1688 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 9 / Tuesday, January 16, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

to meetings. Such savings could 

ultimately be passed on to handlers and 

producers in the form of reduced 

assessments. The benefits for this rule 

are not expected to be 

disproportionately greater or less for 

small handlers or producers than for 

larger entities. 

The Committee discussed various 

alternative reductions in Committee size 

and how to reapportion fewer members 

among the districts. Ultimately, the 

Committee determined that reducing its 

size to nine members would best 

mitigate the problems associated with 

recruitment of qualified members. 

Since this rule would modify the 

administrative rules governing 

committee representation by 

reestablishing districts, reestablishing 

the Committee, and reapportioning 

members among districts, additional 

reporting or recordkeeping requirements 

would not be imposed on either small 

or large potato handlers. The 

information collection requirements 

contained in this rule have been 

previously approved by the Office of 

Management and Budget under No. 

0581–0178, Vegetable and Specialty 

Crops. 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 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. 

The Committee’s meeting was widely 

publicized throughout the Washington 

potato industry and all interested 

persons were invited to attend and 

participate in Committee deliberations 

on all issues. Like all Committee 

meetings, the February 9, 2006, meeting 

was a public meeting and all entities, 

both large and small, were able to 

express views on this issue. Finally, 

interested persons are invited to submit 

information on 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. 

A 60-day comment period is provided 

to allow interested persons to respond 

to this proposal. All written comments 

timely received will be considered 

before a final determination is made on 

this matter. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 946 

Marketing agreements, Potatoes, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 946 is proposed to 

be amended as follows: 

PART 946—IRISH POTATOES GROWN 

IN WASHINGTON 

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 946 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674. 

2. Section 946.103 is revised to read 

as follows: 

§ 946.103 Reestablishment of districts. 

Pursuant to § 946.22, on and after July 

1, 2007, the following districts are 

reestablished: 

(a) District No. 1—the counties of 

Douglas, Chelan, Okanogan, Grant, 

Adams, Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille, 

Spokane, Whitman, and Lincoln. 

(b) District No. 2—the counties of 

Kittitas, Yakima, Klickitat, Benton, 

Franklin, Walla Walla, Columbia, 

Garfield, and Asotin. 

(c) District No. 3—all of the remaining 

counties in the State of Washington, not 

included in Districts No. 1 and No. 2 of 

this paragraph. 

3. Section 946.104 is revised to read 

as follows: 

§ 946.104 Reestablishment and 

Reapportionment of committee. 

(a) Pursuant to § 946.22, on and after 

July 1, 2007, the State of Washington 

Potato Committee consisting of nine 

members, of whom six shall be 

producers and three shall be handlers, 

is hereby reestablished. For each 

member of the committee there shall be 

an alternate who shall have the same 

qualifications as the member. 

(b) Pursuant to § 946.22, on and after 

July 1, 2007, membership representation 

of the State of Washington Potato 

Committee shall be reapportioned 

among the districts of the production 

area so as to provide that each of the 

three districts as defined in § 946.103 

are represented by two producer 

members and one handler member and 

their respective alternates. 

Dated: January 9, 2007. 

Lloyd C. Day, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–425 Filed 1–12–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 1207 

[Docket No. AMS–FV–06–0219; FV–05–711] 

Potato Research and Promotion Plan; 

Section 610 Review 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Confirmation of regulations. 

SUMMARY: This document summarizes 

the results of an Agricultural Marketing 

Service (AMS) review of the Potato 

Research and Promotion Program, under 

the criteria contained in Section 610 of 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Based 

upon its review, AMS has determined 

that the Potato Research and Promotion 

Plan should be continued without 

change. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may 

obtain a copy of the review. Requests for 

copies should be sent to the Docket 

Clerk, Research and Promotion Branch, 

Fruit and Vegetable Programs (FV), 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), 

USDA, Stop 0244, Room 0634–S, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–0244; telephone 

(202) 720–9915; Fax (202) 205–2800; or 

e-mail: Daniel.Manzoni@usda.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sonia N. Jimenez, Research and 

Promotion Branch, FV, AMS, USDA, 

Stop 0244, 1400 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Room 0634–S, Washington, DC 

20250–0244; telephone: (888) 720–9917; 

fax: (202) 205–2800; or e-mail: 

Sonia.Jimenez@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Potato 

Research and Promotion Act of 1971, as 

amended, (7 U.S.C. 2611 et seq.) 

authorized the Potato Research and 

Promotion Program which is industry 

operated and funded, with oversight by 

USDA. The Program’s objective is to 

carry out an effective and continuous 

coordinated program of research, 

development, advertising, and 

promotion designed to strengthen 

potatoes’ competitive position, and to 

maintain and expand domestic and 

foreign markets for potatoes and potato 

products. 

The Program became effective on 

March 9, 1972, and was implemented 


ycherry on PROD1PC64 with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 9 / Tuesday, January 16, 2007 / Proposed Rules 1689 

on September 15, 1972, when the Potato 

Research and Promotion Plan (Plan) (7 

CFR part 1207) was issued. The plan 

was amended in May 1984, to increase 

the maximum assessment rate from 1 

cent per hundredweight to 0.5 percent 

of the previous 10-year average price 

received by growers. The Plan was 

amended again on March 8, 2006, to 

increase the assessment rate from 2 

cents per hundredweight to 2.5 cents 

per hundredweight. 

