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

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new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

10303

Vol. 60, No. 37

Friday, February 24, 1995

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Grain Inspection, Packers and

Stockyards Administration

7 CFR Chapter VIII

7 CFR Chapter I, Part 68

9 CFR Chapter II

Use of Direct Final Rulemaking

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and

Stockyards Administration, USDA.

ACTION: Policy statement.

SUMMARY: The Grain Inspection, Packers

and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA)

is implementing a new rulemaking

procedure to expedite making

noncontroversial changes to regulations.

Rules that the agency judges to be

noncontroversial and unlikely to result

in adverse comments will be published

as ‘‘direct final’’ rules. {‘‘Adverse

comments’’ are comments that suggest

that a rule should not be adopted or

suggest that a change should be made to

the rule.} Such direct final rules will

advise the public that no adverse

comments are anticipated, and that

unless written adverse comments or

written notice of intent to submit

adverse comments are received within

30 days, the revision made by the rule

will be effective 60 days from the date

the direct final rule is published in the

Federal Register. This new policy

should expedite the promulgation of

routine or otherwise noncontroversial

rules by reducing the time that would be

required to develop, review, clear, and

publish separate proposed and final

rules.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to submit

comments on this notice, please send

them to George Wollam, USDA, GIPSA,

room 0623–S, P.O. Box 96454,

Washington, DC 20090–6454.

Comments received may be inspected at

USDA, room 0623, South Building, 14

and Independence Ave SW,

Washington, DC between 8 a.m. and

3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,

except holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

George Wollam, address same as above,

(202) 720–0292.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: GIPSA is

committed to improving the efficiency

of its regulatory processes to fulfill

agency missions in a manner that

imposes the least necessary burden. In

pursuit of this goal, GIPSA plans to

employ the rulemaking technique

known as ‘‘direct final rulemaking’’ to

promulgate some of its rules.

The Direct Final Rule Process

Rules that the agency judges to be

noncontroversial and unlikely to result

in adverse comments will be published

as direct final rules. Such direct final

rules advise the public that no adverse

comments are anticipated, and that

unless written adverse comments or

written notice of intent to submit

adverse comments are received within

30 days, the revision made by the rule

will be effective 60 days from the date

the direct final rule is published in the

Federal Register.

By ‘‘adverse comment’’ we mean

comments that suggest that the rule

should not be adopted or that suggest

that a change should be made to the

rule. A comment expressing support for

the rule as published would obviously

not be considered adverse. Neither

would a comment suggesting that

requirements in the rule should, or

should not, be employed by GIPSA in

other programs or situations outside the

scope of the direct final rule.

In accordance with the rulemaking

provisions of the Administrative

Procedures Act (5 U.S.C. 553), this

procedure gives the public general

notice of GIPSA’s intent to adopt a rule

and gives interested persons an

opportunity to participate in the

rulemaking through submission of

comments. The major feature of direct

final rulemaking is that if GIPSA

receives no written adverse comments

within 30 days of the publication of a

direct final rule, nor any written notice

of intent to submit adverse comments,

the rule will become effective without

the need to publish a separate rule.

If GIPSA receives written adverse

comments or written notice of intent to

submit adverse comments within 30

days of the publication of a direct final

rule, a notice of withdrawal of the direct

final rule will be published in the

Federal Register and a proposed rule

will be published establishing a

comment period for the rule making

action. Following the close of the

comment period, the comments will be

considered, and a final rule addressing

the comments will be published.

As discussed above, if GIPSA receives

no written adverse comments within 30

days of the publication of a direct final

rule, nor any written notice of intent to

submit adverse comments, the direct

final rule will become effective 60 days

following publication. However, GIPSA

will publish a notice in the Federal

Register indicating that no adverse

comments were received on the direct

final rule, and confirming that it is

effective on the date indicated in the

direct rule.

Determining When To Use Direct Final

Rulemaking

Not all GIPSA rules are good

candidates for direct final rulemaking.

Many GIPSA rules address complex

marketing and regulatory situations

where the trade and public may have a

variety of opinions to offer on the need

for the rule, or possible alternative

methods for achieving the purpose of

the rule. In these cases, GIPSA plans to

continue to publish a proposed rule and

establish a comment period to allow

submission of comments, followed by a

final rule addressing the comments.

GIPSA plans to use direct final

rulemaking on a case-by-case basis

when we do not anticipate adverse

comments. The decision to use direct

final rulemaking for a rule would be

based upon our experience with similar

rules. If similar rules were published in

the past as proposals that did not elicit

adverse comments, we would consider

publishing such rules in the future as

direct final rules.

Dated: February 15, 1995.

Patricia Jensen,

Acting Assistant Secretary, Marketing and

Regulatory Programs.

[FR Doc. 95–4496 Filed 2–23–95; 8:45 am]

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