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

31185

Vol. 66, No. 112

Monday, June 11, 2001

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 1030

[Docket No. AO–361–A35; DA–01–03]

Milk in the Upper Midwest Marketing

Area; Notice of Hearing on Proposed

Amendments to Tentative Marketing

Agreements and Orders

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule; Notice of public

hearing on proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY: A public hearing is being held

to consider proposals that would

prevent the pooling of milk on the

Upper Midwest Federal milk marketing

order that is already pooled on a State

milk marketing order that has

marketwide pooling. Additionally, a

proposal that would provide for

separate pooling provisions for milk

from areas outside of the states

comprising the Upper Midwest order

will also be considered. A proposal to

change the advance payment to dairy

farmers by milk handlers for milk

delivered during the first half of the

month will also be considered.

Proponents have requested that this

issue be handled on an emergency basis.

DATES: The hearing will convene at 9:00

a.m. on Tuesday, June 26, 2001.

ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held at

the Radisson Hotel South & Plaza

Tower, 7800 Normandale Blvd.,

Bloomington, Minnesota 55439, (952)

835–7800.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Gino Tosi, Marketing Specialist, Order

Formulation Branch, USDA/AMS/Dairy

Programs, Room 2967, South Building,

P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090–

6456, (202) 690–1366, e-mail address

Gino.Tosi@usda.gov.

Persons requiring a sign language

interpreter or other special

accommodations should contact Paul

Kyburz at (952)–831–5292; e-mail:

paul.kyburz@usda.gov before the

hearing begins.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

administrative action is governed by the

provisions of sections 556 and 557 of

Title 5 of the United States Code and,

therefore, is excluded from the

requirements of Executive Order 12866.

Notice is hereby given of a public

hearing to be held at the Radisson Hotel

South & Plaza Tower, 7800 Normandale

Blvd., Bloomington, Minnesota, 55439,

beginning at 9:00 a.m., on Tuesday, June

26, 2001, with respect to proposed

amendments to the tentative marketing

agreement and to the order regulating

the handling of milk in the Upper

Midwest marketing area.

The hearing is called pursuant to the

provisions of the Agricultural Marketing

Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7

U.S.C. 601–674), and the applicable

rules of practice and procedure

governing the formulation of marketing

agreements and marketing orders (7 CFR

part 900).

The purpose of the hearing is to

receive evidence with respect to the

economic and marketing conditions

which relate to the proposed

amendments, hereinafter set forth, and

any appropriate modifications thereof,

to the tentative marketing agreement

and to the order.

Evidence also will be taken to

determine whether emergency

marketing conditions exist that would

warrant omission of a recommended

decision under the rules of practice and

procedure (7 CFR 900.12(d)) with

respect to the proposed amendments.

Actions under the Federal milk order

program are subject to the Regulatory

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).

This Act seeks to ensure that, within the

statutory authority of a program, the

regulatory and informational

requirements are tailored to the size and

nature of small businesses. For the

purpose of the Act, a dairy farm is a

‘‘small business’’ if it has an annual

gross revenue of less than $500,000, and

a dairy products manufacturer is a

‘‘small business’’ if it has fewer than 500

employees. Most parties subject to a

milk order are considered as a small

business. Accordingly, interested parties

are invited to present evidence on the

probable regulatory and informational

impact of the hearing proposals on

small businesses. Also, parties may

suggest modifications of these proposals

for the purpose of tailoring their

applicability to small businesses.

The amendments to the rules

proposed herein have been reviewed

under Executive Order 12988, Civil

Justice Reform. They are not intended to

have a retroactive effect. If adopted, the

proposed amendments would not

preempt any state or local laws,

regulations, or policies, unless they

present an irreconcilable conflict with

this rule.

The Agricultural Marketing

Agreement Act provides that

administrative proceedings must be

exhausted before parties may file suit in

court. Under section 8c(15)(A) of the

Act, any handler subject to an order may

request modification or exemption from

such order by filing with the Secretary

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 the law. A

handler is afforded the opportunity for

a hearing on the petition. After a

hearing, the Secretary 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 its principal place of

business, has jurisdiction in equity to

review the Secretary’s ruling on the

petition, provided a bill in equity is

filed not later than 20 days after the date

of the entry of the ruling.

Interested parties who wish to

introduce exhibits should provide the

Presiding Officer at the hearing with 3

copies of such exhibits for the Official

Record. Also, it would be helpful if

additional copies are available for the

use of other participants at the hearing.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1030

Milk marketing orders.

PART 1030—[AMENDED]

The authority citation for 7 CFR part

1030 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674.

The proposed amendments, as set

forth below, have not received the

approval of the Secretary of Agriculture.

31186 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 112 / Monday, June 11, 2001 / Proposed Rules

Submitted by: Associated Milk

Producers, Inc. et.al., First District

Association, and Lakeshore Federated

Dairy Cooperative

Proposal No. 1

1. Amend § 1030.12 by adding a new

paragraph (b)(5) to read as follows:

§ 1030.12 Producer

* * * * *

(b) * * *

Notice of Hearing—Upper Midwest

Marketing Area—DA–01–03

(5) A dairy farmer whose milk is

pooled on a state order with a

marketwide pool.

Submitted by: Land O’Lakes, Inc.

Proposal No. 2

Proposes that California milk

previously qualified for pooling on the

Upper Midwest Order be

‘‘grandfathered’’ or exempt from any

change in the marketing order that

would provide for its exclusion.

Proposal No. 3

Proposes that quota milk from

California be excluded from being

pooled on the Upper Midwest Order.

Submitted by: Dairy Farmers of

America

Proposal No. 4

1. Amend § 1030.13 by designating

paragraph (d)(3) as (d)(4); adding a new

paragraph (d)(3); and adding a new

paragraph (e) to read as follows:

§ 1030.13 Producer Milk

* * * * *

(d) * * *

(3) The quantity of milk diverted to

nonpool plants by a pool plant operator

as described in § 1030.7(a) or (b) may

not exceed 90 percent of each reporting

unit of the handler’s receipts made

pursuant to § 1030.30(a). This

percentage is subject to adjustments that

may be made pursuant to § 1030.7(g).

(e) Milk from producers physically

located outside of the states of Illinois,

Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South

Dakota, Wisconsin and the Upper

Peninsula portion of Michigan shall be

grouped by individual state units and

each state unit shall be:

(1) Reported on separate report(s)

pursuant to § 1030.30; and

(2) At least 10 percent of each

reporting unit of the handler shall be

delivered to pool plants as described in

§ 1030.7(a) or (b), and such deliveries

shall not be used by the handler in

meeting the minimum shipping

percentages required pursuant to

§ 1030.7(c) or (f) or § 1030.13(d); and

(3) The percentages of § 1030.13(e)(2)

are subject to any adjustments that may

be made pursuant to § 1030.7(g).

Proposal No. 5

Proposes that the rate for advance

payments be set at a percentage of the

prior month’s lowest class price,

expected to be between 103 and 108

percent; or the rate for advance payment

be set between 93 and 96 percent of the

Class I price mover for the month.

Proposed by Dairy Programs,

Agricultural Marketing Service:

Proposal No. 6

Make such changes as may be

necessary to make the entire marketing

agreement and the order conform with

any amendments thereto that may result

from this hearing.

Copies of this notice of hearing and

the order may be procured from the

Market Administrator of the Upper

Midwest Milk Marketing Area, or from

the Hearing Clerk, Room 1083, South

Building, United States Department of

Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250, or

may be inspected there.

Copies of the transcript of testimony

taken at the hearing will not be available

for distribution through the Hearing

Clerk’s Office. If you wish to purchase

a copy, arrangements may be made with

the reporter at the hearing.

From the time that a hearing notice is

issued and until the issuance of a final

decision in a proceeding, Department

employees involved in the decisionmaking process are prohibited from

discussing the merits of the hearing

issues on an ex parte basis with any

person having an interest in the

proceeding. For this particular

proceeding, the prohibition applies to

employees in the following

organizational units:

Office of the Secretary of Agriculture

Office of the Administrator, Agricultural

Marketing Service

Office of the General Counsel

Dairy Programs, Agricultural Marketing

Service (Washington office) and the

Office of the Market Administrator for

the Upper Midwest Milk Marketing

Area.

Procedural matters are not subject to

the above prohibition and may be

discussed at any time.

Dated: June 5, 2001.

Kenneth C. Clayton,

Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing

Service.

[FR Doc. 01–14539 Filed 6–8–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of Thrift Supervision

12 CFR Chapter V

[No. 2001–41]

RIN 1550–AB50

Request for Comment on Study of

Banking Regulations Regarding the

Online Delivery of Financial Services

AGENCY: Office of Thrift Supervision,

Treasury.

ACTION: Study of regulations; request for

comment.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 729 of the

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), OTS

and the other federal banking agencies

are studying their regulations on the

delivery of financial services. The

purpose of the study is to report

findings and conclusions to Congress,

together with recommendations for

appropriate legislative or regulatory

action to adapt existing requirements to

online banking and lending. To assist in

this review, OTS requests comment on

a variety of issues relating to the

electronic delivery of financial products

and services by savings associations

(federally-chartered or state-chartered).

DATES: Comments must be received by

August 10, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Mail: Send comments to

Regulation Comments, Chief Counsel’s

Office, Office of Thrift Supervision,

1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC

20552, Attention Docket No. 2001–41.

Delivery: Hand deliver comments to

the Guard’s Desk, East Lobby Entrance,

1700 G Street, NW., from 9 a.m. to 4

p.m. on business days, Attention

Regulation Comments, Chief Counsel’s

Office, Docket No. 2001–41.

Facsimiles: Send facsimile

transmissions to FAX Number (202)

906–6518, Attention Docket No. 2001–

41.

E-Mail: Send e-mails to

regs.comments@ots.treas.gov, Attention

Docket No. 2001–41, and include your

name and telephone number.

Public Inspection: Comments and the

related index will be posted on the OTS

Internet Site at www.ots.treas.gov. In

addition, you may inspect comments at

the Public Reading Room, 1700 G Street,

NW., by appointment. To make an

appointment for access, call (202) 906–

5922, send an e-mail to

public.info@ots.treas.gov, or send a

facsimile transmission to (202) 906–

7755. (Prior notice identifying the

materials you will be requesting will

assist us in serving you.) Appointments

will be scheduled on business days