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

52099 

Vol. 78, No. 163 

Thursday, August 22, 2013 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 51 

[Doc. Number AMS–FV–12–0013] 

Onions Other Than Bermuda-GranexGrano/Creole; Bermuda-Granex-Grano 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would 

revise the United States Standards for 

Grades of Onions (Other Than BermudaGranex-Grano and Creole Type) and the 

United States Standards for Grades of 

Bermuda-Granex-Grano Type Onions 

which were issued under the 

Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946. The 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is 

proposing to amend the ‘‘similar varietal 

characteristic’’ and ‘‘one type’’ 

requirements to allow mixed colors of 

onions when designated as a mixed or 

specialty pack. The purpose of this 

revision is to update and revise the 

standards to more accurately represent 

today’s marketing practices and to 

provide the industry with greater 

flexibility. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

October 21, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments to 

the Standardization Branch, Specialty 

Crops Inspection Division, Fruit and 

Vegetable Program, Agricultural 

Marketing Service, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, National Training and 

Development Center, Riverside Business 

Park, 100 Riverside Parkway, Suite 101, 

Fredericksburg, VA 22406; Fax: (540) 

361–1199, or on the web at: 

www.regulations.gov. Comments should 

make reference to the dates and page 

number of this issue of the Federal 

Register and will be made available for 

public inspection in the above office 

during regular business hours. 

Comments can also be viewed as 

submitted, including any personal 

information you provide, on the 

www.regulations.gov website. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Dave Horner, Specialty Crops Inspection 

Division, (540) 361–1128 or 1150. The 

current United States Standards for 

Grades of Onions (Other Than BermudaGranex-Grano and Creole Type) and the 

United States Standards for Grades of 

Bermuda-Granex-Grano Type Onions 

are available through the Specialty 

Crops Inspection Division website at 

www.ams.usda.gov/scihome. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory 

Flexibility Act 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be not significant for 

purposes of Executive Order 12866 and, 

therefore, has not been reviewed by the 

Office of Management and Budget. 

Pursuant to requirements set forth in 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 

U.S.C. 601–612), AMS has considered 

the economic impact of this rule on 

small entities. Accordingly, AMS has 

prepared this 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. 

Proposed changes in two sets of 

standards would permit specified packs 

of mixed colors of onions to be certified 

to a U.S. grade. The proposed revisions 

apply to the United States standards for 

grades for two categories of onions: (1) 

Other Than Bermuda-Granex-Grano 

(BGG) and Creole Type and (2) BGG 

Type. 

In each of the standards, except the 

section in the Other Than BGG and 

Creole Type standards which affects the 

U.S. No. 2 grade, it currently states that 

one of the requirements to be certified 

in a grade is that the onion pack 

contains ‘‘similar varietal 

characteristics.’’ The wording would be 

changed to: ‘‘Similar varietal 

characteristics, except color when 

designated as a specialty or mixed 

pack.’’ In the U.S. No. 2 grade for the 

Other Than BGG and Creole Type 

standards, the wording would be 

changed to ‘‘One type, except when 

designated as a specialty or mixed 

pack.’’ The additional wording would 

permit onions of different colors in the 

same pack as long as the pack is 

appropriately designated as a ‘‘specialty 

or mixed pack.’’ Allowing the 

commingling of mixed colors in an 

onion pack, when designated, will 

facilitate the marketing of onions by 

providing the industry with more 

flexibility that reflects current industry 

practices, thereby encouraging 

additional commerce. 

A farm-level estimate of the size of the 

U.S. onion industry can be obtained 

from National Agricultural Statistics 

Service (NASS) data. Averaging NASS 

onion production for the most recent 3 

years (2009–2011) yields a U.S. 

production estimate of 74.4 million 

hundredweight (cwt), of which about 10 

million cwt (13 percent) are onions for 

processing. Subtracting 10 million for 

processing from the total 74.4 million 

cwt yields an estimate of 64.4 million 

cwt sold for the fresh market. The total 

3-year average onion crop value is 

$955.4 million and the value of onions 

for processing is $86.5 million. The 

difference is a computed estimate of 

$868.9 million for the crop value sold 

into the fresh market. Average onion 

acreage for the period 2009–2011 is 

149,320. Dividing total crop value by 

acreage yields a 3-year average grower 

revenue per acre estimate of about 

$6,400. 

An estimate of the total number of 

onion farms from the 2007 Agricultural 

Census (the most recent data available 

on farm numbers) is 4,074. An onion 

farm is defined by the Census as a farm 

from which 50 percent or more of the 

value of agricultural sales are from 

onions. The Small Business 

Administration (SBA) threshold for a 

large business in farming is $750,000 in 

annual sales. With average revenue per 

acre of $6,400, 117 acres of onions 

would generate approximately $750,000 

in crop value. Census data shows that 

3,679 out of a total of 4,074 farms (91 

percent) are less than 100 acres. Most 

onion farms would therefore be 

considered small businesses under the 

SBA definition, in terms of onion sales 

only (not including sales of other crops). 

There is no published data with which 

to make comparable estimates of the 

number of packers or shippers of 

onions. 

Three fourths of the value of 

production for U.S. onions comes from 

six states. In declining order of 

magnitude, with market shares ranging 

from 18 to 8 percent, those states are: 

California, Washington, Oregon, 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
52100 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 163 / Thursday, August 22, 2013 / Proposed Rules 

Georgia, Texas, and Nevada. The 

remaining states for which NASS 

reports onion production are New 

Mexico, Idaho, New York, Colorado, 

Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona. 

