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

53723 

Vol. 70, No. 175 

Monday, September 12, 2005 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 946 

[Docket No. FV05–946–3 IFR] 

Irish Potatoes Grown in Washington; 

Modification of Pack Requirements 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Interim final rule with request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: This rule modifies the pack 

requirements currently prescribed under 

the Washington potato marketing order. 

The marketing order regulates the 

handling of Irish potatoes grown in 

Washington, and is administered locally 

by the State of Washington Potato 

Committee (Committee). This rule 

relaxes the pack requirements to allow 

handlers to ship U.S. No. 2 grade 

potatoes in cartons to better meet buyer 

needs. Currently, only potatoes grading 

U.S. No. 1 or better, or potatoes failing 

to grade U.S. No. 1 only because of 

internal defects, may be shipped in 

cartons. The relaxation in pack 

requirements will help maximize 

producer returns. 

DATES: Effective September 13, 2005; 

comments received by November 14, 

2005 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 to the Docket Clerk, Marketing 

Order Administration Branch, Fruit and 

Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 

0237, Washington, DC 20250–0237; Fax: 

(202) 720–8938; E-mail: 

moab.docketclerk@usda.gov; or Internet: 

http://www.regulations.gov. All 

comments should reference the docket 

number and the date and page number 

of this issue of the Federal Register and 

will be made available for public 

inspection in the Office of the Docket 

Clerk during regular business hours, or 

can be viewed at: http:// 

www.ams.usda.gov/fv/moab.html. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Teresa Hutchinson, Marketing 

Specialist, Northwest Marketing Field 

Office, Marketing Order Administration 

Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, 

AMS, USDA; Telephone: (503) 326– 

2724, Fax: (503) 326–7440; or George 

Kelhart, Technical Advisor, Marketing 

Order Administration Branch, Fruit and 

Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 

0237, Washington, DC 20250–0237; 

Telephone: (202) 720–2491, Fax: (202) 

720–8938. 

Small businesses may request 

information on complying with this 

regulation by contacting Jay Guerber, 

Marketing Order Administration 

Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, 

AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW., STOP 0237, Washington, 

DC 20250–0237; Telephone: (202) 720– 

2491, Fax: (202) 720–8938, or E-mail: 

Jay.Guerber@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule 

is issued under Marketing Order No. 

946, as amended (7 CFR part 946), 

regulating the handling of Irish potatoes 

grown in Washington, hereinafter 

referred to as the ‘‘order.’’ 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 Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) is issuing this rule in 

conformance with Executive Order 

12866. 

This rule has been reviewed under 

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 

Reform. This rule is not intended to 

have retroactive effect. This rule will 

not preempt any State or local laws, 

regulations, or policies, unless they 

present an irreconcilable conflict with 

this rule. 

The Act provides that administrative 

proceedings must be exhausted before 

parties may file suit in court. Under 

section 608c(15)(A) of the Act, 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. A 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. 

This rule relaxes pack requirements 

by allowing handlers to ship U.S. No. 2 

grade potatoes in cartons provided the 

cartons are permanently and 

conspicuously marked as to grade. This 

change will enable handlers to ship U.S. 

No. 2 potatoes in cartons, thus meeting 

customer demands and maximizing 

producer returns. Currently, only 

potatoes grading U.S. No. 1 grade or 

better, or potatoes failing to grade U.S. 

No. 1 only because of internal defects, 

may be shipped in cartons. 

Section 946.52 of the order authorizes 

the establishment of grade, size, quality, 

or maturity regulations for any variety 

or varieties of potatoes grown in the 

production area. Section 946.52 also 

authorizes the regulation of the size, 

capacity, weight, dimensions, pack, and 

marking or labeling of the container, or 

containers, which may be used in the 

packing or handling of potatoes, or both 

(70 FR 41129; July 18, 2005). Section 

946.51 further authorizes the 

modification, suspension, or 

termination of regulations issued under 

§ 946.52. Section 946.60 provides that 

whenever potatoes are regulated 

pursuant to § 946.52 such potatoes must 

be inspected by the Federal-State 

Inspection Service, and certified as 

meeting the applicable requirements of 

such regulations. 

Section 946.336 of the order’s 

administrative rules prescribes the 

quality, size, maturity, cleanness, pack, 

and inspection requirements for fresh 

market Washington potatoes. Section 

946.336(c) prescribes the pack 

requirements for domestic and export 

shipments of potatoes. Grade 

requirements are based on the U.S. 

Standards for Grades of Potatoes (7 CFR 

part 51.1540–51.1566). 

At a telephone meeting on July 26, 

2005, the Committee unanimously 

recommended the relaxation of pack 

requirements to allow handlers to ship 

U.S. No. 2 grade potatoes in cartons that 

are permanently and conspicuously 

53724 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 175 / Monday, September 12, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

marked as to grade. Current 

requirements provide that all potatoes 

packed in cartons shall be U.S. No. 1 

grade or better, except that potatoes 

failing to grade U.S. No. 1 only because 

of internal defects may be shipped in 

cartons. Lots of such potatoes cannot 

contain more than 10 percent damage by 

any internal defect or combination of 

internal defects, and not more than 5 

percent serious damage by any internal 

defect or combination of internal 

defects. 

Customers have been requesting U.S. 

No. 2 grade potatoes in cartons because 

of difficulties encountered in handling 

the currently used 50-pound burlap or 

paper bags. The burlap bags are messy, 

difficult to handle, and do not stack 

well on pallets. The paper bags often 

tear and are equally difficult to handle 

or stack. Warehouses that use electronic 

bar codes have reported less 

administration and recordkeeping 

problems with cartons than bags 

because the codes are more legible on 

cartons. 

Many customers now purchase 

potatoes from other areas where U.S. 

No. 2 potatoes are packed in cartons. 

The Committee would like to respond to 

these changing market conditions so 

that handlers remain competitive with 

other areas and not lose sales. 

The Committee also recognized the 

need to distinguish these U.S. No. 2 

grade potatoes in cartons from the 

industry’s traditional premium packs of 

potatoes that grade U.S. No. 1 and 

potatoes that fail to grade U.S. No. 1 

only because of internal defects. 

Without such distinction, buyers might 

become confused and the U.S. No. 2 

grade potatoes in cartons might have a 

price depressing effect on these 

premium packs. Therefore, the 

Committee included in their 

recommendation that cartons containing 

such potatoes be permanently and 

conspicuously marked to grade. 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Pursuant to requirements set forth in 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), the 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) 

has considered the economic impact of 

this action 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 

business subject to such actions in order 

that small businesses will not be unduly 

or disproportionately burdened. 

Marketing orders issued pursuant to the 

Act, and rules issued thereunder, are 

unique in that they are brought about 

through group action of essentially 

small entities acting on their own 

behalf. Thus, both statutes have small 

entity orientation and compatibility. 

There are approximately 51 handlers 

of Washington potatoes who are subject 

to regulation under the marketing order 

and approximately 272 potato producers 

in the regulated area. Small agricultural 

service firms are defined by the Small 

Business Administration (13 CFR 

121.201) as those having annual receipts 

of less than $6,000,000, and small 

agricultural producers are defined as 

those having annual receipts of less than 

$750,000. 

During the 2003–2004 marketing year 

10,652,495 hundredweight of 

Washington potatoes were inspected 

under the order and sold into the fresh 

market. Based on an estimated average 

f.o.b. price of $7.45 per hundredweight, 

the Committee estimates that 48 

handlers, or about 94 percent, had 

annual receipts of less than $6,000,000. 

In addition, based on information 

provided by the National Agricultural 

Statistics Service, the average producer 

price for Washington potatoes for the 

2003 marketing year (the most recent 

period that final statistics are available) 

was $5.25 per hundredweight. The 

average annual producer revenue for 

each of the 272 Washington potato 

producers is therefore calculated to be 

approximately $205,609. 

In view of the foregoing, the majority 

of the Washington potato producers and 

handlers may be classified as small 

entities. 

This rule relaxes the pack 

requirements to allow handlers to ship 

U.S. No. 2 grade potatoes in cartons 

provided the cartons are permanently 

and conspicuously marked as to grade. 

This would enable handlers to ship U.S. 

No. 2 potatoes in cartons, thus meeting 

customer demands and maximizing 

producer returns. 

The authority for the pack and 

marking or labeling requirements is 

provided in § 946.52 of the order (70 FR 

41129; July 18, 2005). Section 

946.336(c) of the order’s administrative 

rules prescribes the pack requirements 

for domestic and export shipments of 

potatoes. 

The Committee believes that the 

recommendation should increase the 

sale of U.S. No. 2 grade potatoes. This 

action is expected to further increase 

shipments of U.S. No. 2 potatoes to the 

food service industry, and help the 

Washington potato industry benefit 

from the increased growth in the food 

service industry. These changes might 

require the purchase of new equipment 

to mark the cartons. However, these 

costs will be minimal and would be 

offset by the benefits of being able to 

ship U.S. No. 2 grade potatoes in 

cartons. The benefits of this rule are not 

expected to be disproportionately 

greater or lesser for small entities than 

large entities. 

The Committee discussed several 

alternatives to this recommendation, 

including not allowing U.S. No. 2 grade 

potatoes to be shipped in cartons. 

However, the Committee believed that it 

was important to be able to respond to 

changing market conditions and meet 

customer needs. 

The Committee considered restricting 

the size of carton, types of cartons as 

well as the size of the marking and 

location on the carton. However, the 

Committee decided not to specify size 

or type of container or size and location 

of the markings to allow handlers more 

flexibility in marketing U.S. No. 2 grade 

potatoes in cartons provided the cartons 

were marked permanently and 

conspicuously as to grade. 

This rule will not impose any 

additional reporting or recordkeeping 

requirements on either small or large 

potato 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. 

In addition, USDA has not identified 

any relevant Federal rules that 

duplicate, overlap or conflict with this 

rule. 

Further, the Committee’s meeting was 

widely publicized throughout the 

Washington potato industry and all 

interested persons were invited to 

participate in Committee deliberations 

on all issues. All entities, both large and 

small, were able to express views on 

this issue. Finally, interested persons 

are invited to submit information on the 

regulatory and informational impacts of 

this action on small businesses. 

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/ 

fv/moab.html. Any questions about the 

compliance guide should be sent to Jay 

Guerber at the previously mentioned 

address in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section. 

This rule invites comments on a 

relaxation to the pack requirements 

currently prescribed under the 

Washington potato marketing order. 

Any comments received will be 

considered prior to finalization of this 

rule. 

After consideration of all relevant 

material presented, including the 

Board’s recommendation, and other 

information, it is found that this interim 

final rule, as hereinafter set forth, will 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 175 / Monday, September 12, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 53725 

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 

exist for not postponing the effective 

date of this rule until 30 days after 

publication in the Federal Register 

because: (1) Any changes resulting from 

this rule should be effective as soon as 

practicable because the Washington 

potato shipping season began in July; (2) 

the Committee unanimously 

recommended these changes at a public 

meeting and all interested parties had 

an opportunity to provide input; (3) 

handlers are aware of this action and 

want to take advantage of this relaxation 

as soon as possible; and (4) this rule 

provides a 60-day comment period and 

any comments received will be 

considered prior to finalization of this 

rule. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 946 

Marketing agreements, Potatoes, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

■ For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 946 is amended as 

follows: 

PART 946—IRISH POTATOES GROWN 

IN WASHINGTON 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 946 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674. 

■ 2. In § 946.336, paragraph (c)(1) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 946.336 Handling regulation. 

* * * * * 

(c) Pack and marking: 

(1) Domestic: Potatoes packed in 

cartons shall be either: 

(i) U.S. No. 1 grade or better, except 

that potatoes which fail to meet the U.S. 

No. 1 grade only because of internal 

defects may be shipped without regard 

to this requirement provided the lot 

contains no more than 10 percent 

damage by any internal defect or 

combination of internal defects but not 

more than 5 percent serious damage by 

any internal defect or combination of 

internal defects. 

