This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

60610

Vol. 65, No. 198

Thursday, October 12, 2000

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT

FOUNDATION

Board of Directors Meeting; Sunshine

Act

TIME: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

PLACE: ADF Headquarters.

DATE: Friday, October 13, 2000.

STATUS: Open.

Agenda

9:00 a.m.—Chairman’s Report

9:30 a.m.—President’s Report

10:30 a.m.—New Business

11:00 a.m.—Executive Session (Closed)

1:00 p.m.—Adjournment

If you have any questions or

comments, please direct them to Dick

Day, Coordinator, Office of Policy,

Planning and Outreach, who can be

reached at (202) 673–3916.

Nathaniel Fields,

President.

[FR Doc. 00–26351 Filed 10–10–00; 1:17 pm]

BILLING CODE 6116–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

[Docket No. L.S.–00–09]

Notice of Request for Extension and

Revision of Currently Approved

Information Collection

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice

announces the Agricultural Marketing

Service’s (AMS) intention to request an

extension for and revision to a currently

approved information collection for the

Seed Service Testing Program.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be

received by December 11, 2000 to be

assured of consideration.

Additional Information or Comments:

Richard C. Payne, Chief, Seed

Regulatory and Testing Branch (SRTB),

Livestock and Seed Program, AMS,

Room 209, Building 306, BARC–E.,

Beltsville, Maryland 20705–2325,

telephone (301) 504–9430, Fax (301)

504–8098.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Seed Service Testing Program.

OMB Number: 0581–0140.

Expiration Date of Approval: July 31,

2001.

Type of Request: Extension and

revision of currently approved

information collection.

Abstract: This information collection

is necessary to conduct voluntary seed

testing on a fee for service basis. The

AMA of 1946, as amended, 7 U.S.C.

1621 et seq. authorizes the Secretary to

inspect and certify the quality of

agricultural products and collect such

fees as reasonable to cover the cost of

service rendered.

The purpose of the voluntary program

is to promote efficient, orderly

marketing of seeds, and assist in the

development of new and expanding

markets. Under the program, samples of

agricultural and vegetable seeds

submitted to the Agricultural Marketing

Service are tested for factors such as

purity and germination at the request of

the applicant for the service. In

addition, grain samples, submitted at

the applicant’s request, by the Grain

Inspection, Packers and Stockyards

Administration are examined for the

presence of certain weed and crop seed.

A Federal Seed Analysis Certificate is

issued giving the test results. Most of

the seed tested under this program is

scheduled for export. Many importing

countries require a Federal Seed

Analysis Certificate on U.S. seed.

The only information collected is

information needed to provide the

service requested by the applicant. This

includes information to identify the

seed being tested, the seed treatment (if

treated with a pesticide), the tests to be

performed, and any other appropriate

information required by the applicant to

be on the Federal Seed Analysis

Certificate.

The number of seed companies

applying for the seed testing service has

decreased from 92 to 65 during the past

3 years due to consolidation of the seed

industry. Even though the number of

seed companies applying for the service

has decreased, the number of samples

received for testing has increased

slightly. Therefore, the average burden

for information collection has increased

for seed companies applying for the

service.

The information in this collection is

used only by authorized AMS

employees to track, test, and report test

results to the applicant.

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting

burden for this collection of information

is estimated to average .25 hours per

response.

Respondents: Applicants for seed

testing service.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

65.

Estimated Number of Responses per

Respondent: 24.1.

Estimated Total Annual Burden on

Respondents: 392 hours.

Comments are invited on: (1) Whether

the proposed collection of information

is necessary for the proper performance

of the functions of the agency, including

whether the information will have

practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection of information

including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used; (3)

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and (4) ways to minimize the

burden of the collection of information

on those who are to respond, including

the use of appropriate automated,

electronic, mechanical or other

technological collection techniques or

other forms of information technology.

Comments may be sent to Richard C.

Payne, Chief, Seed Regulatory and

Testing Branch, L.S., AMS, USDA,

Room 209, Building 306, BARC–E.,

Beltsville, Maryland 20705–2325 or by

E-mail to richard.payne2@usda.gov. All

comments received will be available for

public inspection during regular

business hours at the same address.

All responses to this notice will be

summarized and included in the request

for OMB approval. All comments will

become a matter of public record.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 198 / Thursday, October 12, 2000 / Notices 60611

Dated: October 4, 2000.

Barry L. Carpenter,

Deputy Administrator, Livestock and Seed

Program.

[FR Doc. 00–26107 Filed 10–11–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

[Docket No. LS–00–08]

Notice of Request for Extension and

Revision of Currently Approved

Information Collection

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice

announces the Agricultural Marketing

Service’s (AMS) intention to request an

extension for and revision to a currently

approved information collection for the

Federal Seed Act Labeling and

Enforcement.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be

received by December 11, 2000 to be

assured of consideration.

Additional Information or Comments:

Richard C. Payne, Chief, Seed

Regulatory and Testing Branch (SRTB),

Livestock and Seed Program, AMS,

Room 209, Building 306, BARC–E.,

Beltsville, Maryland 20705–2325,

telephone (301) 504–9430, Fax (301)

504–8098.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Federal Seed Act Program.

OMB Number: 0581–0026.

Expiration Date of Approval: July 30,

2001.

Type of Request: Extension and

revision of currently approved

information collection.

Abstract: This information collection

and recordkeeping requirements are

necessary to conduct the FSA (7 U.S.C.

1551, et seq.) program with respect to

certain testing, labeling, and

recordkeeping requirements of

agricultural and vegetable seeds in

interstate commerce.

The FSA, Title II, is a truth-in-labeling

law that regulates agricultural and

vegetable planting seed in interstate

commerce. Seed subject to the FSA

must be labeled with certain quality

information and it requires information

to be truthful. The Act prohibits the

interstate shipment of falsely advertised

seed and seed containing noxious-weed

seeds that are prohibited from sale in

the State into which the seed is being

shipped.

Besides providing farmers and other

seed buyers with information necessary

to make an informed choice and protect

the buyer from buying mislabeled seed,

the FSA promotes fair competition

within the seed industry. It also

encourages uniformity in labeling,

aiding the movement of seed between

the States. Because seed moving in

interstate commerce must be labeled

according to the FSA, most State laws

have seed labeling requirements similar

to those of the FSA, causing more

uniformity of State laws.

Although anyone can submit a

complaint to the SRTB, the FSA is

primarily enforced through cooperative

agreements with the States. State seed

inspectors inspect and sample seed

where it is being sold. They send a

sample of the seed and a copy of the

labeling to the State seed laboratory

where the sample is tested and the

analysis compared with the label. When

violations are found, State personnel

may take corrective action such as

issuing a stop sale order to keep the

seed from being sold until it is correctly

labeled or otherwise disposed of. They

may also take action against the shipper

or labeler of the seed. The action a State

may take against a shipper in another

State is limited. Therefore, violations

involving interstate shipments may be

turned over to AMS for Federal action.

AMS investigates the complaints. The

investigation normally involves check

testing the State’s official sample and

possibly the shipper’s file sample at the

Testing Section. The shipper’s records

are checked to establish that there was

a violation of the FSA, responsibility for

the violation, and the cause of the

mislabeling, if possible. The

investigation will help the shipper find

and correct the problem causing the

violation and help AMS to determine

the appropriate regulatory action.

No unique forms are required for this

information collection. The FSA

requires seed in interstate commerce to

be tested and labeled. Once in a State,

seed must comply with the testing and

labeling requirements of the State seed

law. The same test and labeling required

by the FSA nearly always satisfies the

State’s testing and labeling

requirements. Also the receiving, sales,

cleaning, testing, and labeling records

required by the FSA, are records that the

shipper would normally keep in good

business practice.

The information obtained under this

information collection is the minimum

information necessary to effectively

carry out the enforcement of the FSA.

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting

burden for this collection of information

is estimated to average 2.08 hours per

response.

Respondents: Interstate shippers and

labelers of seed.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

2,997.

Estimated Number of Responses per

Respondent: 5.90.

Estimated Total Annual Burden on

Respondents: 37,215 hours.

Comments are invited on: (1) Whether

the proposed collections of information

is necessary for the proper performance

of the functions of the agency, including

whether the information will have

practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection of information

including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used; (3)

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and (4) ways to minimize the

burden of the collection of information

on those who are to respond, including

the use of appropriate automated,

electronic, mechanical, or other

technological collection techniques or

other forms of information technology.

Comments may be sent to Richard C.

Payne, Chief, Seed Regulatory and

Testing Branch, LS, AMS, USDA, Room

209, Building 306, BARC–E., Beltsville,

Maryland 20705–2325 or by E-mail to

richard.payne2@usda.gov. All

comments received will be available for

public inspection during regular

business hours at the same address.

All responses to this notice will be

summarized and included in the request

for OMB approval. All comments will

become a matter of public record.

Dated: October 4, 2000.

Barry L. Carpenter,

Deputy Administrator, Livestock and Seed

Program.

[FR Doc. 00–26108 Filed 10–11–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Commodity Credit Corporation and

Farm Service Agency

Hurricane Damage Assistance for 1999

Crop

AGENCIES: Commodity Credit

Corporation and Farm Service Agency,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice of relief available to

reduce the amount of loan indebtedness

on certain 1999-crop loans.

SUMMARY: This notice announces the

intent of the Secretary of Agriculture,