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

69249 

Vol. 70, No. 219 

Tuesday, November 15, 2005 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration 

7 CFR Part 868 

RIN 0580–AA89 

Review Inspection Requirements for 

Graded Commodities 

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration, USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Grain Inspection, Packers 

and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) 

is amending the regulations under the 

United States Agricultural Marketing 

Act of 1946 (AMA), as amended, to 

allow interested persons to specify the 

quality factor(s) that would be 

redetermined during an appeal 

inspection or a Board appeal inspection 

for grade. Currently, both appeal and 

Board appeal inspections for grade must 

include a redetermination (i.e., a 

complete review or examination) of all 

official factors that may determine the 

grade, as reported on the original 

certificate, or as required to be shown. 

Requiring that all quality factors be 

completely reexamined during an 

appeal or Board appeal inspection for 

grade is not efficient, is time consuming, 

and can be costly. Further, a detailed 

review of the preceding inspection 

service is not always needed to confirm 

the quality of the commodity. This 

action will allow interested parties to 

specify which quality factor(s) should 

be redetermined during the appeal or 

Board appeal inspection service. 

DATES: Effective Dates: December 15, 

2005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

C. Giler, Deputy Director, Field 

Management Division: e-mail address 

john.c.giler&usda.gov, telephone: (202) 

720–1748. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Order 12866 

This action has been determined to be 

not significant for purpose of Executive 

Order 12866 and, therefore, has not 

been reviewed by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB). This 

action simplifies the regulations 

concerning official requirements for 

commodity inspections. This action 

reduces cost to the affected entities. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification 

GIPSA has considered the economic 

impact of this rule on small entities and 

has determined that its provision would 

not have a significant economic impact 

on a substantial number of small 

entities, as defined in the Regulatory 

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

seq.). 

The action will affect entities engaged 

in shipping graded commodities to and 

from points within the United States 

and exporting graded commodities from 

the United States. GIPSA estimates there 

are approximately 2,500 rice mills, and 

bean, pea, and lentil processing plants 

in the United States that could receive 

official inspection services by GIPSA, 

designated/delegated states, and 

cooperators. Inspections of graded 

commodities are performed by eight 

GIPSA offices, one Federal/State office, 

and six designated States which operate 

under cooperative agreements and 

under GIPSA supervision. Under the 

provisions of the AMA, it is not 

mandatory for graded commodities to be 

officially inspected. Further, most users 

of the official inspection services and 

those entities that perform these 

services do not meet the requirements of 

small entities. Even though some users 

could be considered small entities, this 

action relieves regulatory requirements 

and improves the efficiency of official 

inspection services. No additional cost 

is expected to result from this action. 

Requiring all appeal inspections and 

Board appeal inspections for grade to 

include a complete review of all official 

factors is not needed by applicants or 

other parties to transactions, or by 

official inspection personnel. 

Furthermore, this requirement often 

reduces the efficiency of providing 

official inspection services and 

increases the costs. 

This rule relieves regulatory 

requirements and improves the 

efficiency of official inspection services. 

Further the regulations are applied 

equally to all entities. 

Executive Order 12988 

Under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform, this action is not 

intended to have a retroactive effect. 

This action will not preempt any State 

or local laws, regulations, or policies 

unless they present irreconcilable 

conflict with this rule. There are no 

administrative procedures that must be 

exhausted prior to any judicial 

challenge to the provisions of this 

notice. 

Information Collection and 

Recordkeeping Requirements 

In compliance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 

et seq.), the information collection and 

recordkeeping requirements in Part 868 

have been previously approved by OMB 

No. 0580–0013. 

GIPSA is committed to compliance 

with the Government Paperwork 

Elimination Act, which requires 

Government agencies, in general, to 

provide the public the option of 

submitting information or transacting 

business electronically to the maximum 

extent possible. 

Background 

On July 7, 2005, GIPSA proposed in 

the Federal Register (70 FR 39199) to 

revise the regulations under the AMA to 

allow interested persons to specify the 

quality factor(s) that would be 

redetermined during an appeal 

inspection or a Board appeal inspection 

for grade. This proposal required 

comments to be received on or before 

September 6, 2005. GIPSA had proposed 

this action because requiring that all 

quality factors be completely 

reexamined during an appeal or a Board 

appeal inspection is not efficient, is 

time consuming, and can be costly. 

Further, a detailed review of the 

preceding inspection service is not 

always needed to confirm the quality of 

the commodity. GIPSA proposed that 

applicants for service be allowed to 

specify the factor(s) that are to be 

redetermined as part of an appeal or 

Board appeal inspection service for 

grade because it provides a more 

effective and more efficient inspection 

service and better meets the industry’s 

needs. However, appeal and board 

appeal inspections for grade may 

include a review of any pertinent 

69250 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 219 / Tuesday, November 15, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

factor(s), as deemed necessary by 

official personnel. This would ensure 

issuance of an accurate grade. 

Comment Review 

GIPSA received no comments during 

the comment period. 

Final Action 

Accordingly, GIPSA is revising 7 CFR 

868.1 to redefine the definitions of 

appeal and Board appeal inspection 

services, and revising the regulatory text 

in 7 CFR 868.60 to revise the conditions 

for requesting appeal and Board appeal 

inspection services. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 868 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Agricultural commodities. 

