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

15697 

Vol. 80, No. 57 

Wednesday, March 25, 2015 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

13 CFR Part 121 

RIN 3245–AG69 

Small Business Timber Set Aside 

Program 

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business 

Administration. 

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Small Business 

Administration (SBA or Agency) is 

seeking comments on possible 

amendments to its Small Business 

Timber Set-Aside Program (the Program) 

regulations. The Small Business Timber 

Set-Aside Program is rooted in the 

Small Business Act, which tasked SBA 

with ensuring that small businesses 

receive a fair proportion of the total 

sales of government property. Several 

timber industry stakeholders have 

petitioned SBA to make changes to the 

Program because they believe that the 

current regulations do not provide 

adequate protections to ensure that 

small businesses maintain a fair share of 

the National Forest timber sale market. 

In response, SBA, in consultation with 

the United States Forest Service, is 

seeking comment on several issues to 

assist the agency in formulating 

potential regulatory proposals. SBA will 

share the comments received in 

response to this advance notice of 

proposed rulemaking with the United 

States Forest Service for their use in 

determining whether, and if so how, to 

make any corresponding changes to the 

United States Forest Service Handbook. 

First, SBA seeks comments on the 

possibility of including saw timber 

volume sold as part of a stewardship 

timber or stewardship services contract 

in the calculation of the timber sale 

share of small business. Second, SBA 

seeks comments on how timber sale 

appraisals should be performed for 

small business set aside sales and 

associated costs and benefits to 

stakeholders. The SBA is also seeking 

input on various policy options. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before May 26, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN: 3245–AG69, by any of 

the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• For mail, paper, disk, or CD/ROM 

submissions: Brenda J. Fernandez, 

Procurement Analyst, U.S. Small 

Business Administration, Office of 

Policy, Planning and Liaison, 409 Third 

Street SW., 8th Floor, Washington, DC 

20416. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Brenda J. 

Fernandez, Procurement Analyst, U.S. 

Small Business Administration, Office 

of Policy, Planning and Liaison, 409 

Third Street SW., 8th Floor, 

Washington, DC 20416. 

SBA will post all comments on 

www.regulations.gov. If you wish to 

submit confidential business 

information (CBI) as defined in the User 

Notice at www.regulations.gov, please 

submit the information to: Brenda J. 

Fernandez, Procurement Analyst, U.S. 

Small Business Administration, Office 

of Policy, Planning and Liaison, 409 

Third Street SW., 8th Floor, 

Washington, DC 20416, or send an email 

to brenda.fernandez@sba.gov. Highlight 

the information that you consider to be 

CBI and explain why you believe SBA 

should hold this information as 

confidential. SBA will review the 

information and make the final 

determination on whether it will 

publish the information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Brenda J. Fernandez, Procurement 

Analyst, Office of Policy, Planning and 

Liaison, 409 Third Street SW., 

Washington, DC 20416; (202) 205–7337; 

brenda.fernandez@sba.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Forest 

Service, an agency of the federal 

government sells saw logs in accordance 

with the Small Business Act (Pub. L. 

85–536 as amended) and the National 

Forest Management Act (Pub. L. 94–588 

as amended). Timber is regularly sold 

from the federal forests managed by the 

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest 

Service (USDA/FS) and the U.S. 

Department of the Interior’s Bureau of 

Land Management (DOI/BLM). On 

occasion, timber is sold from federal 

forests which are under the supervision 

of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. 

Department of Defense, the U.S. 

Department of Energy, and the 

Tennessee Valley Authority. 

Collectively, these agencies are 

considered the ‘‘sales agencies.’’ SBA 

and the sales agencies jointly set aside 

timber sales for bidding by small 

concerns when market data 

demonstrates that small businesses 

would not obtain their fair share under 

open sales. In 1971, USDA and SBA 

signed a Memorandum of 

Understanding (MOU) intended to 

accomplish the declared policy of 

Congress that a fair proportion of the 

total sales of Government property be 

made to small business enterprises 

defined by SBA (Small Business Act. 15 

U.S.C. 631, et seq.). In the 1980s and 

1990s, efforts to protect species habitat 

and watersheds in compliance with 

federal law and regulation resulted in 

dramatic changes to the United States 

timber industry. These changes 

included reduced timber harvests on 

Federal and private lands which in turn 

caused market failures for timber mills 

that could not adapt and retool. As a 

result, many small timber mills (western 

mills in particular) have been forced to 

close. As such, the Small Business 

Timber Set-Aside Program has become 

increasingly important to ensure that a 

‘‘fair proportion’’ of Federal timber is 

available for purchase by qualified small 

business concerns. 

SBA is soliciting public comment on 

the Small Business Timber Set-Aside 

Program to help the agency determine 

what, if any, changes should be 

proposed. Specifically, SBA is soliciting 

public comments on methods to include 

stewardship sales in the calculation of 

the timber sale share for small business 

and considerations for how timber sale 

appraisals are performed for small 

business set-aside sales. These possible 

amendments would not impact the DOI/ 

BLM’s Timber Sale and Forest 

Management Programs. DOI/BLM’s 

small business set-asides, which are 

limited to 8 markets in Oregon, are 

made in accordance with the terms of a 

separate MOU between SBA and DOI/

BLM. Rather than setting forth 

computation methods for small business 

market share considerations, SBA’s 

MOU with DOI/BLM affords SBA the 

opportunity to review DOI/BLM annual 

timber sale plans prior to publication 

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15698 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 57 / Wednesday, March 25, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

and to request set-asides under the 

authority of the Small Business Act. 

When DOI/BLM agrees to set aside 

certain timber sales, DOI/BLM consults 

with SBA concerning financial and 

other performance qualifications to be 

included in the conditions of sale. 

While DOI/BLM utilizes various 

stewardship contracting vehicles, the 

regulatory amendments contemplated 

by SBA will not impact DOI/BLM’s use 

of stewardship contracting. Further, 

DOI’s current policy regarding small 

business set-aside timber sales is to 

appraise the hauling costs to the closest 

mill that qualifies as a small business 

under SBA’s definition located in. 

Saw logs are sold through 

conventional timber sales and through 

stewardship contracting. The 

stewardship contracting program was 

established by Section 347 of the 

FY1999 Omnibus Appropriations Act 

(Pub. L. 105–277) to help achieve land 

management goals on the national 

forests, and to help meet the needs of 

local and rural communities. 

Stewardship contracting is a goods-forservices arrangement that requires 

timber companies who cut trees on 

National Forest System lands to perform 

other service work in exchange for the 

timber volume. Integrated Resource 

Timber Contract (IRTC) formats were 

developed by the Forest Service for 

exclusive use in implementing 

stewardship contracting projects when 

the value of goods exceeds the cost of 

services. Integrated Resource Service 

Contract (IRSC) formats were developed 

by the Forest Service for exclusive use 

in implementing stewardship 

contracting projects when the cost of 

services exceeds the value of the goods. 

As demonstrated below, stewardship 

sales accounted for 31% of all timber 

(sawtimber plus non-sawtimber) sold by 

the FS in Fiscal Year 2013. This is the 

highest percentage of total sales in the 

last ten years. However, some 

stakeholders believe that certain FS 

Regions could/should do consistently 

better in making timber sales awards to 

small business. 

STEWARDSHIP TIMBER/SERVICE SALES SOLD

[FY 2004–2013] 

Year (FY) R–1 R–2 R–3 R–4 R–5 R–6 R–8 R–9 R–10 All FS 

All sales, sawtimber + non-sawtimber (MMbf) 

2004 ......................... 159 163 49 107 208 434 359 319 85 1,883 

2005 ......................... 243 132 72 49 386 392 414 364 54 2,105 

2006 ......................... 189 165 69 68 228 470 858 381 83 2,511 

2007 ......................... 135 198 57 69 272 489 501 352 29 2,101 

2008 ......................... 186 201 43 70 109 525 539 349 4 2,026 

2009 ......................... 216 199 21 41 236 498 476 319 6 2,011 

2010 ......................... 180 196 46 60 252 424 540 358 45 2,100 

2011 ......................... 149 159 54 46 212 464 556 379 37 2,056 

2012 ......................... 144 196 32 53 219 512 521 419 41 2,137 

2013 ......................... 115 210 129 71 229 527 475 393 13 2,162 

Stewardship timber/service sales (MMbf) 

2004 ......................... 7 9 25 12 23 19 0 0 0 96 

2005 ......................... 12 9 17 7 23 30 4 2 1 105 

2006 ......................... 48 16 18 15 24 64 42 4 0 231 

2007 ......................... 44 16 28 9 62 91 34 23 1 308 

2008 ......................... 64 35 21 12 14 100 28 10 1 284 

2009 ......................... 45 38 15 11 54 96 62 22 0 343 

2010 ......................... 56 70 26 38 75 120 50 50 0 486 

2011 ......................... 43 33 31 21 47 105 62 50 33 427 

2012 ......................... 41 35 19 22 102 175 92 67 40 592 

2013 ......................... 36 39 107 51 75 202 90 61 0 661 

% Stewardship 

2004 ......................... 4 5 51 12 11 4 0 0 0 5 

2005 ......................... 5 7 23 13 6 8 1 1 1 5 

2006 ......................... 25 10 26 22 11 14 5 1 0 9 

2007 ......................... 33 8 49 14 23 19 7 6 2 15 

2008 ......................... 35 17 49 17 13 19 5 3 27 14 

2009 ......................... 21 19 72 27 23 19 13 7 0 17 

2010 ......................... 31 36 56 64 30 28 9 14 0 23 

2011 ......................... 29 21 59 47 22 23 11 13 9 21 

2012 ......................... 28 18 58 42 47 34 18 16 96 28 

2013 ......................... 32 19 83 72 33 38 19 16 0 31 

Data Source: Timber Data Company; November 19, 2013. 

To help ensure a fair proportion of 

timber sales go to small businesses, 

timber sales must be set aside when 

small business participation falls below 

a certain amount. In determining this 

trigger amount, the FS calculates the 

amount of small business market share 

based on small business purchases of 

saw timber volume over a five-year 

period. This percentage, based upon 

historical purchases, sets the framework 

for what constitutes small businesses’ 

fair proportion of the total sales volume. 

Currently, the computation of small 

business market share does not include 

saw logs from stewardship contracts. 

SBA is seeking comment on whether the 

calculation should also include saw 

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 57 / Wednesday, March 25, 2015 / Proposed Rules 15699 

timber purchased through stewardship 

contracts. Specifically, SBA invites 

comments and supporting data in 

response to the following questions. 

Stewardship Contracting Questions 

1. How should the FS include the saw 

timber volume on stewardship contracts 

awarded to small business in the 

computation of small business market 

share? 

2. How might including stewardship 

saw timber volume impact future 

market share calculations for small 

business concerns that participate in 

stewardship contracts and/or 

conventional timber sales? 

3. What are the potential impacts 

(costs and benefits) if SBA regulations at 

13 CFR 121.506 were to include the saw 

timber volume from IRTCs and IRSCs in 

the calculation of small business market 

share? 

a. What is the anticipated impact of 

the inclusion of saw timber volume 

from stewardship contracts on stumpage 

prices? 

b. If inclusion of saw timber volume 

from stewardship contracts leads to 

lower stumpage prices, what is the 

impact to land management activities 

(paid for by stumpage prices) and 

retained receipts? 

c. What is the anticipated impact on 

sale values both from an agency 

perspective and a treasury perspective? 

4. What would be the most efficient 

and effective way to account for actual 

saw timber volume from stewardship 

contracts awarded to small business? 

5. Would an increase in the utilization 

of stewardship contracts in a market 

area result in a lower representation of 

small businesses successfully bidding 

for timber sales in that market area? 

Should this lead to lowering the market 

share for small business set-aside sales 

in that market area when the FS and 

SBA compute small business 

participation? 

6. Would including stewardship saw 

timber volume on contracts awarded to 

small business in the calculation result 

in more accurate representation of small 

business participation in the market 

area? 

Unrelated to stewardship contracting, 

SBA is also seeking public comments on 

potential amendments to its current 

regulations at 13 CFR 121.507(a)(4)(i), 

which provides that on a set-aside 

timber sale, the small business may not 

resell more than 30% of the saw timber 

volume to a large business concern. 

When the FS offers any timber sale, it 

appraises the sale for its potential 

market value and sets the minimum bid 

that it will accept based on that 

appraisal. One factor in the appraisal is 

the haul cost that the purchaser (small 

or large) will absorb to bring the timber 

to a manufacturing facility. Currently, 

all appraisals are made to the nearest 

mill. In timber sales set aside for small 

businesses, large mills are ineligible to 

bid. In the context of a set-aside, if the 

nearest mill is a large mill, the appraisal 

will not accurately capture the haul cost 

to eligible bidders. As such, SBA is 

seeking public comment on whether the 

appraisal for a small business set-aside 

sale should be made to the nearest, 

small mill. 

Set-aside Sale Appraisal Point 

Questions 

1. How can the actual haul costs to 

eligible small business timber set-aside 

purchasers be better reflected in the 

appraisal process? 

2. Should there be considerations for 

keeping the appraisal point to the 

nearest mill on a small business timber 

set-aside sale in those market areas that 

do not have mills that would qualify as 

‘‘small’’ under the SBA criteria? 

3. How should the prohibition against 

small businesses reselling more than 

30% of the saw timber volume to a large 

business concern be taken into account 

when making appraisals for small 

business timber set-aside sales? 

4. What is the financial impact to the 

Forest Service if the 30% rule is 

included in the appraisal point haul 

cost calculation of a small business 

timber set-aside sale? 

5. What is the anticipated impact on 

trust funds (e.g., Knutson-Vandenberg), 

if any, if appraisals are made to a small 

mill rather than the closest processer. 

6. SBA is also requesting data on mill 

size and location. 

The SBA welcomes comments and 

any available data to help substantiate 

recommendations made in response to 

the foregoing general questions, or other 

potential policy options—including 

status quo—that should be considered 

for the Small Business Timber Sales SetAside Program. 

Dated: March 16, 2015. 

Maria Contreras-Sweet, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2015–06557 Filed 3–24–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8025–01–P 

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING 

COMMISSION 

17 CFR Parts 1, 15, 17, 19, 32, 37, 38, 

140, and 150 

RIN 3038–AD99; 3038–AD82 

Position Limits for Derivatives and 

Aggregation of Positions; Correction 

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; 

provision of Table 11a; and reopening of 

comment periods; correction. 

SUMMARY: This is a correction to the 

preamble of a document published by 

the Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) in the 

Federal Register of February 25, 2015, 

regarding the reopening of the comment 

periods for proposed rulemakings to 

establish speculative position limits for 

28 exempt and agricultural commodity 

futures and options contracts and the 

physical commodity swaps that are 

economically equivalent to such 

contracts (the ‘‘Position Limits 

Proposal’’) and to amend existing 

regulations setting out the Commission’s 

policy for aggregation under its position 

limits regime (the ‘‘Aggregation 

Proposal’’). This correction clarifies the 

closing date for the reopened comment 

periods, which was inadvertently set to 

fall on a non-business day. 

DATES: The comment periods for the 

Aggregation Proposal published 

November 15, 2013, at 78 FR 68946, and 

for the Position Limits Proposal 

published December 12, 2013, at 78 FR 

75680, which reopened on February 26, 

2015, will close on March 30, 2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Stephen Sherrod, Senior Economist, 

Division of Market Oversight, (202) 418– 

5452, ssherrod@cftc.gov; or Riva Spear 

Adriance, Senior Special Counsel, 

Division of Market Oversight, (202) 418– 

5494, radriance@cftc.gov; Commodity 

Futures Trading Commission, Three 

Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20581. 

Correction 

In the Federal Register of February 

25, 2015, in proposed rule FR Doc. 

2015–03834, on page 10023, in the first 

column, correct the DATES caption to 

read: 

DATES: The comment periods for the 

Aggregation Proposal published 

November 15, 2013, at 78 FR 68946, and 

for the Position Limits Proposal 

published December 12, 2013, at 78 FR 

75680, will reopen on February 26, 

2015, and will close on March 30, 2015. 

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