33012 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 116 /Wednesday, June 17, 1998 / Proposed Rules

user’s status may be denied or revoked

if the criteria are not met. This rule

would help maintain the integrity of the

Board’s quality control program.

This proposed change is not expected

to impact handlers, other than to clarify

to them that accepted user’s status may

be denied or revoked. Handlers are

provided a listing of approved accepted

users so they know who they can

deliver inedible material to and receive

credit against their obligation. In the

event an application for accepted user

status is denied or an accepted user’s

status is revoked, handlers would be

notified by Board staff and provided an

updated listing.

This rule would only impact

applicants for accepted user status, or

accepted users in the sense that it would

clarify that accepted user status may be

denied or revoked if the terms and

conditions set forth in the rules and

regulations and the accepted user

application are not met. Accepted users

are approved entities to which handlers

may deliver inedible almonds and

receive credit against their inedible

disposition obligation. Accepted users

voluntarily agree to meet certain terms

and conditions so the Board may be

assured that inedible almonds do not

enter human consumption channels. If

these dealers in inedible almonds do not

agree to the terms and conditions, they

are not approved by the Board.

However, they may still operate in the

business, although handlers do not

receive credit against their inedible

disposition obligation if they deliver

product to such non-approved entities.

Situations have occurred in the past

wherein accepted users have failed to

completely meet these conditions, and

the Board could not be assured the

inedible almonds were being disposed

of in non-human consumption outlets.

One alternative to the proposal would

be to maintain the regulatory language

as it currently exists, in which case

there would be no clarification. Another

alternative would be to specify at length

all possible reasons for denying or

revoking an accepted user’s status. The

first alternative fails to address the

issue, and the second would require

unnecessary lengthy additions to

regulatory language, and may be

incomplete.

This proposed rule would not impose

any additional reporting or

recordkeeping requirements on either

small or large almond handlers. 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.

In accordance with the Paperwork

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

Chapter 35), the information collection

requirements that are contained in this

rule have been approved by the Office

of Management and Budget (OMB) and

have been assigned OMB No. 0581–

0071.

The Department has not identified

any relevant Federal rules that

duplicate, overlap or conflict with this

proposed rule.

In addition, the Board’s meeting was

widely publicized throughout the

almond industry and all interested

persons were invited to attend the

meeting and participate in Board

deliberations. Like all Board meetings,

the March 25, 1998, meeting was a

public meeting and all entities, both

large and small, were able to express

their views on this issue. The Board

itself is composed of ten members, of

which five are producers and five are

handlers.

Also, the Board has a number of

appointed committees to review certain

issues and make recommendations to

the Board. The Board’s Quality Control

Committee met on February 25, 1998,

and discussed this issue. That meeting

was also a public meeting and both large

and small entities were able to

participate and express their views.

Finally, interested persons are invited to

submit information on the regulatory

and informational impacts of this action

on small businesses.

A 30-day comment period is provided

to allow interested persons to respond

to this proposal. Thirty days is deemed

appropriate because this rule would

need to be in effect prior to the 1998–

99 crop year, which begins August 1,

1998. All written comments timely

received will be considered before a

final determination is made on this

matter.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 981

Almonds, Marketing agreements,

Nuts, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 7 CFR part 981 is proposed to

be amended as follows:

PART 981—ALMONDS GROWN IN

CALIFORNIA

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR

part 981 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674.

2. Section 981.442 is amended by

adding a new paragraph (a)(7)(iv) to

read as follows:

§ 981.442 Quality Control.

(a) * * *

(7) * * *

(iv) The Board may deny or revoke

accepted user status at any time if the

applicant or accepted user fails to meet

the terms and conditions of § 981.442,

or if the applicant or accepted user fails

to meet the terms and conditions set

forth in the accepted user application

(ABC Form 34).

* * * * *

Dated: June 11, 1998.

Robert C. Keeney,

Deputy Administrator, Fruit and Vegetable

Programs.

[FR Doc. 98–16011 Filed 6–16–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

11 CFR Parts 9003 and 9033

[Notice 1998–11]

Electronic Filing of Reports by Publicly

Financed Presidential Primary and

General Election Candidates

AGENCY:Federal Election Commission.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY:The Federal Election

Commission requests comments on

proposed changes to its regulations to

address the electronic filing of reports

by publicly financed Presidential

primary and general election

candidates. The proposed rules would

specify that if Presidential candidates

and their authorized committees have

computerized their campaign finance

records, they must agree to participate

in the Commission’s recently

established electronic filing program as

a condition of voluntarily accepting

federal funding. These regulations

would implement the provisions of the

Presidential Election Campaign Fund

Act (‘‘Fund Act’’) and the Presidential

Primary Matching Payment Account Act

(‘‘Matching Payment Act’’), which

establish eligibility requirements for

Presidential candidates seeking public

financing, as well as Public Law 104–97,

which amended the reporting

provisions of the Federal Election

Campaign Act of 1971 (‘‘FECA’’). No

final decisions have been made by the

Commission on the proposed revisions

in this Notice. Further information is

provided in the supplementary

information which follows.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before July 17, 1998.

ADDRESSES: All comments should be

addressed to Ms. Susan E. Propper,

Assistant General Counsel, and must be

submitted in either written or electronic

form. Written comments should be sent
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 116 /Wednesday, June 17, 1998 / Proposed Rules 33013

to the Federal Election Commission, 999

E Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20463.

Faxed comments should be sent to (202)

219–3923, with printed copy follow up.

Electronic mail comments should be

sent to elecfiling@fec.gov. Commenters

sending comments by electronic mail

should include their full name and

postal service address within the text of

their comments. Electronic comments

that do not contain the full name,

electronic mail address and postal

service address of the commenter will

not be considered.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Susan E. Propper, Assistant General

Counsel, or Ms. Rosemary C. Smith,

Senior Attorney, at (202) 694–1650 or

toll free (800) 424–9530.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Recently,

the Federal Election Commission

implemented a system permitting

political committees and other persons

to file reports of campaign finance

activity via computer diskettes and

direct transmission of electronic data.

See Explanation and Justification of 11

CFR 104.18, 61 FR 42371 (Aug. 15,

1996). The Commission was required to

make the electronic filing option

available for all ‘‘report[s],

designation[s], or statement[s] required

by this Act to be filed with the

Commission.’’ Public Law 104–79, 109

Stat. 791 (1995), (adding 2 U.S.C.

434(a)(11)). While the Commission

encourages all political committees and

other persons to file their reports

electronically, no committee or person

is required to do so. Under Public Law

104–79, participation in the

Commission’s electronic filing program

is voluntary. The goals of the new

system include enhancement of on-line

access to reports on file with the

Commission, reduction of paper filing

and manual processing, and increased

efficiency and cost-effective methods of

operation for the filers and for the

Commission.

With the advent of the first

Presidential election cycle since the

implementation of the new electronic

filing system, the question has arisen as

to whether it would be advisable to

modify the Commission’s regulations at

11 CFR 9003.1 and 9033.1 to provide

that certain Presidential committees

must agree to file their campaign

finance reports electronically as a

condition of receiving public funding.

Currently, the authorized committees of

presidential candidates, like other

political committees, have the option of

submitting electronic reports should

they wish to do so. See 11 CFR 104.18.

The proposed changes to the candidate

agreement regulations which follow

would establish electronic filing as an

additional prerequisite for the receipt of

public funding. Please, note, however,

this new language would only apply to

those primary and general election

candidate committees that decide to rely

upon a computer system to maintain

and use their campaign finance data.

Thus, the draft rules would not burden

campaign committees with new

requirements if they are not

computerized.

Electronic filing of Presidential

committees’ reports is intended to save

a substantial amount of time and

Commission resources that would

otherwise be devoted to inputting these

reports into the FEC’s database.

Although the number of political

committees affected by the requirement

would be relatively small, their reports

can be voluminous given the substantial

number of contributions and

expenditures listed in each report. Thus,

these proposed changes to the candidate

agreement rules are expected to speed

the reporting of campaign finance

information and enhance public

disclosure.

Previously, the Commission issued

technical specifications for reports filed

electronically in its Electronic Filing

Specification Requirements (EFSR),

which is available free of charge. The

EFSR contains technical specifications,

including file requirements, for reports

filed by Presidential campaign

committees. However, the electronic

filing software available from the FEC at

no charge will not generate the forms

used by Presidential committees. The

Commission’s Data System

Development Division would work with

committees to assist them in generating

the proper output. Any additional costs

entailed may be treated and paid for like

any other compliance cost pursuant to

11 CFR 9003.3(a)(2)(i)(B) and (F) and

9035.1(c)(1) if incurred after January 1,

1999. The Commission notes that there

are a number of differences between the

specifications contained in the EFSR

and those found in the Computerized

Magnetic Media Requirements (CMMR)

used by publicly financed committees to

submit financial data for the

Commission’s audit. These differences

are necessitated, in part, by the different

purposes for which each of these

databases are used. Nevertheless,

comments are requested as to ways in

which these two standards could be

better synchronized.

The proposed revisions to the

candidate agreement regulations do not

require electronic filing for statements

of candidacy or statements of

organization. While Presidential

candidates and their authorized

committees may file these statements

electronically, if they wish, these forms

have not been included in the free

software available from the FEC. Also

please note that the candidate

agreements, themselves, would not be

submitted in electronic form under the

changes to 11 CFR 9003.1 and 9033.1

which follow.

Congress intended the new system of

electronic filing to be voluntary. 141

Cong. Rec. H 12140–41 (daily ed. Nov.

13, 1995) (statements of Reps. Thomas,

Hoyer, Fazio and Livingston). The

Commission believes that a candidate’s

agreement to file campaign finance

reports electronically in exchange for

public funding is a voluntary decision

materially indistinguishable from the

candidate’s voluntary decision to abide

by the spending limits in exchange for

federal funds. For this reason, it appears

that the Commission has the authority

to promulgate the regulation set forth

below. Nevertheless, commenters are

encouraged to express their views on

whether the rules set out in this notice

are within the scope of the

Commission’s authority under the Fund

Act, the Matching Payment Act, the

FECA, and Public Law 104–79.

The Commission welcomes comments

on the foregoing proposed amendments

to the candidate agreement regulations.

Other aspects of the public financing

process will be addressed separately in

a forthcoming Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking. No final decision has been

made by the Commission concerning

the proposals contained in this notice.

Certification of No Effect Pursuant to 5

U.S.C. 605(b) (Regulatory Flexibility

Act)

These proposed rules will not, if

promulgated, have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities. The basis for

this certification is that very few small

entities will be affected by these

proposed rules, and the cost is not

expected to be significant. Further, any

small entities affected have voluntarily

chosen to receive public funding and to

comply with the requirements of the

Presidential Election Campaign Fund

Act or the Presidential Primary

Matching Payment Account Act.

List of Subjects in 11 CFR Parts 9003

and 9033

Campaign funds, Elections, Political

candidates.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, it is proposed to amend

Subchapters E and F of Chapter I of

Title 11 of the Code of Federal

Regulations as follows:
33014 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 116 /Wednesday, June 17, 1998 / Proposed Rules

PART 9003—ELIGIBILITY FOR

PAYMENTS

1. The authority citation for part 9003

would continue to read as follows:

Authority: 26 U.S.C. 9003 and 9009(b).

2. In § 9003.1, paragraph (b)

introductory text is republished and

new paragraph (b)(11) would be added

to read as follows:

§ 9003.1 Candidate and committee

agreements.

* * * * *

(b) Conditions. The candidates shall:

* * * * *

(11) Agree that they and their

authorized committee(s) shall file all

reports with the Commission in an

electronic format that meets the

requirements of 11 CFR 104.18 if the

candidate or the candidate’s authorized

committee(s) maintain or use

computerized information containing

any of the information described in 11

CFR 104.3.

PART 9033—ELIGIBILITY FOR

PAYMENTS

3. The authority citation for Part 9033

would continue to read as follows:

Authority: 26 U.S.C. 9003(e), 9033 and

9039(b).

4. In section 9033.1, paragraph (b)

introductory text is republished and

new paragraph (b)(13) would be added

to read as follows:

§ 9033.1 Candidate and committee

agreements.

* * * * *

(b) Conditions. The candidate shall

agree that:

* * * * *

(13) The candidate and the

candidate’s authorized committee(s)

will file all reports with the Commission

in an electronic format that meets the

requirements of 11 CFR 104.18 if the

candidate or the candidate’s authorized

committee(s) maintain or use

computerized information containing

any of the information described in 11

CFR 104.3.

Dated: June 11, 1998.

Joan D. Aikens,

Chairman, Federal Election Commission.

[FR Doc. 98–16006 Filed 6–16–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6715–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. 98–CE–52–AD]

RIN 2120–AA64

Airworthiness Directives; SchemppHirth K.G. Models Standard-Cirrus,

Nimbus-2, JANUS, and Mini-Nimbus

HS–7 Sailplanes

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking

(NPRM).

SUMMARY: This document proposes to

adopt a new airworthiness directive

(AD) that would apply to certain

Schempp-Hirth K.G. (Schempp-Hirth)

Models Standard-Cirrus, Nimbus-2,

JANUS, and Mini-Nimbus HS–7

sailplanes. The proposed AD would

require installing a safety device for the

tailplane locking hook. The proposed

AD is the result of mandatory

continuing airworthiness information

(MCAI) issued by the airworthiness

authority for Germany. The actions

specified by the proposed AD are

intended to prevent the locking hook on

the tailplane attachment bracket from

disengaging, which could result in the

horizontal tailplane coming loose from

the fin with possible loss of longitudinal

control of the sailplane.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before July 21, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments in

triplicate to the Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), Central Region,

Office of the Regional Counsel,

Attention: Rules Docket No. 98–CE–52–

AD, Room 1558, 601 E. 12th Street,

Kansas City, Missouri 64106. Comments

may be inspected at this location

between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday

through Friday, holidays excepted.

Service information that applies to the

proposed AD may be obtained from

Schempp-Hirth Flugzeugbau GmbH,

Postbox 14 43, D–73222 Kirchheim

unter Teck, Federal Republic of

Germany. This information also may be

examined at the Rules Docket at the

address above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Mike Kiesov, Aerospace Engineer, FAA,

Small Airplane Directorate, 1201

Walnut, suite 900, Kansas City, Missouri

64106; telephone: (816) 426–6934;

facsimile: (816) 426–2169.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments Invited

Interested persons are invited to

participate in the making of the

proposed rule by submitting such

written data, views, or arguments as

they may desire. Communications

should identify the Rules Docket

number and be submitted in triplicate to

the address specified above. All

communications received on or before

the closing date for comments, specified

above, will be considered before taking

action on the proposed rule. The

proposals contained in this notice may

be changed in light of the comments

received.

Comments are specifically invited on

the overall regulatory, economic,

environmental, and energy aspects of

the proposed rule. All comments

submitted will be available, both before

and after the closing date for comments,

in the Rules Docket for examination by

interested persons. A report that

summarizes each FAA-public contact

concerned with the substance of this

proposal will be filed in the Rules

Docket.

Commenters wishing the FAA to

acknowledge receipt of their comments

submitted in response to this notice

must submit a self-addressed, stamped

postcard on which the following

statement is made: ‘‘Comments to

Docket No. 98–CE–52–AD.’’ The

postcard will be date stamped and

returned to the commenter.

Availability of NPRMs

Any person may obtain a copy of this

NPRM by submitting a request to the

FAA, Central Region, Office of the

Regional Counsel, Attention: Rules

Docket No. 98–CE–52–AD, Room 1558,

601 E. 12th Street, Kansas City, Missouri

64106.

Discussion

The Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA),

which is the airworthiness authority for

Germany, notified the FAA that an

unsafe condition may exist on certain

Schempp-Hirth Models Standard-Cirrus,

Nimbus-2, JANUS, and Mini-Nimbus

HS–7 sailplanes. The LBA reports

instances where the locking hook on the

tailplane attachment bracket disengaged

to the point that the horizontal tailplane

was no longer securely attached to the

fin.

This condition, if not corrected, could

result in the horizontal tailplane coming

loose from the fin with possible loss of

longitudinal control of the sailplane.

Relevant Service Information

Schempp-Hirth has issued Technical

Note No. 278–36, 286–33, 295–26, 328–

11, 798–3, dated November 11, 1994,