26348 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 95 / Wednesday, May 17, 1995 / Rules and Regulations

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 989

Grapes, Marketing agreements,

Raisins, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 7 CFR part 989 is amended as

follows:

PART 989—RAISINS PRODUCED

FROM GRAPES GROWN IN

CALIFORNIA

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR

part 989 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674.

2. Accordingly, the interim final rule

adding § 989.247, which was published

at 60 FR 12403 on March 7, 1995, is

adopted as a final rule without change.

Dated: May 11, 1995.

Terry C. Long,

Acting Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable

Division.

[FR Doc. 95–12147 Filed 5–16–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

7 CFR Part 998

[Docket No. FV95–998–1IFR]

Expenses, Assessment Rate, and

Indemnification Reserve for Marketing

Agreement No. 146 Regulating the

Quality of Domestically Produced

Peanuts

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request

for comments.

SUMMARY: This interim final rule

authorizes expenditures for

administration and indemnification,

establishes an assessment rate, and

authorizes continuation of an

indemnification reserve under

Marketing Agreement 146 (agreement)

for the 1995–96 crop year. This rule also

increases the administrative assessment

rate for the 1994–95 crop year.

Authorization of this budget enables the

Peanut Administrative Committee

(Committee) to incur operating

expenses, collect funds to pay those

expenses, and settle indemnification

claims during the 1995–96 crop year.

Authorization of the increase in the

administrative assessment rate for the

1994–95 crop year enables the

Committee to collect sufficient funds to

pay expenses projected for the

remainder of that year. Funds to

administer this program are derived

from assessments on handlers who have

signed the agreement.

DATES: Effective July 1, 1995, through

June 30, 1996 (§ 998.408) and July 1,

1994, through June 30, 1995 (§ 998.407).

Comments received by June 16, 1995,

will be considered prior to issuance of

a final rule.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are

invited to submit written comments

concerning this rule. Comments must be

sent in triplicate to the Docket Clerk,

Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS,

USDA, P.O. Box 96456, room 2523–S,

Washington, DC 20090–6456, FAX 202–

720–5698. Comments should reference

the docket number and the date and

page number of this issue of the Federal

Register and will be available for public

inspection in the Office of the Docket

Clerk during regular business hours.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Martha Sue Clark, Marketing Order

Administration Branch, Fruit and

Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.

Box 96456, room 2523–S, Washington,

DC 20090–6456, telephone 202–720–

9918, or William G. Pimental, Southeast

Marketing Field Office, Fruit and

Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.

Box 2276, Winter Haven, FL 33883–

2276, telephone 813–299–4770.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule

is issued under Marketing Agreement

146 (7 CFR part 998) regulating the

quality of domestically produced

peanuts. This agreement is effective

under the Agricultural Marketing

Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7

U.S.C. 601–674), hereinafter referred to

as the Act.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture

(Department) is issuing this rule in

conformance with Executive Order

12866.

This interim final rule has been

reviewed under Executive Order 12887,

Civil Justice Reform. Under the

agreement now in effect, peanut

handlers signatory to the agreement are

subject to assessments. Funds to

administer the peanut agreement

program are derived from such

assessments. This rule authorizes

expenditures and establishes an

assessment rate for the Committee for

the crop year beginning July 1, 1995,

and increases the administrative

assessment rate for the crop year which

began July 1, 1994. This rule will not

preempt any State or local laws,

regulations, or policies, unless they

present an irreconcilable conflict with

this rule. There are no administrative

procedures which must be exhausted

prior to any judicial challenge to the

provisions of this rule.

Pursuant to requirements set forth in

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), the

Administrator of the Agricultural

Marketing Service (AMS) has

considered the economic impact of this

rule on small entities.

The purpose of the RFA is to fit

regulatory actions to the scale of

business subject to such actions in order

that small businesses will not be unduly

or disproportionately burdened.

There are approximately 47,000

producers of peanuts in the 16 States

covered under the agreement, and

approximately 76 handlers regulated

under the agreement. Small agricultural

producers have been defined by the

Small Business Administration (13 CFR

121.601) as those having annual receipts

of less than $500,000, and small

agricultural service firms are defined as

those whose annual receipts are less

than $5,000,000. A majority of the

producers may be classified as small

entities, and some of the handlers

covered under the agreement are small

entities.

