Confidentiality and Disclosure of 

Comments 

All submitted comments and 

attachments are part of the rulemaking 

record and are subject to public 

disclosure. Do not enclose any material 

in your comments that you consider 

confidential or that is inappropriate for 

disclosure. 

TTB will post, and you may view, 

copies of this document, the related 

petition and selected supporting 

materials, and any comments TTB 

receives about this proposal within the 

related Regulations.gov docket. In 

general, TTB will post comments as 

submitted, and it will not redact any 

identifying or contact information from 

the body of a comment or attachment. 

Please contact TTB’s Regulations and 

Rulings Division by email using the web 

form available at https://www.ttb.gov/ 

contact-rrd, or by telephone at 202–453– 

2265, if you have any questions about 

commenting on this proposal or to 

request copies of this document, the 

related petition and its supporting 

materials, or any comments received. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

TTB certifies that this proposed 

regulation, if adopted, would not have 

a significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

The proposed regulation imposes no 

new reporting, recordkeeping, or other 

administrative requirement. Any benefit 

derived from the use of a viticultural 

area name would be the result of a 

proprietor’s efforts and consumer 

acceptance of wines from that area. 

Therefore, no regulatory flexibility 

analysis is required. 

Executive Order 12866 

This proposed rule is not a significant 

regulatory action as defined by 

Executive Order 12866. Therefore, it 

requires no regulatory assessment. 

List of Subjects in 27 CFR Part 9 

Wine. 

Proposed Regulatory Amendment 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, we propose to amend title 27, 

chapter I, part 9, Code of Federal 

Regulations, as follows: 

PART 9—AMERICAN VITICULTURAL 

AREAS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 9 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 27 U.S.C. 205. 

Subpart C—Approved American 

Viticultural Areas 

■ 2. Section 9.ll, as proposed in 

notice of proposed rulemaking Notice 

No. 219, which published in the Federal 

Register on November 28, 2022 (87 FR 

72927), is amended by revising the 

section heading and paragraphs (a) and 

(c) introductory text to read as follows: 

§ 9.ll Beverly, Washington. 

(a) Name. The name of the viticultural 

area described in this section is 

‘‘Beverly, Washington’’. For purposes of 

part 4 of this chapter, ‘‘Beverly, 

Washington’’ is a term of viticultural 

significance. 

* * * * * 

(c) Boundary. The Beverly, 

Washington viticultural area is located 

in Grant County, Washington. The 

boundary of the Beverly, Washington 

viticultural area is described as follows: 

* * * * * 

Signed: September 29, 2023. 

Mary G. Ryan, 

Administrator. 

Approved: September 29, 2023. 

Thomas C. West, Jr. 

Deputy Assistant Secretary (Tax Policy). 

[FR Doc. 2023–22213 Filed 10–4–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–31–P 


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