Benefits of the proposed changes 

substantially outweigh the costs. The 

only additional cost borne by packers/ 

shippers, which is expected to be 

minimal, is when ‘‘specialty or mixed 

packs’’ are designated by means of 

labeling. There are no other additional 

costs to packers/shippers or growers 

from this change, and smaller entities 

would not bear a disproportionate cost. 

The proposed change in the standards 

reflects a shift in onion packing/ 

shipping practices that is already 

underway. The additional flexibility in 

the revised standards will facilitate 

additional onion sales, to the benefit of 

growers, packers, and consumers. 

Executive Order 12988 

This rule has been reviewed under 

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 

Reform. This action is not intended to 

have retroactive effect. There are no 

administrative procedures which must 

be exhausted prior to any judicial 

challenge to the provisions of the rule. 

Background and Proposed Rule 

AMS has observed that the industry is 

packing mixed colors of onions, 

primarily in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, 

and Texas. In addition, Marketing Order 

958 for Idaho and Oregon Onions, 

administrated by the Idaho-Eastern 

Oregon Onion Committee, was amended 

November, 2011, to allow pearl onion 

packs and experimental shipments of 

mixed colors. Furthermore, in a May 

2012 meeting with the Marketing Order 

Administration Division, AMS was 

informed that Washington State, which 

is outside of marketing order 958, has 

packed mixed colors of larger Walla 

Walla type onions for Canada. 

Currently, the U.S. onion standards do 

not permit mixing colors in the same 

pack. The proposed revision will 

provide the flexibility for shippers and 

packers to do so. AMS believes that 

permitting mixed colors when 

designated as a specialty or mixed pack 

will facilitate the marketing of onions by 

aligning the standards with current 

marketing practices. Therefore, AMS 

proposes to amend the similar varietal 

characteristic requirement for: 

Onions Other Than BGG and Creole 

Type in Sections 51.2830, 51.2831, and 

51.2832, which affects the U.S. No. 1, 

U.S. Export No. 1, and U.S Commercial 

grades, by adding ‘‘except color when 

designated as a specialty or mixed 

pack.’’ Likewise, AMS proposes to 

amend the one type requirement in 

Section 51.2835, which affects the U.S. 

No. 2 grade, by adding ‘‘except when 

designated as a specialty or mixed 

pack.’’ 

Bermuda-Granex-Grano (BGG) Type 

Onions in Sections 51.3195 and 

51.3197, which affects the U.S. No. 1, 

U.S. Combination, and U.S. No. 2 

grades, by adding ‘‘except color when 

designated as a specialty or mixed 

pack.’’ 

Comments Invited 

AMS proposes to amend the United 

States Standards for Grades of Onions 

(Other Than Bermuda-Granex-Grano 

and Creole Type) and the United States 

Standards for Grades of BermudaGranex-Grano Type Onions. This rule 

provides for a 60-day comment period 

for interested parties to comment on the 

proposed revisions in the standards. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 51 

Agricultural commodities, Food 

grades and standards, Fruits, Nuts, 

Reporting and record keeping 

requirements, Trees, Vegetables. 

For reasons set forth in the preamble, 

7 CFR part 51 is proposed to be 

amended as follows: 

PART 51—FRESH FRUITS, 

VEGETABLES AND OTHER 

PRODUCTS (INSPECTION, 

CERTIFICATION, AND STANDARDS) 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 51 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621–1627. 

■ 2. In § 51.2830, paragraph (a) (1) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 51.2830 U.S. No. 1. 

* * * * * 

(a) * * * 

(1) Similar varietal characteristics, 

except color when designated as a 

specialty or mixed pack; 

* * * * * 

■ 3. In § 51.2831, paragraph (a) (1) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 51.2831 U.S. Export No. 1 

* * * * * 

(a) * * * 

(1) Similar varietal characteristics, 

except color when designated as a 

specialty of mixed pack; 

* * * * * 

■ 4. In § 51.2832, paragraph (a) (1) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 51.2832 U.S. Commercial 

* * * * * 

(a) * * * 

(1) Similar varietal characteristics, 

except color when designated as a 

specialty or mixed pack; 

* * * * * 

■ 5. In § 51.2835, paragraph (a) (1) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 51.2835 U.S. No. 1 Boilers 

* * * * * 

(a) * * * 

(1) One type, except when designated 

as a specialty or mixed pack; 

* * * * * 

■ 6. In § 51.3195, paragraph (a) (1) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 51.3195 U.S. No. 1 

* * * * * 

(a) * * * 

(1) Similar varietal characteristics, 

except color when designated as a 

specialty or mixed pack; 

* * * * * 

■ 7. In § 51.3197, paragraph (a) (1) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 51.3197 U.S. No. 2 

* * * * * 

(a) * * * 

(1) Similar varietal characteristics, 

except color when designated as a 

specialty or mixed pack; 

* * * * * 

Dated: August 16, 2013. 

Rex A. Barnes, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–20481 Filed 8–21–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 205 

[Document Number AMS–NOP–13–0011; 

NOP–13–01PR] 

RIN 0581–AD33 

National Organic Program; Proposed 

Amendments to the National List of 

Allowed and Prohibited Substances 

(Crops and Processing) 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would 

amend the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture’s (USDA’s) National List of 

Allowed and Prohibited Substances 

(National List) to reflect 

recommendations submitted to the 

Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) by 

the National Organic Standards Board 

(NOSB) on May 25, 2012 and October 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS