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

5130 

Vol. 73, No. 19 

Tuesday, January 29, 2008 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 905 

[Docket No. AO–85–A10; AMS–FV–07–0132; 

FV08–905–1] 

Oranges, Grapefruit, Tangerines, and 

Tangelos Grown in Florida; Hearing on 

Proposed Amendment of Marketing 

Agreement 84 and Order No. 905 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of hearing on proposed 

rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of a 

public hearing to receive evidence on 

proposed amendments to Marketing 

Agreement No. 84 and Order No. 905 

(order), which regulate the handling of 

oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, and 

tangelos (citrus) grown in Florida. Four 

amendments are proposed by the Citrus 

Administrative Committee (committee), 

which is responsible for local 

administration of the order. These 

proposed amendments would: modify 

committee representation by 

cooperative entities; allow additional 

alternates to represent absent members 

of the committee to better meet quorum 

requirements; add authority to conduct 

committee meetings by telephone or 

other means of communication; and add 

authority for marketing promotions, 

including paid advertising, and 

production research for fresh Florida 

citrus. In addition, the Agricultural 

Marketing Service (AMS) proposes to 

make any such changes as may be 

necessary to the order to conform to any 

amendment that may result from the 

hearing. These proposed amendments 

are intended to improve the operation 

and administration of the order. 

DATES: The hearing dates are February 

12, 2008, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and 

continuing on February 13, 2008, at 9 

a.m., if necessary, in Winter Haven, 

Florida. 

ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held at 

the Florida Department of Agriculture 

and Consumer Services, 500 3rd Street, 

NW., Winter Haven, FL 33881. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Melissa Schmaedick, Marketing Order 

Administration Branch, Fruit and 

Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 1220 

S.W. Third Avenue, Room 385, 

Portland, Oregon 97204; Telephone: 

(503) 326–2724, Fax: (503) 326–7440, or 

e-mail: Melissa.Schmaedick@usda.gov; 

or Laurel May, 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: 

Laurel.May@usda.gov. 

Small businesses may request 

information on this proceeding 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 

administrative action is instituted 

pursuant to the Agricultural Marketing 

Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7 

U.S.C. 601–674), hereinafter referred to 

as the ‘‘Act.’’ This 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. 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 

U.S.C. 601–612) 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. Interested persons are 

invited to present evidence at the 

hearing on the possible regulatory and 

informational impacts of the proposals 

on small businesses. 

The amendments proposed herein 

have been reviewed under Executive 

Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform. They 

are not intended to have 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 the 

proposals. 

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. 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 the 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. 

The hearing is called pursuant to the 

provisions of the Act and the applicable 

rules of practice and procedure 

governing the formulation of marketing 

agreements and orders (7 CFR part 900). 

The proposed amendments were 

recommended by the committee on May 

29, 2007, and submitted to USDA on 

August 16, 2007. After reviewing the 

proposals and other information 

submitted by the committee, USDA 

made a determination to schedule this 

matter for hearing. The proposed 

amendments to the order recommended 

by the committee are summarized as 

follows: 

1. Reduce committee representation 

by producers and shippers affiliated 

with cooperative marketing 

organizations. This proposal would 

amend § 905.23, Selection, and would 

result in conforming changes being 

made to § 905.22, Nominations. 

2. Add authority to allow additional 

alternates to represent absent committee 

members at committee meetings to 

better meet quorum requirements. This 

proposal would amend § 905.29, 

Inability of members to serve. 

3. Add authority to conduct 

committee meetings by telephone or 

other means of communication 

technology. This proposal would amend 

§ 905.34, Procedure of committees. 

4. Add a new § 905.54 to provide 

authority to establish and conduct 

research and promotion activities, 

including paid advertising. 

The committee works with USDA in 

administering the order. These 

proposals submitted by the committee 


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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 19 / Tuesday, January 29, 2008 / Proposed Rules 5131 

have not received the approval of 

USDA. The committee believes that its 

proposed changes would improve the 

operation and administration of the 

order by reallocating committee 

membership to better reflect current 

industry makeup and by fostering 

greater participation in committee 

business meetings. The committee also 

believes that the research and 

promotional needs of the fresh citrus 

industry would be better addressed 

though programs administered under 

order authority. 

In addition to the proposed 

amendments to the order, AMS 

proposes to make any such changes as 

may be necessary to the order to 

conform to any amendment that may 

result from the hearing. 

The public hearing is held for the 

purpose of: (i) Receiving evidence about 

the economic and marketing conditions 

which relate to the proposed 

amendments of the order; (ii) 

determining whether there is a need for 

the proposed amendments to the order; 

and (iii) determining whether the 

proposed amendments or appropriate 

modifications thereof will tend to 

effectuate the declared policy of the Act. 

Testimony is invited at the hearing on 

all the proposals and recommendations 

contained in this notice, as well as any 

appropriate modifications or 

alternatives. 

All persons wishing to submit written 

material as evidence at the hearing 

should be prepared to submit four 

copies of such material at the hearing 

and should have prepared testimony 

available for presentation at the hearing. 

From the time the notice of hearing is 

issued and until the issuance of a final 

decision in this proceeding, USDA 

employees involved in the decisional 

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. The 

prohibition applies to employees in the 

following organizational units: Office of 

the Secretary of Agriculture; Office of 

the Administrator, AMS; Office of the 

General Counsel; and the Fruit and 

Vegetable Programs, AMS. 

Procedural matters are not subject to 

the above prohibition and may be 

discussed at any time. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 905 

Grapefruit, Marketing agreements, 

Oranges, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Tangelos, Tangerines. 

PART 905—ORANGES, GRAPEFRUIT, 

TANGERINES, AND TANGELOS 

GROWN IN FLORIDA 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 905 is proposed to 

be amended as follows: 

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 905 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674. 

2. Testimony is invited on the 

following proposals or appropriate 

alternatives or modifications to such 

proposals. 

Proposals submitted by the Citrus 

Administrative Committee: 

Proposal Number 1 

3. Amend § 905.22 by revising 

paragraphs (a)(2) and (b)(2) to read as 

follows: 

§ 905.22 Nominations. 

(a) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(2) Each nominee shall be a producer 

in the district from which he or she is 

nominated. In voting for nominees, each 

producer shall be entitled to cast one 

vote for each nominee in each of the 

districts in which he is a producer. At 

least two of the nominees and their 

alternates so nominated shall be 

affiliated with a bona fide cooperative 

marketing organization. 

(b) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(2) Nomination of at least two 

members and their alternates shall be 

made by bona fide cooperative 

marketing organizations which are 

handlers. Nominations for not more 

than six members and their alternates 

shall be made by handlers who are not 

so affiliated. In voting for nominees, 

each handler or his authorized 

representative shall be entitled to cast 

one vote, which shall be weighted by 

the volume of fruit by such handler 

during the then current fiscal period. 

4. Revise § 905.23 to read as follows: 

§ 905.23 Selection. 

(a) From the nominations made 

pursuant to § 905.22(a) or from other 

qualified persons, the Secretary shall 

select one member and one alternate 

member to represent District 2 and two 

members and two alternate members 

each to represent Districts 1, 3, 4, and 

5 or such other number of members and 

alternate members from each district as 

may be prescribed pursuant to § 905.14. 

At least two such members and their 

alternates shall be affiliated with bona 

fide cooperative marketing 

organizations. 

(b) From the nominations made 

pursuant to § 905.22(b) or from other 

qualified persons, the Secretary shall 

select at least two members and their 

alternates to represent bona fide 

cooperative marketing organizations 

which are handlers, and the remaining 

members and their alternates to 

represent handlers who are not so 

affiliated. 

Proposal Number 2 

5. In § 905.29, redesignate paragraph 

(b) as paragraph (c), and add a new 

paragraph (b) to read as follows: 

§ 905.29 Inability of members to serve. 

* * * * * 

(b) If both a member and his or her 

respective alternate are unable to attend 

a committee meeting, such member may 

designate another alternate to act in his 

or her place in order to obtain a quorum: 

Provided, that such alternate represents 

the same district and group affiliation as 

the absent member. If the member is 

unable to designate such an alternate, 

the committee members present may 

designate such alternate: Provided that, 

to the extent possible, the substitute 

alternate represents the same district 

and group affiliation of the absent 

member. 

* * * * * 

Proposal Number 3 

6. Revise paragraph (c) of § 905.34 to 

read as follows: 

§ 905.34 Procedure of committees. 

* * * * * 

(c) The committee may provide for 

meeting by telephone, telegraph, or 

other means of communication, and any 

vote cast at such a meeting shall be 

promptly confirmed in writing: 

Provided, That if any assembled 

meeting is held, all votes shall be cast 

in person. 

* * * * * 

Proposal Number 4 

7. Add a new § 905.54 to read as 

follows: 

§ 905.54 Marketing, research and 

development. 

The committee may, with the 

approval of the Secretary, establish, or 

provide for the establishment of, 

projects including production research, 

marketing research and development 

projects, and marketing promotion 

including paid advertising, designed to 

assist, improve, or promote the 

marketing, distribution, and 

consumption or efficient production of 

fruit. The expenses of such projects 

shall be paid by funds collected 

pursuant to § 905.41. Upon conclusion 

of each project, but at least annually, the 


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5132 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 19 / Tuesday, January 29, 2008 / Proposed Rules 

committee shall summarize the program 

status and accomplishments to its 

members and the Secretary. A similar 

report to the committee shall be 

required of any contracting party on any 

project carried out under this section. 

Also, for each project, the contracting 

party shall be required to maintain 

records of money received and 

expenditures, and such shall be 

available to the committee and the 

Secretary. 

Proposal Submitted by USDA 

Proposal Number 5 

Make other such changes as may be 

necessary to the order to conform with 

any amendment thereto that may result 

from the hearing. 

Dated: January 24, 2008. 

Lloyd C. Day, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 08–362 Filed 1–25–08; 9:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

9 CFR Part 93 

[Docket No. APHIS–2007–0095] 

RIN 0579–AC63 

Importation of Cattle From Mexico; 

Addition of Port at San Luis, AZ 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend 

the regulations regarding the 

importation of cattle from Mexico by 

adding San Luis, AZ, as a port through 

which cattle that have been infested 

with fever ticks or exposed to fever ticks 

or tick-borne diseases may be imported 

into the United States. A new facility for 

the handling of animals is to be 

constructed on the Mexican side of the 

border at the port of San Luis, AZ, that 

will be equipped with facilities 

necessary for the proper chute 

inspection, dipping, and testing that are 

required for such cattle under the 

regulations. We would also amend the 

regulations to remove provisions that 

limit the admission of cattle that have 

been infested with fever ticks or 

exposed to fever ticks or tick-borne 

diseases to the State of Texas. The 

statutory requirement that limited the 

admission of those cattle to the State of 

Texas has been repealed. These 

proposed changes would make an 

additional port of entry available and 

relieve restrictions on the movement of 

imported Mexican cattle within the 

United States. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before March 31, 

2008. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/ 

component/ 

main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS– 

2007–0095 to submit or view comments 

and to view supporting and related 

materials available electronically. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Please send two copies of your comment 

to Docket No. APHIS–2007–0095, 

Regulatory Analysis and Development, 

PPD, APHIS, Station 3A–03.8, 4700 

River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 

20737–1238. Please state that your 

comment refers to Docket No. APHIS–

2007–0095. 

Reading Room: You may read any 

comments that we receive on this 

docket in our reading room. The reading 

room is located in room 1141 of the 

USDA South Building, 14th Street and 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC. Normal reading room 

hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except holidays. To be 

sure someone is there to help you, 

please call (202) 690–2817 before 

coming. 

Other Information: Additional 

information about APHIS and its 

programs is available on the Internet at 

http://www.aphis.usda.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Freeda Isaac, Assistant Director for 

Animal Import, National Center for 

Import and Export, VS, APHIS, 4700 

River Road Unit 39, Riverdale, MD 

20737–1231; (301) 734–6479. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The regulations in 9 CFR part 93 

prohibit or restrict the importation of 

certain animals, birds, and poultry into 

the United States to prevent the 

introduction of communicable diseases 

of livestock and poultry. Subpart D of 

part 93 (§§ 93.400 through 93.436, 

referred to below as the regulations) 

governs the importation of ruminants; 

within subpart D, §§ 93.424 through 

94.429 specifically address the 

importation of various ruminants from 

Mexico into the United States. 

In § 93.426, paragraph (a) states that 

all ruminants offered for entry into the 

United States from Mexico must be 

inspected at the port of entry and found 

to be free from communicable diseases 

and fever tick infestation and to not 

have been exposed to communicable 

diseases and fever tick infestation. 

Ruminants found to be affected with or 

to have been exposed to a 

communicable disease, or infested with 

fever ticks, are to be refused entry 

except as provided in § 93.427(b)(2). 

Under § 93.427(b)(2), cattle that have 

been exposed to splenetic, southern, or 

tick fever, or that have been infested 

with or exposed to fever ticks, may be 

imported from Mexico for admission 

into the State of Texas, except that 

portion of the State quarantined because 

of fever ticks, either at one of the land 

border ports in Texas listed in 

§ 93.403(c) of the regulations, or at the 

port of Santa Teresa, NM, provided that 

certain conditions are met. Those 

conditions are spelled out in paragraphs 

(b)(2)(i) through (b)(2)(v) of § 93.427. 

In a proposed rule published in the 

Federal Register (70 FR 67933–67935, 

Docket No. 05–041–1) on November 9, 

2005, we proposed to amend the 

regulations governing the importation of 

cattle from Mexico (referred to below as 

the regulations) by adding San Luis, AZ, 

as a port through which cattle that have 

been infested with fever ticks or 

exposed to fever ticks or tick-borne 

diseases may be imported into the 

United States. We also proposed to 

amend the regulations to remove the 

limitation that cattle that have been 

infested with ticks or tick-borne 

diseases may only be imported into 

Texas and that prohibits the movement 

of such cattle into areas of Texas that are 

quarantined because of fever ticks. 

We solicited comments concerning 

our proposal for 60 days ending January 

9, 2006. We received a total of 11 

comments by that date. They were from 

representatives of the cattle industry, 

State agriculture and animal health 

departments, and private citizens. Three 

of the commenters supported the 

proposed rule. The remaining 

commenters were opposed to the 

proposed rule, citing concerns about 

importing Mexican cattle, maintaining 

and staffing the new port, or increasing 

the risk of spreading bovine 

piroplasmosis (another name for 

splenetic, southern, or tick fever) to 

domestic cattle within Texas or 

California. 

After considering the concerns raised 

by several of the commenters, on April 

13, 2006, we published a withdrawal of 

the proposed rule (71 FR 19134–19135; 

Docket No. 05–041–2) pending further 

analysis of the animal health risks 

associated with the proposed changes. 

As part of our evaluation, we prepared 

a risk assessment. Copies of the risk 


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