29926 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 115 / Thursday, June 13, 1996 / Rules and Regulations

Board will continue to conduct a mail

vote prior to or during each fiscal period

to recommend a budget of expenses and

consider recommendations for

modification of the assessment rate. Any

mail votes will be discussed and

reconfirmed at a public meeting. The

dates and times of Board meetings are

available from the Board or the

Department. Board meetings are open to

the public and interested persons may

express their views at these meetings.

The Department will evaluate Board

recommendations and other available

information to determine whether

modification of the assessment rate is

needed. Further rulemaking will be

undertaken as necessary. The Board’s

1996–97 budget and those for

subsequent fiscal periods will be

reviewed and, as appropriate, approved

by the Department.

After consideration of all relevant

material presented, including the

information and recommendation

submitted by the Board and other

available information, it is hereby found

that this rule, as hereinafter set forth,

will tend to effectuate the declared

policy of the Act.

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is also

found and determined upon good cause

that it is impracticable, unnecessary,

and contrary to the public interest to

give preliminary notice prior to putting

this rule into effect and that good cause

exists for not postponing the effective

date of this action until 30 days after

publication in the Federal Register

because: (1) The Board needs to have

sufficient funds to pay its expenses

which are incurred on a continuous

basis; (2) the 1996–97 marketing year

begins on July 1, 1996, and the

marketing order requires that the rate of

assessment for each marketing year

apply to all assessable hazelnuts

handled during such marketing year; (3)

handlers are aware of this action which

was unanimously recommended by the

Board in a mail vote and is similar to

the assessment rate action issued last

year; and (4) this interim final rule

provides a 30-day comment period, and

all comments timely received will be

considered prior to finalization of this

rule.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 982

Filberts, Hazelnuts, Marketing

agreements, Nuts, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 7 CFR part 982 is amended as

follows:

PART 982—HAZELNUTS GROWN IN

OREGON AND WASHINGTON

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR

part 982 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674.

2. A new subpart—Assessment Rates

and a new § 982.340 are added to read

as follows:

Subpart—Assessment Rates

§ 982.340 Assessment rate.

On and after July 1, 1996, an

assessment rate of $0.007 per pound of

assessable hazelnuts is established for

Oregon and Washington hazelnuts.

Dated: June 7, 1996.

Robert C. Keeney,

Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 96–14985 Filed 6–12–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

7 CFR Parts 997 and 998

[Docket No. FV96–998–1IFR]

Increased Assessment Rate for

Domestically Produced Peanuts

Handled By Persons Not Subject to

Peanut Marketing Agreement No. 146

and for Marketing Agreement No. 146

Regulating the Quality of Domestically

Produced Peanuts

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request

for comments.

SUMMARY: This interim final rule

increases the administrative assessment

rate under Marketing Agreement 146

(agreement) for the 1995–96 crop year.

Authorization of the increase in the

administrative assessment rate enables

the Peanut Administrative Committee

(Committee) to collect sufficient funds

to pay expenses for the remainder of the

year. Funds to administer this program

are derived from assessments on

handlers who have signed the

agreement. Public Law 103–66 requires

the Department of Agriculture

(Department) to impose an

administrative assessment on farmers

stock peanuts received or acquired by

handlers who are not signatory (nonsignatory handlers) to the agreement.

Therefore, this same increase in the

assessment rate under the agreement

will apply to all non-signatory handlers.

DATES: Effective July 1, 1995, through

June 30, 1996. Comments received by

July 15, 1996, will be considered prior

to issuance of a final rule.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are

invited to submit written comments

concerning this rule. Comments must be

sent in triplicate to the Docket Clerk,

Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS,

USDA, P.O. Box 96456, room 2523–S,

Washington, DC 20090–6456, FAX 202–

720–5698. Comments should reference

the docket number and the date and

page number of this issue of the Federal

Register and will be available for public

inspection in the Office of the Docket

Clerk during regular business hours.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Martha Sue Clark, Marketing Order

Administration Branch, Fruit and

Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O.

Box 96456, room 2523–S, Washington,

DC 20090–6456, telephone 202–720–

9918, FAX 202–720–5698, or William G.

Pimental, Southeast Marketing Field

Office, Fruit and Vegetable Division,

AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 2276, Winter

Haven, FL 33883–2276, telephone 941–

299–4770, FAX 941–299–5169.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule

is issued pursuant to the requirements

of the Agricultural Marketing

Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7

U.S.C. 601–674), and as further

amended December 12, 1989,

hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Act’’; Pub.