Assessments under this Program are 

used to fund promotional campaigns 

and to conduct research in the areas of 

U.S. marketing, and international 

marketing and to enable the Potato 

Board (Board) to exercise its duties in 

accordance with the Plan. 

The Plan is administered by the 

Board, which is composed of producer 

members, importer members, and one 

public member appointed by the 

Secretary of Agriculture from 

nominations submitted by eligible 

groups. Producer membership on the 

Board is based upon potato production 

within each State. Importer members, 

limited to five, are based upon the 

amount of potatoes, potato products, 

and seed potatoes imported into the 

U.S. All members serve terms of three 

years. 

AMS published in the Federal 

Register (63 FR 8014; February 18, 

1999) its plan to review certain 

regulations, including the Potato 

Research and Promotion Plan, 

(conducted under the Potato Research 

and Promotion Act), under criteria 

contained in Section 610 of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA; 5 

U.S.C. 601–612). The Plan to review 

certain regulations was updated in the 

Federal Register on August 14, 2003 (68 

FR 48574), and updated again on March 

24, 2006 (71 FR 14827). 

AMS published a notice of review and 

request for written comments in the 

Federal Register on December 14, 2005 

(70 FR 73945). The comment period 

ended on February 13, 2006. AMS 

received three written comments. One 

commenter encouraged the Board to 

place more emphasis on the nutritional 

benefits of potatoes. The Board 

routinely conducts research into the 

nutritional benefits of potatoes and uses 

that information to promote the benefits 

of potatoes. A second commenter 

questioned why potato research is 

needed and suggested that the program 

be terminated. However, the Board does 

not conduct production research. The 

Board establishes and carries out 

research and development projects and 

studies in order to encourage, expand, 

improve or more efficiently market and 

utilize potatoes. The third commenter 

merely sent their organizational 

structure and did not provide any 

substantive comment. 

The review was undertaken to 

determine whether the Potato Research 

and Promotion Plan should be 

continued without change, amended, or 

rescinded (consistent with the 

objectives of the Potato Research and 

Promotion Act of 1971) to minimize the 

impacts on small entities. In conducting 

this review, AMS considered the 

following factors: (1) The continued 

need for the Potato Research and 

Promotion Plan; (2) the nature of 

complaints or comments received from 

the public concerning the Potato 

Research and Promotion Plan; (3) the 

complexity of the Potato Research and 

Promotion Plan; (4) the extent to which 

the Potato Research and Promotion Plan 

overlaps, duplicates, or conflicts with 

other Federal rules, and, to the extent 

feasible, with State and local 

regulations; and (5) the length of time 

since the Potato Research and 

Promotion Plan has been evaluated or 

the degree to which technology, 

economic conditions, or other factors 

have changed in the area affected by the 

Potato Research and Promotion Plan. 

Currently, there are approximately 

1,353 handlers, 5,223 producers, and 

300 importers of potatoes and potato 

products who are subject to the 

provisions of the Plan. Producers of less 

than 5 acres of potatoes are exempt from 

assessment. 

AMS provides Federal oversight of 

the Potato Research and Promotion 

Plan. The Plan is not unduly complex, 

and AMS has not identified any Federal 

rules, or State and local regulations that 

duplicate, overlap, or conflict with the 

Plan. Over the years, regulation changes 

have been made to address industry 

operation changes and to improve 

program administration. The goal of 

these evaluations is to assure that the 

Plan and the regulations implemented 

under it fit the needs of the industry and 

are consistent with the Act. 

Based upon its review, AMS has 

determined that the Plan should be 

continued without change. AMS plans 

to continue working with the potato 

industry in maintaining an effective 

program. 

Dated: January 10, 2007. 

Lloyd C. Day, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–426 Filed 1–12–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 229 

[Docket No. 060928250–6250–01; I.D. 

092506A] 

RIN 0648–AU90 

Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental 

to Commercial Fishing Operations; 

Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction 

Plan 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of 

public comment period. 

SUMMARY: On November 15, 2006, 

NMFS proposed to revise the 

regulations implementing the Atlantic 

Large Whale Take Reduction Plan 

(ALWTRP) by expanding the southeast 

U.S. restricted area to include waters 

out to 35 nautical miles from the South 

Carolina coast and modifying 

regulations pertaining to gillnetting 

within the southeast U.S. restricted area. 

The proposed action was determined to 

be necessary to protect northern right 

whales from serious injury or mortality 

from entanglement in gillnet gear in 

their calving area in Atlantic Ocean 

waters off the Southeastern U.S. With 

this notice, NMFS is reopening the 

public comment period for 15 days 

beginning January 16, 2007. 

DATES: Written comments on this 

proposed rule must be received by 5 

p.m. EST on January 31, 2007. 

Comments received between the close of 

the first comment period on December 

15, 2006, and the reopening of the 

comment period on January 16, 2007 

will be considered timely received. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be identified by the Regulatory 

Information Number (RIN) ‘‘0648–

AU90’’ and submitted by any of the 

following methods: 

• E-mail: 

sewhalerule.comments@noaa.gov. 

Include RIN 0648–AU90 in the subject 

line of the message. 

• Mail: Assistant Regional 

Administrator for Protected Resources, 

NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. 

Petersburg, FL 33701. 

• Facsimile (fax) to: 727–824–5309, 

Attn: Assistant Regional Administrator, 

Protected Resources, NMFS. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 


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