13402 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 44 / Tuesday, March 6, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

requires that importers have

proportionate representation on the

Board. Therefore, importers should have

20 percent of the seats on the Board.

Currently, the four importer positions

represent only 12.5 percent of the 32

industry seats on the Board. Adding two

more importer member positions will

give importers approximately 20 percent

of the seats on the Board. Because the

Plan and regulations are self-executing

in this regard, no change to the

regulations is needed.

Subsequently, the realignment was

approved by Board at its February 15–

16, 2000, meeting, with slight

modification. Under the realignment,

each district will represent, on average,

14 percent of total U.S. production.

Therefore, this final rule will realign

the districts as follows:

District 1—The Florida counties of

Brevard, Broward, Collier, Dade, Glades,

Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Indian

River, Lee, Martin, Monroe,

Okeechobee, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk,

and St. Lucie.

District 2—The Florida counties of

Alachula, Baker, Bay, Bradford,

Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay,

Columbia, Desoto, Dixie, Duval,

Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden,

Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Hernando,

Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson,

Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Leon, Levy,

Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion,

Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange, Pasco,

Pinnellas, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota,

Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee,

Taylor, Union, Volusia, Wakulla,

Walton, and Washington.

District 3—Alabama, Arkansas,

Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South

Carolina, and Tennessee.

District 4—Connecticut, Delaware,

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,

Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland,

Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,

Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey,

New York, North Carolina, North

Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania,

Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont,

Virginia, Washington, D.C., West

Virginia, and Wisconsin.

District 5—Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii,

Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah,

Washington, Wyoming and the

California counties of Alameda, Alpine,

Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa,

Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado,

Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern,

Kings, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Marin,

Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc,

Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer,

Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San

Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis

Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa

Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra,

Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus,

Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare,

Toulumne, Venture, Yolo, and Yuba.

District 6—Texas.

District 7—Arizona, New Mexico, and

the California counties of Imperial, Los

Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San

Bernardino, and San Diego.

With these district boundaries: (1)

South Carolina and Tennessee will be

moved from District 4 to District 3; (2)

Arkansas and Louisiana will be moved

from District 6 to District 3; (3) Illinois,

Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri,

Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma,

South Dakota, and Wisconsin will be

moved from District 5 to District 4; (4)

four California counties will be moved

from District 7 to District 5; and (5) only

Texas will remain in District 6.

This will create one producer vacancy

in Districts 1, 6, and 7 and one handler

in District 6. Current Board members

will be affected because their states or

counties will be moved to other

districts. Nomination meetings will be

held in the new districts to fill the

vacancies.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1210

Administrative practice and

procedure, Advertising, Consumer

information, Marketing agreements,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements, Watermelon promotion.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, Part 1210, Chapter XI of Title

7 is amended as follows:

PART 1210—WATERMELON

RESEARCH AND PROMOTION PLAN

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR

Part 1210 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 4901–4916.

2. Section 1210.501 is revised to read

as follows:

§ 1210.501 Realignment of districts.

Pursuant to § 1210.320(c) of the Plan,

the districts shall be as follows:

District 1—The Florida counties of

Brevard, Broward, Collier, Dade, Glades,

Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Indian

River, Lee, Martin, Monroe,

Okeechobee, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk,

and St. Lucie.

District 2—The Florida counties of

Alachula, Baker, Bay, Bradford,

Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay,

Columbia, Desoto, Dixie, Duval,

Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden,

Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Hernando,

Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson,

Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Leon, Levy,

Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion,

Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange, Pasco,

Pinnellas, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota,

Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee,

Taylor, Union, Volusia, Wakulla,

Walton, and Washington.

District 3—Alabama, Arkansas,

Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South

Carolina, and Tennessee.

District 4—Connecticut, Delaware,

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,

Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland,

Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,

Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey,

New York, North Carolina, North

Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania,

Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont,

Virginia, Washington, D.C., West

Virginia, and Wisconsin.

District 5—Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii,

Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah,

Washington, Wyoming, and the

California counties of Alameda, Alpine,

Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa,

Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado,

Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern,

Kings, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Marin,

Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc,

Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer,

Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San

Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis

Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa

Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra,

Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus,

Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare,

Toulumne, Venture, Yolo, and Yuba.

District 6—Texas.

District 7—Arizona, New Mexico, and

the California counties of Imperial, Los

Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San

Bernardino and San Diego.

