25618 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 87 / Thursday, May 5, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 1208 

[Doc. No. AMS–FV–07–0077; FV–07–705– 

PR–2B] 

RIN 0581–AC79 

Proposed Processed Raspberry 

Promotion, Research, and Information 

Order 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule and Referendum 

Order. 

SUMMARY: This document directs that a 

referendum be conducted among 

eligible producers of raspberries for 

processing and importers of processed 

raspberries to determine whether they 

favor the establishment of an industryfunded promotion, research, and 

information program for processed 

raspberries. The proposed program, 

Processed Raspberry Promotion, 

Research, and Information Order 

(Proposed Order), was submitted to the 

Department of Agriculture (Department) 

by the Washington Red Raspberry 

Commission (WRRC). Under the 

Proposed Order, producers of 

raspberries for processing and importers 

of processed raspberries would pay an 

assessment of up to one cent per pound, 

with the initial assessment rate being 

one cent per pound, which would be 

paid to the proposed National Processed 

Raspberry Council (Council). Producers 

and importers of less than 20,000 

pounds annually of raspberries for 

processing and processed raspberries, 

respectively, would be exempt from the 

assessment. The proposed program 

would be implemented under the 

Commodity Promotion, Research, and 

Information Act of 1996 (1996 Act). The 

Department is conducting an initial 

referendum to ascertain whether the 

persons to be covered by and assessed 

under the Proposed Order favor the 

implementation of the program prior to 

it going into effect. The Proposed Order 

would be implemented if it is approved 

by a majority of producers and 

importers voting in the referendum. 

DATES: The voting period is June 8 

through June 24, 2011. To be eligible to 

vote, producers must have produced 

20,000 pounds of raspberries for 

processing and importers must have 

imported 20,000 pounds of processed 

raspberries during the representative 

period from January 1, 2010 through 

December 31, 2010. Ballots will be 

mailed to all known producers of 

raspberries for processing and importers 

of processed raspberries, on or before 

June 1, 2011. Ballots must be received 

by the referendum agent no later than 

the close of business 4:30 pm (Eastern 

Time) on June 24, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Proposed 

Order may be obtained from: 

Referendum Agent, Research and 

Promotion Branch, Fruit and Vegetable 

Programs, AMS, USDA, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., Stop 0244, 

Room 0632–S, Washington, DC 20250– 

0244; telephone: (202) 720–9915 or 

(888) 720–9917 (toll free); or facsimile: 

(202) 205–2800; or can be viewed at 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kimberly Coy, Marketing Specialist, 

Research and Promotion Branch, Fruit 

and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 

0632, Stop 0244, Washington, DC 

20250–0244; telephone: (202) 720–9915 

or (888) 720–9917 (toll free); or 

facsimile: (202) 205–2800; or e-mail: 

Kimberly.Coy@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule 

is issued pursuant to the Commodity 

Promotion, Research, and Information 

Act of 1996 (1996 Act) (7 U.S.C. 7411– 

7425). 

As part of this rulemaking, a proposed 

rule was published in the Federal 

Register on April 9, 2009 [74 FR 16289], 

with a 60-day comment period which 

closed on June 8, 2009. Twenty-one 

comments were received. A second 

proposed rule was published in the 

Federal Register on February 8, 2010 

[75 FR 6131] addressing the comments. 

In addition, a separate final rule on 

referendum procedures was published 

in the Federal Register on February 8, 

2010 [75 FR 6089]. 

Since publication of the second 

proposed rule, the industry worked with 

the 484(f) Committee (Committee) of the 

United States International Trade 

Commission (USITC) which is the 

committee that reviews requests for 

changes to the statistical reporting 

requirements of the HTS for imports, to 

determine the feasibility of separating 

red raspberry juice and juice 

concentrate from all other juice and 

juice concentrate, red raspberry paste 

and purees from all other pastes and 

purees, and red raspberry preserves 

from all other fruit preserves. According 

to the Committee, this separation was 

feasible. Accordingly, the Committee 

approved the petition for processed red 

raspberry statistical breakout in the 

Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The new 

number assigned to red raspberry juice 

and juice concentrate is 2009.80.60.55, 

the new number assigned to processed 

red raspberry pastes and purees is 

2007.99.65.10, and the new number 

assigned to red raspberry preserves is 

2008.99.20.20, effective July 1, 2010. 

The aforementioned changes will be 

reflected in the final rule. Also, 

assessments for imported red raspberry 

preserves will not begin until a 

conversion factor is developed. 

Executive Order 12866 

This rule has been determined to be 

not significant for purposes of Executive 

Order 12866 and therefore has not been 

reviewed by the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB). 

Executive Order 12988 

This rule has been reviewed under 

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 

Reform. It is not intended to have 

retroactive effect. Section 524 of the 

1996 Act provides that the 1996 Act 

shall not affect or preempt any other 

Federal or state law authorizing 

promotion or research relating to an 

agricultural commodity. 

Under section 519 of the 1996 Act, a 

person subject to an order may file a 

written petition with the Department 

stating that an order, any provision of an 

order, or any obligation imposed in 

connection with an order, is not 

established in accordance with the law, 

and requesting a modification of an 

order or an exemption from an order. 

Any petition filed challenging an order, 

any provision of an order, or any 

obligation imposed in connection with 

an order, shall be filed within two years 

after the effective date of an order, 

provision, or obligation subject to 

challenge in the petition. The petitioner 

will have the opportunity for a hearing 

on the petition. Thereafter, the 

Department will issue a ruling on the 

petition. The 1996 Act provides that the 

district court of the United States for 

any district in which the petitioner 

resides or conducts business shall have 

the jurisdiction to review a final ruling 

on the petition, if the petitioner files a 

complaint for that purpose not later 

than 20 days after the date of the entry 

of the Department’s final ruling. 

Referendum Order 

Pursuant to the 1996 Act, a 

referendum will be conducted to 

determine whether eligible producers of 

raspberries for processing and importers 

of processed raspberries favor issuance 

of the Proposed Order. The Proposed 

Order is authorized under the 1996 Act. 

The representative period for 

establishing voter eligibility for the 

referendum shall be the period from 

January 1, 2010, through December 31, 

2010. Producers must have produced 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 87 / Thursday, May 5, 2011 / Proposed Rules 25619 

20,000 pounds of raspberries for 

processing and importers must have 

imported 20,000 pounds of processed 

raspberries during the representative 

period from January 1, 2010 through 

December 31, 2010, to be eligible to 

vote. The referendum shall be 

conducted by mail ballot from June 8 

through June 24, 2011. Ballots must be 

received by the referendum agent no 

later than the close of business 4:30 p.m. 

(Eastern Time) on June 24, 2011, to be 

counted. 

Section 518 of the 1996 Act 

authorizes the Department to conduct a 

referendum prior to the Order’s effective 

date. The Order shall become effective 

only if it is determined that the Order 

has been approved by a majority of 

those eligible persons voting for 

approval. 

Kimberly Coy, of the USDA, AMS, 

Research and Promotion Branch, is 

designated as the referendum agent to 

conduct this referendum. The 

referendum procedures [7 CFR 1208.100 

through 1212.108], which were issued 

pursuant to the 1996 Act, shall be used 

to conduct the referendum. 

The referendum agent will mail 

registration instructions to all known 

eligible producers and importers in 

advance of the referendum. Any 

producer or importer who does not 

receive registration instructions should 

contact the referendum agent cited 

under the ‘‘For Further Information’’ 

section no later than one week before 

the end of the registration period. Prior 

to the first day of the voting period, the 

referendum agent will mail the ballots 

to be cast in the referendum and voting 

instructions to all eligible voters. 

Persons who are producers and 

importers during the representative 

period are eligible to vote. Any producer 

or importer who does not receive a 

ballot should contact the referendum 

agent cited under the ‘‘For Further 

Information’’ section no later than one 

week before the end of the registration 

period. Ballots must be received by the 

referendum agent by the close of 

business on or before [insert last day of 

referendum], to be counted. 

In accordance with the OMB 

regulation [5 CFR part 1320] which 

implements the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995 [44 U.S.C. 35], the 

referendum ballot, which represents the 

information collection and 

recordkeeping requirements that may be 

imposed by this rule, was submitted to 

OMB for approval and approved under 

OMB Number 0581–0257. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1208 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Advertising, Consumer 

information, Marketing agreements, 

Raspberry promotion, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7411–7425; 7 U.S.C. 

7401. 

David R. Shipman, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–11050 Filed 5–4–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 1210 

[Document Number AMS–FV–10–0093] 

Watermelon Research and Promotion 

Plan; Redistricting and Importer 

Representation 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This proposed rule invites 

comments on changing the boundaries 

of all seven districts under the 

Watermelon Research and Promotion 

Plan (Plan) to reapportion the producer, 

handler, and importer memberships on 

the National Watermelon Promotion 

Board (Board). In addition, the Board is 

adding two importer seats based on the 

quantity of watermelon imports in the 

past three years. These changes are 

based on a review of the production and 

assessments paid in each district and 

the amount of watermelon import 

assessments, which the Plan requires at 

least every five years. As a result of 

these changes, the importer seats would 

increase from six to eight. Therefore, the 

total Board membership would increase 

from 35 to 37 members. In addition, a 

new CFR section is added to reflect the 

importer representation on the Board. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

June 6, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments on 

the Internet at: http:// 

www.regulations.gov or to the Research 

and Promotion Branch, Fruit and 

Vegetable Programs, Agricultural 

Marketing Service (AMS), U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, (USDA) 

Room 0632–S, Stop 0244, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–0244; facsimile: 

(202) 205–2800. All comments should 

reference the docket number and the 

date and page number of this issue of 

the Federal Register and will be made 

available for public inspection in the 

above office during regular business 

hours or it can be viewed at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. All comments 

received will be posted without change, 

including any personal information 

provided. Please be advised that the 

identity of the individuals or entities 

submitting comments will be made 

public on the Internet at the address 

provided above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jeanette Palmer, Marketing Specialist, 

Research and Promotion Branch, Fruit 

and Vegetable Programs, AMS, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Stop 0244, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 

0632–S, Washington, DC 20250–0244; 

telephone: (888) 720–9917; facsimile: 

(202) 205–2800; or electronic mail: 

Jeanette.Palmer@ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule 

is issued under the Watermelon 

Research and Promotion Plan [7 CFR 

part 1210]. The Plan is authorized under 

the Watermelon Research and 

Promotion Act (Act) [7 U.S.C. 4901– 

4916]. 

Executive Orders 12886 

The Office of Management and Budget 

has waived the review process required 

by Executive Order 12866 for this 

action. 

Executive Order 12988 

In addition, this rule has been 

reviewed under Executive Order 12988, 

Civil Justice Reform. The rule is not 

intended to have retroactive effect. 

The Act allows producers, producerpackers, handlers, and importers to file 

a written petition with the Secretary of 

Agriculture (Secretary) if they believe 

that the Plan, any provision of the Plan, 

or any obligation imposed in connection 

with the Plan, is not established in 

accordance with law. In any petition, 

the person may request a modification 

of the Plan or an exemption from the 

Plan. The petitioner will have the 

opportunity for a hearing on the 

petition. Afterwards, an Administrative 

Law Judge (ALJ) will issue a decision. 

If the petitioner disagrees with the ALJ’s 

ruling, the petitioner has 30 days to 

appeal to the Judicial Officer, who will 

issue a ruling on behalf of the Secretary. 

If the petitioner disagrees with the 

Secretary’s ruling, the petitioner may 

file, within 20 days, an appeal in the 

U.S. District Court for the district where 

the petitioner resides or conducts 

business. 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Act and 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

In accordance with the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act [5 U.S.C. 601–612], AMS 

has examined the economic impact of 


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