■ For reasons set out in the preamble, 7 

CFR part 868 is proposed to be amended 

as follows: 

PART 868—GENERAL REGULATIONS 

AND STANDARDS FOR CERTAIN 

AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 868 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Secs. 202–208, 60 Stat. 1087, as 

amended (7 U.S.C. 1621, et seq.) 

■ 2. Section 868.1, paragraphs (b)(3), 

and (b)(6) are revised to read as follows: 

§ 868.1 Meaning of terms. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(3) Appeal inspection service. A 

review by the Service of the result(s) of 

an original inspection or retest 

inspection service. 

* * * * * 

(6) Board appeal inspection service. A 

review by the Board of Appeals and 

Review of the result(s) of an original 

inspection or appeal inspection service 

on graded commodities. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Section 868.60, paragraph (b) and 

the OMB citation at the end of the 

section are revised to read as follows: 

§ 868.60 Who may request appeal 

inspection service. 

* * * * * 

(b) Kind and scope of request. When 

the results for more than one kind of 

service are reported on a certificate, an 

appeal inspection or Board appeal 

inspection service, as applicable, may 

be requested on any or all kinds of 

services reported on the certificate. The 

scope of an appeal inspection service 

will be limited to the scope of the 

original inspection or, in the case of a 

Board appeal inspection service, the 

original or appeal inspection service. A 

request for appeal inspection of a retest 

inspection will be based upon the scope 

of the original inspection. If the request 

specifies a different scope, the request 

shall be dismissed. Provided, however, 

that an applicant for service may request 

an appeal or Board appeal inspection of 

specific factor(s) or official grade and 

factors. In addition, appeal and Board 

appeal inspection for grade may include 

a review of any pertinent factor(s), as 

deemed necessary by official personnel. 

(Approved by the Office of Management and 

Budget under control number 0580–0013). 

James E. Link, 

Administrator, Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration. 

[FR Doc. 05–22586 Filed 11–14–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–EN–M 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

10 CFR Parts 600 and 603 

RIN 1991–AB72 

Assistance Regulations 

AGENCY: Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Interim final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy 

(DOE) is adding a new part to the DOE 

assistance regulations to establish 

policies and procedures to implement 

the ‘‘other transaction authority’’

granted to the Secretary of Energy by 

section 1007 of the Energy Policy Act of 

2005. DOE has decided to implement 

other transaction authority through the 

award and administration of technology 

investment agreements (TIAs). TIAs are 

a new class of assistance instrument for 

DOE, but they have been used by the 

Department of Defense (DoD) for many 

years to support or stimulate defense 

research projects involving for-profit 

firms, especially commercial firms that 

do business primarily in the commercial 

marketplace. The new part 603 is 

similar to the DoD regulation; both 

provide contracting officers greater 

flexibility to negotiate award provisions 

in areas that can present barriers to 

those commercial firms (e.g., 

intellectual property, audits, and cost 

principles). DOE also is revising 10 CFR 

part 600, subpart A, to conform it with 

the new part. 

DATES: Effective Date: This interim final 

rule is effective on March 15, 2006. 

Comment Date: Written comments must 

be received by December 15, 2005. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN Number 1991–AB72, 

by any of the following methods: 

1. E-mail to trudy.wood@hq.doe.gov. 

Include RIN 1991–AB72 and ‘‘TIA’’ in 

the subject line of the e-mail. Please 

include the full body of your comments 

in the text of the message or as an 

attachment. 

2. Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

3. Mail: Address the comments to 

Trudy Wood, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of Procurement and 

Assistance Policy (ME–61), 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585. Due to potential 

delays in DOE’s receipt and processing 

of mail sent through the U.S. Postal 

Service, we encourage respondents to 

submit comments electronically to 

ensure timely receipt. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Trudy Wood, Office of Procurement and 

Assistance Policy, Department of 

Energy, at 202–827–1336. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

II. Discussion of Rule Provisions 

III. Discussion on Conforming Changes to 10 

CFR Part 600 

IV. Procedural Requirements 

A. Review Under Executive Order 12866 

B. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act 

C. Review Under the Paperwork Reduction 

Act 

D. Review Under the National 

Environmental Policy Act 

E. Review Under Executive Order 13132 

F. Review Under Executive Order 12988 

G. Review Under the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995 

H. Review Under the Treasury and General 

Government Appropriations Act, 1999 

I. Review Under the Treasury and General 

Government Appropriations Act, 2001 

J. Review Under Executive Order 13211 

K. Review Under the Small Business 

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act 

V. Approval of the Office of the Secretary of 

Energy 

I. Background 

Section 1007 of the Energy Policy Act 

of 2005 (Pub. L. 109–58) amends section 

646 of the Department of Energy (DOE) 

Organization Act by adding a subsection 

(g) which authorizes the Secretary of 

Energy to enter into transactions (other 

than contracts, cooperative agreements, 

and grants) subject to the same terms 

and conditions as the Secretary of 

Defense under section 2371 of title 10, 

United States Code. Pursuant to 10 

U.S.C. 2371, the Department of Defense 

(DoD) has developed types of 

cooperative agreements and other 

transactions to support research with 

potential for both commercial and 

defense applications. In 1997, DoD 

issued interim guidance that merged 

various cooperative agreements and 

other transactions that were similar to