This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

27013

Vol. 66, No. 95

Wednesday, May 16, 2001

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Business-Cooperative Service

7 CFR Part 1942

RIN 0570–AA32

Rural Business Enterprise Grants and

Television Demonstration Grants

AGENCY: Rural Business-Cooperative

Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request

for comments.

SUMMARY: The Rural BusinessCooperative Service (RBS) is amending

the Rural Business Enterprise Grant

(RBEG) Program regulation by revising

the definition of small and emerging

private business enterprise. The current

definition burdens the grantee by

placing too many eligibility restrictions

on the businesses to be assisted by the

grantee. This amendment will ensure

the grantee can assist small businesses

in rural areas without eligibility

restrictions for the use of technological

innovations or commercialization of

new products or processes.

DATES: Effective May 16, 2001.

Comments must be received on or

before July 16, 2001.

Applicability Date: The small

business definition change will be

retroactive starting August 11, 1988.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be

submitted, in duplicate, to the

Regulations and Paperwork

Management Branch, Attention Cheryl

Thompson, Rural Development, U.S.

Department of Agriculture, STOP 0742,

1400 Independence Avenue SW.,

Washington, DC 20250–0742.

Comments may be submitted via the

Internet by addressing them to

comments@rus.usda.gov and must

contain the word ‘‘small’’ in the subject.

All written comments will be available

for public inspection during normal

working hours at 300 E Street, SW.,

Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Amy Cavanaugh, Rural Development

Specialist, Specialty Lenders Division,

Rural Business-Cooperative Service,

U.S. Department of Agriculture, STOP

3225, 1400 Independence Ave. SW.,

Washington, DC 20250, Telephone (202)

690–2516. The TTD number is (800)

877–8339 or (202) 708–9300.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Classification

This rule has been determined to be

non-significant and has not been

reviewed by the Office of Management

and Budget.

Programs Affected

The Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance number for the program

impacted by this action is 10.769, Rural

Development Grants.

Paperwork Reduction Act

There are no reporting and

recordkeeping requirements associated

with this interim rule.

Intergovernmental Review

The RBEG Program is subject to the

provisions of Executive Order 12372,

which requires intergovernmental

consultation with state and local

officials. RBS will conduct

intergovernmental consultation in the

manner delineated in RD Instruction

1940–J, ‘‘Intergovernmental Review of

Rural Development Programs and

Activities,’’ and in 7 CFR part 3015,

subpart V.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

In compliance with the Regulatory

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601–602), the

undersigned has determined and

certified by signature of this document

that this rule will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities. New

provisions included in this rule will not

impact a substantial number of small

entities to a greater extent than large

entities. Therefore, a regulatory

flexibility analysis was not performed.

Civil Justice Reform

This interim rule has been reviewed

under Executive Order 12988, 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) retroactive

effect will be given to this rule starting

August 11, 1988; and (3) administrative

proceedings in accordance with the

regulations of the Agency at 7 CFR part

11 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.

Environmental Impact Statement

This document has been reviewed in

accordance with 7 CFR part 1940,

subpart G, ‘‘Environmental Program.’’

RBS has determined that this proposed

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, 42

U.S.C. 4321 et seq. an Environmental

Impact Statement is not required.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

Title II of the Unfunded Mandates

Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Pub. L.

104–4, establishes requirements for

Federal agencies to assess the effects of

their regulatory actions on state, local,

and tribal governments and the private

sector. Under section 202 of the UMRA,

RBS must prepare a written statement,

including a cost-benefit analysis, for

proposed and final rules with ‘‘Federal

mandates’’ that may result in

expenditures to state, local or tribal

governments, in the aggregate, or to the

private sector, of $100 million or more

in any one year. When such a statement

is needed for a rule, section 205 of

UMRA generally requires RBS to

identify and consider a reasonable

number of regulatory alternatives and

adopt the least costly, more cost

effective or least burdensome alternative

that achieves the objectives of the rule.

This rule contains no Federal

mandates (under the regulatory

provisions of title II of the UMRA) for

state, local, and tribal governments or

the private sector. Thus this rule is not

subject to the requirements of sections

202 and 205 of UMRA.

Background

This regulatory package is an Agency

initiative to make the RBEG Program

more effective at stimulating economic

development by reducing certain

eligibility requirements for small and

emerging private business enterprise

(small business) located in rural areas.

27014 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 95 / Wednesday, May 16, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

There has been much confusion on the

definition of small business since it was

first published in the Federal Register,

August 11, 1988. At that time, the RBEG

Program was called the Industrial

Development Grant Program. The name

of the program was changed in 1992 and

still contained the small business

definition. The RBEG Program has been

administered by two separate agencies

since inception of the program. The

Farmers Home Administration (FmHA)

originally administered the RBEG

Program. In 1996, it was transferred to

RBS. FmHA misinterpreted the

definition of small business in its

regulations as only needing to meet the

first two parts of the definition in order

to be eligible for assistance and funded

grants based on this misinterpretation.

RBS has recently determined the FmHA

interpretation is not consistent with the

actual regulatory language. Therefore,

the Agency wants to correct the

definition language and make it

retroactive starting August 11, 1988, so

the reversed definition will be

applicable to existing grants. Retroactive

application of the definition will

validate existing grants, which might

not otherwise have been eligible under

a strict application of the regulatory

criteria defining a small business. This

will ultimately streamline the regulation

and reduce the burden to the applicant

in meeting the restricted definition.

Discussion of Interim Final Rule

It is the policy of this Department that

rules relating to public property, loans,

grants, benefits or contracts shall be

published for comment notwithstanding

the exemption of 5 U.S.C. 553 with

respect to such rules. However, it would

be contrary to the public interest to wait

for public comment before

implementing the revision to the small

business definition. There is an

immediate need to provide funds to the

public to help alleviate the lack of

money available for economic

development in rural areas and to

alleviate confusion caused by past

misinterpretation and misapplication of

regulatory requirements. Using the

FmHA interpretation of the small

business definition will allow more

small businesses to stimulate the

economy and provide jobs. Comments

will be accepted for 60 days after

publication of this interim final rule and

will be considered in the development

of the final rule.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1942

Business and industry, Grant

programs—Housing and community

development, Industrial park, Rural

areas.

Therefore, chapter XVIII, title 7, Code

of Federal Regulations, is amended as

follows:

PART 1942—ASSOCIATIONS

1. The authority citation for part 1942

is revised to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301, 7 U.S.C. 1932, 7

U.S.C. 1989, and 16 U.S.C. 1005.

Subpart G—Rural Business Enterprise

Grants and Television Demonstration

Grants

2. Section 1942.304 is amended by

revising the definition of small and

emerging private business enterprise to

read as follows:

§ 1942.304 Definitions.

* * * * *

Small and emerging private business

enterprise. Any private business which

will employ 50 or fewer new employees

and has less than $1 million in

projected gross revenues.

* * * * *

Dated: May 9, 2001.

Dawn R. Riley,

Acting Deputy Under Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–12249 Filed 5–15–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–XY–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. 2000–CE–72–AD; Amendment

39–12230; AD 2001–10–04]

RIN 2120–AA64

Airworthiness Directives; Air Tractor,

Inc. AT–400, AT–500, and AT–800

Series Airplanes

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Final rule; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: This amendment supersedes

Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2000–14–

51, which requires inspection of the

wing lower spar cap for cracks on Air

Tractor, Inc. (Air Tractor) Models AT–

501, AT–502, and AT–502A airplanes,

and modification or replacement of any

cracked wing lower spar cap. This AD

lowers the safe life for the wing lower

spar cap on Air Tractor AT–400, AT–

500, and AT–800 series airplanes. This

AD is the result of numerous reports of

cracks in the 3⁄8-inch bolthole of the

wing lower spar cap on the affected

airplanes. The actions specified by this

AD are intended to prevent fatigue

cracks from occurring in the wing lower

spar cap before the originally

established safe life is reached. Fatigue

cracks in the wing lower spar cap, if not

detected and corrected, could result in

the wing separating from the airplane

during flight.

DATES: This AD becomes effective on

June 8, 2001.

The Director of the Federal Register

approved the incorporation by reference

of certain publications listed in the

regulation as of June 8, 2001.

The Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA) must receive any comments on

this rule on or before July 13, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments in

triplicate to FAA, Central Region, Office

of the Regional Counsel, Attention:

Rules Docket No. 2000–CE–72–AD, 901

Locust, Room 506, Kansas City,

Missouri 64106.

You may get the service information

referenced in this AD from Air Tractor,

Incorporated, P.O. Box 485, Olney,

Texas 76374. You may look at this

information at FAA, Central Region,

Office of the Regional Counsel,

Attention: Rules Docket No. 2000–CE–

72–AD, 901 Locust, Room 506, Kansas

City, Missouri 64106; or at the Office of

the Federal Register, 800 North Capitol

Street, NW., suite 700, Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rob

Romero, Aerospace Engineer, FAA, Fort

Worth Airplane Certification Office,

2601 Meacham Boulevard, Fort Worth,

Texas 76193–0150; telephone: (817)

222–5102; facsimile: (817) 222–5960.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Discussion

What Events Have Caused This AD?

Several reports of cracked wing lower

spar caps on Air Tractor AT–400, AT–

500, and AT–800 series airplanes have

caused the manufacturer (Air Tractor) to

recalculate the fatigue life of the wing

lower spar cap on these airplanes. One

report was an accident where the wing

separated from the airplane during

flight. The cracks are originating in the

outboard 3⁄8-inch bolthole of the wing

lower spar cap.

Air Tractor fatigue tested 24 wings

and all had cracks in the area of the 3⁄8-

inch bolthole. Follow-on field

inspections revealed more cracks in this

area.

What Are the Consequences if the

Condition Is Not Corrected?

This condition could result in fatigue

cracks in the wing lower spar cap before

the originally established safe life is

reached. Fatigue cracks in the wing

lower spar cap, if not detected and