This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

47599 

Vol. 86, No. 163 

Thursday, August 26, 2021 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 987 

[Doc. No. AMS–SC–21–0056; SC21–987–1 

PR] 

Domestic Dates Produced or Packed in 

Riverside County, California; Increased 

Assessment Rate 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would 

implement a recommendation from the 

California Date Administrative 

Committee to increase the assessment 

rate for the 2020–21 and subsequent 

crop years. The assessment rate would 

remain in effect indefinitely unless 

modified, suspended, or terminated. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

September 10, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit comments concerning 

this proposed rule. Comments must be 

submitted via the internet at: http://

www.regulations.gov. All comments 

should reference the document number 

and the date and page number of this 

issue of the Federal Register. All 

comments submitted in response to this 

proposed rule will be included in the 

record and the identity of the 

individuals or entities submitting the 

comments will be made public on the 

internet at the address provided above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Barry Broadbent, Senior Marketing 

Specialist, Northwest Marketing Field 

Office, Marketing Order and Agreement 

Division, Specialty Crops Program, 

AMS, USDA; Telephone: (503) 326– 

2724, or Email: Barry.Broadbent@

usda.gov. 

Small businesses may request 

information on complying with this 

regulation by contacting Richard Lower, 

Marketing Order and Agreement 

Division, Specialty Crops Program, 

AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW, STOP 0237, Washington, 

DC 20250–0237; Telephone: (202) 720– 

2491, or Email: Richard.Lower@

usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

action, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, 

proposes an amendment to regulations 

issued to carry out a marketing order as 

defined in 7 CFR 900.2(j). This proposed 

rule is issued under Marketing Order 

No. 987, as amended (7 CFR part 987), 

regulating the handling of domestic 

dates produced or packed in Riverside 

County, California. Part 987, (referred to 

as the ‘‘Order’’), 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 

California Date Administrative 

Committee (Committee) locally 

administers the Order and is comprised 

of producers and producer-handlers 

operating within the area of production. 

The Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) is issuing this proposed rule in 

conformance with Executive Orders 

12866 and 13563. Executive Orders 

12866 and 13563 direct agencies to 

assess all costs and benefits of available 

regulatory alternatives and, if regulation 

is necessary, to select regulatory 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health and safety 

effects, distributive impacts and equity). 

Executive Order 13563 emphasizes the 

importance of quantifying both costs 

and benefits, reducing costs, 

harmonizing rules, and promoting 

flexibility. This action falls within a 

category of regulatory actions that the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) exempted from Executive Order 

12866 review. 

This proposed rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 13175— 

Consultation and Coordination with 

Indian Tribal Governments, which 

requires agencies to consider whether 

their rulemaking actions would have 

tribal implications. AMS has 

determined that this proposed rule is 

unlikely to have substantial direct 

effects on one or more Indian tribes, on 

the relationship between the Federal 

Government and Indian tribes, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities between the Federal 

Government and Indian tribes. 

This proposed rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform. Under the Order now in 

effect, California date handlers are 

subject to assessments. Funds to 

administer the Order are derived from 

such assessments. It is intended that the 

assessment rate would be applicable to 

all assessable dates for the 2020–21 crop 

year, and continue until amended, 

suspended, or terminated. 

The Act provides that administrative 

proceedings must be exhausted before 

parties may file suit in court. Under 

section 608c(15)(A) of the Act (7 U.S.C. 

608(15)(A)), any handler subject to an 

order may file with USDA a petition 

stating that the order, any provision of 

the order, or any obligation imposed in 

connection with the order is not in 

accordance with law and request a 

modification of the order or to be 

exempted therefrom. Such handler is 

afforded the opportunity for a hearing 

on the petition. After the hearing, USDA 

would rule on the petition. The Act 

provides that the district court of the 

United States in any district in which 

the handler is an inhabitant, or has his 

or her principal place of business, has 

jurisdiction to review USDA’s ruling on 

the petition, provided an action is filed 

not later than 20 days after the date of 

the entry of the ruling. 

The Order provides authority for the 

Committee, with the approval of USDA, 

to formulate an annual budget of 

expenses and collect assessments from 

handlers to administer the program. 

Members are familiar with the 

Committee’s needs and costs of goods 

and services in their local area, and they 

can formulate an appropriate budget 

and assessment rate. The assessment 

rate is formulated and discussed in a 

public meeting. Thus, all directly 

affected persons have an opportunity to 

participate and provide input. 

