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

11773

Vol. 62, No. 49

Thursday, March 13, 1997

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 29

[Docket No. TB–97–01]

Tobacco Inspection—Growers

Referendum

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice of referendum.

SUMMARY: This document announces

that a referendum will be conducted by

mail during the period of March 24–28,

1997, for producers of flue-cured

tobacco who sell their tobacco at

auction in Tabor City and Whiteville,

North Carolina, to determine producer

approval of the designation of the Tabor

City and Whiteville tobacco markets as

one consolidated auction market.

DATES: The referendum will be held

March 24–28, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William Coats, Deputy Director,

Tobacco Division, Agricultural

Marketing Service, United States

Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box

96456, Washington, D.C. 20090–6456;

telephone number (202) 205–0508.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is

hereby given of a mail referendum on

the designation of a consolidated

auction market at Tabor City and

Whiteville, North Carolina. Tabor City

and Whiteville were designated on June

26, 1942, (7 CFR 29.8001) as flue-cured

tobacco auction markets under the

Tobacco Inspection Act (7 U.S.C. 511 et

seq.). Under this Act those markets have

been receiving mandatory grading

services from USDA.

On August 6, 1996, an application

was made to the Secretary of

Agriculture to consolidate the

designated markets of Tabor City and

Whiteville, North Carolina. The

application, filed by warehouse

operators on those markets, was made

pursuant to the regulations promulgated

under the Tobacco Inspection Act (7

CFR Part 29.1–29.3). On November 6,

1996, a public hearing was held in

Tabor City, North Carolina, pursuant to

the regulations. A Review Committee,

established pursuant to § 29.3(h) of the

regulations 7 CFR 29.3(h)), has reviewed

and considered the application, the

testimony presented at the hearing, the

exhibits received in evidence, and other

available information. The Committee

recommended to the Secretary that the

application be granted and the Secretary

approved the application on February

19, 1997.

Before a new market can be officially

designated, a referendum must be held

to determine that a two-thirds majority

of producers favor the designation. It is

hereby determined that the referendum

will be held by mail during the period

of March 24–28, 1997. The purpose of

the referendum is to determine whether

farmers who sold their tobacco on the

designated markets at Tabor City and

Whiteville are in favor of, or opposed to,

the designation of the consolidated

market for the 1997 and succeeding crop

years. Accordingly, if a two-thirds

majority of those tobacco producers

voting in the referendum favor this

consolidation, a new market will be

designated as and will be called Tabor

City-Whiteville.

To be eligible to vote in the

referendum a tobacco producer must

have sold flue-cured tobacco on either

the Tabor City or Whiteville, North

Carolina, auction markets during the

1996 marketing season. Any farmer who

believes he or she is eligible to vote in

the referendum but has not received a

mail ballot by March 24, 1997, should

immediately contact William Coats at

(202) 205–0508.

The referendum will be held in

accordance with the provisions for

referenda of the Tobacco Inspection Act,

as amended (7 U.S.C. 511d) and the

regulations for such referendum set

forth in 7 CFR 29.74.

Dated: March 7, 1997.

Lon Hatamiya,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–6265 Filed 3–12–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

NATIONAL CREDIT UNION

ADMINISTRATION

12 CFR Ch. VII

Interpretive Rulings and Policy

Statements (IRPS)

AGENCY: National Credit Union

Administration (NCUA).

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed

rulemaking.

SUMMARY: The NCUA solicits comment

on a proposal to revise its existing

Interpretive Rulings and Policy

Statements (IRPS). This proposal, which

is one part of NCUA’s Regulatory

Review Program, is intended to ease the

compliance burden on federally

chartered and federally insured credit

unions and provide more valuable

guidance by updating and simplifying

ineffective or outmoded IRPS. Proposed

options include the withdrawal of all

outdated and nonessential IRPS, the

redesignation of IRPS into the NCUA

rules, the transference of guidance now

provided in the IRPS into NCUA

instructional manuals or directives, and

the preservation of beneficial IRPS.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before May 12, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

directed to Becky Baker, Secretary of the

Board. Mail or hand-deliver comments

to: National Credit Union

Administration, 1775 Duke Street,

Alexandria, Virginia 22314–3428. Fax

comments to (703) 518–6319. E-mail

comments to boardmail@ncua.gov.

Please sends comments by one method

only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Martin ‘‘Sparky’’ Conrey, Staff Attorney,

or Nicole Sippial Williams, Staff

Attorney, Division of Operations, Office

of the General Counsel, at the above

address or by telephone at (703) 518–

6540.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

Section 2222 of the Economic Growth

and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1996 requires each federal

financial institution regulatory agency

represented by the Federal Financial

Institutions Examination Council

(FFIEC) to conduct a review of

regulations at least once every 10 years

to identify outdated or unnecessary