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

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

52573 

Vol. 73, No. 176 

Wednesday, September 10, 2008 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 946 

[Docket No. AMS–FV–08–0036; FV08–946– 

1 IFR] 

Irish Potatoes Grown in Washington; 

Relaxation of Handling and Import 

Regulations 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Interim final rule with request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: This rule relaxes the size 

requirement prescribed under the 

Washington potato marketing order. The 

marketing order regulates the handling 

of Irish potatoes grown in Washington, 

and is administered locally by the State 

of Washington Potato Committee 

(Committee). This rule decreases the 

minimum size required for all fresh 

market red, yellow fleshed, and white 

types of potatoes from 1 inch (25.4 mm) 

to 3⁄4 inch (19.1 mm) in diameter, if the 

potatoes otherwise meet the 

requirements of U.S. No. 1 grade. This 

rule will also decrease the minimum 

size requirement from July 1 through 

September 30 of each year for imported 

red-skinned, round type potatoes under 

the import regulations as required by 

section 8e of the Agricultural Marketing 

Agreement Act of 1937. The Committee 

recommended this change in response 

to the recently revised U.S. Standards 

for Grades of Potatoes which added a 

definition for Creamer potatoes. This 

change is intended to provide potato 

handlers with greater marketing 

flexibility, growers with increased 

returns, consumers with a greater 

supply of small potatoes, and to bring 

the section 8e potato import regulation 

into conformity with the marketing 

order. 

DATES: Effective September 11, 2008; 

comments received by November 10, 

2008 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 to the Docket Clerk, Marketing 

Order Administration Branch, Fruit and 

Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 

0237, Washington, DC 20250–0237; Fax: 

(202) 720–8938; or Internet: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. All comments 

should reference the docket number and 

the date and page number of this issue 

of the Federal Register and will be 

made available for public inspection in 

the Office of the Docket Clerk during 

regular business hours, or can be viewed 

at: http://www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Teresa Hutchinson or Gary Olson, 

Northwest Marketing Field Office, 

Marketing Order Administration 

Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, 

AMS, USDA, Telephone: (503) 326– 

2724, Fax: (503) 326–7440, or E-mail: 

Teresa.Hutchinson@usda.gov or 

GaryD.Olson@usda.gov. 

Small businesses may request 

information on complying with this 

regulation 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 rule 

is issued under Marketing Order No. 

946, as amended (7 CFR part 946), 

regulating the handling of Irish potatoes 

grown in Washington, hereinafter 

referred to as the ‘‘order.’’ The order is 

effective under the Agricultural 

Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as 

amended (7 U.S.C. 601–674), hereinafter 

referred to as the ‘‘Act.’’ 

This interim final rule is also issued 

under section 8e of the Act, which 

provides that whenever certain 

specified commodities, including 

potatoes, are regulated under a Federal 

marketing order, imports of these 

commodities into the United States are 

prohibited unless they meet the same or 

comparable grade, size, quality, or 

maturity requirements as those in effect 

for the domestically produced 

commodities. Section 8e also provides 

that whenever two or more marketing 

orders regulating the same commodity 

produced in different areas of the 

United States are concurrently in effect, 

a determination must be made as to 

which of the areas produces the 

commodity in most direct competition 

with the imported commodity. Imports 

must meet the same or comparable 

requirements established for that 

particular area. The requirements for 

red-skinned, round type potatoes 

imported from July 1 through September 

30 are based on the Washington potato 

marketing order requirements. 

The Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) is issuing this rule in 

conformance with Executive Order 

12866. 

This rule has been reviewed under 

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 

Reform. This rule is not intended to 

have retroactive effect. This rule will 

not preempt any State or local laws, 

regulations, or policies, unless they 

present an irreconcilable conflict with 

this rule. 

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. After the hearing, USDA 

would rule 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 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. 

There are no administrative 

procedures which must be exhausted 

prior to any judicial challenge to the 

provisions of import regulations issued 

under section 8e of the Act. 

This rule decreases the size required 

for all fresh market red, yellow fleshed, 

and white types of potatoes produced in 

Washington State from 1 inch (25.4 mm) 

to 3⁄4 inch (19.1 mm) minimum, if the 

potatoes otherwise meet the 

requirements of U.S. No. 1 grade. This 

change is intended to provide potato 


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52574 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 10, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 

handlers with greater marketing 

flexibility, growers with increased 

returns, and consumers with a greater 

supply of small potatoes. As provided 

under section 8e of the Act, the size 

modification will also apply to all redskinned, round type potatoes imported 

from July 1 through September 30. This 

rule will not affect the current import 

requirements for all other round type or 

long type potatoes. 

Section 946.52 of the order authorizes 

the establishment of grade, size, quality, 

or maturity regulations for any variety 

or varieties of potatoes grown in the 

production area. Section 946.52 also 

authorizes the regulation of the size, 

capacity, weight, dimensions, pack, and 

marking or labeling of the container, or 

containers, which may be used in the 

packing or handling of potatoes, or both. 

Section 946.51 further authorizes the 

modification, suspension, or 

termination of regulations issued under 

§ 946.52. Section 946.60 provides that 

whenever potatoes are regulated 

pursuant to § 946.52 such potatoes must 

be inspected by the Federal or FederalState Inspection Service, and certified as 

meeting the applicable requirements of 

such regulations. 

Section 946.336 of the order’s 

administrative rules and regulations 

prescribes the quality, size, maturity, 

cleanness, pack, and inspection 

requirements for fresh market 

Washington potatoes. Section 

946.336(a)(2) prescribes the size 

requirements. Relevant import 

regulations are contained in § 980.1 and 

§ 980.501 of the vegetable import 

regulations. 

During a video conference meeting 

held on April 16, 2008, with a followup mail vote, the Committee 

unanimously recommended changing 

the minimum size requirement for all 

U.S. No. 1 grade fresh market red, 

yellow fleshed, and white types of 

potatoes produced under the order from 

1 inch to 3⁄4 inch in diameter. 

The Committee recommended this 

change in response to the recently 

revised U.S. Standards for Grades of 

Potatoes (Standards) which became 

effective on April 21, 2008 (73 FR 

15051, March 21, 2008). The revised 

Standards added a definition for 

Creamer potatoes. The revised 

Standards define the Creamer size 

designation as 3⁄4 inch minimum 

diameter and 15⁄8 inch maximum 

diameter with no minimum or 

maximum weight. 

Before the Standards were revised to 

include a Creamer size designation, 

various states developed their own 

standards for Creamer potatoes in an 

attempt to meet the increasing consumer 

demand for small potatoes. The 

Washington potato industry had 

previously considered Creamer potatoes 

to have a 1 inch minimum diameter. 

The Committee recommended reducing 

the minimum diameter to 3⁄4 inch so 

that the handling regulation would 

correspond with the revised Standards 

and to ensure that the industry was 

being responsive to the desires of 

consumers. The Committee also believes 

that inconsistency between what was 

marketed in Washington as Creamer 

potatoes and the Standards would have 

caused confusion in the marketplace. 

Within the past several years, 

consumer demand has increased for 

small potatoes which often command 

premium prices. Decreasing the 

minimum size requirement from 1 inch 

to 3⁄4 inch will help handlers in 

Washington meet the needs of their 

customers. 

Committee statistics show that 

approximately 25 percent (2,483,219 

hundredweight) of fresh market 

Washington potatoes (9,932,874 

hundredweight) are red, yellow fleshed 

and white types of potatoes. The 

decrease in the size requirement is 

expected to increase the volume of red, 

yellow fleshed, and white types of 

potatoes that meet minimum size 

requirements. Shipping a larger portion 

of the crop to market would help meet 

consumer demand and is expected to 

increase returns to growers. 

As mentioned earlier, section 8e of 

the Act provides that when certain 

domestically produced commodities, 

including potatoes, are regulated under 

a Federal marketing order, imports of 

that commodity must meet the same or 

comparable grade, size, quality, and 

maturity requirements. Section 8e also 

provides that whenever two or more 

marketing orders regulating the same 

commodity produced in different areas 

of the United States are concurrently in 

effect, a determination must be made as 

to which of the areas produces the 

commodity in most direct competition 

with the imported commodity. Imports 

must meet the requirements established 

for that particular area. 

Grade, size, quality, and maturity 

regulations have been issued regularly 

under marketing orders No. 945 (IdahoEastern Oregon potatoes), No. 948 

(Colorado potatoes, Area No. 2 and Area 

No. 3), No. 946 (Washington potatoes), 

and No. 953 (Southeastern potatoes) 

since the marketing orders were 

established. Section 980.1 of the 

vegetable import regulations specifies 

that import requirements for potatoes 

are to be based on the seasonal 

categories of potatoes produced in all 

marketing order areas. In that regard, 

imported red-skinned, round type 

potatoes must meet the requirements of 

the Washington potato marketing order 

during the months of July through 

September and the Area No. 2 Colorado 

potato marketing order during the 

months of October through the 

following June. This rule will not affect 

the current import requirements for all 

other round type or long type potatoes. 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Pursuant to requirements set forth in 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 

U.S.C. 601–612), the Agricultural 

Marketing Service (AMS) has 

considered the economic impact of this 

action on small entities. Accordingly, 

AMS has prepared this initial regulatory 

flexibility analysis. 

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. 

Marketing orders issued pursuant to the 

Act, and rules issued thereunder, are 

unique in that they are brought about 

through group action of essentially 

small entities acting on their own 

behalf. 

Import regulations issued under the 

Act are based on regulations established 

under Federal marketing orders which 

regulate the handling of domestically 

produced products. 

Currently, there are approximately 45 

handlers of Washington potatoes who 

are subject to regulation under the 

marketing order and approximately 267 

potato producers in the regulated area. 

Small agricultural service firms are 

defined by the Small Business 

Administration (SBA) (13 CFR 121.201) 

as those having annual receipts of less 

than $6,500,000, and small agricultural 

producers are defined as those having 

annual receipts of less than $750,000. 

During the 2006–2007 marketing year, 

9,932,874 hundredweight of 

Washington potatoes were inspected 

under the order and sold into the fresh 

market by 43 handlers, according to 

Committee data. The Committee reports 

that an industry consensus estimate of 

an average fresh potato f.o.b. price is 

$8.45 per hundredweight. Multiplying 

the 2006–2007 fresh shipments of 

9,932,874 hundredweight by the average 

f.o.b. price of $8.45 yields a handlerlevel fresh market crop value of $83.933 

million. Dividing $83.933 million by 43 

handlers gives an average annual sales 

value per handler estimate of about 

$1.952 million. The Committee 

estimates that 41, or about 95 percent of 

these 43 handlers, had annual receipts 

of less than $6,500,000. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 10, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 52575 

A comparable computation can be 

made to estimate annual average 

revenue per producer. Based on 

information provided by the National 

Agricultural Statistics Service, the 2006 

season average producer price for 

Washington potatoes was $6.25 per 

hundredweight. Multiplying the 2006–

2007 fresh shipments of 9,932,874 

hundredweight by the average producer 

price of $6.25 provides a producer-level 

fresh market crop value of $62.08 

million. Dividing $62.08 million by 267 

Washington potato producers yields an 

average annual fresh market sales value 

per producer of approximately 

$232,500. 

In view of the foregoing, it can be 

concluded that the majority of the 

Washington potato producers and 

handlers may be classified as small 

entities. Although it is not known how 

many importers of potatoes may be 

classified as small entities, we believe 

that many of the importers of potatoes 

can be classified as such. 

This rule decreases the minimum size 

required for all fresh market red, yellow 

fleshed, and white types of potatoes 

produced under the order from 1 inch 

to 3⁄4 inch in diameter, if they otherwise 

meet the requirements of U.S. No. 1 

grade. This change enables handlers 

with the ability to respond to the 

consumer demand for small potatoes. 

As provided under section 8e of the Act, 

this change will also apply to all 

imported red-skinned, round type 

potatoes between July 1 through 

September 30 of each year. While no 

change will be required in the language 

of § 980.1, all imported red-skinned, 

round type potatoes from July 1 through 

September 30 will be required to meet 

the minimum size requirement of 3⁄4

inch in diameter. 

The authority for the grade and size 

requirements is provided in § 946.52 of 

the order. Section 946.336(a)(2) of the 

order’s administrative rules and 

regulations prescribes the size 

requirement. Relevant import 

regulations are contained in § 980.1 and 

§ 980.501 of the vegetable import 

regulations. 

Regarding the impact of this rule on 

affected entities, decreasing the size 

requirement for these potatoes is 

expected to benefit handlers, importers 

and growers. There should be no extra 

cost to producers or handlers because 

current harvesting and handling 

methods can accommodate the sorting 

of these smaller potatoes. By decreasing 

the minimum size requirement for these 

potatoes, a greater quantity of potatoes 

will meet the order’s handling 

regulations and the import regulations. 

This could translate into an increased 

market for small potatoes and greater 

returns for handlers, importers, and 

growers. 

As small potatoes have grown in 

popularity with consumers, the market 

demand has outpaced the quantity of 

small, high quality potatoes available 

from Washington. The Committee 

believes that a decrease in the size 

requirement will increase the available 

supply of small potatoes. The small 

potato market is a minor segment of the 

Washington potato market. As such, the 

Committee believes that these small 

potatoes do not compete directly with 

most of the fresh market potatoes and 

that this action will not adversely affect 

the overall Washington potato market. 

By providing Washington handlers 

the flexibility to pack the smaller red, 

yellow fleshed, and white types of 

potatoes, the Committee believes the 

industry will remain competitive in the 

marketplace. The Creamer potato market 

is a premium market and this action is 

expected to further increase sales of 

Washington Creamer potatoes to benefit 

the Washington potato industry. The 

benefits of this rule are not expected to 

be disproportionately greater or lesser 

for small entities than large entities. 

The Committee discussed several 

alternatives to this recommendation, 

including not changing the minimum 

size requirement. However, the 

Committee believes that it is important 

that the Washington potato handling 

regulations be consistent with the 

revised Standards to reduce confusion 

during the inspection and marketing of 

these types of potatoes. The Committee 

also determined that decreasing the 

minimum size requirement for these 

potatoes will provide the greatest 

benefit to the industry by augmenting 

the developing market for small 

potatoes and increasing grower returns. 

This rule will not impose any 

additional reporting or recordkeeping 

requirements on either small or large 

potato handlers. As with all Federal 

marketing order programs, reports and 

forms are periodically reviewed to 

reduce information requirements and 

duplication by industry and public 

sector agencies. In addition, USDA has 

not identified any relevant Federal rules 

that duplicate, overlap or conflict with 

this rule. 

AMS is committed to complying with 

the E-Government Act, to promote the 

use of the Internet and other 

information technologies to provide 

increased opportunities for citizen 

access to Government information and 

services, and for other purposes. 

Further, the Committee’s meeting was 

widely publicized throughout the 

Washington potato industry and all 

interested persons were invited to 

participate in Committee deliberations. 

Like all Committee meetings, the April 

16, 2008, meeting was a public meeting 

and all entities, both large and small, 

were able to express views on this issue. 

In addition, the World Trade 

Organization and known importers of 

potatoes will be notified of this action. 

Finally, interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on this interim final 

rule, including the regulatory and 

informational impacts of this action on 

small businesses. 

A small business guide on complying 

with fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop 

marketing agreements and orders may 

be viewed at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/ 

AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplate

Data.do?template=TemplateN&

page=MarketingOrders

SmallBusinessGuide. Any questions 

about the compliance guide should be 

sent to Jay Guerber at the previously 

mentioned address in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section. 

This rule invites comments on a 

relaxation of the size requirement 

prescribed under the Washington potato 

marketing order and the potato import 

regulations. Any comments received 

will be considered prior to finalization 

of this rule. 

In accordance with section 8e of the 

Act, the United States Trade 

Representative has concurred with the 

issuance of this rule. 

After consideration of all relevant 

material presented, including the 

Committee’s recommendation, and 

other information, it is found that this 

interim final 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 rule until 30 days after 

publication in the Federal Register 

because: (1) Any changes resulting from 

this rule should be effective as soon as 

practicable because the Washington 

potato shipping season begins in July; 

(2) the Committee unanimously 

recommended these changes at a public 

meeting and all interested parties had 

an opportunity to provide input; (3) 

handlers are aware of this action and 

want to take advantage of this relaxation 

as soon as possible; and (4) this rule 

provides a 60-day comment period and 

any comments received will be 

considered prior to finalization of this 

rule. 


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52576 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 10, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 

1 12 U.S.C. 482. 

2Under part 8, the OCC also collects assessments 

from Federal branches and Federal agencies. The 

changes provided for in this final rule will also 

apply to assessments of Federal branches and 

Federal agencies. 

3See 12 CFR 8.2(a) (listing the asset-size 

brackets). 

4See, e.g., OCC Bulletin 2007–46, ‘‘Notice of the 

Comptroller of the Currency Fees for Year 2008’’

(December 1, 2007). The OCC’s regulations provide 

for the annual publication of the Notice of Fees and 

also authorize the publication of interim, or 

amended, notices of fees ‘‘from time to time 

throughout the year as necessary.’’ 12 CFR 8.8. 

5 57 FR 22413 (May 28, 1992). 

6 73 FR 9012 (February 19, 2008). 

7 5 U.S.C. 601(2). 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 946 

Marketing agreements, Potatoes, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

■ For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 946 is amended as 

follows: 

PART 946—IRISH POTATOES GROWN 

IN WASHINGTON 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 946 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674. 

■ 2. In § 946.336, paragraph (a)(2)(i) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 946.336 Handling regulation. 

* * * * * 

(a) * * * 

(2) Size: (i) At least 17⁄8 inches in 

diameter, except that all red, yellow 

fleshed, and white types may be 3⁄4 inch 

(19.1 mm) minimum diameter, if they 

otherwise meet the requirements of U.S. 

No. 1. 

* * * * * 

Dated: September 5, 2008. 

Lloyd C. Day, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–20999 Filed 9–5–08; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency 

12 CFR Part 8 

[Docket No. OCC–2008–0013] 

RIN 1557–AD06 

Assessment of Fees 

AGENCY: Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency, Treasury. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Office of the Comptroller 

of the Currency (OCC) is adopting as 

final and without change the interim 

final assessments rule issued on 

February 19, 2008. The interim final 

rule added two new asset-size categories 

to the table in 12 CFR 8.2(a) used to 

calculate each national bank’s 

semiannual assessment. The addition of 

these categories is warranted to take 

account of significant structural changes 

in the national banking system since 

1992, when the table was last revised, 

and has enabled the OCC to realign 

assessments to better reflect industry 

structure and OCC’s corresponding 

expenses of operations. No comments 

were received in response to the request 

for comment on the interim final rule. 

DATES: Effective Date: Effective 

September 10, 2008 the rule published 

on February 19, 2008 (73 FR 9012) and 

corrected at 73 FR 9625, Feb. 21, 2008 

is adopted as final without change. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

MaryAnn Nash, Counsel, Legislative 

and Regulatory Activities Division, 

(202) 874–5090; Stuart Feldstein, 

Assistant Director, Legislative and 

Regulatory Activities Division, (202) 

874–5090; or Colette Baylson, 

Accounting Operations Manager, 

Financial Management, (202) 874–4403, 

Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency, 250 E Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20219. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The National Bank Act authorizes the 

OCC to fund the expenses of its 

operations through assessments on 

national banks.1 Under this authority, 

the OCC collects semiannual 

assessments from national banks in 

accordance with part 8 of our 

regulations and with the OCC’s Notice 

of the Comptroller of the Currency Fees 

(Notice of Fees).2

Part 8 establishes categories, or 

brackets, each of which comprises a 

range of size values for a national bank’s 

total assets. Each national bank’s 

assessment is the sum of a base amount, 

which is the same for every national 

bank in that asset-size bracket, plus a 

marginal amount, which is computed by 

applying a marginal assessment rate to 

the amount of total assets in excess of 

the lower boundary of the asset-size 

bracket.3 The marginal assessment rate 

declines as asset size increases, 

reflecting economies of scale in bank 

examination and supervision, which 

factor into the OCC’s overall cost of 

operations. Both the base amounts and 

the marginal rates applicable to each 

asset-size bracket are published at least 

once a year in the OCC’s Notice of 

Fees.4

Prior to the issuance of the interim 

final rule, the national bank assessments 

were based on asset-size brackets that 

had been last updated in 1992 5 and no 

longer reflected the structure and 

distribution of assets in the national 

banking system as a whole. For 

example, since 1992, there has been a 

significant increase not only in the 

amount of assets held by the largest 

banks, but also in the assets held by 

national banks in other asset-size 

brackets, resulting in a general upward 

shift in the distribution of the 

population of national banks on the 

asset-size bracket table in 12 CFR 8.2(a). 

The growth in the average assets held by 

national banks reflects the consolidation 

in the banking industry that has 

occurred since 1992. 

Given these developments, the OCC 

has determined that it is appropriate to 

update the existing asset-size brackets to 

reflect the current structure of the 

national banking system. The interim 

final rule has enabled the OCC to adjust 

the assessment framework to better 

reflect industry structure and the OCC’s 

corresponding expenses of operations. 

Interim Final Rule and Comments 

On February 19, 2008, the OCC 

published and requested comment on 

an interim final rule that expanded the 

number of asset-size assessment 

brackets in the table at 12 CFR 8.2(a) by 

revising the current top bracket, 

presently $40 billion and above, to 

cover banks with assets between $40 

billion and $250 billion.6 In addition, 

the interim final rule created a new top 

bracket that applies to banks with assets 

in excess of $250 billion. 

The OCC also made a conforming 

change to delete the word ‘‘ten’’ from 

the description of the asset-size brackets 

in § 8.2(a)(1) of the assessment rules 

since it no longer accurately described 

the number of brackets. 

The OCC received no comments in 

response to the interim final rule and 

has determined that it is appropriate to 

adopt as final the interim final rule as 

originally published on February 19, 

2008. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (Pub. 

L. 96–354, Sept. 19, 1980) (RFA) applies 

only to rules for which an agency 

publishes a general notice of proposed 

rulemaking pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b).7

Pursuant to the Administrative 

Procedure Act (APA), at 5 U.S.C. 

553(b)(B), notice and an opportunity for 

public comment are not required prior 

to the issuance of a final rule if an 


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