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

3106

Vol. 60, No. 9

Friday, January 13, 1995

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Federal Crop Insurance Corporation

7 CFR Part 400

RIN 0563–AB10

General Administrative Regulations;

Sanctions

AGENCY: Federal Crop Insurance

Corporation, Agriculture.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Federal Crop Insurance

Corporation (FCIC) hereby proposes to

amend its regulations by setting out the

additional sanctions made available

under the Federal Crop Insurance Act as

amended by the Federal Crop Insurance

Reform Act of 1994 with respect to fines

and disqualification for willfully and

intentionally providing false or

inaccurate information and ineligibility

for the adoption of a material scheme or

device to obtain benefits.

DATES: Written comments, data, and

opinions on this rule must be submitted

no later than March 14, 1995 to be sure

of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Written comments, data,

and opinion on this proposed rule

should be sent to Diana Moslak,

Regulatory and Procedural Development

Staff, Federal Crop Insurance

Corporation, USDA, Washington, D.C.

20250. Hand or messenger delivery

should be made to Suite 500, 2101 L

Street NW., Washington D.C. Written

comments will be available for public

inspection and copying in the Office of

the Manager, 2101 L Street NW., 5th

Floor, Washington, DC, during regular

business hours, Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Diana Moslak, Federal Crop Insurance

Corporation, U.S. Department of

Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250.

Telephone (202) 254–8314.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

action has been reviewed under United

States Department of Agriculture

(USDA) procedures established by

Executive Order 12866 and

Departmental Regulation 1512–1. This

action constitutes a review as to the

need, currency, clarity, and

effectiveness of these regulations under

those procedures. The sunset review

date established for these regulations is

December 1, 1999.

This rule 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 (OMB).

In accordance with the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501

et seq.), no information collection or

record-keeping requirements are found

in this rule.

It has been determined under section

6(a) of Executive Order 12612,

Federalism, that this rule does not have

sufficient federalism implication to

warrant the preparation of a Federalism

Assessment. The requirements and

procedures contained in this rule will

not have substantial direct effects on

states or their political subdivisions, or

on the distribution of power and

responsibilities among the various

levels of government.

Under section 605 of the Regulatory

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601–612), this

regulation will not have a significant

impact on a substantial number of small

entities. This action does not increase

the paperwork burden on the insured

producer or the reinsured company.

Therefore, this action is determined to

be exempt from the provisions of the

Regulatory Flexibility Act and no

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis was

prepared.

This program is listed in the Catalog

of Federal Domestic Assistance under

No. 10.450.

This program is not subject to the

provisions of Executive Order 12372

which require intergovernmental

consultation with state and local

officials. See the Notice related to 7 CFR

part 3015, subpart V, published at 48 FR

29115, June 24, 1983.

The Office of the General Counsel has

determined that these regulations meet

the applicable standards provided in

subsections 2(a) and 2(b)(2) of Executive

Order 12778. The provisions of this rule

will preempt state and local laws to the

extent such state and local laws are

inconsistent herewith. This rule does

not have retroactive effect and

administrative appeals as established

under 7 CFR part 400 subpart J or under

regulations established under subtitle H

of the Department of Agriculture

Reorganization Act of 1994 (Pub. L.

103–354) must be exhausted before

judicial action may be brought.

This action is not expected to have

any significant impact on the quality of

the human environment, health, and

safety. Therefore, neither an

Environmental Assessment nor an

Environmental Impact Statement is

needed.

The Federal Crop Insurance Act (FCI

Act) was amended by the Federal Crop

Insurance Reform Act of 1994 (‘‘Reform

Act’’) on October 13, 1994. The Reform

Act added a provision to the FCI Act

providing that any participant in the

program who knowingly adopts a

material scheme or device should lose

all benefits under the program for that

crop year. This provision roughly

parallels similar provisions found in

USDA commodity programs. Eligibility

for those programs are now linked to the

crop insurance program. The Reform

Act also amended the FCI Act to revise

the penalty for giving false or inaccurate

information. The penalty for those acts

previously was administrative

debarment from participation in the

program for a period of up to ten years.

However, administrative ineligibility for

participation in the disaster assistance

and other commodity programs had

previously been two years. The Reform

Act substituted Catastrophic Risk

Protection for Disaster Assistance for

insurable crops and reduced the

maximum administrative debarment for

Catastrophic Risk Protection to two

years so as to conform to previous

practice. The term for administrative

debarment when the insured purchases

other than catastrophic risk protection

coverage remains at a maximum of ten

years.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 400

Administrative practice and

procedure, Claims, Crop insurance,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

Proposed Rule

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, subpart R, part 400 of chapter

IV of title 7 of the Code of Federal

Regulations is proposed to be amended

as follows:
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 9 / Friday, January 13, 1995 / Proposed Rules 3107

PART 400—GENERAL

ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS

Subpart R—Sanctions

l. The authority citation for 7 CFR part

400, subpart R, is revised to read as

follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1506(l).

2. Paragraph (a) of § 400.454 is revised

to read as follows:

§ 400.454 Civil Penalties.

(a) Any person who willfully and

intentionally provides any false or

inaccurate information to FCIC or to any

approved insurance provider reinsured

by FCIC with respect to an insurance

plan or policy issued under the

authority of the Federal Crop Insurance

Act, as amended, (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.)

may be subject to a civil fine of up to

$10,000 for each violation and

disqualification from participation in:

(1) The catastrophic risk protection

plan of insurance for a period not to

exceed two (2) years; or

(2) Any plan of insurance providing

protection in excess of that provided

under the catastrophic risk protection

plan of insurance for a period not to

exceed ten (10) years.

* * * * *

3. A new § 400.458 is added to read

as follows:

§ 400.458 Scheme or device.

In addition to the penalties specified

in this part, if a person has knowingly

adopted a material scheme or device to

obtain catastrophic risk protection,

other plans of insurance coverage, or

non-insured assistance benefits to

which the person is not entitled, has

evaded the Federal Crop Insurance Act,

or has acted with the purpose of evading

the Federal Crop Insurance Act, the

person shall be ineligible to receive any

and all benefits applicable to any crop

year for which the scheme or device was

adopted.

Done in Washington, D.C. on January 5,

1995.

Kenneth D. Ackerman,

Manager, Federal Crop Insurance

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 95–617 Filed 1–12–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–08–P

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Immigration and Naturalization Service

8 CFR Part 286

[INS No. 1350–93]

RIN 1115–AD06

INS Immigration User Fee Review

AGENCY: Immigration and Naturalization

Service, Justice.

ACTION: Notice of user fee account

status.

SUMMARY: The Attorney General is

required to submit a report to the

Congress concerning the status of the

Immigration User Fee Account (IUFA),

and to recommend any adjustment in

the prescribed fee. The report is to be

submitted to the Congress following a

public notice with opportunity for

comment. This document publishes the

status of the IUFA as of September 30,

1994, and presents the public the

opportunity to comment and propose

regulatory changes.

DATES: Written comments must be

received on or before March 14, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Please submit written

comments, in triplicate, to Director,

Policy Directives and Instructions

Branch, Immigration and Naturalization

Service, Room 5307, 425 I Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20536–0002. To ensure

proper handling, please reference INS

No. 1350–93 on your correspondence.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael Natchuras, Budget Analyst, Fee

Analysis and Operations Branch, Office

of Finance, Immigration and

Naturalization Service, 425 I Street,

NW., Room 6240, Washington, DC

20036–0002, telephone 202–616–2754.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

286(d) of the Immigration and

Nationality Act (Act) directs the

Attorney General to charge and collect

a user fee from each individual arriving

in the United States aboard a

commercial aircraft or commercial

vessel from foreign locations effective

December 1, 1986. Individuals arriving

from Mexico, Canada, and the adjacent

islands by means other than commercial

aircraft are exempt from the fee. The

1994 Appropriations Act for the

Department of Justice, Public Law 103–

121, changed the Immigration User Fee

from $5.00 to $6.00 per passenger

inspected. Fee collections are used to

provide immigration inspection services

for commercial aircraft and commercial

vessels; detect fraudulent documents

used by air and sea passengers travelling

to the United States; detain and deport

excludable aliens arriving on

commercial aircraft and commercial

vessels; expand and operate information

systems for non-immigrant control and

debt collection; and provide necessary

support for operations to ensure that the

objectives of the program are achieved.

The 1994 Appropriations Act

authorized the use of the IUFA to

provide detention and deportation

services for excludable aliens who have

attempted to enter the United States

illegally through avoidance of

inspectoin at air and sea ports-of-entry,

and to provide exclusion and asylum

proceedings at air and sea ports-of-entry

for excludable aliens arriving on

commercial aircraft and vessels and for

any excludable aliens who have

attempted to enter the United States

illegally through avoidance of

inspection at air and sea ports-of-entry.

Section 286(h) of the Act requires the

Attorney General to submit a bi-yearly

report to the Congress concerning the

status of the IUFA. Before the report is

submitted, the Attorney General must

present a summary of the account’s

status for review and public comment.

As of September 30, 1994, the status

of the account is as follows:

Financial summary ($000)

Fiscal year

1993 actual

Fiscal year

1994 actual

Fiscal year

1995 estimate

Start of year balance .................................................................................................................... $7,321 $27,460 $40,387

Collections .................................................................................................................................... 228,298 270,090 295,900

Obligations ................................................................................................................................... 211,094 264,530 321,600

Recovery of prior year obligations ............................................................................................... 2,935 7,367 .......................

End of year balance ..................................................................................................................... 27,460 40,387 14,667

On February 15, 1994, INS published

proposed changes in regulations (59 FR

7227) to amend 8 CFR 286 to comply

with 1991 and 1994 Department of

Justice Appropriations Acts. In addition,

the proposed rule included changes in