Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 62 / Tuesday, April 1, 1997 / Rules and Regulations 15363

§ 235.4 [Corrected]

5a. On page 10358, in the first

column, in § 235.4, line 1, the letter

‘‘(a)’’ is deleted.

5b. On page 10358, in the first

column, in § 235.4, paragraph (b), the

letter ‘‘(b)’’ is deleted and the text of that

paragraph is moved to § 240.1 as a new

paragraph (d) with the following

heading: ‘‘(d) Withdrawal of application

for admission.’’

§ 236.1 [Corrected]

6a. On page 10360, in the third

column, in § 236.1 paragraph (c)(1) is

redesignated as paragraph (c)(1)(i) and a

new paragraph (c)(1)(ii) is added to read

as follows:

§ 236.1 Apprehension, custody, and

detention.

* * * * *

(c)(1)(i) * * *

(ii) While the Transition Period

Custody Rules remain in effect, this

paragraph and paragraph (d) of this

section shall be subject to those Rules.

* * * * *

6b. On page 10360, in the third

column, in § 236.1(c), paragraph (2), the

following is added at the end of the

paragraph: ‘‘Such an officer may also, in

the exercise of discretion, release an

alien in deportation proceedings

pursuant to the authority in section 242

of the Act (as designated prior to April

1, 1997), except as otherwise provided

by law.

6c. On page 10361, in the first

column, in § 236.1(d)(1), line 13, after

the phrase ‘‘236 of the Act’’ the

following phrase is added: ‘‘(or section

242(a)(1) of the Act as designated prior

to April 1, 1997 in the case of an alien

in deportation proceedings).’’

Rosemary Hart,

Federal Register Liaison Officer.

[FR Doc. 97–8105 Filed 3–31–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4410–30–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Grain Inspection, Packers and

Stockyards Administration

9 CFR Part 205

RIN 0580–AA50

Clear Title—Protection for Purchasers

of Farms Products

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and

Stockyards Administration, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This document makes final an

interim rule amending regulations

relating to the establishment and

management of statewide central filing

systems as they pertain specifically to

the filing of ‘‘effective financing

statements’’ for ‘‘farm products’’ as

defined in section 1324 of the Food

Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1631) by

allowing electronic filing of effective

financing statements without the prior

signature of the debtor provided State

law authorizes such a filing. The interim

rule brought the regulations into

conformity with Sections 662 and 663 of

the Federal Agriculture Improvement

and Reform Act of 1996.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 22, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Gerald E. Grinnell, Industry Analysis

Staff, Packers and Stockyards Programs,

Grain Inspection, Packers and

Stockyards Administration, STOP 3647,

Room 3052, South Building, 1400

Independence Avenue S.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20250–3647, (202)

720–7455. Kimberly D. Hart, Esquire,

Trade Practices Division, Office of the

General Counsel, STOP 1413, Room

2430, South Building, 1400

Independence Avenue S.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20250–1413, (202)

720–8160.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

An interim rule was published in the

Federal Register on October 22, 1996

(61 FR 54727) which allows electronic

filing of effective financing statements

without the signature of the debtor

provided State law authorizes such a

filing. The interim rules also allows

States to distribute the master list by

electronic means if requested by

registrants.

Section 1324 of the Food Security Act

of 1985 (Pub. L. 99–198) (7 U.S.C. 1631)

(hereinafter ‘‘the Act’’) provides that

certain persons may be subject to a

security interest in a farm product

created by the seller under certain

circumstances in which a lender files an

‘‘effective financing statement’’ with the

‘‘system operator’’ in a State which has

a certified central filing system as

defined by the Act. The Act requires the

Secretary of Agriculture to prescribe

regulations ‘‘to aid States in the

implementation and management of a

central filing system.’’ The Grain

Inspection, Packers and Stockyards

Administration was delegated with the

Secretary’s responsibilities under the

Act. Those regulations (9 CFR 205) were

published on August 18, 1986 (51 FR

29450).

The Secretary’s authority and

responsibility under the Act is limited

to certification and prescribing

regulations to aid in the implementation

and management of certified central

filing systems. The Act does not give the

Secretary the authority or responsibility

for such matters as direct notification by

secured parties, sales of and payment

for products, procedures for payment or

procedures for personal liability

protection. Those matters are governed

by State law. The Act does not contain

any enforcement mechanism for

noncompliance with the Act or its

regulations.

Section 662 of the Federal Agriculture

Improvement and Reform Act of 1996

(hereinafter ‘‘the Statute’’) amended the

Act and section 663 of the Statute

provided that the amendment become

effective upon enactment. The Act was

amended because of concerns of States

with certified central filing systems who

desired to implement electronic filing

procedures but could not because of the

Act’s requirement that the debtor must

sign the effective financing statement.

Commercial lenders also expressed

concern and confusion due to the

vagueness of the continuation

provisions for effective financing

statements included in the Act and its

inconsistency with Article IX of the

Uniform Commercial Code.

Prior to the Act’s amendment by the

Statute, lenders could not electronically

file effective financing statements or

amendments to the effective financing

statements with State certified central

filing systems because such statements

were required to contain the signature of

the debtor which could not be

transmitted electronically. The

amendment contained in the Statute

was intended to remedy these concerns.

Section 662 of the Statute amended

the Act. Section 663 of the Statute

provided that the amendment become

effective upon enactment. It is therefore

necessary to amend the regulations to

conform to the amendment to the Act.

Since prior notice and other public

procedures with respect to the interim

rule were impracticable and contrary to

the public interest under these

conditions, and because the rule

relieves a regulatory restriction, there

was good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553 to

make it effective upon publication.

Comments Received

Two comments were received in

response to the interim rule, one from

a national bankers association and the

other from a State bankers association.

The comments support removal of the

signature requirement for effective

financing statements and encourage the

Department to remove the signature

requirement for paper-based

continuation statements. Section

205.209(d) of the regulations currently
15364 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 62 / Tuesday, April 1, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

provides that continuation statements

are to be treated in the same manner as

amendments to effective financing

statements. The interim rule amended

section 205.209(c) to allow the

electronic filing of amendments to

effective financing statements without

the signature of the debtor. Pursuant to

section 205.209(d), this change applies

to electronically filed continuation

statements as well. Because the purpose

of this rulemaking is to implement the

amendments to the Act, it does not

address the commentors’ request to

eliminate the signature requirement for

the paper-based continuation

statements. We plan to address this

request in a separate rulemaking.

After review of the published interim

rule and the comments received, we

have determined that the interim rule as

published at 61 FR 54727 will be

adopted as the final rule.

Compliance With Regulatory

Requirements

As set forth in the interim rule

published at 61 FR 54727, this

rulemaking was reviewed under and is

issued in conformance with Executive

Order 12866, Civil Justice Reform

(formerly Executive Order 12778, now

Executive Order 12988), and Regulatory

Flexibility Act and Information

Collection requirements. The previously

approved information collection and

recordkeeping requirements for 9 CFR

Part 205 have been previously approved

by the Office of Management and

Budget under control number 0580–

0016.

List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 205

Agriculture, Central filing system.

PART 205—CLEAR TITLE—

PROTECTION FOR PURCHASERS OF

FARM PRODUCTS

Accordingly, the interim rule

amending 9 CFR Part 205 which was

published at 61 FR 54727 on October

22, 1996, is adopted as a final rule

without change.

Dated: March 28, 1997.

James R. Baker,

Administrator, Grain Inspection,

Packers and Stockyards Administration.

[FR Doc. 97–8093 Filed 3–31–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–EN–P

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

12 CFR Part 213

[Reg. M; Docket No. R–0952]

Consumer Leasing

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System.

ACTION: Final Rule.

SUMMARY: The Board is publishing

revisions to Regulation M, which

implements the Consumer Leasing Act.

The act requires lessors to provide

uniform cost and other disclosures

about consumer lease transactions. The

revisions primarily implement

amendments to the act contained in the

Economic Growth and Regulatory

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996,

which streamline the advertising

disclosures for lease transactions. In

addition, the final rule makes the

disclosure of upfront costs in

connection with a specific lease

agreement parallel statutory changes to

the advertising rules disclosing upfront

costs—which now include total

amounts due by lease signing or

delivery, if delivery occurs later. Several

technical amendments also have been

made to the regulation.

DATES: Effective date. April 1, 1997.

Compliance date. Compliance is

optional until October 1, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kyung H. Cho-Miller or Obrea O.

Poindexter, Staff Attorneys, Division of

Consumer and Community Affairs,

Board of Governors of the Federal

Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551,

at (202) 452–2412 or 452–3667. Users of

Telecommunications Device for the Deaf

only may contact Diane Jenkins, at (202)

452–3544.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background on the Consumer Leasing

Act and Regulation M

The Consumer Leasing Act (CLA), 15

U.S.C. 1667–1667e, was enacted into

law in 1976 as an amendment to the

Truth in Lending Act (TILA), 15 U.S.C.

1601 et seq. The CLA generally applies

to consumer leases of personal property

in which the contractual obligation does

not exceed $25,000 and has a term of

more than four months. An automobile

lease is the most common type of

consumer lease covered by the act.

Under the act, lessors are required to

provide uniform cost and other

information about consumer lease

transactions.

The Board was given rulewriting

authority, and its Regulation M (12 CFR

part 213) implements the CLA. An

official staff commentary interprets the

regulation.

The Board recently completed a

review of Regulation M, pursuant to its

policy of periodically reviewing its

regulations, and approved a final rule in

September 1996 substantially revising

the regulation to update the disclosure

requirements and to carry out more

effectively the purposes of the Act (61

FR 52246, October 7, 1996).

II. Revised Regulatory Provisions

In the September 1996 final rule, the

advertising provisions implemented

amendments to the CLA contained in

the Riegle Community Development and

Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994

(Pub. L. 103–325, 108 Stat. 2160); the

amendments allow a toll-free number or

a print advertisement to substitute for

certain lease disclosures in radio

commercials (which was expanded in

the final rule to television commercials).

The advertisement provisions were

amended and streamlined on September

30, 1996, by the Economic Growth and

Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of

1996 (Pub. L. 104–208, 110 Stat.

3009)(the 1996 Act). The Board issued

a proposal in December 1996 (62 FR 62,

January 2, 1997). Nineteen comments

were received. Based on the comments

and further analysis, the Board’s final

rule implements the statutory changes.

The final rule also revises the

requirement to disclose ‘‘upfront costs’’

to parallel the statutory change made to

a similar advertising disclosure—now

requiring the total amount due by lease

signing to include amounts due by

delivery, whichever occurs later. The

open- and closed-end model lease forms

have been amended to reflect this

change. This final rulemaking also

contains some technical amendments to

the regulation. For example, the model

clause for providing a description of the

leased property is added and the

example of an annual charge as an other

charge is deleted on the open- and

closed-end vehicle lease model forms.

Although a limited number of

comments were received, generally all

the commenters supported the proposed

amendments. The final rule is discussed

in detail in the section-by-section

analysis below.

III. Revisions to Regulation M

Section 213.2 Definitions

2(f) Gross Capitalized Cost

Based on comments on the proposed

revisions to the Official Staff

Commentary published in February

1997, the Board is replacing the

reference in § 213.2(f) to an outstanding

‘‘loan’’ balance with the broader term