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

9330 

Vol. 78, No. 27 

Friday, February 8, 2013 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 27 

[Doc. #AMS–CN–12–0024] 

RIN 0581–AD26 

Revision of Regulations Defining Bona 

Fide Cotton Spot Markets 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing 

Service (AMS) is proposing to amend 

the regulation that specifies which 

states compose bona fide cotton spot 

markets in order to assure consistency 

with the revised Cotton Research and 

Promotion Act. Updated bona fide spot 

market definitions will allow for 

published spot quotes to consider spot 

prices of cotton marketed in Kansas and 

Virginia. AMS is also proposing to 

amend references to the ‘‘New York 

Cotton Exchange’’ to read the 

‘‘Intercontinental Exchange.’’ 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before March 11, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may 

comment on the proposed rule using the 

following procedures: 

• Internet: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

• Mail: Comments may be submitted 

by mail to: Darryl Earnest, Deputy 

Administrator, Cotton & Tobacco 

Programs, AMS, USDA, 3275 Appling 

Road, Room 11, Memphis, TN 38133. 

Comments should be submitted in 

triplicate. All comments should 

reference the docket number and the 

date and the page of this issue of the 

Federal Register. All comments will be 

available for public inspection during 

regular business hours at Cotton & 

Tobacco Program, AMS, USDA, 3275 

Appling Road, Memphis, TN 38133. A 

copy of this notice may be found at: 

www.ams.usda.gov/cotton/ 

rulemaking.htm. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Darryl Earnest, Deputy Administrator, 

Cotton & Tobacco Programs, AMS, 

USDA, 3275 Appling Road, Room 11, 

Memphis, TN 38133. Telephone (901) 

384–3060, facsimile (901) 384–3021, or 

email darryl.earnest@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Order 12866 

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 

(OMB). 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposed rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform. It is not intended to 

have retroactive effect. There are no 

administrative procedures that must be 

exhausted prior to any judicial 

challenge to the provisions of this rule. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

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 action on 

small entities and has determined that 

its implementation will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small businesses. 

The purpose of the RFA is to fit 

regulatory actions to the scale of 

businesses subject to such actions so 

that small businesses will not be 

disproportionately burdened. There are 

an estimated 25,000 cotton growers in 

the U.S. who voluntarily use the AMS 

cotton classing services annually, and 

the majority of these cotton growers are 

small businesses under the criteria 

established by the Small Business 

Administration (13 CFR 121.201). 

Revisions to the regulations concerning 

bona fide spot market definitions are 

necessary to assure consistency with the 

revised Cotton Research and Promotion 

Act and to allow for published spot 

quotes to consider spot prices of cotton 

marketed in Kansas and Virginia. 

Changes in spot market definitions as 

stated will not significantly affect small 

businesses as defined in the RFA 

because: 

(1) How spot prices are estimated are 

not expected to be impacted by this 

action; 

(2) Business practices of the U.S. 

cotton industry are not expected to 

change as a result of this action; 

(3) Costs associated with providing 

market news services will not be 

significantly changed by this action; 

(4) Market news services are paid for 

by appropriated funds, therefore users 

are not charged fees for the provision of 

the services. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

In compliance with OMB regulations 

(5 CFR part 1320), which implement the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 

U.S.C. 3501), the information collection 

requirements contained in the 

provisions to be amended by this 

proposed rule have been previously 

approved by OMB and were assigned 

OMB control number 0581–0009, Cotton 

Classification and Market New Service. 

Background 

The Secretary of Agriculture is 

authorized under the United States 

Cotton Futures Act (7 U.S.C. 15b) to 

designate at least five bona fide spot 

markets from which cotton price 

information can be collected. A spot 

market—also called the ‘‘cash market’’ 

or ‘‘physical market’’—is a market 

where commodities are sold on the spot 

for cash at current market prices and 

delivered immediately. Designation of 

these bona fide spot markets and the 

determination of which counties and 

states compose each of these spot 

markets was most recently published in 

the Federal Register on August 4, 1988 

(53 FR 29327). For each of these bona 

fide spot markets, the Cotton and 

Tobacco Programs of the Agricultural 

Marketing Service collects market price 

information under the United States 

Cotton Futures Act (7 U.S.C. 15b), the 

Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act (7 

U.S.C. 473b) and the Agricultural 

Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 

1622(g)). This price information is then 

used to calculate price differences for 

cotton futures contracts. 

The Food, Conservation, and Energy 

Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110–234, 122 Stat. 

923, enacted May 22, 2008, H.R. 2419) 

amended Section 17(f) of the Cotton 

Research and Promotion Act (7 U.S.C. 

2116(f)), designating Kansas, Virginia, 

and Florida as cotton producing states 

for purposes of the Cotton Research and 

Promotion Act. To achieve consistency 

with the revised Cotton Research and 

Promotion Act and to allow for 


wreier-aviles on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 27 / Friday, February 8, 2013 / Proposed Rules 9331 

published spot quotes to consider spot 

prices of cotton marketed in the 

aforementioned states, § 27.93 would be 

amended to add all the counties of 

Virginia to the Southeastern spot 

market, and Kansas to the East Texas 

and Oklahoma spot market. 

On September 14, 2006, New York 

Board of Trade—the parent company of 

the New York Cotton Exchange—agreed 

to become a unit of Intercontinental 

Exchange. This transaction was 

completed on January 12, 2007. To 

reflect this organizational change in the 

regulations, § 27.94 would amend 

references to the ‘‘New York Cotton 

Exchange’’ to read as the 

‘‘Intercontinental Exchange.’’ 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 27 

Commodity futures, Cotton. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 27 is proposed to 

be amended as follows: 

PART 27—[Amended] 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 27 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 15b, 7 U.S.C. 473b, 7 

U.S.C. 1622(g). 

■ 2. In § 27.93, definitions of the 

Southeastern market and the East Texas 

and Oklahoma market are revised to 

read as follows: 

§ 27.93 Bona fide spot markets. 

* * * * * 

Southeastern 

All counties in the states of Alabama, 

Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South 

Carolina, and Virginia and all counties 

in the state of Tennessee east of and 

including Stewart, Houston, 

Humphreys, Perry, Wayne and Hardin 

counties. 

* * * * * 

East Texas and Oklahoma 

All counties in the states of Kansas 

and Oklahoma and the Texas counties 

east of and including Montague, Wise, 

Parker, Erath, Comanche, Mills, San 

Saba, Mason, Sutton, Edwards, Kinney, 

Maverick, Webb, Zapata, Star and 

Hidalgo counties. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. In § 27.94, paragraph (a) is revised 

to read as follows: 

§ 27.94 Spot markets for contract 

settlement purposes. 

* * * * * 

(a) For cotton delivered in settlement 

of any No. 2 contract on the 

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE); 

Southeastern, North and South Delta, 

Eastern Texas and Oklahoma, West 

Texas, and Desert Southwest. 

* * * * * 

Dated: February 4, 2013. 

David R. Shipman, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–02811 Filed 2–7–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 920 

[Doc. No. AMS–FV–12–0008; FV12–920–1 

PR] 

Kiwifruit Grown in California; 

Proposed Amendments to Marketing 

Order 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This rule invites comments 

on five proposed amendments to 

Marketing Order No. 920 (order) which 

regulates the handling of kiwifruit 

grown in California. The amendments 

were proposed by the Kiwifruit 

Administrative Committee (Committee 

or KAC), which is responsible for local 

administration of the order. The five 

proposals would amend the marketing 

order by adding authority to recommend 

and conduct production and postharvest 

research, adding authority to 

recommend and conduct market 

research and development projects, 

adding authority to receive and expend 

voluntary contributions, amending 

procedures to specify that 

recommendations for production 

research and market development be 

approved by eight members of the 

Committee, and updating provisions 

regarding alternate members’ service on 

the Committee. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

April 9, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be submitted to the Docket Clerk, 

Marketing Order and Agreement 

Division, Fruit and Vegetable Program, 

AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW., STOP 0237, Washington, 

DC 20250–0237; Fax: (202) 720–8938; or 

Internet: http://www.regulations.gov. All 

comments should reference the 

document number and the date and 

page number of this issue of the Federal 

Register. All comments submitted in 

response to this proposed rule will be 

included in the record 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.regulations.gov. Please be 

advised that the identity of the 

individuals or entities submitting the 

comments will be made public on the 

Internet at the address provided above. 

To the extent practicable, all 

documents filed with the Docket Clerk 

should also be submitted electronically 

to Kathleen Bright at the email address 

noted for her in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kathleen Bright, Marketing Order and 

Agreement Division, Fruit and 

Vegetable Program, AMS, USDA; 1400 

Independence Avenue SW., Stop 0237, 

Washington, DC 20250–0237; 

Telephone: (202) 205–2830, Fax: (202) 

720–8938 or Email: 

Kathleen.Bright@ams.usda.gov. 

Small businesses may request 

information on complying with this 

regulation by contacting Laurel May, 

Marketing Order and Agreement 

Division, Fruit and Vegetable Program, 

AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW., STOP 0237, Washington, 

DC 20250–0237; Telephone: (202) 720– 

2491, Fax: (202) 720–8938, or Email: 

Laurel.May@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

proposal is issued under Marketing 

Order No. 920, as amended (7 CFR part 

920), regulating the handling of 

kiwifruit produced in California, 

hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘order.’’ 

The order is effective under the 

Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act 

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

hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Act.’’ 

Section 608c(17) of the Act and the 

applicable rules of practice and 

procedure governing the formulation of 

marketing agreements and orders (7 CFR 

part 900) authorize amendment of the 

order through this informal rulemaking 

action. AMS will consider comments 

received in response to this rule, and 

based on all the information received, 

will determine if order amendment is 

warranted. If AMS determines 

amendment of the order is warranted, a 

subsequent proposed rule and 

referendum order would be issued and 

producers would be allowed to vote for 

or against the proposed order 

amendments. AMS would then issue a 

final rule effectuating any amendments 

approved by producers in the 

referendum. 

The Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) is issuing this rule in 

conformance with Executive Order 

12866. 

This proposal has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 


wreier-aviles on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS