14236 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 43 / Tuesday, March 5, 2013 / Proposed Rules 

continue to be acceptable records for 

processing by the retirement and 

insurance processing system. 

■ 10. Revise § 850.401 to read as 

follows: 

§ 850.401 Electronic notice of coverage 

determination. 

An agency or other entity that submits 

electronic employee records directly or 

through a Shared Service Center must 

include in the notice of law enforcement 

officer, firefighter, or nuclear materials 

retirement coverage, required by 

§§ 831.811(a), 831.911(a), 842.808(a), or 

842.910(a) of this chapter, the position 

description number, or other unique 

alphanumeric identifier, in the notice 

for the position for which law 

enforcement officer, firefighter, or 

nuclear materials courier retirement 

coverage has been approved. Agencies 

or other entities must submit position 

descriptions to OPM in a PDF document 

to combox address: combox@opm.gov. 

[FR Doc. 2013–04965 Filed 3–4–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–38–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 905 

[Doc. No. AMS–FV–12–0052; FV12–905–2 

PR] 

Oranges, Grapefruit, Tangerines, and 

Tangelos Grown in Florida; Revising 

Reporting Requirements and New 

Information Collection 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This rule invites comments 

on a proposed change to reporting 

requirements prescribed under the 

Federal marketing order for oranges, 

grapefruit, tangerines, and tangelos 

grown in Florida (order). The Citrus 

Administrative Committee (Committee) 

is responsible for local administration of 

the order. This action would require all 

fresh citrus handlers to provide the 

Committee with a list of all growers 

whose fruit they handled each season. 

This information would enable the 

Committee to more efficiently 

administer the order and improve 

communication with growers. This 

proposal also announces the 

Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) 

intention to request approval from 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) of a new information collection. 

DATES: Comments on the proposed 

rulemaking must be received by May 6, 

2013. Pursuant to the Paperwork 

Reduction Act, comments on the 

information collection burden must be 

received by May 6, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments 

concerning this proposal. Comments 

must be sent 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 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. All comments 

submitted in response to this rule will 

be included in the record and will be 

made available to the public. 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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jennie M. Varela, Marketing Specialist, 

or Christian D. Nissen, Regional 

Director, Southeast Marketing Field 

Office, Marketing Order and Agreement 

Division, Fruit and Vegetable Program, 

AMS, USDA; Telephone: (863) 324– 

3375, Fax: (863) 325–8793, or Email: 

Jennie.Varela@ams.usda.gov or 

Christian.Nissen@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. 905, as amended (7 CFR part 

905), regulating the handling of oranges, 

grapefruit, tangerines, and tangelos 

grown in Florida, 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.’’ 

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 

Justice Reform. This rule is not intended 

to have retroactive effect. 

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 USDA 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. A handler 

is afforded the opportunity for a hearing 

on the petition. After the hearing, USDA 

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 USDA’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 proposed rule would revise the 

reporting requirements prescribed under 

the order. This action would require all 

fresh citrus handlers to provide the 

Committee with a list of all growers 

whose fruit they handled each season. 

This information would enable the 

Committee to more efficiently 

administer the order and better 

communicate fresh market issues to 

fresh market citrus growers. This 

proposed change was unanimously 

recommended by the Committee at a 

July 17, 2012, meeting. 

Section 905.71 of the order provides 

the Committee, with the approval of the 

Secretary, authority to collect 

information from handlers that is 

deemed necessary for administering the 

order. This proposed rule would utilize 

this authority to establish a new 

§ 905.171 under the rules and 

regulations of the order. This new 

section would require handlers of fresh 

citrus to report to the Committee a list 

of names and contact information for all 

growers whose fruit they have shipped 

by June 15 of each season. 

Currently, the Committee does not 

require handlers to report any 

information regarding the growers who 

supply them. In order to communicate 

with its grower base regarding the order 

or Committee actions, the Committee 

depends on mailing lists from other 

industry groups. However, third-party 

lists are often incomplete, out of date, or 

do not distinguish between those 

growing for the fresh market or those 

growing for the processed market. 

Ninety percent of the volume of citrus 

produced in Florida is sold for 

processing into juice, which is not 

regulated under the order. 

Consequently, while there are an 

estimated 8,000 citrus growers, it is 

estimated only 750 growers produce for 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 43 / Tuesday, March 5, 2013 / Proposed Rules 14237 

the fresh market. Because there is no 

readily available comprehensive list of 

fresh citrus growers, the Committee 

could allocate a great deal of resources 

into information distribution and still 

not be certain that the information is 

getting to those covered under the order. 

Recently, the Committee began 

discussing potential changes to the 

order to make it more efficient and 

responsive to industry needs. In these 

discussions, the Committee recognized 

that grower involvement could be 

improved through focused 

communication with fresh market citrus 

growers. However, in order to actively 

reach out to growers in the industry, the 

Committee must have accurate 

information. The Committee discussed 

developing a list of growers compiled 

annually from information provided by 

handlers to make effective outreach 

possible. Some members expressed 

concerns about the disclosure of 

proprietary information. The Committee 

addressed these concerns by stating the 

scope of the information collection 

could be limited to only grower contact 

information. 

