This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

26713

Vol. 63, No. 93

Thursday, May 14, 1998

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Farm Service Agency

7 CFR Part 723

RIN 0560–AF14

Special Combinations for Tobacco

Allotments and Quotas

AGENCY: Farm Service Agency, USDA.

ACTION: Interim Rule and Technical

Correction.

SUMMARY: This notice corrects a

reference contained in a final rule,

published on February 24, 1998, (63 FR

9126) which amended the tobacco

regulations. Also, to provide greater

flexibility to tobacco farmers, this notice

further amends the regulations to: allow

for special farm combinations even

where neither of the farms to be

combined has a production flexibility

contract (PFC) and to modify the

consent requirements for the special

combinations allowed under that

section. In addition other corrections

have been made to the regulation for

purposes of clarity.

DATES: Effective: May 14, 1998.

Comments must be received by July 13,

1998, to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments on the

interim rule to: Director, Tobacco and

Peanuts Division, USDA, FSA, STOP

0514, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC 20013–0514.

Comments may be faxed to (202) 690–

2298. All written submissions made

pursuant to this rule will be made

available for public inspection in Room

5750 of the South Building, USDA,

between the hours of 8:15 a.m. and 4:45

p.m., during regular Federal workdays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joe

Lewis, Jr., Agricultural Program

Specialist, Tobacco Branch, Tobacco

and Peanuts Division, USDA, FSA,

STOP 0514, 1400 Independence

Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250–

0514, telephone 202–720–0795.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Executive Order 12866

This rule has been determined to be

not significant and therefore was not

reviewed by OMB under Executive

Order 12866.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Regulatory Flexibility Act is not

applicable to this interim rule since the

Farm Service Agency (FSA) is not

required by 5 U.S.C. 553 or any other

provision of law to publish a notice of

proposed rule making with respect to

the subject matter of this rule.

Federal Assistance Program

The title and number of the Federal

Assistance Program, as found in the

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance,

to which this rule applies are:

Commodity Loans and Purchases—

10.051.

Environmental Evaluation

It has been determined by an

environmental evaluation that this

action will have no significant impact

on the quality of the human

environment. Therefore, neither an

environmental assessment nor an

environmental impact statement is

needed.

Executive Order 12372

This activity is not subject to the

provisions of Executive Order 12372,

which requires intergovernmental

consultation with State and local

officials. See the notice related to 7 CFR

part 3015, subpart V, published at 48 FR

29115 (June 24, 1983).

Executive Order 12988

This interim rule has been reviewed

in accordance with Executive Order

12988. The provisions of this interim

rule are not retroactive and preempt

State laws to the extent that such laws

are inconsistent with the provisions of

this interim rule. Before any legal action

is brought regarding determinations

made under provisions of 7 CFR part

723, the administrative appeal

provisions set forth at 7 CFR parts 780

and 711, as applicable, must be

exhausted.

Paperwork Reduction Act

This interim rule does not contain

new or revised information collection

requirements that require approval by

OMB under the Paperwork Reduction

Act (44 U.S.C. 3507 et seq). A FR notice

with a 60-day comment period for the

information collections required in 7

CFR part 723 was published on

September 25, 1997 (62 FR 50286). No

comments were received. A request for

revision and reinstatement has been

submitted for approval.

Effective Date of Rule

It has been determined for purposes of

all limitations that might apply,

including any provisions of the Small

Business Regulatory Enforcement

Fairness Act of 1996 that might apply,

that this rule should be effective

immediately because the planting

season for all kinds of tobacco began in

early April and tobacco producers must

make their final rotation and planting

decisions. The nature of this interim

rule and notice is to: (1) Correct a

reference contained in a previous rule;

(2) add greater flexibility for producers

in combining farms for tobacco

purposes only. As the rule simply

provides for such flexibility and should

not adversely affect anyone, it would be

contrary to the public interest to delay

the implementation date of the new

regulations.

Background and Discussion

The final rule published on February

24, 1998, (63 FR 9126), adopted and

modified the interim rule published on

April 2, 1997 (62 FR 15599) which

allowed, under § 723.209, for special

combinations of flue-cured tobacco

allotments and quotas on participating

and nonparticipating farms with PFCs.

Though the regulations, as modified

through the February 24 rule were

correct, the preamble to the February 24

publication incorrectly indicated that

the special combinations allowed by

that rule were limited to cases where the

two farms being combined were owned

by the same person. That was not the

intention of the rule nor was such a

limitation actually contained in the

adopted regulations themselves. That

erroneous reference in the February 24,

1998, preamble is hereby corrected. In

addition, this rule adopts clarifying

language for § 723.209 and further

amends § 723.209 so as to explicitly
26714 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 93 /Thursday, May 14, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

allow special combinations even if no

PFC farm is involved. This will permit

variances from normal combination

rules that would otherwise apply under

7 CFR part 718. Such variances will

allow for greater flexibility to farmers

with special needs as might arise for

tobacco-only combinations. There is a

special need for farm combinations with

respect to the tobacco program because

it is one of the few programs with an

existing farm-oriented poundage or

quota system and because of limitations

that exist with respect to the leasing of

allotments and quotas. These special

combinations allow for better farming

practices, including crop rotation and

mirror long-term practices in tobacco.

The amendments to § 723.209 would, in

addition, provide explicitly that for all

special combinations allowed under

§ 723.209, the Deputy Administrator

may waive consent requirements that

would normally apply for combinations

under the rules in 7 CFR part 718.

Under the 7 CFR part 718 regulations,

normally all of the owners and operators

of both farms to be combined must

consent to the combination. However,

§ 723.209 deals with limited and

temporary, perhaps frequent,

combinations that can involve tobacco

farms that have many owners as the

farms have been passed down among

several generations. Locating, and

obtaining a verifiable consent from all of

the owners of tobacco farms for each

such transaction can be very difficult

and is not purposeful given that the

farm will be continuing its basic

operation in a manner similar to the

way it has operated in the past.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 723

Acreage allotments, Auction

warehouses, Dealers, Domestic

manufacturers, Marketing quotas,

Penalties, Reconstitutions, Tobacco.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 7 CFR part 723 is amended as

follows:

PART 723—[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR

part 723 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1301, 1311–1314,

1314–1, 1314b, 1314b–1, 1314b–2, 1314c,

1314d, 1314e, 1314f, 1314i, 1315, 1316, 1362,

1363, 1372–75, 1421, 1445–1 and 1445–2.

2. The heading for § 723.209 is revised

and paragraph (c) is revised to read as

follows:

§ 723.209 Determination of acreage

allotments, marketing quotas, yields for

combined farms; and special tobacco

combinations.

* * * * *

(c) Special tobacco combinations.

Notwithstanding other provision of this

title, the Deputy Administrator may,

upon proper application and to the

extent deemed consistent with other

obligations, permit farms, with respect

to tobacco allotments and tobacco

quotas, to be considered combined for

purposes of this part and part 1464 of

this title only without being combined

for other purposes. This allowance shall

apply for tobacco of all kinds and types

and with respect to all farms even if one

or more of the farms to be combined is

the subject of a production flexibility

contract (PFC) executed in connection

with the program operated under the

provisions of 7 CFR part 1412. Such

special, limited combinations must

otherwise meet the requirements of 7

CFR part 718 for combinations, except

the signature (consent) requirements of

§ 718.201(a)(2) of that part. The Deputy

Administrator may set such consent

requirements for special farm

combinations under this section as the

Deputy Administrator believes

necessary or appropriate. Further, in

any case in which one of the farms is

a PFC farm, none of the land on any PFC

farm that would have been used for the

production of tobacco can be used for

the production of a ‘‘PFC commodity’’

as defined in this section. Such

permission shall be conditioned upon

the agreement of all interested parties

that land on the PFC allotment or quota

farm that would have been used for the

production of tobacco shall not be used

for the production of any PFC

commodity. In the event that such

production nonetheless occurs, the

special tobacco combination may be

made void, retroactive to the date of

original approval. Such curative action

will likely result in a finding of excess

tobacco plantings and sanctions and

remedies, which would likely include

liability for penalties and other

sanctions for excess marketings of

tobacco. The Deputy Administrator may

set such other conditions on the

combinations as needed or deemed

appropriate to serve the goals of the

tobacco program and the goals of the

PFC. The term PFC commodity for

purposes of this section means wheat,

corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats,

upland cotton, and rice.

* * * * *

Signed at Washington, DC, on May 8, 1998.

Bruce R. Weber,

Acting Administrator,

Farm Service Agency.

[FR Doc. 98–12860 Filed 5–13–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–05–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. 97–CE–72–AD; Amendment 39–

10516; AD 98–10–05]

RIN 2120–AA64

Airworthiness Directives; Raytheon

Aircraft Company Models B200,

B200C, and B200T Airplanes

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a

new airworthiness directive (AD) that

applies to certain Raytheon Aircraft

Company (Raytheon) Models B200,

B200C, and B200T airplanes (formerly

referred to as Beech Models B200,

B200C, and B200T airplanes). This AD

requires replacing the wiring for the

engine fire detector system with fire

resistant wiring. This AD is the result of

the discovery during aircraft production

of the potential for the existing engine

fire detector system wiring on the

affected airplanes to fail because of high

heat and/or fire. The actions specified

by this AD are intended to prevent

failure of the engine fire detector system

if high heat and/or fire stopped an

electrical signal between the engine fire

detectors and the engine fire warning

annunciator lights located in the

cockpit, which could result in passenger

injury in the event of an airplane fire.

DATES: Effective June 27, 1998.

The incorporation by reference of

certain publications listed in the

regulations is approved by the Director

of the Federal Register as of June 27,

1998.

ADDRESSES: Service information that

applies to this AD may be obtained from

the Raytheon Aircraft Company, P.O.

Box 85, Wichita, Kansas 67201–0085.

This information may also be examined

at the Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA), Central Region, Office of the

Regional Counsel, Attention: Rules

Docket No. 97–CE–72–AD, Room 1558,

601 E. 12th Street, Kansas City, Missouri

64106; or at the Office of the Federal

Register, 800 North Capitol Street, NW,

suite 700, Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Randy Griffith, Aerospace Engineer,

Wichita Aircraft Certification Office,

FAA, 1801 Airport Road, Mid-Continent

Airport, Wichita, Kansas 67209;

telephone: (316) 946–4145; facsimile:

(316) 946–4407.