This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

63219

Vol. 65, No. 205

Monday, October 23, 2000

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 984

[Docket No. FV00–984–2 PR]

Walnuts Grown in California; Increased

Assessment Rate

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: This rule would increase the

assessment rate established for the

Walnut Marketing Board (Board) for the

2000–01 and subsequent marketing

years from $0.0118 to $0.0134 per

kernelweight pound of assessable

walnuts. The $0.0016 increase is

necessary because this year’s estimate of

assessable walnuts is about 13 percent

less than last year’s estimate. The Board

locally administers the Federal

marketing order which regulates the

handling of walnuts grown in California

(order). Authorization to assess walnut

handlers enables the Board to incur

expenses that are reasonable and

necessary to administer the program.

The marketing year runs from August 1

through July 31. The assessment rate

would remain in effect indefinitely

unless modified, suspended, or

terminated.

DATES: Comments must be received by

November 22, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are

invited to submit written comments

concerning this rule. Comments must be

sent to the Docket Clerk, Marketing

Order Administration Branch, Fruit and

Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, room

2525–S, P.O. Box 96456, Washington,

DC 20090–6456; Fax: (202) 720–5698, or

E-mail: moab.docketclerk@usda.gov. All

comments should reference the docket

number and the date and page number

of this issue of the Federal Register and

will be made available for public

inspection in the Office of the Docket

Clerk during regular business hours, or

can be viewed at: http://

www.ams.usda.gov/fv/moab.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Toni

Sasselli, Marketing Assistant, or Richard

P. Van Diest, Marketing Specialist,

California Marketing Field Office,

Marketing Order Administration

Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs,

AMS, USDA, 2202 Monterey Street,

suite 102B, Fresno, California 93721;

telephone: (559) 487–5901, Fax: (559)

487–5906; or George Kelhart, Technical

Advisor, Marketing Order

Administration Branch, Fruit and

Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, room

2525–S, P.O. Box 96456, Washington,

DC 20090–6456; telephone: (202) 720–

2491, Fax: (202) 720–5698.

Small businesses may request

information on complying with this

regulation by contacting Jay Guerber,

Marketing Order Administration

Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs,

AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, room

2525–S, Washington DC 20090–6456;

telephone: (202) 720–2491, Fax: (202)

720–5698, or E-mail:

Jay.Guerber@usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule

is issued under Marketing Agreement

and Order No. 984 (7 CFR part 984),

both as amended, regulating the

handling of walnuts grown in

California, hereinafter referred to as the

‘‘order.’’ The marketing agreement and

order are effective under the

Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act

of 1937, as amended (7 U.S.C. 601–674),

hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Act.’’

The Department of Agriculture

(Department) is issuing this rule in

conformance with Executive Order

12866.

This rule has been reviewed under

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice

Reform. Under the marketing order now

in effect, California walnut handlers are

subject to assessments. Funds to

administer the order are derived from

such assessments. It is intended that the

assessment rate as proposed herein

would be applicable to all assessable

walnuts beginning on August 1, 2000,

and continue until amended,

suspended, or terminated. This rule will

not preempt any State or local laws, 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 608c(15)(A) of the Act, any

handler subject to an order may file

with the Secretary a petition stating that

the order, any provision of the order, or

any obligation imposed in connection

with the order is not in accordance with

law and request a modification of the

order or to be exempted therefrom. Such

handler is afforded the opportunity for

a hearing on the petition. After the

hearing the Secretary would rule on the

petition. The Act provides that the

district court of the United States in any

district in which the handler is an

inhabitant, or has his or her principal

place of business, has jurisdiction to

review the Secretary’s ruling on the

petition, provided an action is filed not

later than 20 days after the date of the

entry of the ruling.

This rule would increase the

assessment rate established for the

Board for the 2000–01 and subsequent

marketing years from $0.0118 to $0.0134

per kernelweight pound of assessable

walnuts. The $0.0016 increase is

necessary because this year’s estimate of

assessable walnuts is about 13 percent

less than last year’s estimate. Thus,

sufficient income would not be

generated at the current assessment rate

for the Board to meet its anticipated

expenses.

