Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 64 / Monday, April 6, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 15367 

■ c. Remove paragraph (b)(1)(i)(C) and 

■ d. Remove paragraph (b)(2) and 

redesignate paragraph (b)(3) as 

paragraph (b)(2). 

§ 1435.312 [Amended] 

■ 24. Amend § 1435.312, paragraph (a), 

first sentence, by adding the words 

‘‘(meaning only those varieties 

dedicated to the production of 

sugarcane to produce sugar for human 

consumption)’’ immediately after the 

word ‘‘seed.’’ 

■ 25. Amend § 1435.313 as follows: 

■ a. Redesignate paragraphs (b) and (c) 

as paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2), 

respectively, and 

■ b. Add paragraph (b) to read as set 

forth below: 

§ 1435.313 Permanent transfer of acreage 

base histories under proportionate shares. 

* * * * * 

(b) Sugarcane acreage base that has 

been converted to nonagricultural use 

on or before May 13, 2002, may be 

transferred to other land suitable for the 

production of sugarcane under the 

following terms: 

(1) CCC must notify 1 or more affected 

landowners within 90 days of becoming 

aware of the conversion, of their rights 

to transfer the base to 1 or more farms 

owned by the landowner; 

(2) The landowner has 90 days from 

the date the landowner was notified to 

transfer the base; 

(3) If the landowner does not exercise 

this transfer right, the grower of record 

will have 90 days after being notified by 

CCC to transfer the base to 1 or more 

farms owned by the grower; 

(4) If the transfers as specified under 

paragraphs (b)(2) or (3) of this section 

are not accomplished during the 

specified periods, FSA county 

committee will place the base into a 

pool for possible reassignment to other 

farms; 

(5) After providing notice to farm 

owners, operators and growers of record 

in the county, the committee will accept 

requests from farm owners, operators, 

and growers in the county; 

(6) The county committee will assign 

the base to other sugarcane farms in the 

county that are eligible and capable of 

accepting the acreage base, based on a 

random drawing among requests 

received under paragraph (b)(5) of this 

section; 

(7) Any unassigned base will be made 

available to the State FSA committee 

and be allocated to remaining FSA 

county committees in the State 

representing counties with farms 

eligible for assignment of the base, 

based on a random drawing; and 

(8) After the acreage base has been 

reassigned, the acreage base will remain 

on the farm and subject to the transfer 

provisions of paragraph (a) of this 

section. 

■ 26. Amend § 1435.318 as follows: 

■ a. Revise paragraph (a) to read as set 

forth below, 

■ b. Redesignate paragraphs (b) through 

(e) as paragraphs (c) through (f), 

respectively, and 

■ c. Add paragraph (b) to read as set 

forth below. 

§ 1435.318 Penalties and assessments. 

(a) Any sugar beet or sugarcane 

processor who knowingly markets sugar 

or sugar products in excess of the 

processor’s allocation will be liable to 

CCC for a civil penalty in an amount 

equal to 3 times the U.S. market value, 

at the time the violation was committed, 

of that quantity of sugar involved in the 

violation. 

(b) CCC may assess liquidated 

damages, as specified in a surplus 

allocation survey and agreement, with 

respect to a surplus allocation still 

existing after the end of a crop year if 

the processor had a surplus allocation 

because the processor provided 

incomplete or erroneous information to 

CCC. 

Subpart E—[Redesignated and 

Reserved] 

■ 27. Redesignate subpart E, consisting 

of §§ 1435.400 through 1435.405, as 

subpart F and reserve subpart E. 

Subpart F—Processor Sugar PaymentIn-Kind (PIK) Program 

§§ 1435.400 through 1435.405 [Amended] 

■ 28. In newly redesignated subpart F, 

redesignate §§ 1435.400 through 

1435.405 as §§ 1435.500 through 

1435.505, respectively. 

Subpart G—[Added and Reserved] 

■ 29. Reserve subpart G. 

Signed at Washington, DC, on March 31, 

2009. 

Dennis J. Taitano, 

Acting Executive Vice President, Commodity 

Credit Corporation. 

[FR Doc. E9–7633 Filed 4–3–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 

Services 

8 CFR Part 208 

[CIS No. 2440–08; DHS Docket No. USCIS 

2008–0022] 

RIN 1615–AB59 

Forwarding of Affirmative Asylum 

Applications to the Department of 

State 

AGENCY: U.S. Citizenship and 

Immigration Services, DHS. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS) is amending its 

regulations to alter the process by which 

it forwards Form I–589, Application for 

Asylum and Withholding of Removal, 

for asylum applications filed 

affirmatively with U.S. Citizenship and 

Immigration Services (USCIS) to the 

Department of State (DOS). The 

affirmative asylum process allows 

individuals, who are physically present 

in the United States, regardless of their 

manner of arrival and regardless of their 

current immigration status, to apply for 

asylum. The current regulation requires 

USCIS (formerly Immigration and 

Naturalization Service (INS)) to forward 

to DOS a copy of each completed 

asylum application it receives. This rule 

provides that USCIS will no longer 

forward all affirmative asylum 

applications to DOS. Instead, USCIS 

will send affirmative asylum 

applications to DOS only when USCIS 

believes DOS may have country 

conditions information relevant to the 

case. This change will increase the 

efficiency of DOS’ review of asylum 

applications. Additionally, in 

accordance with the Homeland Security 

Act, this rule revises references to 

legacy INS in 8 CFR 208.11. 

DATES: Effective date: This final rule is 

effective April 6, 2009. 

Comment date: Written comments 

must be submitted on or before June 5, 

2009 in order to be assured of 

consideration. 

ADDRESSES: The public may submit 

comments, identified by DHS Docket 

No. USCIS–2008–0022, by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Chief, Regulatory 

Management Division, U.S. Citizenship 

and Immigration Services, Department 

of Homeland Security, 111 


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15368 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 64 / Monday, April 6, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

Massachusetts Avenue, NW., 3rd Floor, 

Washington, DC 20529. To ensure 

proper handling, please reference DHS 

Docket No. USCIS–2008–0022 on the 

correspondence. This mailing address 

may be used for paper, disk, or CD– 

ROM submissions. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: U.S. 

Citizenship and Immigration Services, 

Department of Homeland Security, 111 

Massachusetts Avenue, NW., 3rd Floor, 

Washington, DC 20529. Contact 

Telephone Number (202) 272–8377. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jedidah M. Hussey, Deputy Chief, 

Asylum Division, Refugee, Asylum, and 

International Operations Directorate, 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 

Services, 20 Massachusetts Avenue, 

NW., Third Floor, Washington, DC 

20529; Telephone (202) 272–1614. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Public Participation 

Interested persons are invited to 

participate in this rulemaking by 

submitting written data, views, or 

arguments on all aspects of this final 

rule. USCIS also invites comments that 

relate to the economic, environmental, 

or federalism effects that might result 

from this final rule. Comments that will 

provide the most assistance to USCIS in 

developing these procedures will 

reference a specific portion of the final 

rule, explain the reason for any 

recommended change, and include data, 

information, or authority that support 

such recommended change. 

• Instructions: All submissions 

received should include the agency 

name and DHS Docket No. USCIS– 

2008–0022 for this rulemaking. All 

comments received will be posted 

without change to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. 

• Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Submitted 

comments may also be inspected at the 

Regulatory Management Division, U.S. 

Citizenship and Immigration Services, 

Department of Homeland Security, 111 

Massachusetts Avenue, NW., Suite 

3008, Washington, DC 20529. 

II. Background 

DHS regulations, at 8 CFR 208.11(a), 

currently state, ‘‘[T]he Service shall 

forward to the Department of State a 

copy of each completed application it 

receives. At its option, the Department 

of State may provide detailed country 

conditions information relevant to 

eligibility for asylum or withholding of 

removal.’’ Under the affirmative asylum 

application process, USCIS receives 

asylum applications filed by applicants 

who are not in removal proceedings at 

its service centers. Upon receipt of an 

asylum application, service center 

personnel review the asylum 

application to confirm that the 

application is properly filed and 

complete, after which the service center 

forwards the application to one of the 

Asylum Division’s eight field asylum 

offices for adjudication by an asylum 

officer. Simultaneously, the service 

center forwards a copy of the asylum 

application to DOS’s Bureau of 

Democracy, Human Rights and Labor 

(DRL). However, when an asylum 

applicant is permitted to file an asylum 

application directly with an Asylum 

Office, the Asylum Office is responsible 

for forwarding a copy of the application 

to DRL. 

In fiscal year 2007, USCIS received 

25,680 affirmative asylum applications 

and forwarded a copy of each to DOS. 

DOS and USCIS have determined that 

the current forwarding process is not an 

efficient method for the agencies to 

identify and review cases for which 

DOS review would yield the most value. 

To address this problem, this rule 

permits USCIS, in its discretion, to send 

affirmative asylum applications to DOS 

in those cases where USCIS believes 

DOS would be likely to have 

information relevant to the applicant’s 

eligibility for asylum and withholding 

of removal. Generally, this would be 

information that is not otherwise 

available or confirmation of publicly 

available information, where such 

validation would be helpful to the 

adjudication. 

Additionally, USCIS and DOS have 

already implemented an arrangement in 

which USCIS’s Asylum Division 

headquarters (HQASM) forwards certain 

applications to DRL for review and 

comment. USCIS requires all Asylum 

Offices to send specific categories of 

cases to HQASM for further review after 

the Asylum Office completes its initial 

interview and preliminary assessment of 

eligibility. HQASM reviews these cases 

for quality assurance purposes to ensure 

that eligibility standards are properly 

applied. In conducting the quality 

assurance review, an asylum officer at 

HQASM seeks DRL comments if the 

asylum officer believes that DRL could 

provide information specific to the 

applicant or the applicant’s situation. 

This process has proven to be a 

productive system by which USCIS 

obtains country conditions information 

on specific cases. USCIS and DOS 

intend to maintain this system, which 

has been in place for several years. 

DRL applies its country conditions 

expertise to asylum matters in a variety 

of ways, which as a whole are referred 

to as DRL’s asylum function. Consistent 

with the regulation currently at 8 CFR 

208.11(c), and as will be retained in the 

amended regulation, DRL responds to 

requests for comments on cases 

specifically brought to its attention by 

USCIS’s Asylum Division and by the 

Department of Justice (DOJ), Executive 

Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) 

immigration judges. DRL also produces 

updated issue papers or ‘‘country 

profiles’’ for use in asylum 

adjudications, and it responds to certain 

DHS, U.S. Immigration and Customs 

Enforcement’s requests for document 

verification in asylum cases before 

EOIR. Additionally, DRL is required to 

provide to Congress annually Country 

Reports on Human Rights Practices and 

International Religious Freedom Reports 

which provide country conditions 

information that will continue to be 

useful to the adjudication of asylum 

applications. This rule will not alter 

these DRL functions. This rule also does 

not affect how USCIS reviews and 

considers these DRL published reports 

in asylum adjudications. USCIS will 

continue to review the aforementioned 

reports, which provide country 

conditions information useful to the 

adjudication of asylum applications. 

Finally, this rule is limited to 8 CFR 

208.11. This rule only addresses 

submissions of affirmative asylum 

applications from USCIS to DOS. It does 

not make any amendments to 8 CFR 

1208.11, which governs the defensive 

application procedure for asylum 

applications filed by individuals in 

removal proceedings before EOIR. 

II. Regulatory Requirements 

A. Administrative Procedures Act 

This rule addresses requirements that 

are procedural in nature and does not 

alter the substantive rights of applicants 

or petitioners for immigration benefits. 

Accordingly, this rule is exempt from 

the notice and comment requirements 

under the Administrative Procedures 

Act (APA) at 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A). This 

rule does not change the eligibility rules 

governing any immigration benefit and 

it will not confer rights or obligations 

upon any party. Accordingly, USCIS is 

implementing these amendments 

effective immediately upon publication 

in the Federal Register. Nonetheless, 

DHS believes that public comments may 

be valuable and is providing the public 

the opportunity to make comments on 

this change as a matter of discretion. 

Comments are welcome about the 

relationship between the USCIS and 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 64 / Monday, April 6, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 15369 

DOS, DHS and DOS, and the role of 

foreign policy considerations in asylum 

adjudications. 

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

Because USCIS is not required by the 

APA to publish a notice of proposed 

rulemaking to make the changes 

promulgated in this rule, the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (RFA) is not applicable. 

C. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 

1995 

This rule will not result in the 

expenditure by state, local and tribal 

governments, in the aggregate, or by the 

private sector, of $100 million or more 

in any one year, and it will not 

significantly or uniquely affect small 

governments. Therefore, no actions were 

deemed necessary under the provisions 

of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

of 1995. 

D. Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 

This rule is not a major rule as 

defined by section 251 of the Small 

Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act of 1996. 5 U.S.C. 804. This 

rule will not result in an annual effect 

on the economy of $100 million or 

more; a major increase in costs or prices; 

or significant adverse effects on 

competition, employment, investment, 

productivity, innovation, or on the 

ability of the United States-based 

companies to compete with foreignbased companies in domestic and 

export markets. 

E. Executive Order 12866 

This rule has been designated as not 

significant under Executive Order 

12866, section 3(f), Regulatory Planning 

and Review. Thus it has not been 

reviewed by the Office of Management 

and Budget. 

F. Executive Order 13132: Federalism 

This rule will not have substantial 

direct effects on the States, on the 

relationship between the National 

Government and the States, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government. Therefore, in 

accordance with section 6 of Executive 

Order 13132, it is determined that this 

rule does not have sufficient federalism 

implications to warrant the preparation 

of a federalism summary impact 

statement. 

G. Executive Order 12988: Civil Justice 

Reform 

This rule meets the applicable 

standards set forth in sections 3(a) and 

3(b)(2) of Executive Order 12988. 

H. Paperwork Reduction Act 

The information collection 

requirement (Form I–589) contained in 

this rule has been previously approved 

by the Office of Management and 

Budget under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act. The OMB 

control numbers for these collections 

are contained in 8 CFR 299.5, Display of 

control numbers. This rule does not 

contain a new or revised information 

collection. 

List of Subjects in 8 CFR Part 208 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Aliens, Immigration, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

■ Accordingly, chapter I of title 8 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations is amended 

as follows: 

PART 208—PROCEDURES FOR 

ASYLUM AND WITHHOLDING OF 

REMOVAL 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 208 

continues to read: 

Authority: 8 U.S.C. 1103, 1158, 1226, 

1252, 1282; 8 CFR part 2. 

■ 2. Section 208.11 is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 208.11 Comments from the Department 

of State. 

(a) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 

Services (USCIS) may request, at its 

discretion, specific comments from the 

Department of State regarding 

individual cases or types of claims 

under consideration, or such other 

information as USCIS deems 

appropriate. 

(b) With respect to any asylum 

application, the Department of State 

may provide, at its discretion, to USCIS: 

(1) Detailed country conditions 

information relevant to eligibility for 

asylum or withholding of removal; 

(2) An assessment of the accuracy of 

the applicant’s assertions about 

conditions in his or her country of 

nationality or habitual residence and his 

or her particular situation; 

(3) Information about whether persons 

who are similarly situated to the 

applicant are persecuted or tortured in 

the applicant’s country of nationality or 

habitual residence and the frequency of 

such persecution or torture; or 

(4) Such other information as it deems 

relevant. 

(c) Any comments received pursuant 

to paragraph (b) of this section shall be 

made part of the record. Unless the 

comments are classified under the 

applicable Executive Order, the 

applicant shall be provided an 

opportunity to review and respond to 

such comments prior to the issuance of 

any decision to deny the application. 

Janet Napolitano, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–7051 Filed 4–3–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9111–97–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2009–0123 Directorate 

Identifier 2009–CE–005–AD; Amendment 

39–15868; AD 2009–07–09] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; DORNIER 

Luftfahrt GmbH Models Dornier 228– 

100, Dornier 228–101, Dornier 228–200, 

Dornier 228–201, Dornier 228–202, and 

Dornier 228–212 Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Final Rule. 

SUMMARY: We are adopting a new 

airworthiness directive (AD) for the 

products listed above. This AD results 

from mandatory continuing 

airworthiness information (MCAI) 

issued by an aviation authority of 

another country to identify and correct 

an unsafe condition on an aviation 

product. The MCAI describes the unsafe 

condition as: 

It has been evidenced in-service that 

aileron trim actuator and rod spring lever 

attachment bracket—between frame 18 and 

19 LH—on some aircraft may present loose 

rivets. If left uncorrected, this condition 

could lead to the separation of the 

attachment bracket which could result in loss 

of aileron trim and loss of artificial force 

feedback, and consequent reduced 

controllability of the airplane. 

We are issuing this AD to require 

actions to correct the unsafe condition 

on these products. 

DATES: This AD becomes effective May 

11, 2009. 

On May 11, 2009, the Director of the 

Federal Register approved the 

incorporation by reference of certain 

publications listed in this AD. 

ADDRESSES: You may examine the AD 

docket on the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov or in person at 

Document Management Facility, U.S. 

Department of Transportation, Docket 

Operations, M–30, West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, 

DC 20590. 


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