This proposed rule would increase 

the assessment rate from $0.15 per 

hundredweight, the rate that was 

established for the 2018–19 and 

subsequent crop years, to $0.20 per 

hundredweight of dates handled for the 

2020–21 and subsequent crop years. The 

Committee met on June 25, 2020, and 

unanimously recommended increasing 

the assessment rate to fund necessary 

administrative expenses and maintain a 

sufficient operating reserve. The rate 

increase should provide sufficient funds 

to cover most of the Committee’s 2020– 

21 crop year budgeted expenses, with 

the balance coming from other revenue 

sources and reserve funds. 


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47600 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 163 / Thursday, August 26, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

The Committee estimates the 2020–21 

domestic date crop to be 32,000,000 

pounds (320,000 hundredweight), 

which would generate $64,000 in 

assessment income at the recommended 

$0.20 per hundredweight assessment 

rate. The Committee expects other 

income of approximately $5,000. Total 

income of $69,000, combined with 

$6,250 from the financial reserve, 

should provide enough funds to cover 

2020–21 crop year budgeted 

expenditures. Reserve funds remaining 

at the end of the 2020–21 crop year are 

expected to be $28,750. 

The Committee’s budget for the 2020– 

21 crop year is estimated to be $75,250. 

Committee’s expenses include $47,000 

for management, $19,250 for office 

administration, and $9,000 for the 

financial audit. In comparison, the 

previous crop year’s total budget was 

$74,200, and the administrative 

expenses were $43,000, $21,200, and 

$10,000, respectively. 

The assessment rate recommended by 

the Committee was derived by 

considering anticipated expenses, the 

expected volume of dates handled, and 

the amount of funds available in the 

operating reserve. Income derived from 

handler assessments of $64,000 (320,000 

hundredweight assessed at the proposed 

rate of $0.20) should be adequate to 

cover most budgeted expenses of 

$75,250, with the balance covered from 

$5,000 in other income and $6,250 from 

reserve funds. After expending $6,250, 

the ending 2020–21 crop year balance in 

the financial reserve is expected to be 

$28,750, which would be less than the 

average of the annual expenses of the 

preceding five years, as mandated by 

§ 987.72(d). 

The assessment rate proposed in this 

rule would continue in effect 

indefinitely unless modified, 

suspended, or terminated by USDA 

upon recommendation and information 

submitted by the Committee or other 

available information. 

Although this assessment rate would 

be in effect for an indefinite period, the 

Committee would continue to meet 

prior to or during each crop year to 

recommend a budget of expenses and 

consider recommendations for 

modification of the assessment rate. 

Dates and times of Committee meetings 

are available from the Committee or 

USDA. Meetings are public and held 

virtually or in a hybrid style with 

participants having a choice whether to 

attend in person or virtually. All 

interested persons may express their 

views at these meetings. USDA would 

evaluate Committee recommendations 

and other available information to 

determine whether modification of the 

assessment rate is needed. Further 

rulemaking would be undertaken as 

necessary. The Committee’s budget for 

subsequent crop years would be 

reviewed and, as appropriate, approved 

by USDA. 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Pursuant to requirements set forth in 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 

U.S.C. 601–612), the Agricultural 

Marketing Service (AMS) has 

considered the economic impact of this 

proposed rule on small entities. 

Accordingly, AMS has prepared this 

initial regulatory flexibility analysis. 

The purpose of the RFA is to fit 

regulatory actions to the scale of 

businesses subject to such actions in 

order that small businesses will not be 

unduly or disproportionately burdened. 

Marketing orders issued pursuant to the 

Act, and the rules issued thereunder, are 

unique in that they are brought about 

through group action of essentially 

small entities acting on their own 

behalf. 

There are approximately 70 date 

producers in the production area and 11 

date handlers subject to regulation 

under the Order. The Small Business 

Administration defines small 

agricultural producers as those having 

annual receipts of less than $1,000,000, 

and small agricultural service firms as 

those whose annual receipts are less 

than $30,000,000. (13 CFR 121.201) 

According to the National 

Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), 

data for the most-recently completed 

crop year (2019) shows that producer 

price for fresh market California dates 

was $4,130 per ton. With the estimated 

16,000-ton crop, the total farm gate 

value for California date producers was 

approximately $66,080,000 (16,000 

times $4,130). Therefore, the average 

fresh market date revenue for the 70 

producers within the production area 

would be about $944,000 ($66,080,000 

divided by 70). Thus, assuming a 

normal bell-curve distribution of 

receipts among producers, AMS 

estimates the majority of producers 

would qualify as small businesses under 

the SBA definition. 

Furthermore, USDA Market News 

reported an average terminal market 

price of $50.88 per 11-pound carton for 

the 2019–20 crop year. With 

approximately 32,000,000 pounds 

handled, the industry would have 

shipped an estimated 2,909,091 11- 

pound cartons (32,000,000 divided by 

11) of packaged dates for a total value 

of $148,014,550 (2,909,091 times 

$50.88). With 11 date handlers within 

the production area, the average revenue 

per handler is estimated to be 

$13,455,868 for the 2019–20 crop year 

($148,014,550 divided by 11). Thus, 

most California date handlers would be 

considered small businesses under the 

SBA definition. 

This proposed rule would increase 

the assessment rate collected from 

handlers for the 2020–21 and 

subsequent crop years from $0.15 to 

$0.20 per hundredweight of dates 

handled. The Committee unanimously 

recommended 2020–21 crop year 

expenditures of $75,250 and an 

assessment rate of $0.20 per 

hundredweight of dates, which is $0.05 

higher than the rate currently in effect. 

The quantity of assessable dates for the 

2020–21 crop year is estimated to be 

32,000,000 pounds (320,000 

hundredweight). The proposed $0.20 

rate should provide $64,000 in 

assessment income. Income derived 

from handlers’ assessments, plus $5,000 

of other income and $6,250 from the 

Committee’s authorized reserve, should 

be adequate to cover the Committee’s 

budgeted expenses for the 2020–21 crop 

year. 

The total budget recommended by the 

Committee for the 2020–21 crop year is 

$75,250, compared to $74,200 for the 

2019–20 crop year. The Committee 

recommended the higher assessment 

rate to fully fund ongoing program 

expenses without depleting its operating 

reserve. 

The income generated from the 

proposed higher assessment rate, 

combined with other income and a 

small amount from the financial reserve, 

should be sufficient to cover anticipated 

2020–21 expenses and to maintain a 

financial reserve within the limit 

specified by the Order. 

Section 987.72(d) states that the 

Committee may maintain an operating 

monetary reserve not to exceed the 

average of one year’s expenses incurred 

during the most recent five preceding 

crop years, except that an established 

reserve need not be reduced to conform 

to any recomputed average. The 

Committee estimated that funds in its 

reserve would be approximately $35,000 

at the beginning of the 2020–21 crop 

year. It expects to utilize $6,250 of the 

reserve during the year, leaving a 

reserve of approximately $28,750 to 

start the 2021–22 crop year, which 

would be within the limit specified in 

the Order. 

The Committee reviewed and 

unanimously recommended 2020–21 

crop year expenditures of $75,250. The 

Committee considered several factors 

before making its recommendation, 

including the size of the anticipated 

2020–21 crop, the Committee’s 

estimated 2020–21 reserve carry-in, 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 163 / Thursday, August 26, 2021 / Proposed Rules 47601 

other sources of income, and its 

anticipated expenses. Further, the 

Committee considered several 

alternative expenditure levels and 

assessment rates, including not 

changing the assessment rate or 

adjusting expenses. Ultimately, the 

Committee recommended the $0.20 per 

hundredweight assessment rate to fund 

the program’s expenses and maintain its 

reserve at a reasonable level. 

A review of historical and preliminary 

information pertaining to the upcoming 

crop year indicates that the producer 

price for the 2020–21 crop year is 

estimated to be $201.50 per 

hundredweight of dates. Utilizing that 

price, the estimated crop size, and the 

proposed assessment rate of $0.20 per 

hundredweight, the estimated 

assessment revenue for the 2020–21 

crop year as a percentage of total 

producer revenue will be approximately 

0.1 percent ($0.20 per hundredweight 

divided by $201.50 per hundredweight). 

This proposed action would increase 

the assessment obligation imposed on 

handlers. While assessments impose 

some additional costs on handlers, the 

costs are minimal and uniform on all 

handlers. Some additional costs may be 

passed on to producers. However, these 

costs would be offset by the benefits 

derived by the operation of the Order. 

In addition, the Committee’s and the 

Subcommittee’s meetings were widely 

publicized throughout the California 

date industry. All interested persons 

were invited to attend the meetings and 

encouraged to participate in Committee 

deliberations on all issues. The June 25, 

2020 Committee meeting was a virtually 

held public meeting and all entities, 

both large and small, were able to 

express views on this issue. Interested 

persons are invited to submit comments 

on this proposed rule, including the 

regulatory and information collection 

impacts of this action on small 

businesses. 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

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

Chapter 35), the Order’s information 

collection requirements have been 

previously approved by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) and 

assigned OMB No. 0581–0178 Vegetable 

and Specialty Crops. No changes in 

these requirements would be necessary 

as a result of this action. Should any 

changes become necessary, they would 

be submitted to OMB for approval. 

This proposed rule would not impose 

any additional reporting or 

recordkeeping requirements on either 

small or large California date 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. 

AMS is committed to complying with 

the E-Government Act, to promote the 

use of the internet and other 

information technologies to provide 

increased opportunities for citizen 

access to Government information and 

services, and for other purposes. 

USDA has not identified any relevant 

Federal rules that duplicate, overlap, or 

conflict with this proposed rule. 

A small business guide on complying 

with fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop 

marketing agreements and orders may 

be viewed at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/ 

rules-regulations/moa/small-businesses. 

Any questions about the compliance 

guide should be sent to Richard Lower 

at the previously mentioned address in 

the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 987 

Dates, Marketing agreements, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

For reasons set forth in the preamble, 

7 CFR part 987 is proposed to be 

amended as follows: 

PART 987—DOMESTIC DATES 

PRODUCED OR PACKED IN 

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 987 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674. 

■ 2. Section 987.339 is revised to read 

as follows: 

§ 987.339 Assessment rate. 

On and after October 1, 2020, an 

assessment rate of $0.20 per 

hundredweight is established for dates 

produced or packed in Riverside 

County, California. 

Erin Morris, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–17912 Filed 8–25–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION 

12 CFR Part 628 

RIN 3052–AD42 

Risk Weighting of High Volatility 

Commercial Real Estate (HVCRE) 

Exposures 

AGENCY: Farm Credit Administration. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Farm Credit 

Administration (FCA, we, or our) is 

seeking comments on this proposed rule 

that would revise our regulatory capital 

requirements for Farm Credit System 

(FCS or System) institutions to define 

and establish risk-weightings for High 

Volatility Commercial Real Estate 

(HVCRE) exposures. 

DATES: Please send us your comments 

on or before November 24, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: For accuracy and efficiency 

reasons, please submit comments by 

email or through FCA’s website. We do 

not accept comments submitted by 

facsimiles (fax), as faxes are difficult for 

us to process and achieve compliance 

with section 508 of the Rehabilitation 

Act of 1973. Please do not submit your 

comment multiple times via different 

methods. You may submit comments by 

any of the following methods: 

• Email: Send us an email at regcomm@fca.gov. 

• FCA Website: http://www.fca.gov. 

Click inside the ‘‘I want to. . .’’ field 

near the top of the page; select 

‘‘comment on a pending regulation’’ 

from the dropdown menu; and click 

‘‘Go.’’ This takes you to an electronic 

public comment form. 

• Mail: Kevin J. Kramp, Director, 

Office of Regulatory Policy, Farm Credit 

Administration, 1501 Farm Credit Drive, 

McLean, VA 22102–5090. 

You may review copies of comments 

we receive on our website at http://

www.fca.gov. Once you are on the 

website, click inside the ‘‘I want to. . .’’ 

field near the top of the page; select 

‘‘find comments on a pending 

regulation’’ from the dropdown menu; 

and click ‘‘Go.’’ This will take you to the 

Comment Letters page where you can 

select the regulation for which you 

would like to read the public comments. 

We will show your comments as 

submitted, including any supporting 

data provided, but for technical reasons 

we may omit items such as logos and 

special characters. Identifying 

information that you provide, such as 

phone numbers and addresses, will be 

publicly available. However, we will 

attempt to remove email addresses to 

help reduce internet spam. You may 

also review comments at our office in 

McLean, Virginia. Please call us at (703) 

883–4056 or email us at reg-comm@

fca.gov to make an appointment. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Technical information: Ryan Leist, 

LeistR@fca.gov, Senior Accountant, or 

Jeremy R. Edelstein, EdelsteinJ@fca.gov, 

Associate Director, Finance and Capital 

Markets Team, Office of Regulatory 

Policy, Farm Credit Administration, 

McLean, VA 22102–5090, (703) 883– 

4414, TTY (703) 883–4056 or 

ORPMailbox@fca.gov; or 


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