The order provides authority for the

Board, with the approval of the

Department, to formulate an annual

budget of expenses and collect

assessments from handlers to administer

the program. The members of the Board

are producers and handlers of California

walnuts. They are familiar with the

Board’s needs and with the costs of

goods and services in their local area

and are thus in a position to formulate

an appropriate budget and assessment

rate. The assessment rate is formulated

and discussed in a public meeting.

Thus, all directly affected persons have

an opportunity to participate and

provide input.

For the 1999–2000 and subsequent

marketing years, the Board

recommended, and the Department

approved, an assessment rate of $0.0118

per kernelweight pound of assessable

walnuts that would continue in effect

from year to year unless modified,

suspended, or terminated by the

Secretary upon recommendation and

information submitted by the Board or

other information available to the

Secretary.

63220 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 205 / Monday, October 23, 2000 / Proposed Rules

The Board met on September 8, 2000,

and unanimously recommended 2000-

01 expenditures of $2,937,885 and an

assessment rate of $0.0134 per

kernelweight pound of assessable

walnuts. In comparison, last year’s

budgeted expenditures were $2,967,356.

The recommended assessment rate is

$0.0016 higher than the $0.0118 rate

currently in effect. The higher

assessment rate is necessary because

this year’s crop is estimated by the

California Agricultural Statistics Service

(CASS) to be 245,000 tons (220,500,000

kernelweight pounds merchantable),

which is about 13 percent less than last

year’s estimate. Thus, sufficient income

would not be generated at the current

rate for the Board to meet its anticipated

expenses.

Major expenditures recommended by

the Board for the 2000–01 year include

$2,382,455 for marketing and

production research projects, $305,250

for general expenses such as

administrative salaries and insurance,

$165,380 for office expenses, $59,800

for a production research director, and

$25,000 as a contingency. Budgeted

expenses for these items last year were

$2,413,038 for marketing and

production research projects, $289,709

for general expenses, $179,809 for office

expenses, $59,800 for a production

research director, and $25,000 as a

contingency, respectively.

The assessment rate recommended by

the Board was derived by dividing

anticipated expenses by expected

shipments of California walnuts

certified as merchantable. Merchantable

shipments for the year are estimated at

220,500,000 kernelweight pounds

which should provide $2,954,700 in

assessment income and allow the Board

to cover its expenses. Unexpended

funds may be used temporarily to defray

expenses of the subsequent marketing

year, but must be made available to the

handlers from whom collected within 5

months after the end of the year

(§ 984.69). The proposed assessment

rate would continue in effect

indefinitely unless modified,

suspended, or terminated by the

Secretary upon recommendation and

other information submitted by the

Board or other available information.

Although this assessment rate would

be in effect for an indefinite period, the

Board would continue to meet prior to

or during each marketing year to

recommend a budget of expenses and

consider recommendations for

modification of the assessment rate. The

dates and times of Board meetings are

available from the Board or the

Department. Board meetings are open to

the public and interested persons may

express their views at these meetings.

The Department would evaluate Board

recommendations and other available

information to determine whether

modification of the assessment rate is

needed. Further rulemaking would be

undertaken as necessary. The Board’s

2000–01 budget and those for

subsequent marketing years will be

reviewed and, as appropriate, approved

by the Department.

Pursuant to requirements set forth in

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), the

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)

has considered the economic impact of

this action on small entities.

Accordingly, AMS has prepared this

initial regulatory flexibility analysis.

The purpose of the RFA is to fit

regulatory actions to the scale of

business subject to such actions in order

that small businesses will not be unduly

or disproportionately burdened.

Marketing orders issued pursuant to the

Act, and rules issued thereunder, are

unique in that they are brought about

through group action of essentially

small entities acting on their own

behalf. Thus, both statutes have small

entity orientation and compatibility.

There are approximately 5,000

producers of walnuts in the production

area and about 48 handlers subject to

regulation under the order. Small

agricultural producers are defined by

the Small Business Administration (13

CFR 121.201) as those having annual

receipts of less than $500,000, and small

agricultural service firms are defined as

those having annual receipts of less than

$5,000,000.

Using an average f.o.b. price of $2.10

per kernelweight pound of walnuts for

the 1999–2000 marketing year, handlers

would have had to ship more 2,380,953

pounds of walnuts to exceed sales of

$5,000,000.

Approximately 33 percent of the

handlers shipped over 2,380,953

kernelweight pounds of walnuts and 67

percent shipped less than that amount

during the 1999–2000 marketing year.

Based on the foregoing, it can be

concluded that the majority of

California walnut handlers may be

classified as small entities, excluding

receipts from other sources. A majority

of the California walnut growers also

may be classified as small entities.

This rule would increase the

assessment rate established for the

Board and collected from handlers for

the 2000–01 and subsequent marketing

years from $0.0118 to $0.0134 per

kernelweight pound of assessable

walnuts. The Board unanimously

recommended 2000–01 expenses of

$2,937,885. The recommended $0.0016

increase in the assessment rate is

necessary because this year’s estimate of

assessable walnuts is about 13 percent

less than last year’s estimate. Thus,

sufficient income would not be

generated at the current rate for the

Board to meet its anticipated expenses.

Major expenditures recommended by

the Board for the 2000–01 year include

$2,382,455 for marketing and

production research projects, $305,250

for general expenses such as

administrative salaries and insurance,

$165,380 for office expenses, $59,800

for a production research director, and

$25,000 as a contingency. Budgeted

expenses for these items last year were

$2,413,038 for marketing and

production research projects, $289,709

for general expenses, $179,809 for office

expenses, $59,800 for a production

research director, and $25,000 as a

contingency, respectively.

Prior to arriving at this budget, the

Board considered information from

various sources, such as the Board’s

Budget and Personnel Committee,

Research Committee, and Marketing

Development Committee. Alternative

expenditure levels were discussed by

these groups, based upon the relative

value of various research projects to the

walnut industry. The recommended

$0.0134 per kernelweight pound

assessment rate was then determined by

dividing the total recommended budget

by the 220,500,000 kernelweight pound

estimate of assessable walnuts for the

year. This is approximately $16,815

above the anticipated expenses, which

the Board determined to be acceptable.

Unexpended funds may be used

temporarily to defray expenses of the

subsequent marketing year, but must be

made available to the handlers from

whom collected within 5 months after

the end of the year (§ 984.69).

A review of historical information and

preliminary information pertaining to

the current marketing year indicates that

the grower price for 2000–01 could

range between $0.50 and $0.70 per

kernelweight pound of assessable

walnuts. Therefore, the estimated

assessment revenue for the 2000–01

year as a percentage of total grower

revenue could range between 2.0 and

2.7 percent.

Regarding the impact of this action on

affected entities, this action would

increase the assessment rate currently

imposed on walnut handlers. While

assessments impose some additional

costs on handlers, the costs are minimal

and uniform on all handlers. Some of

the additional costs may be passed on

to producers. However, these costs

would be offset by the benefits derived

by the operation of the order.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 205 / Monday, October 23, 2000 / Proposed Rules 63221

In addition, the Board’s meeting was

widely publicized throughout the

walnut industry and all interested

persons were invited to attend and

participate in Board deliberations on all

issues. Like all Board meetings, the

September 8, 2000, meeting was a

public meeting and all entities, both

large and small, were able to express

views on this issue. Finally, all

interested persons are invited to submit

information on the regulatory and

information impact of this action on

small businesses.

This rule would impose no additional

reporting or recordkeeping requirements

on either small or large California

walnut handlers. As with all Federal

marketing order programs, reports and

forms are periodically reviewed to

reduce information requirements and

duplication by industry and public

sectors agencies. Finally, the

Department has not identified any

relevant Federal rules that duplicate,

overlap, or conflict with this rule.