L. 101–220, section 4(1), (2), 103 Stat.

1878, December 12, 1989; Pub. L. 103–

66, section 8b(b)(1), 107 Stat. 312,

August 10, 1993; and under Marketing

Agreement 146 (7 CFR part 998)

regulating the quality of domestically

produced peanuts.

The Department is issuing this rule in

conformance with Executive Order

12866.

This rule has been reviewed under

Executive Order 12778, Civil Justice

Reform. The Department established a

1995–96 crop year assessment rate

applicable to non-signatory and

signatory handlers effective July 1, 1995,

through June 30, 1996. This rule

increases the administrative assessment

rates for the crop year which began July

1, 1995. Farmers’ stock peanuts received

or acquired by non-signatory handlers

and farmers’ stock peanuts received or

acquired by handlers signatory to the

agreement, other than from those

described in §§ 998.31 (c) and (d), are

subject to the assessments. This rule

will not preempt any State or local laws,

regulations, or policies, unless they

present an irreconcilable conflict with

this rule. There are no administrative

procedures which must be exhausted

prior to any judicial challenge to the

provisions of this rule.

Pursuant to requirements set forth in

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), the

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)

has considered the economic impact of

this rule on small entities.
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 115 / Thursday, June 13, 1996 / Rules and Regulations 29927

The purpose of the RFA is to fit

regulatory actions to the scale of

business subject to such actions in order

that small businesses will not be unduly

or disproportionately burdened.

There are approximately 45 handlers

of peanuts who have not signed the

agreement and, thus, will be subject to

the regulations specified herein. Also,

there are approximately 47,000

producers of peanuts in the 16 States

covered under the agreement and

approximately 76 handlers subject to

regulation under the agreement. Small

agricultural producers have been

defined by the Small Business

Administration (13 CFR 121.601) as

those having annual receipts of less than

$500,000, and small agricultural service

firms are defined as those whose annual

receipts are less than $5,000,000. A

majority of the producers and the nonsignatory handlers may be classified as

small entities, and some of the handlers

covered under the agreement are small

entities.

Under the agreement, the assessment

rate for a particular crop year applies to

all assessable tonnage handled from the

beginning of such year (i.e., July 1).

Funds to administer the peanut

agreement program are paid to the

Committee and are derived from

signatory handler assessments. An

annual budget of expenses is prepared

by the Committee and submitted to the

Department for approval. The members

of the Committee are handlers and

producers of peanuts. They are familiar

with the Committee’s needs and with

the costs for goods, services, and

personnel for program operations and,

thus, are in a position to formulate

appropriate budgets. The budgets are

formulated and discussed at industrywide meetings. Thus, all directly

affected persons have an opportunity to

provide input in recommending the

budget and assessment rate. The

handlers of peanuts who are directly

affected have signed the marketing

agreement authorizing the expenses that

may be incurred and the imposition of

assessments.

The assessment rate recommended by

the Committee for the 1995–96 crop

year was derived by dividing

anticipated expenses by expected

receipts and acquisitions of farmers’

stock peanuts. It applies to all assessable

peanuts received or acquired by

handlers from July 1, 1995. Farmers’

stock peanuts received or acquired by

non-signatory handlers and farmers’

stock peanuts received or acquired by

handlers signatory to the agreement,

other than from those described in

§§ 998.31 (c) and (d), are subject to

assessments. Because that rate is

applied to actual receipts and

acquisitions, it must be established at a

rate which will produce sufficient

income to pay the Committee’s

expenses. Approximately 95 percent of

the domestically produced peanut crop

is marketed by handlers who are

signatory to the agreement.

Pub. L. 101–220 amended section

608b of the Act to require that all

peanuts handled by persons who have

not entered into the agreement (nonsigners) be subject to quality and

inspection requirements to the same

extent and manner as are required under

the Agreement. Approximately 5

percent of the U.S. peanut crop is

marketed by non-signer handlers.

Pub. L. 103–66 (107 Stat. 312)

provides for mandatory assessment of

farmer’s stock peanuts acquired by nonsignatory peanut handlers. Under this

law, paragraph (b) of section 1001, of

the Agricultural Reconciliation Act of

1993, specified that: (1) Any assessment

(except indemnification assessments)

imposed under the Agreement on

signatory handlers also shall apply to

non-signatory handlers, and (2) such

assessment shall be paid to the

Secretary.

The 1995–96 Committee budget was

published in the Federal Register as an

interim final rule on May 17, 1995, (60

FR 26348), and finalized on July 18,

1995 (60 FR 36635). The non-signatory

handler assessment rate was published

in the Federal Register as an interim

final rule on August 21, 1995 (60 FR

43353), and finalized on November 24,

1995 (60 FR 57907). The administrative

expenses and assessment rate for the

1995–96 crop year were based on an

estimated assessable tonnage of

1,525,000. The Committee now projects

that total tonnage will only be about

1,300,000. In order to have sufficient

revenue to cover budgeted expenses of

$1,067,500, the Committee met on

March 19, 1996, and unanimously

recommended that the 1995–96 crop

year administrative assessment be

increased from $0.70 to $0.83 per net

ton of assessable farmers’ stock peanuts.

While this action will impose some

additional costs on handlers, the costs

are in the form of uniform assessments

on all handlers signatory to the

agreement. Some of the additional costs

may be passed on to producers.

However, these costs will be

significantly offset by the benefits

derived from the operation of the

marketing agreement. This

administrative assessment is required by

law to be applied uniformly to all nonsignatory handlers and will be of benefit

to all. Therefore, the AMS has

determined that this rule will not have

a significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities.

After consideration of all relevant

matter presented, including the

information and recommendations

submitted by the Committee and other

available information, it is hereby found

that this rule, as hereinafter set forth,

will tend to effectuate the declared

policy of the Act.

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is also

found and determined upon good cause

that it is impracticable, unnecessary,

and contrary to the public interest to

give preliminary notice prior to putting

this rule into effect and that good cause

exists for not postponing the effective

date of this action until 30 days after

publication in the Federal Register

because: (1) The Committee needs to

have sufficient funds to pay its expenses

which are incurred on a continuous

basis; (2) Pub. L. 103–66 requires the

Department to impose an administrative

assessment on peanuts received or

acquired for the account of nonsignatory handlers; (3) the 1995–96 crop

year began on July 1, 1995, and the

marketing agreement and Pub. L. 103–

66 require that the rate of assessment for

the crop year apply to all peanuts

handled during the crop year; (4)

handlers are aware of this action which

was unanimously recommended by the

Committee at a public meeting and is

similar to other budget actions issued in

past years; and (5) this interim final rule

provides a 30-day comment period, and

all comments timely received will be

considered prior to finalization of this

rule.

List of Subjects

7 CFR Part 997

Food grades and standards, Peanuts,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

7 CFR Part 998

Marketing agreements, Peanuts,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, 7 CFR parts 997 and 998 are

amended as follows:

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR

parts 997 and 998 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674.

Note: These sections will not appear in the

Code of Federal Regulations.
29928 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 115 / Thursday, June 13, 1996 / Rules and Regulations

PART 997—PROVISIONS

REGULATING THE QUALITY OF

DOMESTICALLY PRODUCED

PEANUTS HANDLED BY PERSONS

NOT SUBJECT TO THE PEANUT

MARKETING AGREEMENT

§ 997.100 [Amended]

2. Section 997.100 is amended by

removing ‘‘$0.70’’ and adding in its

place ‘‘$0.83.’’

PART 998—MARKETING AGREEMENT

REGULATING THE QUALITY OF

DOMESTICALLY PRODUCED

PEANUTS

§ 998.408 [Amended]

3. In § 998.408, paragraph (c) is

amended by removing ‘‘$1.70’’ and

adding in its place ‘‘$1.83’’ and by

removing ‘‘$0.70’’ and adding in its

place ‘‘$0.83.’’

Dated: June 7, 1996.

Robert C. Keeney,

Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 96–14987 Filed 6–12–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 27

[Docket No. 96–ASW–1; Special Condition

No. 27–ASW–3]

Special Condition: Agusta Models

A109D and A109E, High Intensity

Radiated Fields

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Final special condition; request

for comments.

SUMMARY: This special condition is

issued for the Agusta Model A109D and

A109E helicopters. These helicopters

will have a novel or unusual design

feature associated with electronic

systems that perform critical functions.

The applicable airworthiness

regulations do not contain adequate or

appropriate safety standards for the

protection of the electronic systems that

perform critical functions from the

effects of external high intensity

radiated fields (HIRF). This special

condition contains the additional safety

standards that the Administrator

considers necessary to establish a level

of safety equivalent to that established

by the applicable airworthiness

standards.

DATES: The effective date of this special

condition is June 13, 1996. Comments

must be received on or before August

12, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this proposal

may be mailed in duplicate to the

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),

Office of the Assistant Chief Counsel,

Attn: Rules Docket No. 96–ASW–1, Fort

Worth, Texas 76193–0007, or delivered

in duplicate to the Office of the

Assistant Chief Counsel, 2601 Meacham

Blvd., Fort Worth, Texas. Comments

must be marked Docket No. 96–ASW–1.

Comments may be inspected in the

Rules Docket weekdays, except Federal

holidays, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Carroll Wright, FAA, Rotorcraft

Directorate, Regulations Group, Fort

Worth, Texas 76193–0111; telephone

(817) 222–5120.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA

has determined that notice and

opportunity for prior public comment

hereon are impracticable because these

procedures would significantly delay

issuance of the design approval and

thus delay delivery of the affected

helicopter. These notice and comment

procedures are also considered

unnecessary since the public has been

previously provided with a substantial

number of opportunities to comment on

substantially identical special

conditions, and their comments have

been fully considered. Therefore, good

cause exists for making this special

condition effective upon issuance.

Comments Invited

Although this final special condition

was not subject to notice and

opportunity for prior public comment,

comments are invited on this final

special condition. Interested persons are

invited to comment on this final special

condition by submitting such written

data, views, or arguments as they may

desire. Communications should identify

the regulatory docket number and be

submitted in duplicate to the address

specified under the caption ADDRESSES.

All communications received on or

before the closing date for comments

will be considered. This special

condition may be changed in light of

comments received. All comments

received will be available in the Rules

Docket for examination by interested

persons, both before and after the

closing date of comments. A report

summarizing each substantive public

contact with FAA personnel concerning

this rulemaking will be filed in the

docket. Persons wishing the FAA to

acknowledge receipt of their comments

submitted in response to this final rule

must submit with those comments a

self-addressed, stamped postcard on

which the following statement is made:

‘‘Comments to Docket No. 96–ASW–3.’’

The postcard will be date and time

stamped and returned to the

commenter.

Background

Agusta S.p.A., Cascina Costa, Italy,

applied for an amendment to U.S. Type

Certificate H7EU through the Registro

Aeronautico Italiano (RAI) September

23, 1992, updated July 26, 1993, to

include Model A109D and A109E

helicopters based on previously

certified A109C and A109K2

helicopters. The A109D and A109E

helicopters differ from the previously

certificated model helicopters because

they contain the following:

a. Allison 250–C22(A109D) or Pratt &

Whitney PW206C(A109E) FADEC

controlled engines.

b. A main landing gear that is held in

position by two crossbeams that are

covered by pods and is retractable into

the bottom of the helicopter.

c. A new main rotor titanium hub,

composite tension links, electomeric

bearings, with dampers derived from the

Model A129 helicopter.

d. Updated fuselage and fuel systems;

and

e. A new cockpit layout with flat

panel displays (IDS) for powerplant data

monitoring.

Type Certification Basis

The certification basis established for

the Agusta Model A109D and A109E

helicopters includes: 14 Code of Federal

Regulations (CFR) § 21.29 and 14 CFR

part 27 effective February 1, 1965,

including Amendments 27–1 through

27–8, except as more specifically

required by the following paragraph

amendment levels:

Paragraph Amendment

27.2 ............................................... 28

27.21 ............................................. 21

27.45 ............................................. 21

27.71 ............................................. 21

27.79 ............................................. 21

27.141 ........................................... 21

27.143 ........................................... 21

27.175 ........................................... 21

27.177 ........................................... 21

27.401 ........................................... 27

27.610 ........................................... 21

27.901 ........................................... 23

27.903 ........................................... 23

27.927 ........................................... 23

27.954 ........................................... 23

27.1091 ......................................... 23

27.1093(b) ..................................... 23

27.1189 ......................................... 23

27.1305 ......................................... 23

27.1309 ......................................... 21

27.1321 ......................................... 13