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

7921

Vol. 62, No. 35

Friday, February 21, 1997

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Utilities Service

7 CFR Part 1710

Temporary Loan Processing

Procedures for Insured Electric Loans

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request

for comments.

SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service

(RUS) is amending its rule to allow RUS

to process loans with a loan period of

more than 2 years in two parts when

applications substantially exceed

available funds. RUS amended its rules

in 1995 to lengthen the allowable loan

period for insured electric loans from 2

years to 4 years. Since borrowers may

now apply for loans to cover

construction financing needs for a

longer period of time, the average loan

has become larger. At the same time,

loan authority for FY 1997 is less than

for 1996. This situation has produced

long delays between the time

applications are submitted and the time

loans can be approved. RUS believes

that this is a temporary situation that

will disappear as more and more

borrowers get on a longer loan

application cycle. The rule is intended

to reduce processing delays.

DATES: This rule is effective February

21, 1997. Written comments must be

received by RUS or bear a postmark or

equivalent not later than May 22, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments

to Sue Arnold, Financial Analyst, U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Rural

Utilities Service, Room 4032–S, 1400

Independence Avenue, SW, STOP 1522,

Washington, DC 20250–1500. RUS

requires, in hard copy, a signed original

and 3 copies of all comments (7 CFR

1700.30(e)). Comments will be available

for public inspection during regular

business hours (7 CFR 1.27(b)).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sue

Arnold, Financial Analyst, U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Rural

Utilities Service, Room 4032–S, 1400

Independence Avenue, SW., STOP

1522, Washington, DC 20250–1522.

Telephone: 202–720–0736. FAX: 202–

720–4120. E-mail:

sarnold@rus.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

regulatory action has been determined

to be not significant for the purposes of

Executive Order 12866, Regulatory

Planning and Review, and, therefore has

not been reviewed by the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB). The

Administrator of RUS has determined

that a rule relating to the RUS electric

loan program is not a rule as defined in

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C.

601 et seq.) for which RUS published a

general notice of proposed rulemaking

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b), or any other

law. Therefore, the Regulatory

Flexibility Act does not apply to this

rule. The Administrator of RUS has

determined that this rule will not

significantly affect the quality of the

human environment as defined by the

National Environmental Policy Act of

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). Therefore,

this action does not require an

environmental impact statement or

assessment. This rule is excluded from

the scope of Executive Order 12372,

Intergovernmental Consultation, which

may require consultation with State and

local officials. A Notice of Final Rule

titled Department Programs and

Activities Excluded from Executive

Order 12372 (50 FR 47034) exempts

RUS electric loans and loan guarantees

from coverage under this Order. This

rule has been reviewed under Executive

Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform. RUS

has determined that this rule meets the

applicable standards provided in Sec. 3

of the Executive Order.

The program described by this rule is

listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance Programs under number

10.850 Rural Electrification Loans and

Loan Guarantees. This catalog is

available on a subscription basis from

the Superintendent of Documents, the

United States Government Printing

Office, Washington, DC 20402–9325.

Information Collection and

Recordkeeping Requirements

The recordkeeping and reporting

burdens contained in this rule were

approved by the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended) under

control number 0572–0032.

Background

On January 21, 1995, at 60 FR 3726,

RUS amended its rules to lengthen the

maximum allowable loan period from 2

years to 4 years for most insured loans.

The loan period, sometimes referred to

as the financing period, means the

period of time during which the

facilities listed in a loan application will

be constructed. The loan period was

lengthened in order to reduce

administrative costs to borrowers,

supplemental lenders, and RUS of

submitting and processing multiple

applications.

Since borrowers may now apply for

loans covering financing needs for a

longer period of time, the average loan

size has become larger. At the same

time, budget authority for FY 1997 is

less than for FY 1996. In FY 1996, RUS

used all its budget authority for

municipal rate loans and hardship rate

loans, approving 97 municipal rate

loans (a total of $544,616,858) and 23

hardship rate loans ($90,577,664). On

September 30, 1996, the end of the FY,

RUS had a backlog of 106 applications

for municipal rate loans ($709.0 million)

and 28 applications for hardship rate

loans ($119.9 million). Additional

applications have been received during

FY 97. Total budget authority for FY

1997 for municipal rate and hardship

rate loans is only $455,564,561 and

$68,785,578, respectively.

The large difference between loan

funds requested for eligible purposes,

and loan funds available for lending has

caused long delays between the time a

loan application is submitted and the

time RUS can act on the application.

Currently the queue for municipal rate

loans is about a year, and the queue for

hardship rate loans is approaching 16

months.

In spite of the smaller budget

authority, RUS believes that the loan

queue will be significantly shortened as

more and more borrowers get used to a

longer loan application cycle. However,

in those years when there is a

significant shortfall in available

funding, the agency must have the

flexibility to manage the limited

resources. This interim final rule will

give RUS such flexibility, and will
7922 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 35 / Friday, February 21, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

provide borrowers with a degree of

financial certainty.

The rule will allow RUS to process

applications for loans with a loan period

of more than 2 years in two parts during

a fiscal year when applications

substantially exceed available funds.

RUS will notify all electric borrowers in

writing before invoking these

procedures.

RUS recognizes that the success of the

electric program in maintaining high

quality electric service at reasonable

rates in rural areas depends on the

ability of electric borrowers to maintain

and improve their electric systems. The

temporary procedures in this rule will

assist borrowers in the essential task of

planning and managing their cash flows.

Concurrent with the publication of

this rule, RUS is issuing Bulletin

1710C–1, Temporary Processing

Procedures for Insured Electric Loans, a

compliance guide to assist borrowers,

supplemental lenders, and other

interested parties. RUS is mailing the

rule and the bulletin to all electric

borrowers and to supplemental lenders.

RUS believes that the procedures in the

bulletin will allow all borrowers to

share the limited loan appropriations on

a fair and equitable basis.

Because of: (1) The exceptionally

large backlog of applications for

municipal rate and hardship rate loans,

and (2) The urgent need for processing

procedures that will allow RUS to

advance loan funds during the spring

construction season, RUS is putting

these procedures into effect

immediately for FY 1997. RUS requests

comments and suggestions, especially

on alternate methods of allocating the

limited amount of loan funds.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1710

Electric power, Electric utilities, Loan

programs—energy, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements, Rural

areas.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, and under the authority of 7

U.S.C. 901 et seq., RUS amends 7 CFR

Part 1710 as follows:

PART 1710—GENERAL AND PRELOAN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

COMMON TO INSURED AND

GUARANTEED ELECTRIC LOANS

1. The authority citation for part 1710

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 901–950(b); Pub. L. 99–

591, 100 Stat. 3341; Pub. L. 103–354, 108

Stat. 3178 (7 U.S.C. 6941 et seq.).

2. Section 1710.106 is amended by

revising paragraph (e) to read as follows:

§ 1710.106 Uses of loan funds.

* * * * *

(e)(1) If, in the sole discretion of the

Administrator, the amount authorized

for lending for municipal rate loans,

hardship rate loans, and loan guarantees

in a fiscal year is substantially less than

the total amount eligible for RUS

financing, RUS may limit the size of all

loans of that type approved during the

fiscal year. Depending on the amount of

the shortfall between the amount

authorized for lending and the loan

application inventory on hand for each

type of loan, RUS may either reduce the

amount on an equal proportion basis for

all applicants for that type of loan based

on the amount of funds for which the

applicant is eligible, or may shorten the

loan period for which funding will be

approved to less than the maximum of

4 years. All applications for the same

type of loan approved during a fiscal

year will be treated in the same manner,

except that RUS will not limit funding

to any borrower requesting an RUS loan

or loan guarantee of $1 million or less.

(2) If RUS limits the amount of loan

funds approved for borrowers, the

Administrator shall notify all electric

borrowers early in the fiscal year of the

manner in which funding will be

limited. The portion of the loan

application that is not funded during

that fiscal year may, at the borrower’s

option, be treated as a second loan

application received by RUS at a later

date. This date will be determined by

RUS in the same manner for all affected

loans and will be based on the

availability of loan funds. The second

loan application shall be considered

complete except that the borrower must

submit a certification from a duly

authorized corporate official stating that

funds are still needed for loan purposes

specified in the original application and

must notify RUS of any changes in its

circumstances that materially affects the

information contained in the original

loan application or the primary support

documents. See 7 CFR 1710.401(f).

* * * * *

Dated: February 13, 1997.

Jill Long Thompson,

Under Secretary, Rural Development.

[FR Doc. 97–4334 Filed 2–20–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–15–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 23

[Docket No. 139CE, Special Condition 23–

ACE–90]

Special Conditions; Beechcraft Model

E90 Airplane

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Final special conditions; request

for comments.

SUMMARY: These special conditions are

issued to East Coast Aerospace

Engineering, 2601 N. Flagler Dr., W.

Palm Beach, FL 33407 for a

Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) on

Beechcraft Model E90 airplane. This

airplane will have novel and unusual

design features when compared to the

state of technology envisaged in the

applicable airworthiness standards.

These novel and unusual design

features include the installation of

electronic displays for which the

applicable regulations do not contain

adequate or appropriate airworthiness

standards for the protection of these

systems from the effects of high

intensity radiated fields (HIRF). These

special conditions contain the

additional safety standards that the

Administrator considers necessary to

establish a level of safety equivalent to

the airworthiness standards applicable

to these airplanes.

DATES: The effective date of these

special conditions is on publication in

the Federal Register. Comments must be

received on or before March 24, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed

in duplicate to: Federal Aviation

Administration, Office of the Assistant

Chief Counsel, ACE–7, Attention: Rules

Docket Clerk, Docket No. 139CE, Room

1558, 601 East 12th Street, Kansas City,

Missouri 64106. All comments must be

marked: Docket No. 139CE. Comments

may be inspected in the Rules Docket

weekdays, except Federal holidays,

between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ervin Dvorak, Aerospace Engineer,

Standards Office (ACE–110), Small

Airplane Directorate, Aircraft

Certification Service, Federal Aviation

Administration, 601 East 12th Street,

Kansas City, Missouri 64106; telephone

(816) 426–6941.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments Invited

Although this action is in the form of

a final rule that involves requirements