Under the agreement, the assessment

rate for a particular crop year applies to

all assessable tonnage handled from the

beginning of such year (i.e., July 1). An

annual budget of expenses is prepared

by the Committee and submitted to the

Department for approval. The members

of the Committee are handlers and

producers of peanuts. They are familiar

with the Committee’s needs and with

the costs for goods, services, and

personnel for program operations and,

thus, are in a position to formulate

appropriate budgets. The budgets are

formulated and discussed at industrywide meetings. Thus, all directly

affected persons have an opportunity to

provide input in recommending the

budget, assessment rate, and

indemnification reserve. The handlers

of peanuts who are directly affected

have signed the marketing agreement

authorizing the expenses that may be

incurred and the imposition of

assessments.

The assessment rate recommended by

the Committee for the 1995–96 crop

year was derived by dividing

anticipated expenses by expected

receipts and acquisitions of farmers’

stock peanuts. It applies to all assessable

peanuts received or acquired by

handlers from July 1, 1995. Because that

rate is applied to actual receipts and

acquisitions, it must be established at a

rate which will produce sufficient

income to pay the Committee’s

expenses.

The Committee met on March 23,

1995, and unanimously recommended

1995–96 crop year administrative

expenses of $1,067,500 and an

administrative assessment rate of $0.70

per net ton of assessable farmers’ stock

peanuts received or acquired by

handlers. In comparison, 1994–95 crop
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 95 / Wednesday, May 17, 1995 / Rules and Regulations 26349

year budgeted administrative

expenditures were $1,056,000, and the

administrative assessment rate was

initially recommended and fixed at

$0.60 per ton.

Administrative budget items for

1995–96 which have increased

compared to those budgeted for 1994–95

(in parentheses) are: Executive salaries,

$145,051 ($140,146), clerical salaries,

$138,856 ($132,500), field

representatives salaries, $304,344

($290,420), payroll taxes, $44,000

($43,000), employee benefits, $148,000

($145,000), insurance and bonds, $9,500

($8,500), postage and mailing, $13,200

($12,000), and audit fees, $10,400

($9,200). Items which have decreased

compared to those budgeted for 1994–95

(in parentheses) are: Office rent and

parking, $44,360 ($50,000), furniture

and equipment, $4,000 ($9,500), and lab

data processing, $1,000 ($1,500). All

other items are budgeted at last year’s

amounts. The administrative budget

includes $4,789 for contingencies

($14,234 last year).

The Committee also unanimously

recommended 1995 crop

indemnification claims payments of up

to $7,000,000 and an indemnification

assessment of $1.00 per net ton of

farmers’ stock peanuts received or

acquired by handlers to continue its

indemnification program. For the 1994

crop, indemnification claim payments

of up to $9,000,000 and an assessment

rate of $2.00 per net ton were

established. The decreases for 1995

reflect the Committee’s desire to lower

indemnification costs.

The costs to carry out indemnification

procedures (sampling and testing of 2–

AB and 3–AB Subsamples, and crushing

supervision, of indemnified peanuts,

pursuant to § 998.200(c)), are paid from

available indemnification funds. Such

costs are not expected to exceed

$500,000.

The total assessment rate is $1.70 per

ton of assessable peanuts ($0.70 for

administrative and $1.00 for

indemnification). Assessments are due

on the 15th of the month following the

month in which the farmers’ stock

peanuts are received or acquired.

Application of the recommended rates

to the estimated assessable tonnage of

1,525,000 will yield $1,067,500 for

program administration and $1,525,000

for indemnification. The

indemnification amount, when added to

expected cash carryover from 1994–95

indemnification operations of

$8,700,000, will provide $10,225,000,

which should be adequate for the 1995

fund, and to maintain an adequate

reserve.

The 1994–95 budget was published in

the Federal Register as an interim final

rule on May 12, 1994 (59 FR 24633), and

finalized on August 3, 1994 (59 FR

39421). The administrative expenses

and assessment rate for the 1994–95

crop year were based on an estimated

assessable tonnage of 1,760,000. Due to

handlers purchasing fewer peanuts than

originally projected, the assessable

tonnage is expected to be only

1,676,000. In order to have sufficient

revenue to cover budgeted expenses of

$1,056,000, the Committee unanimously

recommended that the 1994–95 crop

year administrative assessment be

increased from $0.60 to $0.63 per net

ton of assessable farmers’ stock peanuts.

While this action will impose some

additional costs on handlers, the costs

are in the form of uniform assessments

on all handlers signatory to the

agreement. Some of the additional costs

may be passed on to producers.

However, these costs will be

significantly offset by the benefits

derived from the operation of the

marketing agreement. Therefore, the

Administrator of the AMS has

determined that this action will not

have a significant economic impact on

a substantial number of small entities.

After consideration of all relevant

matter presented, including the

information and recommendations

submitted by the Committee and other

available information, it is hereby found

that this rule, as hereinafter set forth,

will tend to effectuate the declared

policy of the Act.

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is also

found and determined upon good cause

that it is impracticable, unnecessary,

and contrary to the public interest to

give preliminary notice prior to putting

this rule into effect and that good cause

exists for not postponing the effective

date of this action until 30 days after

publication in the Federal Register

because: (1) The Committee needs to

have sufficient funds to pay its expenses

which are incurred on a continuous

basis; (2) the 1994–95 crop year began

on July 1, 1994, and the 1995–96 crop

year begins on July 1, 1995, and the

marketing agreement requires that the

rate of assessment for the fiscal period

apply to all assessable peanuts handled

during the fiscal period; (3) handlers are

aware of these actions which were

unanimously recommended by the

Committee at a public meeting and are

similar to other budget actions issued in

past years; and (4) this interim final rule

provides a 30-day comment period, and

all comments timely received will be

considered prior to finalization of this

action.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 998

Marketing agreements, Peanuts,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 7 CFR part 998 is amended as

follows:

PART 998—MARKETING AGREEMENT

REGULATING THE QUALITY OF

DOMESTICALLY PRODUCED

PEANUTS

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR

part 998 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674.

Note: These sections will not appear in the

Code of Federal Regulations.

2. New § 998.408 is added to read as

follows:

§ 998.408 Expenses, assessment rate, and

indemnification reserve.

(a) Administrative expenses. The

budget of expenses for the Peanut

Administrative Committee for the crop

year beginning July 1, 1995, shall be in

the amount of $1,067,500, such amount

being reasonable and likely to be

incurred for the maintenance and

functioning of the Committee and for

such purposes as the Secretary may,

pursuant to the provisions of the

marketing agreement, determine to be

appropriate.

(b) Indemnification expenses.

Expenses of the Committee not to

exceed $7,000,000 for indemnification

claims payments and claims expenses,

pursuant to the terms and conditions of

indemnification applicable to the 1995

crop effective July 1, 1995, are

authorized. In addition, indemnification

expenses, in an undetermined amount

estimated not to exceed $500,000,

which are incurred by the Committee

for sampling and testing fees for 2–AB

and 3–AB Subsamples, and fees for the

supervision of the crushing of

indemnified peanuts are also

authorized.

(c) Rate of assessment. Each handler

shall pay to the Committee, in

accordance with § 998.48 of the

marketing agreement, an assessment at

the rate of $1.70 per net ton of farmers’

stock peanuts received or acquired other

than from those described in

§§ 998.31(c) and (d). A total of $0.70

shall be for administrative expenses and

a total of $1.00 shall be for

indemnification. Assessments are due

on the 15th of the month following the

month in which the farmers’ stock

peanuts are received or acquired.

(d) Indemnification reserve. Monetary

additions to the indemnification

reserve, established in the 1965 crop
26350 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 95 / Wednesday, May 17, 1995 / Rules and Regulations

year pursuant to § 998.48 of the

agreement, shall continue. That portion

of the total assessment funds accrued

from the $1.00 rate not expended on

indemnification claims payments on

1995 crop peanuts and related expenses

shall be kept in such reserve and shall

be available to pay indemnification

expenses on subsequent crops.

§ 998.407 [Amended]

3. On § 998.407, paragraph (c) is

amended by removing ‘‘$2.60’’ and

adding in its place ‘‘$2.63’’ and by

removing ‘‘$0.60’’ and adding in its

place ‘‘$0.63.’’

Dated: May 11, 1995.

Terry C. Long,

Acting Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable

Division.

[FR Doc. 95–12146 Filed 5–16–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

Rural Housing and Community

Development Service; Rural Business

and Cooperative Development

Service; Rural Utilities Service;

Consolidated Farm Service Agency

7 CFR Part 1980

RIN 0575–AB84

Business and Industrial Loan Program

AGENCIES: Rural Housing and

Community Development Service, Rural

Business and Cooperative Development

Service, Rural Utilities Service, and

Consolidated Farm Service Agency,

USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Rural Business and

Cooperative Development Service

(RBCDS), (pursuant to section 234 of the

Department of Agriculture

Reorganization Act of 1994 (Pub. L.

103–354, October 13, 1994) and the

Secretary’s decision to implement such

Authority) is the successor to the Rural

Development Administration (RDA),

which is the successor to the Farmers

Home Administration (FmHA). RBCDS

amends the Business and Industry Loan

Servicing regulations to clarify the

procedure for categorizing and

classifying loans according to payment

frequency criteria. The intended effect is

to clarify procedures for classifying and

categorizing loan payment history.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 17, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kenneth E. Hennings, Senior Loan

Specialist, Business and Industry

Division, RBCDS (formerly RDA), U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Room 6337,

South Agriculture Building, 14th Street

and Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC, 20250–0700,

Telephone: (202) 690–3809.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Classification

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).

Programs Affected

The Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance program impacted by this

action is: 10.768, Business and

Industrial Loans.

Intergovernmental Review

The Business and Industrial Loan

programs are subject to the provisions of

Executive Order 12372 which requires

intergovernmental consultation with

State and local officials. RBCDS has

conducted intergovernmental

consultation in the manner delineated

in FmHA Instruction 1940–J,

‘‘Intergovernmental Review of Farmers

Home Administration Programs and

Activities.’’

Civil Justice Reform

This final rule has been reviewed

under Executive Order 12778, Civil

Justice Reform. (In accordance with this

rule:) (1) All state and local laws and

regulations that are in conflict with this

rule will be preempted; (2) no

retroactive effect will be given to this

rule; and (3) administrative proceedings

in accordance with the regulations of

the agency at 7 C.F.R. 1900–B or those

regulations published by the

Department of Agriculture to implement

the provisions of the National Appeals

Division as mandated by the

Department of Agriculture

Reorganization Act of 1994 must be

exhausted before bringing suit in court

challenging action taken under this rule

unless those regulations specifically

allow bringing suit at an earlier time.

Paperwork Reduction Act

The information collection

requirements contained in this

regulation have been approved by the

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) under the provisions of 44 U.S.C.

Chapter 35 and have been assigned

OMB control number 0575–0029 in

accordance with the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1980. This rule does

not revise or impose any new

information collection or recordkeeping

requirement from those approved by

OMB.

Environmental Impact Statement

This document has been reviewed in

accordance with 7 CFR Part 1940,

subpart G, ‘‘Environmental Program.’’

RBCDS has determined that this action

does not constitute a major Federal

action significantly affecting the quality

of the human environment, and in

accordance with the National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969,

Public Law 91–190, an Environmental

Impact Statement is not required.

Background

The regulations for Business and

Industrial guaranteed loans require the

lender to classify each loan in

accordance with specific criteria set out

in the regulations. It has been

discovered that loans that are in

compliance with requirements and have

been current for more than 23 months

but still have an outstanding balance of

more than two-thirds of the original

loan amount do not fit the criteria

provided for in any classification. This

action is to revise the criteria so that

those loans will be included in the

current non-problem classification.

Comments

On June 24, 1994, FmHA published a

proposed rule with a comment period

ending on August 23, 1994 in the

Federal Register (59 FR 32660) to revise

the loan classification criteria so that

those loans that have been current for

more than 23 months but still have an

outstanding balance of more than twothirds of the original loan amount will

be included in the current non-problem

classification. There were no comments

on the proposed rule.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1980

Loan programs—Business and

industry, Rural development assistance,

Rural areas.

Accordingly, part 1980 of chapter

XVIII, title 7 of the Code of Federal

Regulations is amended as follows:

PART 1980—GENERAL

1. The authority citation for part 1980

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1989; 42 U.S.C. 1480;

7 U.S.C. 301; 7 CFR 2.23; 7 CFR 2.70.

Subpart E—Business and Industrial

Loan Program

2. Section 1980.469 is amended by

revising paragraph (c)(3) to read as

follows:

§ 1980.469 Loan servicing.

* * * * *

(c) * * *