57486 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 190 / Monday, October 3, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

Subpart B—Business and Industry 

Loans 

■ 2. Section 4279.107 is revised to read 

as follows: 

§ 4279.107 Guarantee fees. 

For all new loans there are two types 

of non-refundable guarantee fees to be 

paid by the lender. The fees may be 

passed on to the borrower. The fees may 

be forwarded to the Agency through an 

electronic funds transfer system or, at 

the Agency’s discretion, by a check 

payable to USDA using a USDAapproved form. 

(a) Initial guarantee fee. The initial fee 

is paid at the time the Loan Note 

Guarantee is issued. The fee may be 

included as an eligible loan purpose in 

the guaranteed loan. The fee will be the 

rate (a specified percentage not to 

exceed 2 percent) multiplied by the 

principal loan amount, multiplied by 

the percent of guarantee. Subject to 

specified annual limits set by the 

Agency, the initial guarantee fee may be 

reduced to 1 percent if the borrower’s 

business supports value-added 

agriculture and results in farmers 

benefiting financially, or 

(1) Is a high impact business 

development investment in accordance 

with § 4279.155(b)(5), and 

(2) Is located in a rural community 

that: 

(i) Is experiencing long-term 

population decline and job 

deterioration, or 

(ii) Has remained persistently poor 

over the last 60 years, or 

(iii) Is experiencing trauma as a result 

of natural disaster, or 

(iv) Is experiencing fundamental 

structural changes in its economic base. 

(b) Annual renewal fee. The annual 

renewal fee is paid once a year and is 

required to maintain the enforceability 

of the guarantee as to the lender. 

(1) The rate of the annual renewal fee 

(a specified percentage) is established 

by Rural Development in an annual 

notice published in the Federal 

Register, multiplied by the outstanding 

principal loan balance as of December 

31 of each year, multiplied by the 

percent of guarantee. The rate is the rate 

in effect at the time the loan is 

obligated, and will remain in effect for 

the life of the loan. 

(2) Annual renewal fees are due on 

January 31. Payments not received by 

April 1 are considered delinquent and, 

at the Agency’s discretion, may result in 

cancellation of the guarantee to the 

lender. Holders’ rights will continue in 

effect as specified in the Loan Note 

Guarantee and Assignment Guarantee 

Agreement. Any delinquent annual 

renewal fees will bear interest at the 

note rate and will be deducted from any 

loss payment due the lender. For loans 

where the Loan Note Guarantee is 

issued between October 1 and December 

31, the first annual renewal fee payment 

will be due January 31 of the second 

year following the date the Loan Note 

Guarantee was issued. 

PART 4287—SERVICING 

■ 3. The authority citation for part 4287 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 7 U.S.C. 1989. 

Subpart B—Servicing Business and 

Industry Guaranteed Loans 

§ 4287.107 [Amended] 

■ 4. Section 4287.107(a) is revised to 

read as follows: 

* * * * * 

(a) Lender reports and annual renewal 

fee. The lender must report the 

outstanding principal and interest 

balance on each guaranteed loan 

semiannually using a USDA-approved 

status report or other approved format. 

The lender will transmit the annual 

renewal fee to the Agency 

simultaneously with the December 31 

semiannual status report in accordance 

with 7 CFR part 4279, subpart B, 

§ 4279.107. 

* * * * * 

Dated: September 27, 2005. 

Thomas C. Dorr, 

Under Secretary, Rural Development. 

[FR Doc. 05–19722 Filed 9–30–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–XY–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

9 CFR Part 93 

[Docket No. 02–024–2] 

Stall Reservations at Import 

Quarantine Facilities 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Affirmation of interim rule as 

final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are adopting as a final 

rule, without change, an interim rule 

that amended the regulations regarding 

the importation of horses into the 

United States by requiring persons who 

cancel reservations for stall space at 

import quarantine facilities to notify us 

earlier and by increasing the fee for 

canceling reservations. 

DATES: The interim rule became 

effective on December 9, 2002. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Freeda Isaac, Senior Staff Veterinarian, 

Technical Trade Services, VS, APHIS, 

4700 River Road Unit 39, Riverdale, MD 

20737–1231; (301) 734–8364. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

In an interim rule effective and 

published in the Federal Register on 

December 9, 2002 (67 FR 72827–72830, 

Docket No. 02–024–1), we amended the 

regulations in 9 CFR part 93 regarding 

the importation of horses into the 

United States by requiring persons who 

cancel reservations for stall space at 

import quarantine facilities to notify us 

earlier and by increasing the fee for 

canceling reservations. Under the new 

fee structure, persons who cancel a 

reservation 30 business days or more 

prior to the reservation date will be 

charged 25 percent of the reservation 

fee; persons who cancel a reservation 15 

to 29 business days prior to the 

reservation date will be charged 50 

percent of the reservation fee; and 

persons who cancel a reservation less 

than 15 business days prior to the 

reservation date will forfeit 100 percent 

of the reservation fee. We took that 

action to discourage importers from 

reserving space that they may not use 

and canceling when it is too late for 

others to use the space and to recover 

the fixed cost associated with operating 

quarantine facilities when stall space 

goes unused. This interim rule was 

intended to improve the occupancy rate 

of stall space, and, therefore, the 

efficiency of import quarantine 

facilities. 

Comments on the interim rule were 

required to be received on or before 

February 7, 2003. We received three 

comments by that date. The comments 

were from a horse industry group, a 

transportation association, and a 

transport company. We have carefully 

considered all of the comments we 

received. They are discussed below. 

Note: In the ‘‘Background’’ section of the 

interim rule, we stated that brokers are 

required to have certain diagnostic tests 

performed on their horses and that these tests 

must be processed at National Veterinary 

Services Laboratories (NVSL). Some 

commenters interpreted this statement to 

mean that we were requiring that horses be 

pretested for the diseases dourine, glanders, 

piroplasmosis, and infectious equine anemia 

and that this pretesting be performed at 

NVSL. That perception is incorrect. 

Pretesting is not a requirement but may be 

done at the discretion of the importer or 

agent. If pretesting is done, importers may 

utilize NVSL. the Animal and Plant Health 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 190 / Monday, October 3, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 57487 

Inspection Service (APHIS) will conduct its 

own tests during quarantine. 

Two commenters said that the new 

cancellation policy unnecessarily 

penalizes those who reserve stall space 

early and are then required to make 

legitimate alterations to their bookings. 

The commenters asked that we consider 

implementing a small administrative fee 

for changes made more than 30 days 

prior to the reservation date. 

The purpose of the interim rule was 

to discourage horse brokers from making 

several reservations and simply 

forfeiting the $40 cancellation fees if a 

client is not found to fill those reserved 

spaces. This situation had led some 

brokers to complain that the potential 

loss of a $40 cancellation fee is not an 

effective deterrent to prevent brokers 

from reserving stall space before a client 

is found. Since the publication of our 

December 2002 interim rule, the 

problem of late cancellations has been 

eliminated. We believe that instituting 

the suggested small fee for canceled 

reservations would result in a situation 

similar to the one that existed prior to 

publication of the interim rule. 

All three commenters stated that a 

policy should be enacted wherein stall 

space in a horse quarantine facility may 

be formally transferred from one party 

to another within 15 days of arrival. 

Shipments arriving at quarantine 

facilities are comprised of horses from 

several different brokers. As such, the 

suggested formal transfer policy would 

require a continual monitoring policy, 

along with the accompanying 

paperwork. Such an approach 

potentially involves a great amount of 

time, personnel, and expense for all 

affected parties. As such, this method is 

not cost effective, nor would it eliminate 

the practice of speculative reservation. 

Two commenters said that the grace 

period within which shipments may 

arrive without incurring cancellation 

fees should be extended from 24 to 48 

hours. 

Under the regulations in effect prior 

to the December 2002 interim rule, we 

required 5 business days’ notice for 

cancellations in order for importers to 

avoid forfeiture of the total reservation 

fee. As a result of the interim rule, we, 

among other things, established a 

graduated fee schedule for 

cancellations. Importers or their agents 

are now required to present for entry, 

within 24 hours following the 

designated time of arrival, the horse for 

which the reservation was made. In our 

opinion, increasing the time period 

within which importers must present 

their horses would lead to a 

reintroduction of past speculative 

reservation practices. The regulations in 

§ 93.304(a)(3)(iv) provide for the return 

of reservation fees to importers in 

certain cases when unforseen 

circumstances arise that prevent an 

importer from presenting a horse for 

entry within the required time period. 

One commenter said that the 

forfeiture amounts as established in the 

graduated fee schedule set for 

cancellations are too high. 

Prior to publication of the interim 

rule, we carefully considered a fee 

schedule that we thought to be 

appropriate and effective in eliminating 

the practice of speculative reservations. 

The USDA quarantine facilities in 

Florida and New York each lost 

approximately $300,000 to $470,000 

yearly in forgone user fees. While we 

recognize that increasing cancellation 

fees and the time period required for 

cancellation affects both horse owners 

and brokers, the forfeiture amounts 

must necessarily be set at a level that 

will serve as a meaningful deterrent to 

speculative reservation-making and 

allow APHIS to recover the fixed cost 

associated with operating quarantine 

facilities when stall space goes unused. 

Two commenters stated that there is 

a need to specifically create a set of 

circumstances under which a full 

refund of the reservation fee would be 

granted, suggesting that a refund would 

be appropriate in cases where an airline 

cancels a flight or a horse is injured 

during loading. 

The regulations already describe the 

circumstances under which a full 

refund may be granted. As stated 

previously, under the regulations at 

§ 93.304(a)(3)(iv), a reservation fee will 

not be forfeited if the Administrator 

determines that certain essential 

services were not available at the 

necessary time as a result of unforseen 

circumstances. These circumstances 

include, but are not limited to, the 

closing of an airport due to inclement 

weather or the unavailability of the 

reserved space due to the extension of 

another quarantine. We believe it is 

appropriate and necessary to limit 

refunds to the circumstances relating to 

services, other than those provided by 

carriers, necessary for the importation of 

the horses within the required period 

that are unavailable because of 

unforeseen circumstances as determined 

by the Administrator. 

Likewise, the issuance of refunds, as 

may be necessary in the situations 

described above, is based somewhat on 

the Administrator’s discretion. As such, 

we believe that any attempt to list all 

instances where a refund would be 

granted would unnecessarily limit the 

Administrator’s ability to make 

determinations in a wide variety of 

circumstances. It is necessary to leave 

the exception as written in order to 

preserve the flexibility of the 

regulations. 

Therefore, for the reasons given in the 

interim rule and in this document, we 

are adopting the interim rule as a final 

rule without change. 

This action also affirms the 

information contained in the interim 

rule concerning Executive Order 12866 

and the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 

Executive Order 12988, and the 

Paperwork Reduction Act. 

Further, this action has been 

determined to be not significant for the 

purposes of Executive Order 12866 and, 

therefore, has not been reviewed by the 

Office of Management and Budget. 

List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 93 

Animal diseases, Imports, Livestock, 

Poultry and poultry products, 

Quarantine, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

PART 93—IMPORTATION OF CERTAIN 

ANIMALS, BIRDS, AND POULTRY, 

AND CERTAIN ANIMAL, BIRD, AND 

POULTRY PRODUCTS; 

REQUIREMENTS FOR MEANS OF 

CONVEYANCE AND SHIPPING 

CONTAINERS 

■ Accordingly, we are adopting as a 

final rule, without change, the interim 

rule that amended 9 CFR part 93 and 

that was published at 67 FR 72827–

72830 on December 9, 2002. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 27th day of 

September 2005. 

Elizabeth E. Gaston, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–19689 Filed 9–30–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–U 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2005–22534; Directorate 

Identifier 2005–NE–27–AD; Amendment 39–

14305; AD 2005–20–11] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Rolls-Royce 

Corporation (RRC) (formerly Allison 

Engine Company, Allison Gas Turbine 

Division, and Detroit Diesel Allison) 

Models 250–C28, –C28B, and –C28C 

Turboshaft Engines 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT).