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

70330

Vol. 65, No. 226

Wednesday, November 22, 2000

1All the petitions and comments we received are

a part of the rulemaking record for Docket No. 98–

085–1. You may read the petitions and comments

in our reading room. The reading room is located

in room 1141 of the USDA South Building, 14th

Street and Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC. Normal reading room hours are 8

a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except

holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you,

please call (202) 690–2817 before coming.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

[Docket No. 98–085–2]

Aquaculture; Public Meeting

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

SUMMARY: This is to notify the

aquaculture industries, interested

parties, and the general public that a

public meeting will be held to discuss

how and to what extent the Animal and

Plant Health Inspection Service should

regulate aquatic species, and to discuss

any other issues concerning possible

regulation of aquaculture by the Agency.

DATES: The public meeting will be held

on Thursday, January 25, 2001, from 9

a.m. to 3 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be

held at the Disney Coronado Springs

Resort, 1000 West Buena Vista Drive,

Lake Buena Vista, FL, in conjunction

with the Aquaculture 2001 Conference.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

information about the APHIS public

meeting, contact Dr. Otis Miller, Jr.,

National Aquaculture Coordinator,

Center for Planning, Certification, and

Monitoring, VS, APHIS, 4700 River

Road Unit 46, Riverdale, MD 20737-

1231, (301) 734–6188.

Information regarding the

Aquaculture 2001 Conference is

available on the Internet at http://

www.wasmeetings.org/Pages/

Orlando2001_RegBroc.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 4,

1999, the Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service (APHIS) published in

the Federal Register (64 FR 23795–

23796, Docket No. 98–085–1) an

advance notice of proposed rulemaking

(ANPR) titled ‘‘Aquaculture: FarmRaised Fin Fish.’’ We published this

ANPR after receiving petitions 1 asking

us to regulate aquaculture in various

ways. Many petitioners asked us to

define farmed aquatic animals as

livestock. In general, the petitioners

seemed to be interested in receiving the

same services that domestic producers

of livestock receive for animals moving

in interstate and foreign commerce.

However, based on the petitions alone,

it was difficult for us to determine what

segments of the industry want services

and exactly what services they want. It

was also difficult to determine the

objectives sought by the petitioners who

were requesting Federal regulation. We

published the ANPR in an attempt to

clarify the industry’s needs, the nature

of the services sought, and the concerns

the petitioners had with regard to such

regulations.

We received 55 comments 2 in

response to the ANPR. A majority of the

commenters supported the idea of

APHIS regulation of cultured fin fish.

Unfortunately, the commenters

generally did not clearly distinguish

between fin fish raised for food and

ornamental fin fish. Commenters who

wanted regulation were, however, very

clear that they want programs to prevent

and control disease and to support

increased commerce, both domestic and

export.

The commenters also suggested that

any rulemaking initiated by APHIS be a

negotiated rulemaking. In negotiated

rulemaking, industry representatives

and other interested persons meet with

APHIS officials and draft proposed

regulations together. The proposed

regulations are then published for

public comment. Negotiated rulemaking

is designed to ensure that all interested

persons are involved together from the

start to develop regulations.

Unfortunately, negotiated rulemaking

is not suitable for all situations. It works

well when there is a small number of

interested parties and the parties are

easy to identify. This is not the case

with regard to aquaculture. The

aquaculture industry is very large and

diverse. It would be difficult for us to

identify everyone who should be

represented in a negotiated rulemaking.

In addition, there are many parties

outside aquaculture that would have a

substantial interest in such a

rulemaking. In our view, the number of

people who would need to participate

in a negotiated rulemaking would be too

large and would suggest that negotiated

rulemaking is not appropriate.

Furthermore, a large negotiated

rulemaking would be expensive, and

APHIS does not have adequate funds.

Therefore, we have concluded that it

would not be appropriate to pursue an

aquaculture negotiated rulemaking.

We have not, however, decided

whether to pursue aquaculture

rulemaking by other means. Before we

make that decision, we want to have as

much information as possible from all

interested persons, and we want to

provide the aquaculture industries and

other interested persons with as much

opportunity as possible to discuss with

us and inform us regarding the relevant

issues.

Therefore, we are planning to hold a

series of public meetings. Public

meetings will allow anyone who is

interested—industry representatives,

producers, consumers, and others—to

present their views and to exchange

information among themselves and with

APHIS.

There will be no set agendas for the

meetings. Any issues and concerns

related to aquaculture and possible

APHIS regulatory action can be

discussed. However, there are three

specific issues on which we would like

more information. These are issues that

the people and organizations who

commented on our ANPR either did not

address or were unclear about.

Specifically, if APHIS does propose

regulations: (1) Should our program be

mandatory or voluntary; (2) should we

cover shell fish; and (3) should we cover

ornamental fin fish?

Information elicited at the meetings

could result in a new APHIS regulatory

program, or in changes to aquaculturerelated services currently provided by

APHIS. We have scheduled the first

public meeting for Thursday, January

25, 2001, at Disney’s Coronado Springs

Resort in Lake Buena Vista, FL.

If you wish to speak at the meeting,

please register in advance by calling the

Regulatory Analysis and Development

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 226 / Wednesday, November 22, 2000 / Notices 70331

voice mail at (301) 734–8139. Leave a

message with your name, telephone

number, organization, if any, and an

estimate of the time you need to speak.

You may also register at the meeting

itself. Please register at the meeting

room between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m.,

before the meeting officially begins.