In addition, while this action would 

assist the Committee in its efforts to 

keep growers informed and to solicit 

their input on potential changes to the 

order, it also could be used to increase 

grower outreach and involvement in 

Committee elections and membership, 

facilitate grower participation in 

amendment and continuance referenda, 

and provide for a more efficient use of 

Committee resources. 

As a result, Committee members 

recommended collecting grower names 

and contact information each season 

from handlers of fresh citrus so that the 

Committee would have an accurate and 

updated list to use in communicating 

with fresh market citrus growers. June 

15 was selected as the due date for this 

information as it is toward the end of 

the season, and Committee members 

agreed handlers would have a complete 

list at that time. 

This change would revise reporting 

requirements to require all fresh citrus 

handlers regulated under the order to 

provide the Committee with contact 

information for all growers whose fruit 

they have shipped. This information 

would be due by June 15 of each season. 

The change would enable the 

Committee to more efficiently 

administer the order and communicate 

fresh market issues to fresh market 

citrus growers. 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Pursuant to requirements set forth in 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 

U.S.C. 601–612), 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. 

There are approximately 8,000 

growers of citrus in the production area 

and approximately 45 handlers subject 

to regulation under the marketing order; 

however, it is estimated that only 750 

growers produce for the fresh market. 

Small agricultural producers are defined 

by the Small Business Administration 

(SBA) as those having annual receipts 

less than $750,000, and small 

agricultural service firms are defined as 

those whose annual receipts are less 

than $7,000,000 (13 CFR 121.201). 

Based on production data, grower 

prices as reported by the National 

Agricultural Statistics Service, and the 

total number of Florida citrus growers, 

the average annual grower revenue is 

below $750,000. In addition, based on 

industry and Committee data, the 

average annual f.o.b. price for fresh 

Florida citrus during the 2010–11 

season was approximately $12.16 per 4⁄5

bushel carton, and total fresh shipments 

were approximately 30.4 million 

cartons. Using the average f.o.b. price 

and shipment data, about 55 percent of 

the Florida citrus handlers could be 

considered small businesses under 

SBA’s definition. Thus, assuming a 

normal distribution, the majority of 

producers and handlers of Florida citrus 

may be classified as small entities. 

This proposed rule would revise the 

reporting requirements prescribed under 

the order. This action would require all 

fresh citrus handlers to provide the 

Committee with a list of all growers 

whose fruit they handled by June 15 of 

each season. This information would 

enable the Committee to more 

efficiently administer the order and 

better communicate fresh market issues 

to fresh market citrus growers. This rule 

would create a new § 905.171, which 

would establish the new reporting 

requirement. The authority for this 

action is provided for in § 905.71 of the 

order. This proposed change was 

unanimously recommended by the 

Committee at a July 17, 2012, meeting. 

Requiring grower contact information 

each season would impose a minor 

increase in the reporting burden on all 

citrus handlers. However, this data is 

already recorded and maintained by 

handlers as a part of their daily 

business. Handlers, regardless of size, 

should be able to readily access this 

information. Consequently, any 

additional costs associated with this 

change would be minimal and apply 

equally to all handlers. 

This action should also help growers 

receive more information about the 

activities under the order and make 

them more aware of their opportunities 

to participate in the efforts of the 

Committee. The benefits of this rule are 

expected to be equally available to all 

fresh citrus growers, regardless of their 

size. 

The Committee discussed making no 

change as an alternative to this action 

but determined that in order to 

efficiently carry out the objectives of the 

marketing order, the information 

collection within this new report was 

necessary. Therefore, this alternative 

was rejected. 

This proposal would establish one 

new reporting requirement and would 

require one new Committee form. 

Therefore, this proposed rule would 

impose a minor increase in the reporting 

burden for all handlers, which is 

discussed in the Paperwork Reduction 

Act section of this document. 

As with all Federal Marketing order 

programs, reports and forms are 

periodically reviewed to reduce 

information requirements and 

duplication by industry and public 

sector agencies. USDA has not 

identified any relevant Federal rules 

that duplicate, overlap, or conflict with 

this rule. 

AMS is committed to complying with 

the E-Government Act, to promote the 

use of the Internet and other 

information technologies to provide 

increased opportunities for citizen 

access to Government information and 

services, and for other purposes. 

Further, the Committee’s meeting was 

widely publicized throughout the citrus 

industry and all interested persons were 

invited to attend the meeting and 

participate in Committee deliberations 

on all issues. Like all Committee 

meetings, the July 17, 2012, meeting was 

a public meeting and all entities, both 

large and small, were able to express 

views on this issue. Finally, interested 

persons are invited to submit comments 

on this proposed rule, including the 

regulatory and informational impacts of 

this action on small businesses. 