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 30-day comment period is provided

to allow interested persons to respond

to this proposed rule. Thirty days is

deemed appropriate because: (1) The

2000–01 marketing year began on

August 1, 2000, and the order requires

that the rate of assessment for each

marketing year apply to all

merchantable walnuts handled during

the year; (2) the Board needs to have

sufficient funds to pay its expenses

which are incurred on a continuous

basis; and (3) handlers are aware of this

action which was unanimously

recommended at a public meeting and

is similar to other assessment rate

actions issued in past years.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 984

Marketing agreements, Nuts,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements, Walnuts.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 7 CFR part 984 is proposed to

be amended as followed:

PART 984—WALNUTS GROWN IN

CALIFORNIA

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR

part 984 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674.

1. Section 984.347 is revised to read

as follows:

§ 984.347 Assessment rate.

On and after August 1, 2000, an

assessment rate of $0.0134 per

kernelweight pound is established for

California merchantable walnuts.

Dated: October 17, 2000.

Robert C. Keeney,

Deputy Administrator, Fruit and Vegetable

Programs.

[FR Doc. 00–27107 Filed 10–20–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 140

[Docket No. PRM–140–1]

RIN 3150–AB01

Criteria for an Extraordinary Nuclear

Occurrence; Withdrawal of Proposed

Rule and Denial of Petition for

Rulemaking Submitted by the Public

Citizen Litigation Group and Critical

Mass Energy Project; Correction

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Withdrawal of a proposed rule

and denial of petition for rulemaking;

correction.

SUMMARY: This document corrects a

notice of withdrawal of a proposed rule

and denial of a petition for rulemaking,

relating to criteria for an extraordinary

nuclear occurrence, appearing in the

Federal Register on October 17, 2000

(65 FR 61283). This action is necessary

to correct a reference to the NRC’s

rulemaking website appearing in the

ADDRESSES paragraph.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David L. Meyer, Chief Rules and

Directives Branch Division of

Administrative Services, Office of

Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555–

0001, telephone 301–415–7162 (e-mail:

dlm@nrc.gov).

Accordingly, in FR Doc. 00–26642,

published at 65 FR 61283 on October

17, 2000, make the following correction:

1. On page 61283, column one, the

last sentence in the ADDRESSES

paragraph, the rulemaking website is

corrected to read as follows: http://

ruleforum.llnl.gov.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day

of October, 2000.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

David L. Meyer,

Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division

of Administrative Services, Office of

Administration.

[FR Doc. 00–27254 Filed 10–19–00; 2:39 pm]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

20 CFR Parts 416 and 422

RIN 0960–AF31

Supplemental Security Income;

Disclosure of Information to Consumer

Reporting Agencies and Overpayment

Recovery Through Administrative

Offset Against Federal Payments

AGENCY: Social Security Administration.

ACTION: Proposed rules.

SUMMARY: We propose to modify the

regulations dealing with the recovery of

supplemental security income (SSI)

overpayments made under title XVI of

the Social Security Act (the Act). The

modifications reflect statutory authority

for the Social Security Administration

(SSA) to selectively refer information

about SSI overpayments to consumer

reporting agencies and to recover SSI

overpayments through administrative

offset by the Department of the Treasury

against other Federal payments to which

the overpaid individual may be entitled.

These collection practices would be

limited to overpayments made to a

person after he or she attained age 18

that are determined to be otherwise

unrecoverable under section 1631(b) of

the Act after the individual ceases to be

a beneficiary under title XVI of the Act.

DATES: To be sure your comments are

considered, we must receive them no

later than December 22, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

submitted in writing to the

Commissioner of Social Security, P.O.

Box 1585, Baltimore, Maryland 21235–

1585, sent by telefax to (410) 966–2830,

sent by e-mail to ‘‘regulations@ssa.gov,’’

or delivered to the Office of Process and

Innovation Management, Social Security

Administration, 2109 West Low Rise

Building, 6401 Security Boulevard,

Baltimore, MD 21235–6401, between 8

a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on regular business

days. Comments may be inspected

during these same hours by making

arrangements with the contact person

shown below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Robert J. Augustine, Social Insurance

Specialist, Office of Process and

Innovation Management, Social Security

Administration, 2109 West Low Rise