Starting with the advance registrants,

we will call speakers in the order in

which they registered.

The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. and

is scheduled to end at 3 p.m. We may

end the meeting early if all the

registered speakers have had a chance to

speak and if no one else wants to speak.

We may also extend the meeting, or

limit the time allowed for each speaker,

if necessary, so all interested persons

have an opportunity to participate.

An APHIS representative will preside

at the meeting. The meeting will be

recorded. We encourage speakers to

present written statements, though it is

not required. If you choose to present a

written statement, please provide the

chairperson with a copy. The complete

record, including the transcript and all

written comments, will be available to

the public.

This meeting is the first in a planned

series of public meetings. We plan to

hold additional meetings in Idaho,

Illinois (Chicago), Maine, Mississippi,

Pennsylvania, and Washington. We will

publish a notice or notices in the

Federal Register announcing the dates,

times, and locations of the meetings.

Done in Washington, DC, this 16th day of

November 2000.

Bobby R. Acord,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 00–29831 Filed 11–21–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–U

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Farm Service Agency

Advisory Committee on Beginning

Farmers and Ranchers

AGENCY: Farm Service Agency, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of extension of time limit

for requesting additional nominations.

SUMMARY: The Secretary of Agriculture

intends to renew the charter of the

Advisory Committee on Beginning

Farmers and Ranchers (Committee). The

Committee provides advice to the

Secretary on ways to encourage Federal

and State beginning farmer programs to

provide joint financing to beginning

farmers and ranchers. A notice was

published in the Federal Register on

August 24, 2000, soliciting nominations

of persons to serve on the Committee,

and a September 25, 2000, deadline was

established for accepting nominations.

In order to obtain a sufficient pool of

nominees, USDA is extending the

deadline to December 7, 2000.

DATES: Nominations should be

submitted by December 7, 2000 to Mark

Falcone, Designated Federal Official

(DFO) for the Committee, at the address

below.

ADDRESSES: Mark Falcone, DFO for the

Advisory Committee on Beginning

Farmers and Ranchers, Farm Service

Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture,

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room

5438–S, STOP 0522, Washington, DC

20250–0522; telephone (202) 720–1632;

FAX (202) 690–1117; e-mail

mark_falcone@wdc.fsa.usda.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mark Falcone at (202) 720–1632.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 5

of the Agricultural Credit Improvement

Act of 1992 (Pub. L. 102–554) required

the Secretary of Agriculture to establish

the Committee for the purpose of

advising the Secretary on, among other

issues, the development of a program of

coordinated financial assistance to

qualified beginning farmers and

ranchers and methods of maximizing

the number of new farming and

ranching opportunities created through

the program.

The law requires that Committee

members include representatives from

the Farm Service Agency (FSA); State

beginning farmer programs (as defined

in section 309(i)(5) of the Consolidated

Farm and Rural Development Act);

commercial lenders; private nonprofit

organizations with active beginning

farmer or rancher programs; the

Cooperative State Research, Education,

and Extension Service; community

colleges or other educational

institutions with demonstrated

experience in training beginning farmers

or ranchers; and other entities or

persons providing lending or technical

assistance to qualified beginning

farmers or ranchers. The Secretary has

also appointed farmers and ranchers to

the Committee.

FSA is now accepting nominations of

individuals to serve for a 2-year term on

the Committee, which is comprised of

18 individuals. One-third of the existing

Committee membership will be replaced

when the Committee charter expires on

November 25, 2000. No member, other

than a USDA employee, can serve for

more than 6 consecutive years.

Nominations are being sought through

the media, the Federal Register, and

other appropriate methods. Persons

nominated for the Committee will be

required to complete and submit an

Advisory Committee Membership

Background Information Questionnaire

(Form AD 755). The questionnaire is

available on the Internet at http://

www.fsa.usda. gov/dafl/

LoanForms.htm. Questionnaires can be

completed on-line. However, nominees

must print their completed forms from

an Adobe PDF file and mail or fax them

to the above address or fax number. The

form may also be requested by

telephone, fax, or e-mail. All inquiries

and submissions should be made to

Mark Falcone at the addresses and

numbers listed above.

Appointments to the Committee will

be made by the Secretary of Agriculture.

Equal opportunity practices, consistent

with USDA policies, will be followed in

all appointments to the Committee. To

ensure that the recommendations of the

Committee have taken into account the

needs of the diverse groups served by

the Department, membership should

include, to the extent practicable,

individuals with demonstrated ability to

represent minorities, women, persons

with disabilities, and senior citizens.

Signed in Washington, D.C. on November

9, 2000.

Parks Shackelford,

Acting Administrator, Farm Service Agency.

[FR Doc. 00–29818 Filed 11–21–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–05–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Farm Service Agency

President’s Commission on Improving

Economic Opportunity in Communities

Dependent on Tobacco Production

While Protecting Public Health

AGENCY: Farm Service Agency, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: Executive Order 13168

published September 22, 2000,

established the President’s Commission

on Improving Economic Opportunity in

Communities Dependent on Tobacco

Production While Protecting Public

Health (Commission). This meeting will

be devoted to reviewing written and oral

comments received to establish a list of

issues on tobacco and health related

issues the Commission will consider in

issuing its Reports to the President. This

notice announces a public meeting to be

conducted by the Commission on

December 5, 2000. All meetings are

open to the public; however, seating is

limited and available on a first-come

basis. Written comments may be filed

with the committee before or after the