(ii) U.S. No. 2 grade, provided the 

cartons are permanently and 

conspicuously marked as to grade. This 

marking requirement does not apply to 

cartons containing potatoes meeting the 

requirements of (c)(1)(i). 

* * * * * 

Dated: September 6, 2005. 

Lloyd C. Day, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–17964 Filed 9–9–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. 2001–NE–17–AD; Amendment 

39–14265; AD 2005–01–15R1] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Rolls-Royce 

plc RB211 Trent 875, 877, 884, 884B, 

892, 892B, and 895 Series Turbofan 

Engines 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The FAA is revising an 

existing airworthiness directive (AD) for 

Rolls-Royce plc (RR) RB211 Trent 875, 

877, 884, 884B, 892, 892B, and 895 

series turbofan engines with certain part 

number (P/N) low pressure compressor 

(LPC) fan blades installed. That AD 

currently requires initial and repetitive 

ultrasonic inspections of the fan blade 

dovetail roots and defines a specific 

terminating action to the repetitive 

blade inspection requirements. This AD 

requires the same actions but clarifies 

the terminating action. We are issuing 

this AD to prevent multiple LPC fan 

blade failures due to cracks, which 

could result in uncontained engine 

failure and possible damage to the 

airplane. 

DATES: This AD becomes effective 

October 17, 2005. The Director of the 

Federal Register previously approved 

the incorporation by reference of certain 

publications listed in the regulations as 

of January 28, 2005 (70 FR 2336, January 

13, 2005). 

ADDRESSES: Contact Rolls-Royce plc, 

P.O. Box 31, Derby DE24 6BJ, UK; 

telephone 44 (0) 1332 242424; fax 44 (0) 

1332 249936, for the service information 

identified in this AD. 

You may examine the AD docket at 

the FAA, New England Region, Office of 

the Regional Counsel, 12 New England 

Executive Park, Burlington, MA. You 

may examine the service information, at 

the FAA, New England Region, Office of 

the Regional Counsel, 12 New England 

Executive Park, Burlington, MA. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christopher Spinney, Aerospace 

Engineer, Engine Certification Office, 

FAA, Engine and Propeller Directorate, 

12 New England Executive Park, 

Burlington, MA 01803–5299; telephone 

(781) 238–7175; fax (781) 238–7199. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

January 3, 2005, we issued AD 2005–

01–15, Amendment 39–13940 (70 FR 

2336, January 13, 2005). That AD 

superseded AD 2002–11–08, 

Amendment 39–12769 (67 FR 38852 

June 6, 2002). AD 2005–01–15 requires 

initial and repetitive ultrasonic 

inspections of the fan blade dovetail 

roots, and defines a specific terminating 

action to the repetitive blade inspection 

requirements. That AD was the result of 

a report of a cracked fan blade found 

before the blade reached the initial 

inspection threshold of AD 2002–11–08. 

That AD also reduced the repetitive 

inspection compliance time due to 

potential breakdown of blade coating 

and lubrication on certain blades. Those 

conditions, if not corrected, could result 

in uncontained engine failure and 

possible damage to the airplane. 

Actions Since We Issued AD 2005–01– 

15 

Since we issued AD 2005–01–15, we 

received a comment from an operator 

requesting that we clarify the 

terminating action in that AD. As that 

AD is currently written, you must install 

LPC fan blades in complete sets to 

comply with the terminating action. Our 

intent is that all blades must be replaced 

with blades that meet the replacement 

criteria to qualify as terminating action, 

but not necessarily replaced as a 

complete set. In response to the 

comment, we published a proposed AD 

in the Federal Register on March 9, 

2005 (70 FR 11585). That action 

proposed to require initial and 

repetitive ultrasonic inspections of the 

fan blade dovetail roots, and to clarify 

a specific terminating action to the 

repetitive blade inspection 

requirements. 

Examining the AD Docket 

You may examine the AD Docket 

(including any comments and service 

information), by appointment, between 

8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. See 

ADDRESSES for the location. 

Comments 

We provided the public the 

opportunity to participate in the 

development of this AD. We received no 

comments on the proposal or on the 

determination of the cost to the public.