A small business guide on complying 

with fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop 

marketing agreements and orders may 

be viewed at: www.ams.usda.gov/ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
14238 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 43 / Tuesday, March 5, 2013 / Proposed Rules 

MarketingOrdersSmallBusinessGuide. 

Any questions about the compliance 

guide should be sent to Laurel May at 

the previously mentioned address in the 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section. 

A 60-day comment period is provided 

to allow interested persons to respond 

to this proposal. All written comments 

timely received will be considered 

before a final determination is made on 

this matter. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 

chapter 35), this notice announces 

AMS’s intent to request approval from 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for a new information collection 

under OMB No. 0581–NEW. It will be 

merged with the forms currently 

approved under OMB No. 0581–0189 

‘‘Generic Fruit Crops.’’ 

Title: Oranges, Grapefruit, Tangerines, 

and Tangelos Grown in Florida; 

Marketing Order No. 905. 

OMB Number: 0581–NEW. 

Type of Request: New Collection. 

Abstract: The information 

requirements in this request are 

essential to carry out the intent of the 

Act, to provide the respondents the type 

of service they request, and to 

administer the Florida citrus marketing 

order program. 

On July 17, 2012, the Committee 

unanimously recommended that all 

fresh citrus handlers, covered under the 

order, provide the Committee with a list 

of all growers whose fruit they handled 

each season. This form, titled Handler 

Supplier Report, would be submitted 

directly to the Committee by handlers 

by June 15 of each year. 

This information collection would 

benefit the facilitation of 

communication between the Committee 

and the growers. The information 

collected would only be used by 

authorized representatives of the USDA, 

including the AMS Fruit and Vegetable 

Program regional and headquarters staff, 

and authorized employees of the 

Committee. Authorized Committee 

employees would be the primary users 

of the information, and the AMS would 

be the secondary users. The 

Committee’s staff would compile the 

information and utilize it to distribute 

regulatory information, to seek grower 

nominations for Committee positions, to 

keep fresh growers informed of issues 

affecting the fresh segment of the 

industry, and to prepare both the annual 

report and marketing policy, as required 

under the order. All proprietary 

information would be kept confidential 

in accordance with the Act and the 

order. 

The proposed request for new 

information collection under the order 

is as follows: 

Handler Supplier Report 

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting 

burden for this collection of information 

is estimated to be an average of 0.33 

hours per response. 

Respondents: Handlers of fresh 

Florida citrus 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 45 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 1 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 14.85 hours 

Comments are invited on: (1) Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; (3) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (4) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on those who are to respond, including 

the use of appropriate automated, 

electronic, mechanical, or other 

technological collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Comments should reference OMB No. 

0581–NEW and the Marketing Order for 

Oranges, Grapefruit, Tangerines, and 

Tangelos Grown in Florida, and should 

be sent to the USDA in care of the 

Docket Clerk at the previouslymentioned address or at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for OMB approval. All comments 

received will become a matter of public 

record and will be available for public 

inspection during regular business 

hours at the address of the Docket Clerk 

or at http://www.regulations.gov. 

If this proposed rule is finalized, this 

information collection will be merged 

with the forms currently approved 

under OMB No. 0581–0189 ‘‘Generic 

Fruit Crops.’’ 

Citrus, Marketing agreements, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 905 is proposed to 

be amended as follows: 

PART 905—ORANGES, GRAPEFRUIT, 

TANGERINES, AND TANGELOS 

GROWN IN FLORIDA 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 905 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674. 

■ 2. Section 905.171 is added to read as 

follows: 

§ 905.171 Handler Supplier Report. 

Each handler shall furnish a supplier 

report to the Committee on an annual 

basis. Such reports shall be made on 

forms provided by the Committee and 

shall include the name and business 

address of each grower whose fruit was 

shipped or acquired by the handler 

during the season. Handlers shall 

submit this report to the Committee not 

later than June 15 of each season. 

Dated: February 27, 2013. 

Rex A. Barnes, 

Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–04964 Filed 3–4–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Minority Business Development 

Agency 

15 CFR Part 1400 

[Docket No. 121130667–2667–02] 

Determination of Group Eligibility for 

MBDA Assistance 

AGENCY: Minority Business 

Development Agency, Commerce. 

ACTION: Response to petition. 

SUMMARY: On January 11, 2012, the 

Minority Business Development Agency 

(MBDA) received a petition from the 

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination 

Committee (ADC or Petitioner) 

requesting designation of the ArabAmerican community as a socially or 

economically disadvantaged group 

whose members are eligible for MBDA 

assistance. This document announces 

MBDA’s determination that the ADC 

Petition is not currently supported by 

sufficient evidence to establish social or 

economic disadvantage as required by 

the MBDA regulations and applicable 

legal precedent. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kimberly Marcus, Associate Director for 

Legislation, Education, and 

Intergovernmental Affairs, Minority 

Business Development Agency, 1401 

Constitution Ave., Room 5065, 

Washington, DC 20230, (202) 482–6272. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS