19046 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 66 / Monday, April 7, 2014 / Notices 

The Order’s provisions have been 

carefully reviewed, and every effort has 

been made to minimize any unnecessary 

recordkeeping costs or requirements, 

including efforts to utilize information 

already submitted under other 

Christmas tree programs administered 

by USDA and other State programs. 

The forms covered under this 

collection require the minimum 

information necessary to effectively 

carry out the requirements of the 

program, and their use is necessary to 

fulfill the intent of the Order. Such 

information can be supplied without 

data processing equipment or outside 

technical expertise. In addition, there 

are no additional training requirements 

for individuals filling out reports and 

remitting assessments to the Board. The 

forms are simple, easy to understand, 

and place as small a burden as possible 

on the person required to file the 

information. 

Collecting information yearly would 

coincide with normal industry business 

practices. The timing and frequency of 

collecting information are intended to 

meet the needs of the industry while 

minimizing the amount of work 

necessary to fill out the required reports. 

The requirement to keep records for two 

years beyond the fiscal period of their 

applicability is consistent with normal 

industry practices. In addition, the 

information to be included on these 

forms is not available from other sources 

because such information relates 

specifically to individual producers and 

importers who will be subject to the 

provisions of the Order. Therefore, there 

is no practical method for collecting the 

required information without the use of 

these forms. 

AMS is committed to complying with 

the E-Government Act, which requires 

Government agencies in general to 

provide the public the option of 

submitting information or transacting 

business electronically to the maximum 

extent possible. 

In addition to the information 

collection Christmas Tree Promotion, 

Research and Information Program 

(Order) (OMB No. 0581–0268), we are 

including the burden and ballot form 

from the previously approved 

information collection Referendum for 

Christmas Tree Promotion, Research 

and Information Program (OMB No. 

0581–0267). Upon reinstatement of 

these previously approved collection for 

which approval has expired, we will 

submit a discontinuation request for the 

0581–0267 to OMB. 

Estimate of Burden: Public 

recordkeeping burden for this collection 

of information is estimated to average 

0.398 hour per response. 

Respondents: Producers and 

importers. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

12,455. 

Estimated Total Annual Responses: 

26,885. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 2.16. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 10,701 hours. 

Comments are invited on: (1) Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; (3) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (4) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on those who are to respond, including 

the use of appropriate automated, 

electronic, mechanical, or other 

technological collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

All responses to this document will 

be summarized and included in the 

request for OMB approval. All 

comments will become a matter of 

public record. 

Authority: 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35. 

Dated: April 2, 2014. 

Rex A. Barnes, 

Associate Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2014–07706 Filed 4–4–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

[Document No. AMS–ST–14–0034] 

Plant Variety Protection Board; Open 

Teleconference Meeting 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice is intended to 

notify the public of their opportunity to 

attend an open meeting of the Plant 

Variety Protection Board. 

DATES: May 13, 2014 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 

p.m., open to the public. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the United States Department of 

Agriculture, Room 2068, South 

Building, 1400 Independence Avenue 

SW., Washington, DC 20250. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Maria Pratt, Plant Variety Protection 

Office, Science and Technology 

Programs, Agricultural Marketing 

Service, United States Department of 

Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue 

SW., Washington, DC 20250. Telephone 

number (202) 260–8983, fax (202) 260– 

8976, or email: maria.pratt@

ams.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to the provisions of section 10(a) of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

U.S.C., Appendix 2), this notice is given 

regarding an upcoming Plant Variety 

Protection (PVP) Board meeting. The 

Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) (7 

U.S.C. 2321 et seq.) provides legal 

protection in the form of intellectual 

property rights to developers of new 

varieties of plants, which are 

reproduced sexually by seed or are 

tuber-propagated. A Certificate of Plant 

Variety Protection is awarded to an 

owner of a crop variety after an 

examination shows that it is new, 

distinct from other varieties, genetically 

uniform and stable through successive 

generations. The term of protection is 20 

years for most crops and 25 years for 

trees, shrubs, and vines. The PVPA also 

provides for a statutory Board (7 U.S.C. 

2327). The duties of the Board are to: (1) 

Advise the Secretary concerning the 

adoption of rules and regulations to 

facilitate the proper administration of 

the Act; (2) provide advisory counsel to 

the Secretary on appeals concerning 

decisions on applications by the PVP 

Office and on requests for emergency 

public-interest compulsory licenses; and 

(3) advise the Secretary on any other 

matters under the Regulations and Rules 

of Practice and on all questions under 

Section 44 of the Act, ‘‘Public Interest 

in Wide Usage’’ (7 U.S.C. 2404). 

The purpose of the meeting will be to 

discuss the electronic PVP (ePVP) 

system development, meetings with the 

European Union (EU) on mutual 

recognition of the PVP examination 

process, the activity of the 

subcommittee to evaluate molecular 

techniques for PVP distinctness 

characterization, and the PVP Office 

outreach efforts. The proposed agenda 

for the PVP Board meeting will include 

a welcome by Department officials 

followed by a discussion focusing on 

program activities that encourage the 

development of new plant varieties and 

appeals to the Secretary. The agenda 

will also include presentations on the 

ePVP system, summary of EU meetings, 

and the use of molecular markers for 

PVP applications, and PVP outreach 

activity. 

The meeting will be open to the 

public. Those wishing to attend or 

phone into the meeting are encouraged 

to pre-register by May 5, 2014 with the 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 66 / Monday, April 7, 2014 / Notices 19047 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. If you require 

accommodations, such as sign language 

interpreter, please contact the person 

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. Minutes of the meeting will be 

available for public review 30 days 

following the meeting at the address 

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. The minutes will also be 

posted on the Internet Web site http:// 

www.ams.usda.gov/PVPO. 

Dated: April 2, 2014. 

Rex A. Barnes, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–07703 Filed 4–4–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Federal Crop Insurance Corporation 

[Docket No. FCIC–14–0003] 

Notice of Request for Renewal and 

Revision of the Currently Approved 

Information Collection 

AGENCY: Federal Crop Insurance 

Corporation, USDA 

ACTION: Renewal and Revision of the 

Currently Approved Information 

Collection. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 

notice announces a public comment 

period on the information collection 

requests (ICRs) associated with the 

Standard Reinsurance Agreement and 

Appendices I, II and IV administered by 

Federal Crop Insurance Corporation 

(FCIC). Appendix III is excluded 

because it contains the Data Acceptance 

System requirements. 

DATES: Written comments on this notice 

will be accepted until close of business 

June 6, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: FCIC prefers that comments 

be submitted electronically through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal. You may 

submit comments, identified by Docket 

ID No. FCIC–14–0003, by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• By Mail to: David L. Miller, 

Director, Reinsurance Services Division, 

Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, 

United States Department of Agriculture 

(USDA), 1400 Independence Avenue 

SW., Stop 0801, Washington, DC 20250. 

All comments received, including those 

received by mail, will be posted without 

change to http://www.regulations.gov, 

including any personal information 

provided, and can be accessed by the 

public. All comments must include the 

agency name and docket number or 

Regulatory Information Number (RIN) 

for this rule. For detailed instructions 

on submitting comments and additional 

information, see http://

www.regulations.gov. If you are 

submitting comments electronically 

through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 

and want to attach a document, we ask 

that it be in a text-based format. If you 

want to attach a document that is a 

scanned Adobe PDF file, it must be 

scanned as text and not as an image, 

thus allowing FCIC to search and copy 

certain portions of your submissions. 

For questions regarding attaching a 

document that is a scanned Adobe PDF 

file, please contact the RMA Web 

Content Team at (816) 823–4694 or by 

email at rmaweb.content@rma.usda.gov. 

Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search 

the electronic form of all comments 

received for any dockets by the name of 

the individual submitting the comment 

(or signing the comment, if submitted 

on behalf of an association, business, 

labor union, etc.). You may review the 

complete User Notice and Privacy 

Notice for Regulations.gov at http://

www.regulations.gov/#!privacyNotice. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David L. Miller, Director, Risk 

Management Agency, at the address 

listed above, telephone (202) 720–9830. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Standard Reinsurance 

Agreement; Appendices I, II and IV. 

OMB Number: 0563–0069. 

Type of Request: Renewal of current 

Information Collection. 

Abstract: The Federal Crop Insurance 

Act (Act), Title 7 U.S.C. Chapter 36, 

Section 1508(k), authorizes the FCIC to 

provide reinsurance to insurers 

approved by FCIC that insure producers 

of any agricultural commodity under 

one or more plans acceptable to FCIC. 

The Act also states that the reinsurance 

shall be provided on such terms and 

conditions as the Board may determine 

to be consistent with subsections (b) and 

(c) of this section and sound reinsurance 

principles. 

FCIC executes the same form of 

reinsurance agreement, called the 

Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA), 

with nineteen participating insurers 

approved for the 2014 reinsurance year. 

Appendix I of the SRA, Regulatory 

Duties and Responsibilities, sets forth 

the company’s responsibilities as 

required by statute. Appendix II of the 

SRA, the Plan of Operations (Plan), sets 

forth the information the insurer is 

required to file with RMA for each 

reinsurance year they wish to 

participate. The Plan’s information 

enables RMA to evaluate the insurer’s 

financial and operational capability to 

deliver the crop insurance program in 

accordance with the Act. Estimated 

premiums by fund by state, and retained 

percentages along with current 

policyholders surplus are used in 

calculations to determine whether to 

approve the insurer’s requested 

maximum reinsurable premium volume 

for the reinsurance year per 7 CFR 400 

Subpart L. This information has a direct 

effect upon the insurer’s amount of 

retained premium and associated 

liability and is required to calculate the 

insurer’s underwriting gain or loss. 

Appendix IV of the SRA, Quality 

Control and Program Integrity, 

establishes the minimum annual agent 

and loss adjuster training requirements, 

and quality control review procedures 

and performance standards required of 

the insurance companies. FCIC requires 

each insurer to submit, for each 

reinsurance year, a Quality Control 

Report to FCIC containing details of the 

results of their completed reviews. The 

insurance companies must also provide 

an annual Training and Performance 

Evaluation Report which details the 

evaluation of each agent and loss 

adjuster and reports of any remedial 

actions taken by the Company to correct 

any error or omission or ensure 

compliance with the SRA. The 

submission of these reports is included 

in Appendix II. 

FCIC is requesting the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) to 

extend the approval of this information 

collection for an additional 3 years. 

The purpose of this notice is to solicit 

comments from the public concerning 

the continuation of the current 

information collection activity as 

associated with the SRA in effect for the 

2014 and subsequent reinsurance years. 

These comments will help us: 

(1) Evaluate whether the current 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information has practical 

utility; 

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

current collection of information; 

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information being 

collected; and 

(4) Minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, through use, as 

appropriate, of automated, electronic, 

mechanical, and other collection 

technologies, e.g., permitting electronic 

submission of responses. 

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