38286 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 123 / Wednesday, June 26, 2013 / Notices 

activities of U.S. farm operations. Some 

of these activities are of national 

concern, such as the use of chemigation, 

fertigation and water-conserving 

practices of irrigators. The 2013 FRIS 

will also include a horticultural 

operations in a combined questionnaire 

that will be directed at horticultural 

producers. 

Need and Use of the Information: 

NASS will collect information from the 

FRIS on acres irrigated by land use 

category, acres and yields of irrigated 

and non-irrigated crops, quantity of 

water applied and method of 

application to selected crops, acres 

irrigated and quantity of water used by 

source, acres irrigated by type of water 

distribution systems, and number of 

irrigation wells and pumps. The 

primary purpose of FRIS is to provide 

detailed data on water management 

practices and water uses in American 

agriculture, and to on-farm irrigation 

activities for use in preparing a wide 

variety of water-related local programs, 

economic models, legislative initiatives, 

market analyses, and feasibility studies. 

The absence of FRIS data would 

certainly affect irrigation policy 

decision. 

Description of Respondents: Farms. 

Number of Respondents: 35,000. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

Other (one-time). 

Total Burden Hours: 29,433. 

Charlene Parker, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2013–15205 Filed 6–25–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–20–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Commodity Credit Corporation 

Notice of Change to the CCC Sugar 

Purchase and Exchange To Include 

Certificates of Quota Eligibility Issued 

Pursuant to the United StatesColombia Trade Promotion Agreement 

and United States-Panama Trade 

Promotion Agreement 

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Commodity Credit 

Corporation (CCC) announces the intent 

to include Certificates of Quota 

Eligibility (CQEs) issued under the 

United States-Colombia Trade 

Promotion Agreement (U.S.-Colombia 

TPA) and the United States-Panama 

Trade Promotion Agreement (U.S.- 

Panama TPA) in the sugar purchase and 

exchange announced on June 18, 2013. 

DATES: Effective date: June 26, 2013. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

current market conditions, eligibility, 

and criteria for evaluation information 

contact Ron Lord; telephone (202) 720– 

6939. For general exchange information 

contact Pamela McKenzie; telephone 

(202) 260–8906. Persons with 

disabilities who require alternative 

means for communications (Braille, 

large print, audio tape, etc.) should 

contact the USDA Target Center at (202) 

720–2600 (voice and TDD). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: USDA’s 

Sugar Program and the Domestic Sugar 

Market Conditions 

Under the Sugar Program, domestic 

sugar beet or sugarcane processors may 

borrow from CCC, pledging their sugar 

as collateral, and then satisfy their loans 

either by repaying the loan on or before 

loan maturity or by transferring the 

collateral to CCC immediately following 

loan maturity, also known as 

‘‘forfeiture’’ of collateral (as specified in 

7 CFR 1435.105). The Farm Service 

Agency (FSA) administers the Sugar 

Program for CCC. Under section 156 of 

the Federal Agriculture Improvement 

and Reform Act of 1996, as amended 

(Pub. L. 104–127; 7 U.S.C. 7272), the 

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

is required to operate the Sugar 

Program, to the maximum extent 

practicable, at no cost to the Federal 

government by avoiding forfeitures of 

sugar loan collateral to CCC. 

The sugarcane and sugar beet crops 

supplying the U.S. market are setting 

production records for fiscal year (FY) 

2013. The FY 2013 ending stocks-to-use 

ratio for sugar was projected at 19 

percent in the June 2013 USDA World 

Agricultural Supply and Demand 

Estimates (WASDE) report, well above 

its historic average, and the FY 2014 

ending stocks-to-use ratio for sugar was 

projected at over 22 percent. In the past, 

an ending stocks-to-use ratio at or above 

18 percent has been strongly correlated 

with low U.S. sugar prices, and with 

forfeiture of sugar loan collateral to 

CCC. Record FY 2013 sugar production 

has caused domestic sugar prices to fall 

below the support level established by 

USDA’s Sugar Program. 

A valid TPA CQE is required for the 

import of sugar into the United States 

under the sugar tariff-rate quotas 

established under the U.S.-Colombia 

TPA and U.S.-Panama TPA, and thus 

each U.S.-Colombia TPA or U.S.- 

Panama TPA CQE represents a given 

quantity of import access. 

CCC Sugar Purchase and Exchanges 

To reduce the cost of the Sugar 

Program to the Federal government, 

prior to the maturity of loans to sugar 

processors, CCC announced on June 18, 

2013, its intent to purchase sugar from 

the U.S. domestic market and conduct 

voluntary exchanges of the purchased 

sugar in return for credits under the 

Refined Sugar Re-Export Program (78 FR 

36508–36510). This notice announces 

CCC’s intent to also purchase sugar from 

the domestic market in order to conduct 

voluntary exchanges for privately held 

TPA CQEs issued under the U.S.- 

Colombia TPA and U.S.-Panama TPA. 

Therefore CCC has amended Invitation 

No. 1 to Announcement KCPBS2, 

Purchase of Bulk Sugar, to include the 

purchase of sugar to exchange for 

privately held CQEs issued under the 

U.S.-Colombia TPA and U.S.-Panama 

TPA, in addition to credits under the 

Refined Sugar Re-Export Program. The 

amended Invitation is available on the 

FSA Commodity Operations Web site at 

http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/

webapp?area=home&subject=coop&

topic=landing. 

These exchanges are expected to 

remove domestic sugar from the market 

at a lower cost to the Federal 

government than the cost of acquiring 

domestic sugar through loan collateral 

forfeiture. 

The exchange announcement 

specifies a minimum bid ratio of U.S.- 

Colombia TPA CQEs and U.S.-Panama 

TPA CQEs per MT of CCC sugar, and 

will be made available at: http://

www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=

home&subject=coop&topic=landing. 

Eligibility 

To be eligible for the exchange, 

private sector exporters or traders must 

provide a valid original calendar year 

2013 United States-Colombia TPA CQE 

or United States-Panama TPA CQE to 

CCC. 

Criteria for Evaluation of Tenders 

(Offers and Exchange Bids) 

CCC will combine the sugar offers and 

exchange bids that achieve the greatest 

cost reduction relative to the costs of 

later acquiring the domestic sugar 

through forfeiture. The specific formula 

that CCC will use to evaluate and accept 

offer and bid combinations is specified 

in the purchase and exchange 

invitations. 

Signed on June 20, 2013. 

Juan M. Garcia, 

Executive Vice President, Commodity Credit 

Corporation. 

[FR Doc. 2013–15285 Filed 6–25–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–05–P 

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