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

61238 

Vol. 70, No. 203 

Friday, October 21, 2005 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 1219 

[Doc. No. FV–05–703–ANPR] 

Hass Avocado Promotion, Research, 

and Information Order; Definition of 

‘‘Substantial Activity’’ 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking; request for public 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing 

Service (AMS) invites comments from 

producers, importers, first handlers and 

other interested persons on a possible 

change to the definition of ‘‘substantial 

activity’’ under the Hass Avocado 

Promotion, Research, and Information 

Order (Order). The definition relates to 

the eligibility of importers to serve on 

the Hass Avocado Board (Board). 

DATES: Written suggestions, views or 

pertinent information relative to this 

action will be considered if received by 

December 20, 2005. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments 

concerning this proposed rule to: Docket 

Clerk, Research and Promotion Branch, 

Fruit and Vegetable Programs (FV), 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), 

USDA, Stop 0244, Room 2535–S, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–0244. 

Comments should be submitted in 

triplicate and will be made available for 

public inspection at the above address 

during regular business hours. 

Comments may also be submitted 

electronically to: 

marlene.betts@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. A 

copy of this rule may be found at: 

http://www.ams.usda.gov/fv/rpb.html. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Marlene Betts, Research and Promotion 

Branch, FV, AMS, USDA, Stop 0244, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 

2535–S, Washington, DC 20250–0244, 

telephone (202) 720–9915, fax (202) 

205–2800, e-mail 

Marlene.Betts@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Hass 

Avocado Promotion, Research, and 

Consumer Information Order (Order) is 

issued under the Hass Avocado 

Promotion, Research, and Information 

Act of 2000 (Act) [7 U.S.C. 7801–7813]. 

Executive Order 12866 

This rule has been determined not 

significant for purposes of Executive 

Order 12866 and therefore has not been 

reviewed by the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB). 

In determining who is eligible to serve 

as an importer member of the Board, the 

Act provides for a substantial activity 

test. In order to implement this 

provision, the Order needs to provide 

criteria to enable the Department to 

measure substantial activity. The 

Department determined that basing a 

person’s eligibility on the person’s 

business activity and which industry 

function (producing or importing) 

predominates was a reasonable measure 

that gave a clear and understandable 

benchmark (67 FR 7290). In order to 

serve as an importer member on the 

Board, an importer is defined as a 

person who is involved in, as a 

substantial activity, the importation of 

Hass avocados for sale or marketing in 

the United States. Section 1219.30(d) of 

the Order states that a substantial 

activity means that the volume of a 

person’s Hass avocado imports must 

exceed the volume of the person’s 

production or handling of domestic 

Hass avocados. 

This advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking invites comments on a 

possible change to this definition of 

substantial activity under the Order to 

better measure substantial activity. AMS 

is seeking information pertaining to the 

definition of substantial activity and on 

the impact such rulemaking might have 

on the number of importers eligible to 

serve on the Board. All other views, 

suggestions or comments relative to the 

proposal in general also are sought. 

The Order provision being considered 

for amendment governs the eligibility of 

importers to serve on the Board and is 

authorized under the Hass Avocado 

Promotion, Research, and Information 

Order (Order). The Act provides that 

changes to the Order will become 

effective if approved in referenda by 

eligible producers and importers. 

Background 

Section 1219.30 of the Hass Avocado 

Promotion, Research, and Information 

Order provides that a substantial 

activity means that the volume of a 

person’s Hass avocado imports must 

exceed the volume of the person’s 

production or handling of domestic 

Hass avocados. 

After the Order was implemented, the 

Department of Agriculture (Department) 

conducted the initial nomination 

process for importer positions on the 

Board. At that time, only six nominees 

were received, although the Order 

provided for 16 nominees. 

Since the initial nomination process 

in 2002 there has been significant 

changes in the industry. For example, 

the number of states and the months of 

the year that the Mexican Hass avocado 

industry can bring avocados in the 

United States has changed which can 

affect importer eligibility on the Board. 

Currently, the Department is in the 

process of appointing 2 importer 

members to the Board, which would fill 

all 4 importer positions on the Board. 

However, nominations were not 

forthcoming from the industry for the 

alternate importer positions. 

Further, the Department believes that 

it would be appropriate to publish an 

advance notice of rulemaking so that the 

industry can provide comments and any 

other pertinent information prior to the 

Department considering any change to 

the definition of substantial activity. 

A proposed rule was published in the 

Federal Register March 18, 2003 [68 FR 

12881], which would have terminated 

the definition of substantial activity 

under the Order. Comments were 

requested by May 19, 2003. Nine 

comments were received in a timely 

manner by the deadline. Seven 

commenters were importers of Hass 

avocados. Two commenters were Hass 

avocado industry organizations, one 

being the Hass Avocado Board created 

by the Act. Seven of the nine 

commenters opposed change to the 

Order, while two were in support of the 

proposed rule change. 

On that rulemaking, opposing 

commentors raised a number of issues 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 203 / Friday, October 21, 2005 / Proposed Rules 61239 

including whether other factors limited 

the number of nominees in the earlier 

selection process rather than the 

definition of substantial activity. The 

commenters stated that the size and 

pool of the eligible importers (200) was 

more than adequate to fill the vacancies 

on the Board. Concern was expressed as 

to the relationship of producers and 

importers on the Board. 

The supporting commentors were of 

the view that the substantial activity 

requirement unnecessarily limited the 

potential pool of nominees for service 

on the Board and denied some of the 

most significant and most qualified 

individuals in the avocado industry to 

serve on the Board 

In a separate publication in the 

Federal Register, the proposed rule was 

withdrawn without being finalized after 

taking into account the above. 

Comments and Information Requested 

Information, suggestions, and 

comments pertaining to the proposal are 

sought. Examples of specific 

information that would assist AMS in 

determining if this recommendation 

should be proposed are: 

1. Specific recommendations for the 

definition—including volume of 

imports relative to the volume of 

domestic production—that would allow 

the Department to measure substantial 

activity as is required by the Act. 

2. Data relative to the number of 

importers that would become eligible to 

serve on the Hass Avocado Board if the 

definition changed. 

3. Data relative to the number of 

importers that would become eligible to 

serve on the Hass Avocado Board if the 

definition was not changed. 

Summary 

In conclusion, the AMS is soliciting 

the views of interested persons as to 

amending the definition of substantial 

activity to enable the Department to 

better measure substantial activity as is 

required by the Act. Specifically, the 

AMS is interested in the points 

mentioned previously in this advance 

notice as well as statistical information, 

suggestions, and comments pertaining 

to the definition of substantial activity 

and the impact on the number of 

eligible importers to serve on the Board. 

All views are solicited, however, so that 

every aspect of this potential 

amendment may be studied prior to 

formulating a proposed rule, if such is 

deemed warranted by the AMS. 

This request for public comments 

does not constitute notification that the 

recommendation to change the 

regulations described in this document 

is or will be proposed or adopted. 

A 60-day comment period is provided 

to allow interested persons the 

opportunity to respond to this request 

for information and comments. All 

written comments timely received will 

be considered before any subsequent 

rulemaking action is undertaken. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7801–7813. 

Dated: October 18, 2005. 

Lloyd C. Day, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–21081 Filed 10–20–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2005–22748; Directorate 

Identifier 2005–NM–127–AD] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Fokker 

Model F.28 Mark 0070 and 0100 

Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: The FAA proposes to adopt a 

new airworthiness directive (AD) for 

certain Fokker Model F.28 Mark 0070 

and 0100 airplanes. This proposed AD 

would require modifying the passenger 

door and installing new placards. This 

proposed AD results from reports of the 

airstairs-type passenger door opening 

during flight. We are proposing this AD 

to prevent rapid decompression of the 

airplane, or ejection of a passenger or 

crew member out the door during flight. 

DATES: We must receive comments on 

this proposed AD by November 21, 

2005. 

ADDRESSES: Use one of the following 

addresses to submit comments on this 

proposed AD. 

• DOT Docket Web site: Go to 

http://dms.dot.gov and follow the 

instructions for sending your comments 

electronically. 

• Government-wide rulemaking Web 

site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov 

and follow the instructions for sending 

your comments electronically. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 

Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, 

room PL–401, Washington, DC 20590. 

• Fax: (202) 493–2251. 

• Hand Delivery: Room PL–401 on 

the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 

400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, 

DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

For service information identified in 

this proposed AD, contact Fokker 

Services B.V., P.O. Box 231, 2150 AE 

Nieuw-Vennep, the Netherlands. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom 

Rodriguez, Aerospace Engineer, 

International Branch, ANM–116, FAA, 

Transport Airplane Directorate, 1601 

Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, Washington 

98055–4056; telephone (425) 227–1137; 

fax (425) 227–1149. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments Invited 

We invite you to submit any relevant 

written data, views, or arguments 

regarding this proposed AD. Send your 

comments to an address listed in the 

ADDRESSES section. Include the docket 

number ‘‘FAA–2005–22748; Directorate 

Identifier 2005–NM–127–AD’’ at the 

beginning of your comments. We 

specifically invite comments on the 

overall regulatory, economic, 

environmental, and energy aspects of 

the proposed AD. We will consider all 

comments received by the closing date 

and may amend the proposed AD in 

light of those comments. 

We will post all comments we 

receive, without change, to http:// 

dms.dot.gov, including any personal 

information you provide. We will also 

post a report summarizing each 

substantive verbal contact with FAA 

personnel concerning this proposed AD. 

Using the search function of that Web 

site, anyone can find and read the 

comments in any of our dockets, 

including the name of the individual 

who sent the comment (or signed the 

comment on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). You may 

review the DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 

19477–78), or you may visit http:// 

dms.dot.gov. 

Examining the Docket 

You may examine the AD docket on 

the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov, or in 

person at the Docket Management 

Facility office between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. The Docket 

Management Facility office (telephone 

(800) 647–5227) is located on the plaza 

level of the Nassif Building at the DOT 

street address stated in the ADDRESSES

section. Comments will be available in 

the AD docket shortly after the Docket 

Management System receives them.