Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 202 / Wednesday, October 20, 2010 / Notices 64727 

1 12 U.S.C. 2155(a)(2) and (d). 

candidates, EPA encourages 

nominations of women and men of all 

racial and ethnic groups. 

EPA’s SAB Staff Office requests 

contact information about: The person 

making the nomination; contact 

information about the nominee; the 

disciplinary and specific areas of 

expertise of the nominee; the nominee’s 

curriculum vitae; sources of recent grant 

and/or contract support; and a 

biographical sketch of the nominee 

indicating current position, educational 

background, research activities, and 

recent service on other national 

advisory committees or national 

professional organizations. 

Persons having questions about the 

nomination procedures, or who are 

unable to submit nominations through 

the SAB Web site, should contact Dr. 

Stallworth, DFO, at the contact 

information provided above in this 

notice. Non-electronic submissions 

must follow the same format and 

contain the same information as the 

electronic. 

The SAB Staff Office will 

acknowledge receipt of the nomination 

and inform nominees of the 

Subcommittee for which they have been 

nominated. From the nominees 

identified by respondents to this 

Federal Register notice and other 

sources, the SAB Staff Office will 

develop a list of candidates for more 

detailed consideration. The list of 

candidates will be posted on the SAB 

Web site at http://www.epa.gov/casac 

and will include, for each candidate, the 

nominee’s name and biosketch. Public 

comments on the list of candidates will 

be accepted for 21 calendar days. During 

this comment period, the public will be 

requested to provide information, 

analysis, or other documentation on 

nominees that the SAB Staff Office 

should consider in evaluating 

candidates for the Committee. 

For the SAB Staff Office, a balanced 

Committee is characterized by inclusion 

of candidates who possess the necessary 

domains of knowledge, the relevant 

scientific perspectives (which, among 

other factors, can be influenced by work 

history and affiliation) and the 

collective breadth of experience to 

adequately address the charge. Public 

responses to the list of candidates will 

be considered in the selection of the 

Committee, along with information 

provided by candidates and information 

gathered by SAB Staff independently 

concerning the background of each 

candidate (e.g., financial disclosure 

information and computer searches to 

evaluate a nominee’s prior involvement 

with the topic under review). Specific 

criteria to be used in evaluation of an 

individual Committee member include: 

(a) Scientific and/or technical expertise, 

knowledge, and experience (primary 

factors); (b) absence of financial 

conflicts of interest; (c) scientific 

credibility and impartiality; (d) 

availability and willingness to serve; (e) 

ability to work constructively and 

effectively in committees; and (f) for the 

Committee as a whole, diversity of 

scientific expertise and viewpoints. 

Prospective candidates will be 

required to fill-out the ‘‘Confidential 

Financial Disclosure Form for Special 

Government Employees Serving on 

Federal Advisory Committees at the 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’’ 

(EPA Form 3110–48). This confidential 

form allows Government officials to 

determine whether there is a statutory 

conflict between that person’s public 

responsibilities (which includes 

membership on an EPA Federal 

Advisory Committee) and private 

interests and activities, or the 

appearance of a lack of impartiality, as 

defined by Federal regulation. Ethics 

information, including EPA Form 3110– 

48, is available on the SAB Web site at 

http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/ 

sabproduct.nsf/Web/ 

ethics?OpenDocument. 

Dated: October 14, 2010. 

Vanessa T. Vu, 

Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff 

Office. 

[FR Doc. 2010–26448 Filed 10–19–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION 

RIN 3052–AC64 

Joint and Several Liability Reallocation 

Agreement 

AGENCY: Farm Credit Administration. 

ACTION: Notice of approval of the draft 

joint and several liability reallocation 

agreement. 

SUMMARY: The Farm Credit 

Administration (FCA or we) is 

announcing that it has given approval of 

a Joint and Several Liability 

Reallocation Agreement (Agreement) to 

be entered into by all of the banks 

(System Banks) of the Farm Credit 

System (Farm Credit or System) and the 

Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding 

Corporation (Funding Corporation). The 

Agreement is designed to establish a 

procedure for non-defaulting banks to 

pay maturing System-wide debt on 

behalf of defaulting banks prior to a 

statutory joint and several call by the 

FCA. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Chris Wilson, Financial Analyst, Office 

of Regulatory Policy, Farm Credit 

Administration, McLean, VA 22102– 

5090, (703) 883–4204, TTY (703) 883– 

4434, or Rebecca S. Orlich, Senior 

Counsel, Office of General Counsel, 

Farm Credit Administration, McLean, 

VA 22102–5090, (703) 883–4020, TTY 

(703) 883–4020. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FCA 

published the draft Agreement in the 

Federal Register on August 18, 2010 (75 

FR 51061) with a request for public 

comment. The draft Agreement had a 

30-day comment period that ended on 

September 17, 2010. See 75 FR 51061 

for the text of the entire Agreement, 

along with our preamble describing the 

background of the Agreement and 

providing other information. We 

received no public comments on the 

Agreement. 

The Agreement is a voluntary 

agreement by the System Banks and the 

Funding Corporation that uses a debtbased formula to allocate payments of 

non-defaulting banks should a System 

bank default on a maturing insured 

consolidated or System-wide debt 

obligation and the amount of the default 

exceeds the amount available in the 

Farm Credit Insurance Fund to pay 

defaulted insured debt obligations. The 

parties to the draft Agreement submitted 

it to the FCA for approval under 

§ 627.2750(h) of our regulations and also 

requested the Farm Credit System 

Insurance Corporation (FCSIC) to 

provide an expression of non-objection 

to the Agreement. The FCSIC insures 

consolidated and System-wide 

obligations using funds in the Farm 

Credit Insurance Fund. The Agreement 

will terminate if the FCA withdraws its 

approval, and the FCA retains full 

authority and responsibility to invoke 

statutory joint and several calls as 

prescribed under section 4.4(a)(2) and 

(d) of the Farm Credit Act of 1971, as 

amended (Act).1 The FCA and the 

FCSIC are not parties to the Agreement. 

The System Banks and Funding 

Corporation are also making conforming 

amendments to the Market Access 

Agreement (MAA) by adding three new 

sections to it. The conforming 

amendments are merely to ensure that 

provisions in the MAA do not prevent 

necessary payments under the 

Agreement. The FCA will publish the 

conforming MAA amendments in a 

separate Federal Register document. 

The FCA believes that holders of 

System-wide debt obligations are 

unlikely to be harmed by this 

Agreement. The Agreement could create 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES
64728 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 202 / Wednesday, October 20, 2010 / Notices 

1See § 615.5230, ‘‘Implementation of cooperative 

principles.’’ 

2See FCA Policy Statement ‘‘Regulatory 

Philosophy’’ (FCA–PS–59), dated June 8, 2005. 

3Under FIRS, each institution is assigned 

composite and component ratings based on an 

evaluation of the adequacy of Capital, Assets, 

Management, Earnings, Liquidity, and Sensitivity to 

market risk (commonly referred to as ‘‘CAMELS’’). 

Composite and component ratings are assigned 

based on a 1 to 5 numerical scale, with 1 being the 

highest rating indicating the strongest level of 

performance and risk management practices and the 

least degree of supervisory concern. Within the 

Management component, FCA qualitatively rates 

the use of cooperative principles in the conduct of 

business activities. Please visit www.fca.gov for 

further information on FIRS. 

4The Preamble and section 1.1 of the Farm Credit 

Act of 1971, as amended (Act), Public Law 92–181, 

85 Stat. 583. 

5The Federal Farm Loan Act, Public Law 64–158, 

39 Stat. 360. 

6The cooperative structure of the System was 

viewed by Congress as providing greater safeguards 

than other structures under consideration at the 

time. 

7The International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), 

an independent, non-governmental association, has 

issued a statement on cooperative identity in which 

they espouse seven principles as guidelines for 

cooperatives to put their values into practice. Those 

seven principles are voluntary and open 

membership, democratic member control, member 

economic participation, autonomy and 

independence, training and information, 

cooperation among cooperatives, and concern for 

community. The principles can be found on the ICA 

Web site, http://www.ica.coop. 

8Under 4.3A of the Act, borrower-members of a 

System institution acquire voting stock at loan 

origination and hold allocated equities generated by 

patronage distributions from net earnings. 

Borrower-members’ voting stock and allocated 

equities are at-risk investments. 

the potential for building more capital at 

the bank level. After giving the public 

notice with the opportunity to comment 

and receiving no comments, the FCA 

Board has approved the draft Agreement 

in accordance with § 627.2750(h) of our 

regulations. The FCA’s approval of the 

draft Agreement is conditioned on the 

board of directors of each bank and the 

Funding Corporation approving the 

Agreement and the FCSIC providing an 

expression of non-objection to the 

Agreement. The Agreement cannot be 

modified or amended without our 

approval. 

Neither the Agreement (upon its 

effective date) nor our approval of it will 

in any way restrict or qualify the FCA’s 

authority to exercise our powers, rights, 

and duties as a regulator or, as stated 

above, to invoke joint and several 

liability provisions under the Act. 

Furthermore, the Agreement does not 

provide any grounds or basis for 

challenging the FCA’s or the FCSIC’s 

actions with respect to the creation or 

conduct of conservatorships or 

receiverships. Finally, the FCA retains 

the right to modify or revoke its 

approval of the Agreement at any time. 

Dated: October 14, 2010. 

Roland E. Smith, 

Secretary, Farm Credit Administration Board. 

[FR Doc. 2010–26434 Filed 10–19–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6705–01–P 

FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION 

[BM–14–OCT–10–02] 

Cooperative Operating Philosophy— 

Serving the Members of Farm Credit 

System Institutions 

AGENCY: Farm Credit Administration. 

ACTION: Policy statement. 

SUMMARY: The Farm Credit 

Administration (FCA) Board recently 

adopted a policy statement that 

reaffirms the FCA’s support of members’ 

participation in their Farm Credit 

System (System) institution and 

identifies three business practices for 

operating the cooperative with a focus 

on serving the members. Those practices 

are engaging members as owners, 

communicating with members, and 

providing value-added benefits to 

members. 

DATES: Effective Date: October 14, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Deborah Wilson, Senior Accountant, 

Office of Regulatory Policy, Farm Credit 

Administration, McLean, VA 22102– 

5090, (703) 883–4498, TTY (703) 883– 

4434, or Laura McFarland, Senior 

Counsel, Office of General Counsel, 

Farm Credit Administration, McLean, 

VA 22102–5090, (703) 883–4020, TTY 

(703) 883–4020. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FCA 

Board adopted a policy statement 

reaffirming its support for the 

cooperative structure and operation of 

System institutions. The policy 

statement, in its entirety, follows: 

The FCA Board Hereby Adopts the 

Following Policy Statement: 

Cooperative Operating Philosophy— 

Serving the Member of Farm Credit 

System Institutions FCA–PS–80 [BM– 

14–OCT–10–02] 

Effective Date: 14–OCT–10. 

Effect on Previous Actions: None. 

Source of Authority: Preamble and 

section 1.1 of the Farm Credit Act of 

1971, as amended. 

Cooperative Commitment 

The Farm Credit Administration 

(FCA) is committed to the cooperative 

structure under which Farm Credit 

System (System) institutions are 

required to operate.1 The FCA 

emphasizes cooperative principles by 

advancing regulatory proposals that 

encourage farmer, rancher, and 

cooperative borrowers to participate in 

the management, control, and 

ownership of their institutions.2 The 

FCA also emphasizes cooperative 

principles in the examination function 

and Financial Institution Rating System 

(FIRS) used to categorize the safety and 

soundness of System institutions.3

The FCA supports cooperative values 

that encourage member participation in 

System institutions. Cooperatives are, 

by definition, entities with a ‘‘member 

focus.’’ They are owned and controlled 

by their members, and the members 

benefit from doing business with their 

cooperatives. Cooperative entities that 

focus on serving and fulfilling the needs 

of their members often realize greater 

participation in their institutions. While 

System institutions have strong 

reputations as effective cooperatives, 

they should build on this tradition 

through a cooperative business culture 

that goes beyond that required by statute 

and regulation. 

History 

The System is a Governmentsponsored enterprise of cooperative 

institutions owned and controlled by 

their member-borrowers.4 Prior to 

establishment of the System, a political 

consensus had been forming in Congress 

on a need for an improved system of 

credit delivery to agriculture. When 

Congress established the System in 

1916,5 it determined that the 

cooperative structure was the best 

model for furnishing sound, adequate 

and constructive credit and closely 

related services to rural areas.6

Subsequent Farm Credit legislation, 

including the Farm Credit Act of 1971, 

as amended, has reaffirmed the 

cooperative nature of the System. 

Policy on Implementing a Cooperative 

Operating Philosophy—Serving the 

Members 

The System, through its cooperative 

structure, makes competitive credit 

available to creditworthy farmers, 

ranchers, producers and harvesters of 

aquatic products, and their 

cooperatives. The FCA believes the 

following three core cooperative 

principles are the foundation of the 

System’s structure: 7

(1) The cooperative is owned by its 

members.8

(2) The cooperative is controlled by 

its members. 

(3) The members benefit from doing 

business with, and participating in, the 

management, control, and ownership of 

their institution. 

While business practices may change 

over time, these underlying cooperative 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES