Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 130 / Friday, July 6, 2018 / Proposed Rules 31477 

of referendum would be issued, and 

growers would be provided the 

opportunity to vote for or against the 

proposed amendments. Information 

about the referendum, including dates 

and voter eligibility requirements, 

would be published in a future issue of 

the Federal Register. A final rule would 

then be issued to effectuate any 

amendments favored by growers 

participating in the referendum. 

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/ 

rules-regulations/moa/small-businesses. 

Any questions about the compliance 

guide should be sent to Richard Lower 

at the previously mentioned address in 

the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section. 

General Findings 

The findings hereinafter set forth are 

supplementary to the findings and 

determinations which were previously 

made in connection with the issuance of 

Marketing Order 981; and all said 

previous findings and determinations 

are hereby ratified and affirmed, except 

insofar as such findings and 

determinations may be in conflict with 

the findings and determinations set 

forth herein. 

1. Marketing Order 981 as hereby 

proposed to be amended and all of the 

terms and conditions thereof, would 

tend to effectuate the declared policy of 

the Act; 

2. Marketing Order 981 as hereby 

proposed to be amended regulates the 

handling of almonds grown in 

California and is applicable only to 

persons in the respective classes of 

commercial and industrial activity 

specified in the Marketing Order; 

3. Marketing Order 981 as hereby 

proposed to be amended is limited in 

application to the smallest regional 

production area which is practicable, 

consistent with carrying out the 

declared policy of the Act, and the 

issuance of several marketing orders 

applicable to subdivisions of the 

production area would not effectively 

carry out the declared policy of the Act; 

4. Marketing Order 981 as hereby 

proposed to be amended prescribes, 

insofar as practicable, such different 

terms applicable to different parts of the 

production area as are necessary to give 

due recognition to the differences in the 

production and marketing of almonds 

produced or packed in the production 

area; and 

5. All handling of almonds produced 

or packed in the production area as 

defined in Marketing Order 981 is in the 

current of interstate or foreign 

commerce or directly burdens, 

obstructs, or affects such commerce. 

A 60-day comment period is provided 

to allow interested persons to respond 

to these proposals. Any comments 

received on the amendments proposed 

in this proposed rule will be analyzed, 

and if AMS determines to proceed based 

on all the information presented, a 

grower referendum would be conducted 

to determine grower support for the 

proposed amendments. If appropriate, a 

final rule would then be issued to 

effectuate the amendments favored by 

growers participating in the referendum. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 981 

Almonds, Marketing agreements, 

Nuts, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 981 is proposed to 

be amended as follows: 

PART 981—ALMONDS GROWN IN 

CALIFORNIA 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 981 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674. 

■ 2. Amend § 981.32 by revising 

paragraph (a)(1) and adding paragraph 

(a)(3) to read as follows: 

§ 981.32 Nominations. 

(a) Method. (1) Each year the terms of 

office of three of the members elected 

pursuant to § 981.31(a) and (b) shall 

expire, except every third year when the 

term of office for two of those members 

shall expire. Nominees for each 

respective member and alternate 

member shall be chosen by ballot 

delivered to the Board. Nominees 

chosen by the Board in this manner 

shall be submitted by the Board to the 

Secretary on or before June 1 of each 

year together with such information as 

the Secretary may require. If a 

nomination for any Board member or 

alternate is not received by the Secretary 

on or before June 1, the Secretary may 

select such member or alternate from 

persons belonging to the group to be 

represented without nomination. The 

Board shall mail to all handlers and 

growers, other than the cooperative(s) of 

record, the required ballots with all 

necessary voting information including 

the names of incumbents willing to 

accept renomination, and, to such 

growers, the name of any person 

proposed for nomination in a petition 

signed by at least 15 such growers and 

filed with the Board on or before April 

1. Distribution of ballots shall be 

announced by press release, furnishing 

pertinent information on balloting, 

issued by the Board through newspapers 

and other publications having general 

circulation in the almond producing 

areas. 

* * * * * 

(3) The Board may recommend, 

subject to the approval of the Secretary, 

a change to the nomination method, 

should the Board determine that a 

revision is necessary. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Amend § 981.33 by revising the first 

sentence of paragraphs (a) and (b), 

revising the last sentence of paragraph 

(c), and adding paragraph (d) to read as 

follows: 

§ 981.33 Selection and term of office. 

(a) Members and their respective 

alternates for positions open on the 

Board shall be selected by the Secretary 

from persons nominated pursuant to 

§ 981.32, or, at the discretion of the 

Secretary, from other qualified persons, 

for a term of office beginning August 1. 

* * * 

(b) The term of office of members of 

the Board shall be for a period of three 

years beginning on August 1 of the years 

selected except where otherwise 

provided. * * * 

(c) * * * This limitation on tenure 

shall not apply to alternate members. 

(d) The Board may recommend, 

subject to approval of the Secretary, 

revisions to the start date for the term 

of office of members of the Board. 

Dated: July 2, 2018. 

Bruce Summers, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–14512 Filed 7–5–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 1220 

[Doc. No. AMS–LPS–18–0015] 

Soybean Promotion and Research: 

Amend the Order To Adjust 

Representation on the United Soybean 

Board 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would 

adjust the number of members on the 

United Soybean Board (Board) to reflect 

changes in production levels that have 

occurred since the Board was last 

reapportioned in 2015. As required by 

the Soybean Promotion, Research, and 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with PROPOSALS
31478 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 130 / Friday, July 6, 2018 / Proposed Rules 

Consumer Information Act (Act), 

membership on the Board is reviewed 

every 3 years and adjustments are made 

accordingly. This proposed change 

would result in an increase in Board 

membership for five States, increasing 

the total number of Board members from 

73 to 78. These changes would be 

reflected in the Soybean Promotion and 

Research Order (Order) and would be 

effective for the 2019 appointment 

process. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

September 4, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments 

concerning this proposed rule. 

Comments should be submitted on the 

internet at www.regulations.gov or 

Research and Promotion Division; 

Livestock and Poultry Program; 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS); 

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 

Room 2610–S, STOP 0251; 1400 

Independence Avenue SW.; 

Washington, DC 20250–0251. All 

comments should reference the docket 

number, the date and page number of 

this issue of the Federal Register and 

will be made available for public 

inspection at the above address during 

regular business hours or at 

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mike Dinkel, (202) 720–0633, 

Michael.Dinkel@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Order 12866 

The Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) has waived the review process 

required by Executive Order 12866 for 

this action. 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposed rule was reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform. It is not intended to 

have a retroactive effect. This action 

would not preempt any State or local 

laws, regulations, or policies unless they 

present an irreconcilable conflict with 

this rule. 

The Act provides that administrative 

proceedings must be exhausted before 

parties may file suit in court. Under 

section 1971 of the Act (7 U.S.C. 6306), 

a person subject to the Order may file 

a petition with USDA stating that the 

Order, any provision of the Order, or 

any obligation imposed in connection 

with the Order is not in accordance with 

the law and request a modification of 

the Order or an exemption from the 

Order. The petitioner is afforded the 

opportunity for a hearing on the 

petition. After a hearing, USDA would 

rule on the petition. The Act provides 

that district courts of the United States 

in any district in which such person is 

an inhabitant, or has his or her principal 

place of business, have jurisdiction to 

review USDA’s ruling on the petition if 

a complaint for this purpose is filed 

within 20 days after the date of the entry 

of the ruling. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The purpose of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601–612) 

is to fit regulatory actions to the scale of 

businesses subject to such actions so 

that small businesses will not be 

disproportionately burdened. AMS has 

determined that this rule will not have 

a significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities, as 

defined by RFA, because it only adjusts 

representation on the Board to reflect 

changes in production levels that have 

occurred since the Board was last 

reapportioned in 2015. As such, these 

changes will not have a significant 

impact on persons subject to the 

program. 

There are an estimated 515,008 

soybean producers and an estimated 

10,000 first purchasers who collect the 

assessment, most of whom would be 

considered small businesses under the 

criteria established by the Small 

Business Administration (SBA) [13 CFR 

121.201]. SBA defines small agricultural 

producers as those having annual 

receipts of less than $750,000. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

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

Chapter 35), the reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements included in 

7 CFR part 1220 were previously 

approved by OMB and were assigned 

control number 0581–0093. 

Background and Proposed Changes 

The Act (7 U.S.C. 6301–6311) 

provides for the establishment of a 

coordinated program of promotion and 

research designed to strengthen the 

soybean industry’s position in the 

marketplace, and to maintain and 

expand domestic and foreign markets 

and uses for soybeans and soybean 

products. The program is financed by an 

assessment of 0.5 percent of the net 

market price of soybeans sold by 

producers. Pursuant to the Act, an Order 

was made effective July 9, 1991. The 

Order established an initial Board with 

60 members. For purposes of 

establishing the Board, the United States 

was divided into 31 States and 

geographical units. Representation on 

the Board from each unit was 

determined by the level of production in 

each unit. The initial Board was 

appointed on July 11, 1991. The Board 

is composed of soybean producers. 

Section 1220.201(c) of the Order 

provides that at the end of each 3-year 

period, the Board shall review soybean 

production levels in the geographic 

units throughout the United States. The 

Board may recommend to the Secretary 

of Agriculture (Secretary) modifications 

in the levels of production necessary to 

determine Board membership for each 

unit. 

Section 1220.201(d) of the Order 

provides that at the end of each 3-year 

period, the Secretary must review the 

volume of production of each unit and 

adjust the boundaries of any unit and 

the number of Board members from 

each such unit as necessary to conform 

with the criteria set forth in 

§ 1220.201(e): (1) To the extent 

practicable, States with annual average 

soybean production of less than 3 

million bushels shall be grouped into 

geographically contiguous units, each of 

which has a combined production level 

equal to or greater than 3 million 

bushels, and each such group shall be 

entitled to at least one member on the 

Board; (2) units with at least 3 million 

bushels, but fewer than 15 million 

bushels shall be entitled to one board 

member; (3) units with 15 million 

bushels or more but fewer than 70 

million bushels shall be entitled to two 

Board members; (4) units with 70 

million bushels or more but fewer than 

200 million bushels shall be entitled to 

three Board members; and (5) units with 

200 million bushels or more shall be 

entitled to four Board members. 

The Board was last reapportioned in 

2015. The total Board membership 

increased from 70 to 73 members, with 

Missouri, New Jersey, and Wisconsin 

each gaining one additional member. 

The final rule was published in the 

Federal Register (80 FR 63909) on 

October 22, 2015. This change was 

effective with the 2016 appointments. 

This proposed rule would increase 

total membership on the Board from 73 

to 78, based on production data for 

years 2013–2017 (excluding the crops in 

years in which production was the 

highest and in which production was 

the lowest) as reported by USDA’s 

National Agricultural Statistics Service. 

This change would not affect the 

number of geographical units. 

This proposed rule would adjust 

representation on the Board as follows: 

State 

Current 

representation 

Proposed 

representation 

Alabama ............ 1 2 

Kentucky ........... 2 3 

North Dakota .... 3 4 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 130 / Friday, July 6, 2018 / Proposed Rules 31479 

State 

Current 

representation 

Proposed 

representation 

South Dakota .... 3 4 

Tennessee ........ 2 3 

Board adjustments as proposed by 

this rulemaking would become effective, 

if adopted, with the 2019 appointment 

process. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1220 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Advertising, Agricultural 

research, Marketing agreements, 

Soybeans and soybean products, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, it is proposed that Title 7, 

part 1220 be amended as follows: 

PART 1220—SOYBEAN PROMOTION, 

RESEARCH, AND CONSUMER 

INFORMATION 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 1220 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 6301–6311 and 7 

U.S.C. 7401. 

■ 2. In § 1220.201, the table 

immediately following paragraph (a) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 1220.201 Membership of board. 

(a) * * * 

Unit Number of 

members 

South Dakota ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 

Ohio ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 

North Dakota ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 4 

Nebraska .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 4 

Missouri ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 4 

Minnesota ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 4 

Iowa ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 

Indiana ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4 

Illinois ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 

Wisconsin ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 3 

Tennessee ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 

Mississippi ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 3 

Michigan ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 

Kentucky .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 3 

Kansas ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 3 

Arkansas .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 3 

Virginia ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2 

Pennsylvania ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 2 

North Carolina ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 

Maryland .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 2 

Louisiana .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 2 

Alabama ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 

Texas ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 

South Carolina ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 

Oklahoma ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 1 

New York ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 1 

New Jersey .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 

Georgia ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 1 

Delaware .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 1 

Eastern Region (Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, District of 

Columbia, and Puerto Rico) ............................................................................................................................................................. 1 

Western Region (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming ....................................................................................................................................................................... 1 

* * * * * 

Dated: July 2, 2018. 

Bruce Summers, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2018–14507 Filed 7–5–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 33 

[Docket No. FAA–2018–0568; Notice No. 18– 

02] 

RIN 2120–AK83 

Medium Flocking Bird Test at Climb 

Condition 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: The FAA proposes the 

addition of a new test requirement to 

the airworthiness regulation addressing 

engine bird ingestion. The current 

regulation ensures bird ingestion 

capability of the turbofan engine fan 

blades, but the existing test conditions 

do not adequately demonstrate bird 

ingestion capability of the engine core. 

This proposed rule would require that, 

to obtain certification of a turbofan 

engine, a manufacturer must show that 

the engine core can continue to operate 

after ingesting a medium sized bird 

while operating at a lower fan speed 

associated with climb or landing. This 

new requirement would ensure that 

engines can ingest the largest medium 

flocking bird required by the existing 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with PROPOSALS