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

31464

Vol. 61, No. 120

Thursday, June 20, 1996

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Federal Crop Insurance Corporation

7 CFR Part 457

Common Crop Insurance Regulations;

Arizona-California Citrus Crop

Insurance Provisions

AGENCY: Federal Crop Insurance

Corporation, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Federal Crop Insurance

Corporation (FCIC) proposes specific

crop provisions for the insurance of

Arizona-California citrus. The

provisions will be used in conjunction

with the Common Crop Insurance

Policy Basic Provisions, which contain

standard terms and conditions common

to most crops. The intended effect of

this action is to provide policy changes

to better meet the needs of the insured

and combine the current ArizonaCalifornia Citrus Crop Insurance

Regulations with the Common Crop

Insurance Policy for ease of use and

consistency of terms.

DATES: Written comments, data, and

opinions on this proposed rule will be

accepted until close of business July 22,

1996, and will be considered when the

rule is to be made final. The comment

period for information collections under

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

continues through August 19, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are

invited to submit written comments to

the Chief, Product Development Branch,

Federal Crop Insurance Corporation,

United States Department of Agriculture

(USDA), 9435 Holmes Road, Kansas

City, MO 64131. Written comments will

be available for public inspection and

copying in room 0324, South Building,

USDA, 14th and Independence Avenue,

S.W., Washington, D.C., 8:15 a.m.–4:45

p.m., Monday through Friday, except

holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John

Meyer, Program Analyst, Research and

Development Division, Product

Development Branch, FCIC, at the

Kansas City, MO, address listed above,

telephone (816) 926–7730.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Executive Order No. 12866 and

Departmental Regulation 1512–1

This action has been reviewed under

United States Department of Agriculture

(USDA) procedures established by

Executive Order No. 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

June 30, 2006.

This rule has been determined to be

not significant for the purposes of

Executive Order No. 12866 and,

therefore, has not been reviewed by the

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB).

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

The information collection

requirements contained in the ArizonaCalifornia Crop Insurance Provisions

have been submitted to OMB for

approval under section 3507(j) of the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This

proposed rule will amend the

information collection requirements

under OMB control number 0563–0003

through September 30, 1998.

The Federal Crop Insurance

Corporation will be amending the

information collection to adjust the

estimated reporting hours and revising

the usage of FCI–12–P, Pre-Acceptance

Perennial Crop Inspection Report as it

applies to the Arizona-California Citrus

Crop Insurance Provisions.

Section 7 of the 1998 ArizonaCalifornia Citrus Crop Provisions adds

interplanting as an insurable farming

practice as long as it is interplanted

with another perennial crop. This

practice was not insurable under the

previous Arizona-California Citrus Crop

Insurance Policy. Consequently,

interplanting information will need to

be collected using the FCI–12–P PreAcceptance Perennial Crop Inspection

Report form for approximately 0.5

percent of the 2,468 insureds who

interplant their Arizona-California

citrus crop. Standard interplanting

language has been added to most

perennial crops. Interplanting is an

insurable practice as long as it does not

adversely affect the insured crop. This

is a benefit to agriculture because

insurance is now available for more

perennial crop producers and as a result

less acreage will need to be covered by

the noninsured crop disaster assistance

program (NAP).

Revised reporting estimates and

requirements for usage of OMB control

number 0563–0003 will be submitted to

OMB for approval under the provisions

of 44 U.S.C., chapter 35. Public

comments are due by August 19, 1996.

The title of this information collection

is ‘‘Catastrophic Risk Protection Plan

and Related Requirements including,

Common Crop Insurance Regulations;

Arizona-California Citrus Crop

Insurance Provisions.’’ The information

to be collected includes a crop

insurance acreage report, insurance

application and continuous contract.

Information collected from the acreage

report and application is electronically

submitted to FCIC by the reinsured

companies. Potential respondents to this

information collection are growers of

Arizona-California citrus that are

eligible for Federal crop insurance.

The information requested is

necessary for the reinsured companies

and FCIC to provide insurance and

reinsurance, determine eligibility,

determine the correct parties to the

agreement or contract, determine and

collect premiums or other monetary

amounts, and pay benefits.

All information is reported annually.

The reporting burden for this collection

of information is estimated to average 25

minutes per response for each of the 3.6

responses from approximately 1,755,015

respondents. The total annual burden

on the public for this information

collection is 2,669,970.

The comment period for information

collections under the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 continues on the

following: (a) Whether the proposed

collection of information is necessary

for the proper performance of the

functions of the agency, including

whether the information shall have

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection of information; (c)

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the

burden of the collection of information

on respondents, including through the

use of automated collection techniques
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 120 / Thursday, June 20, 1996 / Proposed Rules 31465

or other forms of information

technology.

Comments regarding paperwork

reduction should be submitted to the

Desk Officer for Agriculture, Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs,

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB), Washington, DC 20503 and to

Bonnie Hart, Advisory and Corporate

Operations Staff, Regulatory Review

Group, Farm Service Agency, PO Box

2415, Ag Box 0572, United States

Department of Agriculture, Washington,

DC 20013–2415. Copies of the

information collection may be obtained

from Bonnie Hart at the above address,

telephone (202) 690–2857.

The Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) is required to make a decision

concerning the collection(s) of

information contained in these

proposed regulations between 30 and 60

days after submission to OMB.

Therefore, a comment to OMB is best

assured of having its full effect if OMB

receives it within 30 days of

publication. This does not affect the

deadline for the public to comment on

the proposed regulation.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of

1995

Title II of the Unfunded Mandate

Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public

Law 104–4, establishes requirements for

Federal agencies to assess the effects of

their regulatory actions on State, local,

and tribal governments and the private

sector. Under section 202 of the UMRA,

FCIC generally must prepare a written

statement, including a cost-benefit

analysis, for proposed and final rules

with ‘‘Federal mandates’’ that may

result in expenditures of State, local, or

tribal governments, in the aggregate, or

to the private sector, of $100 million or

more in any one year. When such a

statement is needed for a rule, section

205 of the UMRA generally requires

FCIC to identify and consider a

reasonable number of regulatory

alternatives and adopt the least costly,

more cost-effective or least burdensome

alternative that achieves the objectives

of the rule.

This rule contains no Federal

mandates (under the regulatory

provisions of Title II of the UMRA) for

State, local, and tribal governments or

the private sector. Thus, this rule is not

subject to the requirements of sections

202 and 205 of the UMRA.

Executive Order No. 12612

It has been determined under section

6(a) of Executive Order No. 12612,

Federalism, that this rule does not have

sufficient Federalism implications to

warrant the preparation of a Federalism

Assessment. The provisions contained

in this rule will not have a substantial

direct effect on States or their political

subdivisions, or on the distribution of

power and responsibilities among the

various levels of Government.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

This regulation will not have a

significant impact on a substantial

number of small entities. Under the

current regulations, a producer is

required to complete an application and

acreage report. If the crop is damaged or

destroyed, the insured is required to

give notice of loss and provide the

necessary information to complete a

claim for indemnity. The insured must

certify to the number of acres and

production on an annual basis or

receive a transitional yield. The

producer must maintain the records to

support the certified information for at

least 3 years. This regulation does not

alter those requirements. Therefore, the

amount of work required of the

insurance companies and Farm Service

Agency (FSA) offices delivering and

servicing these policies will not increase

significantly from the amount of work

currently required. This rule does not

have any greater or lesser impact on the

producer. Therefore, this action is

determined to be exempt from the

provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility

Act (5 U.S.C. 605), and no Regulatory

Flexibility Analysis was prepared.

Federal Assistance Program

This program is listed in the Catalog

of Federal Domestic Assistance under

No. 10.450.

Executive Order No. 12372

This program is not subject to the

provisions of Executive Order No.

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.

Executive Order No. 12778

The Office of the General Counsel has

determined that these regulations meet

the applicable standards provided in

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

Order No. 12778. The provisions of this

rule will not have a retroactive effect

prior to the effective date. The

provisions of this rule will preempt

State and local laws to the extent such

state and local laws are inconsistent

herewith. The administrative appeal

provisions in 7 CFR parts 11 and 780

must be exhausted before any action for

judicial review may be brought.

Environmental Evaluation

This action is not expected to have a

significant impact on the quality of the

human environment, health, and safety.

Therefore, neither an Environmental

Assessment nor an Environmental

Impact Statement is needed.

National Performance Review

This regulatory action is being taken

as part of the National Performance

Review Initiative to eliminate

unnecessary or duplicative regulations

and improve those that remain in force.

Background

FCIC proposes to add to the Common

Crop Insurance Regulations (7 CFR part

457), a new section, 7 CFR 457.121,

Arizona-California Citrus Crop

Insurance Provisions. The new

provisions will be effective for the 1998

and succeeding crop years. These

provisions will supersede and replace

the current provisions for insuring

Arizona-California citrus found at 7 CFR

part 409 (Arizona-California Citrus Crop

Insurance Regulations). By separate

rule, the current provisions for insuring

Arizona-California citrus will be revised

to restrict its effect through the 1997

crop year and later remove that part.

This rule makes minor editorial and

format changes to improve the ArizonaCalifornia Citrus Crop Insurance

Regulations’ compatibility with the

Common Crop Insurance Policy. In

addition, FCIC is proposing substantive

changes in the provisions for insuring

Arizona-California citrus as follows:

1. Section 1—Add definitions for the

terms ‘‘days,’’ ‘‘dehorning,’’ ‘‘direct

marketing,’’ ‘‘FSA,’’ ‘‘good farming

practices,’’ ‘‘hedged,’’ ‘‘interplanted,’’

‘‘irrigated practice,’’ ‘‘non-contiguous,’’

‘‘production guarantee (per acre),’’

‘‘scaffold limb,’’ ‘‘set out,’’ ‘‘type,’’ and

‘‘written agreement’’ for clarification.

2. Section 1—Change the definition of

‘‘harvest,’’ for clarification.

3. Section 3(a)—Clarify that an

insured may select one price election for

each citrus type, but that the price

election selected for each type does not

need bear the same percentage

relationship to the maximum price

offered for each type. However, if

separate price elections are available by

variety within each type, the price

elections the insured chooses within the

type must have the same percentage

relationship to the maximum price

offered by the insurance provider for

each variety within the type. This helps

protect against adverse selection and

simplifies the administration of the

program.

4. Section 3(b)—Add a provision to

specify that instead of reporting citrus
31466 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 120 / Thursday, June 20, 1996 / Proposed Rules

production for the previous crop year as

required by the Basic Provisions, there

is a lag period of one year because the

citrus is not harvested until after the

production reporting date.

5. Section 3(c)—Add a provision to

specify that the insured must report

damage, dehorning, removal of trees,

and change in practices that may reduce

yields. Further, add provisions that for

the first year of insurance for acreage

interplanted with another perennial

crop the insured must report the age and

type, if applicable, the planting pattern,

and any other information that the

insurance provider requests to establish

the yield upon which the production

guarantee is based. If the insured fails to

notify the insurance provider of

circumstances that may reduce the yield

below the yield upon which the

insurance guarantee is based, the

insurance provider will reduce the

production guarantee at any time the

circumstances become known. This

allows the insurance provider to limit

liability, if necessary, before insurance

attaches.

6. Section 5—The cancellation and

termination dates are changed to

November 20. Currently, the policy

states November 30. This change is

consistent with other perennial crop

policies and allows for ease of

administration.

7. Section 6—Remove citrus type

designations from the ArizonaCalifornia Citrus Crop Provisions and

add them to the Special Provisions. This

will eliminate the need to amend the

Arizona-California Citrus Crop

Provisions if FCIC decides to add

additional types.

8. Section 7—Add a provision to

make interplanted citrus insurable if

planted with another perennial crop

unless the insurance provider inspects

the acreage and determines it does not

meet the other requirements for

insurability. This clause will make

insurance available to more producers

and will reduce the number of acres for

which coverage would be available only

under the noninsured crop disaster

assistance program (NAP).

9. Section 8(a)—Change the beginning

of the insurance period from December

1 to November 21 to be consistent with

other perennial crops. However, if an

application is accepted by the insurance

company after November 20, insurance

will attach on the 10th day after the

application is received in the local

agent’s office, if approved.

10. Section 8(b)—Add provisions to

clarify the procedure for insuring

acreage when an insurable share is

acquired or relinquished on or before

the acreage reporting date.

11. Section 9(a)—Add the clause, ‘‘if

caused by an insured peril that occurs

during the insurance period,’’ to the end

of the phrase ‘‘failure of the irrigation

water supply.’’ This will limit coverage

to a cause of loss covered by the policy.

12. Section 9(b)—Clarify that disease

and insect infestation are excluded

causes of loss unless adverse weather

prevents the proper application of

control measures, causes control

measures to be ineffective when

properly applied, or causes disease or

insect infestation for which no effective

control mechanism is available.

13. Section 10—The previous 15 day

‘‘notice of probable loss’’ requirement is

replaced by the requirement that the

insured provide notice of damage

within 72 hours of discovery to be

consistent with other citrus policies.

14. Section 10(a)—Add a provision

requiring the insured to give notice

within 3 days of the date harvest should

have started if the crop will not be

harvested in order to permit a timely

appraisal of the marketable production.

15. Section 10(b)—Require the

producer to give notice at least 15 days

before any production from any unit

will be marketed directly to consumers

because insureds usually have

inadequate records of such marketing

and an appraisal is necessary to

accurately determine the direct

marketed production.

16. Section 12—Add provisions for

providing insurance coverage by written

agreement. FCIC has a long standing

policy of permitting certain

modifications of the insurance contracts

by written agreement for some policies.

This amendment will extend this

practice to Arizona-California citrus

fruit and make it possible to tailor the

policy to a specific insured in certain

specific instances.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 457

Crop insurance, Arizona-California

citrus.

Proposed Rule

Pursuant to the authority contained in

the Federal Crop Insurance Act, as

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

Federal Crop Insurance Corporation

hereby proposes to amend the Common

Crop Insurance Regulations (7 CFR part

457), effective for the 1998 and

succeeding crop years, to read as

follows:

PART 457—[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 457

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1506(l), and 1506(p)

2. 7 CFR part 457 is amended by

adding a new § 457.121 to read as

follows:

§ 457.121 Arizona-California Citrus Crop

Insurance Provisions.

The Arizona-California Citrus Crop

Insurance Provisions for the 1998 and

succeeding crop years are as follows:

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF

AGRICULTURE

Federal Crop Insurance Corporation

Arizona-California Citrus Crop Provisions

If a conflict exists among the Basic

Provisions (§ 457.8), these crop provisions,

and the Special Provisions, the Special

Provisions will control these crop provisions

and the Basic Provisions, and these crop

provisions will control the Basic Provisions.

1. Definitions

Carton—The standard container for

marketing fresh packed fruit by citrus type as

shown below. In the absence of marketing

records on a carton basis, production will be

converted to cartons on the basis of the

following average net pounds of packed fruit

in a standard packed carton.

Container size Types of fruit Pounds

Container #58

Navel oranges.

........................... 38

Valencia oranges &

Sweet oranges

............

Container #58

Lemons.

........................... 40

Container #59

Grapefruit.

........................... 32

Container #63

Tangerines.

........................... 25

(including Tangelos) & Mandarin oranges............

Crop year—In lieu of the definition in

section 1 (Definitions) of the Basic Provisions

(§ 457.8), crop year is the period beginning

with the date insurance attaches to the citrus

crop and extending through normal harvest

time, and will be designated by the calendar

year following the year in which the bloom

is normally set.

Days—Calendar days.

Dehorning—Cutting of any scaffold limb to

a length that is not greater than one-fourth

(1⁄4) the height of the tree before cutting.

Direct marketing—Sale of the insured crop

directly to consumers without the

intervention of an intermediary such as a

wholesaler, retailer, packer, processor,

shipper or buyer. Examples of direct

marketing include selling through an on-farm

or roadside stand, farmer’s market, and

permitting the general public to enter the

field for the purpose of picking all or a

portion of the crop.

FSA—The Farm Service Agency, an agency

of the United States Department of

Agriculture or any successor agency.

Good farming practices—The cultural

practices generally in use in the county for
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 120 / Thursday, June 20, 1996 / Proposed Rules 31467

the crop to make normal progress toward

maturity and produce at least the yield used

to determine the production guarantee, and

generally recognized by the Cooperative

Extension Service as compatible with

agronomic and weather conditions in the

county.

Harvest—The severance of mature citrus

from the tree by pulling, picking, or any other

means, or by collecting marketable fruit from

the ground.

Interplanted—Acreage on which two or

more crops are planted in any form of

alternating or mixed pattern.

Irrigated practice—A method of producing

a crop by which water is artificially applied

during the growing season by appropriate

systems and at the proper times, with the

intention of providing the quantity of water

needed to produce at least the yield used to

establish the irrigated production guarantee

on the irrigated acreage planted to the

insured crop.

Non-contiguous land—Any two or more

tracts of land owned by you, or rented by you

for any consideration other than a share in

the insured crop, whose boundaries do not

touch at any point. Land that is separated

only by a public or private right-of-way,

waterway or irrigation canal will be

considered to be contiguous.

Production guarantee (per acre)—The

number of citrus (cartons) determined by

multiplying the approved yield per acre by

the coverage level percentage you elect.

Scaffold limb—A major limb attached

directly to the trunk.

Set out—Transplanting a tree into the

grove.

Type—Classes of fruit with similar

characteristics that are grouped for insurance

purposes as specified in the Special

Provisions.

Written agreement—A written document

that alters designated terms of a policy in

accordance with section 12.

2. Unit Division

(a) A unit as defined in section 1

(Definitions) of the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8),

will be divided into basic units by each citrus

type designated in the Special Provisions.

(b) Unless limited by the Special

Provisions, these basic units may be divided

into optional units if, for each optional unit

you meet all the conditions of this section or

if a written agreement to such division exists.

(c) Basic units may not be divided into

optional units on any basis including, but not

limited to, production practice, type, and

variety, other than as described in this

section.

(d) If you do not comply fully with these

provisions, we will combine all optional

units that are not in compliance with these

provisions into the basic unit from which

they were formed. We will combine the

optional units at any time we discover that

you have failed to comply with these

provisions. If failure to comply with these

provisions is determined to be inadvertent,

and the optional units are combined, that

portion of the premium paid for the purpose

of electing optional units will be refunded to

you pro rata for the units combined.

(e) All optional units must be identified on

the acreage report for each crop year.

(f) The following requirements must be met

for each optional unit:

(1) You must have records, which can be

independently verified, of acreage and

production for each optional unit for at least

the last crop year used to determine your

production guarantee;

(2) You must have records of marketed

production or stored production from each

optional unit maintained in such a manner

that permits us to verify the production from

each optional unit, or the production from

each unit must be kept separate until loss

adjustment is completed; and

(3) Each optional unit must be located on

non-contiguous land.

3. Insurance Guarantees, Coverage Levels,

and Prices for Determining Indemnities

(a) In addition to the requirements of

section 3 (Insurance Guarantees, Coverage

Levels, and Prices for Determining

Indemnities) of the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8),

you may select only one price election and

coverage level for each citrus fruit type

designated in the Special Provisions that you

elect to insure. The price elections you

choose for each type need not bear the same

percentage relationship to the maximum

price offered by us for each type. For

example, if you choose one hundred percent

(100%) of the maximum price election for

sweet oranges, you may choose seventy-five

percent (75%) of the maximum price election

for grapefruit. However, if separate price

elections are available for varieties within

each type, the price elections you choose for

each variety must have the same percentage

relationship to the maximum price offered by

us for each variety within the type.

(b) In lieu of reporting your citrus

production of marketable fresh fruit for the

previous crop year, as required by the Basic

Provisions (§ 457.8), there is a lag period of

one year. Each crop year, you must report

your production from two crop years ago,

e.g., on the 1998 crop year production report,

you will provide your 1996 crop year

production.

(c) In addition, you must report, by the

production reporting date designated in

section 3 (Insurance Guarantees, Coverage

Levels, and Prices for Determining

Indemnities) of the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8),

by type, if applicable:

(1) The number of trees damaged,

dehorned or removed, and any change in

practices or any other circumstance that may

reduce the expected yield below the yield

upon which the insurance guarantee is based;

and the number of affected acres;

(2) The number of bearing trees on

insurable and uninsurable acreage;

(3) The age of the trees and the planting

pattern; and

(4) For the first year of insurance for

acreage interplanted with another perennial

crop, and anytime the planting pattern of

such acreage is changed:

(i) The age of the interplanted crop, and

type, if applicable;

(ii) The planting pattern; and

(iii) Any other information that we request

in order to establish your approved yield.

We will reduce the yield used to establish

your production guarantee as necessary,

based on our estimate of the effect of the

following: interplanted perennial crop;

damage; dehorning; removal of trees; or

change in practices on the yield potential of

the insured crop. If you fail to notify us of

any circumstance that may reduce yields

from previous levels, we will reduce your

production guarantee, as necessary, at any

time we become aware of the circumstance.

4. Contract Changes

The contract change date is August 31

preceding the cancellation date (see the

provisions of section 4 (Contract Changes) of

the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8)).

5. Cancellation and Termination Dates

In accordance with section 2 (Life of

Policy, Cancellation, and Termination) of the

Basic Provisions (§ 457.8), the cancellation

and termination dates are November 20.

6. Insured Crop

(a) In accordance with section 8 (Insured

Crop) of the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8), the

crop insured will be all the acreage in the

county of each citrus type designated in the

Special Provisions that you elect to insure

and for which a premium rate is provided by

the actuarial table:

(1) In which you have a share;

(2) That is a type adapted to the area; and

(3) That is grown in a grove that, if

inspected, is considered acceptable by us.

(b) In addition to citrus not insurable in

section 8 (Insured Crop) of the Basic

Provisions (§ 457.8), we do not insure any

citrus fruit:

(1) That is not irrigated; and

(2) That has not reached the sixth growing

season after being set out, unless we inspect

and allow insurance on such acreage.

7. Insurable Acreage

In lieu of the provisions in section 9

(Insurable Acreage) of the Basic Provisions

(§ 457.8), that prohibit insurance attaching to

a crop planted with another crop, citrus

interplanted with another perennial crop is

insurable unless we inspect the acreage and

determine it does not meet the requirements

for insurability contained in your policy.

8. Insurance Period

(a) In accordance with the provisions of

section 11 (Insurance Period) of the Basic

Provisions (§ 457.8):

(1) Coverage begins on November 21 of

each crop year, except that for the first crop

year, if the application is accepted by us after

November 20, insurance will attach on the

10th day after the application, if approved, is

received in our local agent’s office.

(2) The calendar date for the end of the

insurance period for each crop year is:

(i) August 31 for Navel oranges and

Southern California lemons;

(ii) November 20 for Valencia oranges; and

(iii) July 31 for all other types of citrus.

(b) In addition to the provisions of section

11 (Insurance Period) of the Basic Provisions

(§ 457.8):

(1) If you acquire an insurable share in any

insurable acreage after coverage begins, but

on or before the acreage reporting date for the

crop year, and after an inspection we

consider the acreage acceptable, insurance

will be considered to have attached to such

acreage on the calendar date for the

beginning of the insurance period.
31468 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 120 / Thursday, June 20, 1996 / Proposed Rules

(2) If you relinquish your insurable share

on any insurable acreage of citrus on or

before the acreage reporting date for the crop

year, insurance will not be considered to

have attached to such acreage for that crop

year unless:

(i) A transfer of coverage and right to an

indemnity, or a similar form approved by us,

is completed by all affected parties; and

(ii) We are notified by you or the transferee

in writing of such transfer on or before the

acreage reporting date.

If you relinquish your share, no premium

or indemnity will be due unless a transfer of

coverage is properly executed.

9. Causes of Loss

(a) In accordance with the provisions of

section 12 (Causes of Loss) of the Basic

Provisions (§ 457.8), insurance is provided

only against the following causes of loss that

occur during the insurance period:

(1) Adverse weather conditions;

(2) Fire, unless weeds and other forms of

undergrowth have not been controlled or

pruning debris has not been removed from

the grove;

(3) Wildlife;

(4) Earthquake;

(5) Volcanic eruption; or

(6) Failure of irrigation water supply, if

caused by an insured peril that occurs during

the insurance period.

(b) In addition to the causes of loss

excluded in section 12 (Causes of Loss) of the

Basic Provisions (§ 457.8), we will not insure

against damage or loss of production due to:

(1) Disease or insect infestation, unless

adverse weather conditions:

(i) Prevents the proper application of

control measures or causes properly applied

control measures to be ineffective; or

(ii) Causes disease or insect infestation for

which no effective control mechanism is

available;

(2) Inability to market the citrus for any

reason other than actual physical damage

from an insurable cause specified in this

section. For example, we will not pay you an

indemnity if you are unable to market due to

quarantine, boycott, or refusal of any person

to accept production.

10. Duties in the Event of Damage or Loss

In addition to the requirements of section

14 (Duties in the Event of Damage or Loss)

of the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8), the

following will apply:

(a) You must notify us within three 3 days

of the date harvest should have started if the

crop will not be harvested.

(b) You must notify us at least 15 days

before any production from any unit will be

marketed directly to consumers. We will

conduct an appraisal that will be used to

determine your production to count for direct

marketed production. If damage occurs after

this appraisal, we will conduct an additional

appraisal. These appraisals, and any

acceptable records provided by you, will be

used to determine your production to count.

Failure to give timely notice that production

will be marketed directly to consumers will

result in an appraised amount of production

to count that is not less than the production

guarantee per acre if such failure results in

our inability to make the required appraisal.

(c) If you intend to claim an indemnity on

any unit, you must notify us prior to the

beginning of harvest so that we may inspect

the damaged production. You must not sell

or dispose of the damaged crop until after we

have given you written consent to do so. If

you fail to meet the requirements of this

section, all such production will be

considered undamaged and included as

production to count.

11. Settlement Of Claim

(a) We will determine your loss on a unit

basis. In the event you are unable to provide

production records:

(1) For any optional unit, we will combine

all optional units for which acceptable

production records were not provided; or

(2) For any basic unit, we will allocate any

commingled production to such units in

proportion to our liability on the harvested

acreage for each unit.

(b) In the event of loss or damage covered

by this policy, we will settle your claim by:

(1) Multiplying the insured acreage for

each type by its respective production

guarantee;

(2) Multiplying each result in paragraph (1)

by the respective price election for each type,

or variety within a type;

(3) Totaling the results in paragraph (2);

(4) Multiplying the total production to be

counted of each type or variety, if applicable

(see section 11(c)), by the respective price

election;

(5) Totaling the results of paragraph (4);

(6) Subtracting the total of paragraph (5)

from the total in paragraph (3); and

(7) Multiplying the result of paragraph (6)

by your share;

(c) The total production to count (in

cartons) from all insurable acreage on the

unit will include:

(1) All appraised production as follows:

(i) Not less than the production guarantee

per acre for acreage:

(A) That is abandoned;

(B) Marketed directly to consumers if you

fail to meet the requirements contained in

section 10;

(C) Damaged solely by uninsured causes; or

(D) For which you fail to provide

production records that are acceptable to us;

(ii) Production lost due to uninsured

causes;

(iii) Unharvested production determined to

be marketable as fresh packed fruit; and

(iv) Potential production on insured

acreage that you intend to abandon or no

longer care for, if you and we agree on the

appraised amount of production. Upon such

agreement, the insurance period for that

acreage will end. If you do not agree with our

appraisal, we may defer the claim only if you

agree to continue to care for the crop. We will

then make another appraisal when you notify

us of further damage or that harvest is general

in the area unless you harvested the crop, in

which case we will use the harvested

production. If you do not continue to care for

the crop, our appraisal made prior to

deferring the claim will be used to determine

the production to count; and

(2) All harvested production marketed as

fresh packed fruit from the insurable acreage.

(3) All disposed or sold damaged citrus

that was disposed or sold without an

inspection or written consent.

(d) Any production will be considered

marketed or marketable as fresh packed fruit

unless, due to insurable causes, such

production was not marketed or marketable

as fresh packed fruit.

(e) Citrus that cannot be marketed due to

insurable causes will not be considered

production to count.

(f) If we determine that frost protection

equipment was not properly utilized or not

properly reported, the indemnity for the unit

will be reduced by the percentage of

premium reduction allowed for frost

protection equipment. You must, at our

request, provide us records showing the startstop times by date for each period the frost

protection equipment was used.

12. Written Agreement

Designated terms of this policy may be

altered by written agreement in accordance

with the following:

(a) You must apply in writing for each

written agreement no later than the sales

closing date, except as provided in section

12(e);

(b) The application for written agreement

must contain all terms of the contract

between you and us that will be in effect if

the written agreement is not approved;

(c) If approved, the written agreement will

include all variable terms of the contract,

including, but not limited to, crop type or

variety, the guarantee, premium rate, and

price election;

(d) Each written agreement will only be

valid for one year (If the written agreement

is not specifically renewed the following

year, insurance coverage for subsequent crop

years will be in accordance with the printed

policy); and

(e) An application for written agreement

submitted after the sales closing date may be

approved if, after a physical inspection of the

acreage, it is determined that no loss has

occurred and the crop is insurable in

accordance with the policy and written

agreement provisions.

Signed in Washington, DC., on June 13,

1996.

Kenneth D. Ackerman,

Manager, Federal Crop Insurance

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 96–15770 Filed 6–19–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–FA–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

21 CFR Part 500

[Docket No. 95N–0417]

Carcinogenicity Testing of Compounds

Used in Food-Producing Animals

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration,

HHS.

ACTION: Proposed rule.