48758 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 202 / Friday, October 20, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

1 81 FR 48720, July 28, 2016. 

2See 12 CFR part 607. 

After consideration of all relevant 

matter presented, including the 

information and recommendation 

submitted by the Board and other 

available information, it is hereby found 

that this rule, as hereinafter set forth, 

will tend to effectuate the declared 

policy of the Act. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 996 

Food grades and standards, Marketing 

agreements, Peanuts, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 996 is amended as 

follows: 

PART 996—MINIMUM QUALITY AND 

HANDLING STANDARDS FOR 

DOMESTIC AND IMPORTED PEANUTS 

MARKETED IN THE UNITED STATES 

■ 1. The authority citation for 7 CFR 

part 996 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7958. 

■ 2. Section 996.13 is amended by 

revising paragraphs (b) and (c) to read 

as follows: 

§ 996.13 Peanuts. 

* * * * * 

(b) Segregation 1. ‘‘Segregation 1 

peanuts’’ means farmers stock peanuts 

with not more than 3.49 percent 

damaged kernels nor more than 1.00 

percent concealed damage caused by 

rancidity, mold, or decay and which are 

free from visible Aspergillus flavus. 

(c) Segregation 2. ‘‘Segregation 2 

peanuts’’ means farmers stock peanuts 

with more than 3.49 percent damaged 

kernels or more than 1.00 percent 

concealed damage caused by rancidity, 

mold, or decay and which are free from 

visible Aspergillus flavus. 

* * * * * 

Dated: October 16, 2017. 

Bruce Summers, 

Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2017–22712 Filed 10–19–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION 

12 CFR Part 607 

RIN 3052–AD30 

Assessment and Apportionment of 

Administrative Expenses 

AGENCY: Farm Credit Administration. 

ACTION: Direct final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Farm Credit 

Administration (FCA or we) issues this 

direct final rule adopting technical 

amendments to eliminate language that 

is obsolete, confusing, and unnecessary 

to determine the annual assessment 

amount of Farm Credit System 

institutions. 

DATES: If no significant adverse 

comment is received on or before 

November 20, 2017, this regulation shall 

become effective no earlier than the 

expiration of 30 days after publication 

in the Federal Register during which 

either or both Houses of Congress are in 

session. We will publish notice of the 

effective date in the Federal Register. 

ADDRESSES: For accuracy and efficiency 

reasons, please submit comments by 

email or through the FCA’s Web site. 

We do not accept comments submitted 

by facsimile (fax), as faxes are difficult 

for us to process in compliance with 

section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. 

Please do not submit your comment 

multiple times via different methods. 

You may submit comments by any of 

the following methods: 

• Email: Send us an email at regcomm@fca.gov. 

• FCA Web site: http://www.fca.gov. 

Select ‘‘Public Commenters,’’ then 

‘‘Public Comments,’’ and follow the 

directions for ‘‘Submitting a Comment.’’ 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Barry F. Mardock, Deputy 

Director, Office of Regulatory Policy, 

Farm Credit Administration, 1501 Farm 

Credit Drive, McLean, VA 22102–5090. 

You may review copies of all 

comments we receive at our office in 

McLean, Virginia, or from our Web site 

at http://www.fca.gov. Once you are in 

the Web site, select ‘‘Public 

Commenters,’’ then ‘‘Public 

Comments,’’ and follow the directions 

for ‘‘Reading Submitted Public 

Comments.’’ We will show your 

comments as submitted, but for 

technical reasons we may omit items 

such as logos and special characters. 

Identifying information you provide, 

such as phone numbers and addresses, 

will be publicly available. However, we 

will attempt to remove email addresses 

to help reduce Internet spam. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jeremy R. Edelstein, Senior Policy 

Analyst, Office of Regulatory Policy, 

Farm Credit Administration, McLean, 

VA 22102–5090, (703) 883–4497, TTY 

(703) 883–4056; or 

Jennifer A. Cohn, Senior Counsel, 

Office of General Counsel, Farm Credit 

Administration, McLean, VA 22102– 

5090, (303) 696–9737, TTY (703) 883– 

4056. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Objective 

The objective of this direct final rule 

is to eliminate confusion in the 

definition of ‘‘average risk-adjusted 

asset base’’ in § 607.2(b), which is used 

to determine the annual assessment 

amount of System institutions, by: 

• Removing an obsolete and 

unnecessary reference to FCA’s call 

report schedule; and 

• Clarifying the effect of mergers and 

consolidations based on current 

accounting practices and deleting 

obsolete language relating to transfers of 

direct lending authority. 

II. Discussion 

Effective January 1, 2017, the FCA 

published the Tier 1/Tier 2 Framework; 

Final Rule (new capital rule).1 The new 

capital rule, in pertinent part, revised 

the risk-weights that determine the riskadjusted asset base (the denominator) of 

the permanent capital ratio that Farm 

Credit System (System) institutions 

must compute. The average riskadjusted asset base of a System bank, 

association, or designated other System 

entity is used to determine its annual 

assessment of funds to cover FCA’s 

expenses.2 Existing § 607.2(b) defines 

and specifies how to calculate ‘‘average 

risk-adjusted asset base’’ in four 

different ways, depending on when the 

institution was formed and how many 

quarters of risk-adjusted assets are 

available. All these variations, however, 

define ‘‘average risk-adjusted asset 

base’’ using the regulatory definition of 

‘‘risk-adjusted asset base’’ and with 

reference to risk-adjusted assets as 

reported on each quarterly Call Report 

Schedule RC–G. 

The FCA significantly revised and 

relabeled its call report schedules in 

connection with the new capital rule. 

An institution’s permanent capital ratio 

denominator—its average risk-adjusted 

asset base—is no longer reported in Call 

Report Schedule RC–G. Accordingly, 

FCA is revising the definition of 

‘‘average risk-adjusted asset base’’ in 

§ 607.2(b) to remove the references to 

Call Report Schedule RC–G. Because 

call report schedules are subject to 

change outside of the regulatory 

process, the revised definition does not 

refer to a call report schedule. Rather, 

revised § 607.2(b) defines ‘‘average riskadjusted asset base’’ with reference to 

the average daily risk-adjusted assets as 

of the last day of the quarter and 

without reference to the call report 

schedule. Because average daily riskadjusted assets can be determined under 

FCA’s regulations, the reference to the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 202 / Friday, October 20, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 48759 

3 In the rare circumstance that an institution was 

unable to submit a call report, it could, for 

assessment purposes, calculate and provide the 

same data outside of the call report. 

4By Informational Memorandum dated June 16, 

2017, the FCA informed System banks and 

associations about the changes to the assessment 

calculation in the capital rules and about the 

changes to the call report schedules relevant to 

assessments. 

5Section 621.3(a) requires System institutions to 

prepare financial statements and reports in 

accordance with generally accepted accounting 

principles (GAAP). 

6Section 7.6 of the Farm Credit Act of 1971, as 

amended, 12 U.S.C. 2279b, authorized Federal land 

banks and merged banks to transfer their direct 

lending authority to System associations, and all 

associations now have direct lending authority. 

7Recommendation 95–4, referencing the 

Administrative Procedure Act ‘‘good cause’’ 

exemption at 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), adopted June 15, 

1995. 

call report schedule is unnecessary.3 In 

the current version of the call report as 

of the date of this technical amendment, 

the denominator of the permanent 

capital ratio (average daily risk-adjusted 

assets) is reported at Line 8a of 

Schedule RC–R.1, but this location is 

subject to change.4

In addition, we revise § 607.2(b)(3) 

and (b)(4) to clarify, based on current 

accounting practices, that mergers result 

in continuing institutions and 

consolidations result in newly formed 

institutions.5 We also revise these two 

paragraphs to remove obsolete 

provisions governing transfers of direct 

lending authority, since we do not 

expect any future transfers of direct 

lending authority.6 Finally, we make 

minor grammatical changes throughout 

§ 607.2(b). 

These changes are technical in nature 

and have no substantive effect. This rule 

will have no impact on the formula used 

to calculate an institution’s assessment 

amount. Moreover, this rule does not 

change the definition of ‘‘average riskadjusted asset base’’ other than to 

remove obsolete and unnecessary 

references, clarify the effect of mergers 

and consolidations, and correct minor 

grammatical errors. 

III. Direct Final Rule 

We are amending the definition of 

‘‘average risk-adjusted asset base’’ in 

§ 607.2(b) by a direct final rulemaking. 

The Administrative Conference of the 

United States recommends direct final 

rulemaking for Federal agencies to enact 

noncontroversial regulations on an 

expedited basis, without the usual 

notice and comment period.7 This 

process enables us to reduce the time 

and resources we need to develop, 

review, and publish a final rule while 

still affording the public an adequate 

opportunity to comment or object to the 

rule. 

In a direct final rulemaking, we notify 

the public that the rule will become 

final on a specified date unless we 

receive a significant adverse comment 

during the comment period. A 

significant adverse comment is one 

where the commenter explains why the 

rule would be inappropriate (including 

challenges to its underlying premise or 

approach), ineffective, or unacceptable 

without a change. In general, a 

significant adverse comment would 

raise an issue serious enough to warrant 

a substantive response from the FCA in 

a notice-and-comment proceeding. 

We believe that a direct final 

rulemaking is the appropriate method 

for amending § 607.2(b) because the 

changes are technical in nature and do 

not substantively alter the rights or 

responsibilities of any party. We do not 

anticipate there will be significant 

adverse comments. If, however, we 

receive a significant adverse comment 

during the comment period, we will 

publish a notice of withdrawal of the 

relevant provisions of this rule that will 

also indicate how further rulemaking 

will proceed. If we receive no 

significant adverse comments, we will 

publish notice of the effective date of 

the rule following the required 

congressional waiting period under 

section 5.17(c)(1) of the Farm Credit Act 

of 1971, as amended. 

IV. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

Pursuant to section 605(b) of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 

et seq.), the FCA hereby certifies that the 

direct final rule will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

Each of the banks in the Farm Credit 

System, considered together with its 

affiliated associations, has assets and 

annual income in excess of the amounts 

that would qualify them as small 

entities. Therefore, Farm Credit System 

institutions are not ‘‘small entities’’ as 

defined in the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act. 

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 607 

Accounting, Agriculture, Banks, 

banking, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Rural areas. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, part 607 of chapter VI, title 12 

of the Code of Federal Regulations is 

amended as follows: 

PART 607—ASSESSMENT AND 

APPORTIONMENT OF 

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 607 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Secs. 5.15, 5.17 of the Farm 

Credit Act (12 U.S.C. 2250, 2252) and 12 

U.S.C. 3025. 

■ 2. Section 607.2 is amended by 

revising paragraph (b) to read as follows: 

§ 607.2 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

(b) Average risk-adjusted asset base 

means the average of the risk-adjusted 

asset base (as defined in § 615.5201 of 

this chapter) of banks, associations, and 

designated other System entities, 

calculated as follows: 

(1) For a bank, association, or 

designated other System entity with 

four quarters of risk-adjusted assets as of 

June 30 of each year, the sum of the 

average daily risk-adjusted assets as of 

the last day of the quarter for the most 

recent four quarters immediately 

preceding each September 15, divided 

by four; 

(2) Except as provided in paragraphs 

(b)(3) and (b)(4) of this section, for a 

bank, association, or designated other 

System entity with less than four 

quarters of risk-adjusted assets as of 

June 30 of each year, the sum of the 

average daily risk-adjusted assets as of 

the last day of the quarter for the 

quarters in which it was in existence 

immediately preceding September 15, 

divided by the number of quarters in 

which it was in existence immediately 

preceding September 15; 

(3) For a bank, association, or 

designated other System entity that is 

the continuing institution after a merger 

of existing institutions or a newly 

formed institution formed through a 

consolidation of existing institutions 

and that has less than four quarters of 

risk-adjusted assets as of June 30 of each 

year, the sum of the average daily riskadjusted assets as of the last day of the 

quarter for the most recent four quarters 

immediately preceding September 15 

for all the institutions that were merged 

or consolidated, divided by four; 

(4) For a bank, association, or 

designated other System entity 

chartered during the period July 1 

through September 30 of each year that 

is not the continuing institution after a 

merger of existing institutions or a 

newly formed institution formed 

through a consolidation of existing 

institutions, the total of the average 

daily risk-adjusted assets as of the last 

day of the quarter ending September 30. 

* * * * * 


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48760 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 202 / Friday, October 20, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

Dated: October 16, 2017. 

Dale L. Aultman, 

Secretary, Farm Credit Administration Board. 

[FR Doc. 2017–22721 Filed 10–19–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6705–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Economic Development Administration 

13 CFR Part 313 

[Docket No.: 170828819–7819–01] 

RIN 0610–AA70 

Elimination of Regulations 

Implementing Community Trade 

Adjustment Assistance Program 

AGENCY: Economic Development 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: Through this final rule, the 

Economic Development Administration 

(‘‘EDA’’), U.S. Department of Commerce, 

eliminates the regulations implementing 

the Community Trade Adjustment 

Assistance (‘‘CTAA’’) Program. 

Established in 2009 under the Trade Act 

of 1974, the CTAA Program was 

subsequently eliminated by Congress in 

2011. Implementing regulations for this 

now-defunct Program are thus 

unnecessary. This final rule is a 

‘‘deregulatory action’’ pursuant to the 

April 5, 2017, Office of Management 

and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) guidance 

memorandum implementing Executive 

Order 13771. 

DATES: This rule is effective October 20, 

2017. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jeffrey Roberson, Deputy Chief Counsel, 

Office of the Chief Counsel, Economic 

Development Administration, U.S. 

Department of Commerce, 1401 

Constitution Avenue NW., Suite 72023, 

Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 

482–1315. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The CTAA Program was enacted as 

part of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

2101 et seq.) by the Trade and 

Globalization Adjustment Assistance 

Act of 2009, which was included as 

subtitle I (letter ‘‘I’’) of title I of Division 

B of the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111– 

5). CTAA was intended to help 

communities respond to job losses 

resulting from international trade 

impacts. EDA’s implementing 

regulations for CTAA, located at 13 CFR 

part 313, became effective August 18, 

2009 (74 FR 41592). For Fiscal Year 

2010, the only year in which EDA made 

awards under CTAA, EDA awarded 

$36,768,000 in grants to 36 recipients. 

The CTAA Program was subsequently 

repealed by section 222 of the Trade 

Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 

2011 (Pub. L. 112–40) ‘‘because it was 

considered duplicative of other federal 

programs. . . .’’ See CRS Report 

R41922, Trade Adjustment Assistance 

(TAA) and Its Role in U.S. Trade Policy, 

Aug. 5, 2013, p. 14. With the 

elimination of the CTAA Program by 

Congress, EDA’s implementing 

regulations are now unnecessary. 

This elimination of 13 CFR part 313 

is a ‘‘deregulatory action’’ pursuant to 

the April 5, 2017, OMB guidance 

memorandum implementing Executive 

Order 13771. Since the program is 

already defunct, there are no cost 

savings associated with this elimination. 

Classification 

Administrative Procedure Act and 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), there 

is good cause to waive prior notice and 

an opportunity for public comment on 

this action, as notice and comment are 

unnecessary. This rule removes obsolete 

regulations implementing the CTAA 

Program, which has been eliminated by 

Congress. Therefore, public comment 

would serve no purpose and is 

unnecessary. There is also good cause 

under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive the 

30-day delay in effectiveness. This rule 

does not alter the rights or 

responsibilities of any party, and 

delaying implementation of this rule 

serves no purpose. 

Because prior notice and an 

opportunity for public comment are not 

required pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, or 

any other law, the analytical 

requirements of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) are 

inapplicable. Therefore, a regulatory 

flexibility analysis has not been 

prepared. 

Executive Orders No. 12866, 13563, and 

13771 

This final rule was drafted in 

accordance with Executive Orders 

12866, 13563, and 13771. OMB has 

determined that this rule is not 

significant for purposes of Executive 

Orders 12866. This final rule is a 

‘‘deregulatory action’’ pursuant to the 

April 5, 2017, OMB guidance 

memorandum implementing Executive 

Order 13771 (M–17–21). 

Congressional Review Act 

This final rule is not major under the 

Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 

et seq.). 

Executive Order No. 13132 

This final rule does not contain 

policies that have federalism 

implications. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) (‘‘PRA’’) 

requires that a Federal agency consider 

the impact of paperwork and other 

information collection burdens imposed 

on the public and, under the provisions 

of PRA section 3507(d), obtain approval 

from OMB for each collection of 

information it conducts, sponsors, or 

requires through regulations. 

Notwithstanding any other provision of 

law, no person is required to respond to, 

nor shall any person be subject to a 

penalty for failure to comply with a 

collection of information subject to the 

PRA unless that collection displays a 

currently valid OMB Control Number. 

This final rule does not require the 

collection of any information. 

List of Subjects in 13 CFR Part 313 

Trade adjustment assistance for 

communities, Impacted community, 

Petition and affirmative determination 

requirements, Strategic plan, 

Implementation grant. 

■ For the reasons discussed above, and 

under the authority of 19 U.S.C. 2341– 

2372, EDA is removing and reserving 13 

CFR part 313. 

PART 313—[REMOVED AND 

RESERVED] 

Dated: October 16, 2017. 

Dennis Alvord, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regional 

Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2017–22782 Filed 10–19–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–24–P 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

14 CFR Parts 1264 and 1271 

RIN 2700–AE30 

[Document Number NASA–17–071: Docket 

Number–NASA–2017–0004] 

Implementation of the Federal Civil 

Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act and 

Adjustment of Amounts for 2017 

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration. 


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