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

53355 

Vol. 73, No. 180 

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Office of the Secretary 

7 CFR Part 6 

RIN 0551–AA7O 

The Dairy Import Licensing Program 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This final rule amends the 

historical license reduction provisions 

of the dairy tariff-rate import quota 

licensing program by suspending the 

provisions with respect to the reduction 

of historical licenses based on 

surrenders of unused quantities until 

2011. 

DATES: This rule is effective October 16, 

2008. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ron 

Lord, Branch Chief, Sugar and Dairy 

Branch, Import and Trade Support 

Programs Division, Foreign Agricultural 

Service, Stop 1021, 1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250, 

telephone (202) 720–6939, or e-mail at 

ronald.lord@fas.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Order 12866 

The final rule has been determined to 

be non-significant under E.O. 12866 and 

has not been reviewed by the Office of 

Management and Budget. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act 

ensures that regulatory and information 

requirements are tailored to the size and 

nature of small businesses, small 

organizations, and small governmental 

jurisdictions. This final rule will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

small businesses participating in the 

program. 

Executive Order 12988 

This final rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988. The 

provisions of this final rule would not 

have a preemptive effect with respect to 

any State or local laws, regulations, or 

policies which conflict with such 

provision or which otherwise impede 

their full implementation. The final rule 

would not have a retroactive effect. 

Before any judicial action may be 

brought forward regarding this final 

rule, all administrative remedies must 

be exhausted. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

The Administrator has determined 

that this action will not have a 

significant effect on the quality of the 

human environment. Therefore, neither 

an Environmental Assessment nor an 

Environmental Impact Statement is 

necessary for this final rule. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (Pub. 

L. 104–4) 

Public Law 104–4 requires 

consultation with State and local 

officials and Indian tribal governments. 

This final rule does not impose an 

unfunded mandate or any other 

requirement on State, local, or tribal 

governments. Accordingly, these 

programs are not subject to the 

provisions of the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act. 

Executive Order 12630 

This Order requires careful evaluation 

of governmental actions that interfere 

with constitutionally protected property 

rights. This final rule would not 

interfere with any property rights and, 

therefore, does not need to be evaluated 

on the basis of the criteria outlined in 

Executive Order 12630. 

Government Paperwork Elimination 

Act 

FAS is committed to compliance with 

the Government Paperwork Elimination 

Act, which requires Government 

agencies, in general, to provide the 

public the option of submitting 

information or transacting business 

electronically to the maximum extent 

possible. 

Background 

The Foreign Agricultural Service 

administers the Dairy Tariff-Rate Import 

Quota Licensing program, 7 CFR 6,20– 

6.37, that provides the issuance of 

licenses to import certain dairy articles 

under tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) system, 

as set forth in the Harmonized Tariff 

Schedule of the United States. These 

dairy products may only be imported 

into the United States at the in-quota 

rate, by or for the account of a person 

or firm to whom such licenses have 

been issued, and only in accordance 

with the terms and conditions of the 

6.25(b)(1)(i) provides that if a licensee 

has surrendered more than 50 percent of 

a historical license in each of the 3 prior 

years, that license will be permanently 

reduced to the average amount entered 

during those 3 years. Section 

6.25(b)(1)(ii) provides that if a licensee 

surrenders more that 50 percent of a 

historical license in at least 3 out of the 

5 prior years, that license will be 

permanently reduced to the average 

amount entered during those 5 years. 

Any amounts permanently reduced are 

transferred to the non-historical quota, 

which is allocated by a lottery. 

The current regulation permitted the 

Secretary of Agriculture to suspend the 

historical license reduction provisions 

on a one-time basis, ‘‘in light of market 

conditions,’’ prior to 1999. In 1998, the 

Secretary published a notice in the 

Federal Register suspending these 

provisions for 5 years, thereby delaying 

their implementation until 2004. 

From 2004 through 2007, historical 

licenses were reduced from 77,010,604 

kilograms to 72,394,927 kilograms, as 

quota-filled rates decreased, especially 

for certain types of cheeses from the 

European Union (EU). EU milk 

production has been constrained by 

quotas while EU domestic consumption 

has reduced the availability of 

exportable cheese supplies. In addition, 

U.S. cheese prices are now competitive 

on global markets, and the price 

differentials that made the U.S. cheese 

market attractive to EU exporters have 

diminished significantly. 

The proposed rule, published on 

October 4, 2007 (72 FR 56677–78), 

proposed suspending the provisions of 

7 CFR 6.25 with respect to the reduction 

of historical licenses based on unused 

amounts, delaying further reductions 

under the 3-years-in-a-row provision 

until 2011, and the at-least-3-out-of-5- 

years provision until 2014. 

Summary of public comments: The 

Department requested public comments 

on the proposed rule published on 

October 4, 2007. Public comments were 


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53356 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 16, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 

submitted by 30 entities during the 

comment period from October 4, 2007, 

to November 5, 2007. The comments 

were submitted by 25 importers, 3 

associations, 1 transport company, and 

1 foreign government entity. Most of the 

comments from importers favored a 5 

year suspension, citing market 

conditions as the primary reason for the 

suspension. Other importers opposed 

the suspension, or favored a 1 year 

suspension of the provisions. 

Arguments against the proposed 5 year 

suspension included that market 

conditions over the next 5 years could 

not be predicted and, therefore, should 

not be used as a justification for the 

suspension. 

Two associations favored the 

proposed suspension, while a third 

association opposed it. The transport 

company supported the proposed 5 year 

suspension. The foreign government 

entity recommended combining 

different quotas for specific types of 

cheeses to maximize quota filled rates 

for the more popular types of cheeses. 

Conclusion: Quota-filled rates for 

Swiss, Gruyere and low fat type cheeses 

have remained low even after transfer to 

the lottery, although this fact by itself 

does not provide justification for a 

suspension of the historical license 

reduction provisions. Market conditions 

are always subject to fluctuation and 

change, and it is incumbent upon all 

license holders to adjust to these 

changing conditions. Nonetheless, to 

allow additional time to adjust to 

changes in EU’s supply and demand, 

due to its long-term dairy policy 

changes, the Department will 

temporarily suspend the historical 

license reduction provisions for a period 

of 2 years, commencing in 2009. 

Historical license reductions will again 

be implemented beginning 2011, rather 

than in 2012 or 2014, as in the proposed 

rule. In 2011, historical license 

reductions will be based on import data 

from years 2006 through 2010. Because 

there will already be 5 years of 

historical import data, the 3-years-in-arow provision is unnecessary, which 

was not the case when the regulation 

was originally promulgated in 1996, and 

is therefore being eliminated. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 6 

Agricultural commodities, Cheese, 

Dairy products, and Imports. 

■ For the reasons described in the 

conclusion, The Department of 

Agriculture amends 7 CFR part 6 as 

follows: 

PART 6—IMPORT QUOTAS AND FEES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 6 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Additional U.S. Notes 6, 7, 8, 

12, 14, 16–23, and 25 to Chapter 4 and 

General Note 15 of the Harmonized Tariff 

Schedule of the United States (19 U.S.C. 

1202), Pub. L. 97 258, 96 Stat. 1051, as 

amended (31 U.S.C. 9701), and sections 103 

and 404, Pub. L. 103–465, 108 Stat. 4819 (19 

U.S.C. 3513 and 3601). 

■ 2. In § 6.25 revise paragraph (b) to 

read as follows: 

§ 6.25 Allocation of Licenses. 

* * * * * 

(b) Historical licenses for the 2009 

and subsequent quota years (Appendix 

1). (1) A person issued a historical 

license for the 2008 quota year will be 

issued a historical license in the same 

amount for the same article from the 

same country for the 2009 quota year 

and for each subsequent quota year 

except that: 

(i) Beginning with the 2011 quota 

year, a person who has surrendered 

more than 50 percent of such historical 

license in at least three of the prior five 

quota years will thereafter be issued a 

license in an amount equal to the 

average annual quantity entered during 

those five quota years. 

(ii) [Reserved] 

* * * * * 

Issued at Washington, DC the 21st day of 

August 2008. 

Ronald Lord, 

Licensing Authority. 

[FR Doc. E8–21467 Filed 9–15–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–10–M 

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE 

AGENCY 

12 CFR Part 1231 

RIN 2590–AA08 

Golden Parachute Payments and 

Indemnification Payments 

AGENCY: Federal Housing Finance 

Agency. 

ACTION: Interim Final Regulation with 

Request for Comments. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Housing Finance 

Agency (FHFA) is issuing an interim 

final regulation, with a request for 

comments, setting forth factors to be 

considered by the Director of FHFA in 

acting upon the Director’s authority to 

limit golden parachute payments to 

entity-affiliated parties in connection 

with the Federal National Mortgage 

Association, the Federal Home Loan 

Mortgage Corporation, and the Federal 

Home Loan Banks. 

DATES: Effective date: September 16, 

2008. 

Comment date: Comments on the 

Interim Final Regulation must be 

received on or before October 31, 2008. 

For additional information, see 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit your 

comments on the interim final 

regulation, identified by regulatory 

information number ‘‘RIN 2590–AA08,’’ 

by any of the following methods: 

• U.S. Mail, United Parcel Post, 

Federal Express, or Other Mail Service: 

The mailing address for comments is: 

Alfred M. Pollard, General Counsel 

(Office of Federal Housing Enterprise 

Oversight (OFHEO)) and Christopher 

Curtis, General Counsel (Federal 

Housing Finance Board (FHFB)), 

Attention: Comments/RIN 2590–AA08, 

Federal Housing Finance Agency, 

Fourth Floor, 1700 G Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20552. 

• Hand Delivered/Courier: The hand 

delivery address is: Alfred M. Pollard, 

General Counsel (OFHEO) and 

Christopher Curtis, General Counsel 

(FHFB), Attention: Comments/RIN 

2590–AA08, Federal Housing Finance 

Agency, Fourth Floor, 1700 G Street, 

NW., Washington, DC 20552. The 

package should be logged at the Guard 

Desk, First Floor, on business days 

between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

• E-mail: Comments to Alfred M. 

Pollard, General Counsel (OFHEO) and 

Christopher Curtis, General Counsel 

(FHFB), may be sent by e-mail at 

RegComments@FHFA.gov. Please 

include ‘‘RIN 2590–AA08’’ in the 

subject line of the message. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Alfred M. Pollard, General Counsel 

(OFHEO), telephone (202) 414–3788 or 

Christopher Curtis, General Counsel 

(FHFB), telephone (202) 408–2802 (not 

toll-free numbers), Federal Housing 

Finance Agency, Fourth Floor, 1700 G 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20552. The 

telephone number for the 

Telecommunications Device for the Deaf 

is (800) 877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Comments 

The Federal Housing Finance Agency 

(FHFA) invites comments on all aspects 

of the interim final regulation, and will 

take all comments into consideration 

before issuing the final regulation. 

FHFA requests that comments 

submitted in hard copy also be 


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