Dated: March 1, 2001.

Kenneth C. Clayton,

Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing

Service.

[FR Doc. 01–5419 Filed 3–5–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Commodity Credit Corporation

7 CFR Part 1421

RIN 0560–AG22

Grazing Payments for 2001 Wheat,

Barley, or Oats

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation;

USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This rule implements

provisions of the Agricultural Risk

Protection Act of 2000 (ARPA) related to

grazing payments in lieu of loan

deficiency payments (LDP’s), for the

2001 crop year only, to include

producers who elect to use acreage

planted to wheat, barley, or oats for the

grazing by livestock and forgo any other

harvesting of such acreage.

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 44 / Tuesday, March 6, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 13403

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 6, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Raellen Erickson, Program Specialist,

Price Support Division, Farm Service

Agency (FSA), USDA, STOP 0512, 1400

Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC 20250–0540, telephone:

(202) 720–7320.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Notice and Comment

Section 263 of the ARPA requires that

these regulations be promulgated

without regard to the notice and

comment provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553 or

the Statement of Policy of the Secretary

of Agriculture effective July 24, 1971,

(36 FR 13804) relating to notices of

proposed rulemaking and public

participation in rulemaking. These

regulations are thus issued as final.

Executive Order 12866

This final rule is issued in

conformance with Executive Order

12866 and has been determined to be

significant and has been reviewed by

the Office of Management and Budget.

Federal Assistance Programs

The titles and numbers of the Federal

assistance programs, as found in the

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance,

to which this final rule applies is

Commodity Loan Deficiency

Payments—10.051.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

It has been determined that the

Regulatory Flexibility Act is not

applicable to this rule because USDA is

not required by 5 U.S.C. 553 or any

other provision of law to publish a

notice of proposed rulemaking with

respect to the subject matter of this rule.

Environmental Evaluation

It has been determined by an

environmental evaluation that this

action will have no significant impact

on the quality of the human

environment. Therefore, neither an

environmental assessment nor an

Environmental Impact Statement is

needed.

Executive Order 12372

This program is not subject to the

provisions of Executive Order 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).

Unfunded Mandates

The provisions of Title II of the

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

are not applicable to this rule because

the USDA is not required by 5 U.S.C.

553 or any other provision of law to

publish a notice of proposed rulemaking

with respect to the subject matter of this

rule.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement

Fairness Act of 1996

Section 263 of the Act of 2000

requires that the regulations necessary

to implement Title II, Subtitle A of the

Act of 2000 be issued as soon as

practicable and without regard to the

notice and comment provisions of 5

U.S.C. 553 or the Statement of Policy of

the Secretary of Agriculture effective

July 24, 1971, (36 FR 13804) related to

the notice of proposed rulemaking and

public participation in rulemaking. It

also requires the Secretary to use the

provisions of 5 U.S.C. 808 (the Small

Business Regulatory Enforcement Act

(SBREFA), which provide that a rule

may take effect at such time as the

agency may determine if the agency

finds for good cause that public notice

is impracticable, unnecessary, or

contrary to the public purpose and thus

does not have to meet the requirements

of section 801 of SBREFA requiring a

60-day delay for Congressional review

of a major regulation before the

regulation can go into effect. This final

rule is considered major for the

purposes of SBREFA. Based on the

foregoing authorities, however, it has

been determined that it would be

contrary to the public interest to delay

the implementation of this rule. This

rule, accordingly, has been made

effective immediately.

Paperwork Reduction Act

Section 263 of the Act of the ARPA

also requires that these regulations be

promulgated and the program

administered without regard to the

Paperwork Reduction Act. This means

the information to be collected from the

public to implement these programs and

the burden, in time and money, the

collection of the information would

have on the public, does not have to be

approved by the Office of Management

and Budget.

Background

Producers of certain commodities are

allowed by the provisions under section

135 of the Agricultural Market

Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7235) and

related provisions to obtain, upon

harvest, market assistance loans, or, in

lieu of those loans, ‘‘loan deficiency

payments’’ (LDP’s). Section 205 of

ARPA, however, provides additional

relief for farmers in a form which in

effect amounts to the equivalent of an

LDP. Under section 205 of ARPA, a

farmer who is otherwise eligible for a

wheat, barley, or oat LDP under section

135 of AMTA can graze the acreage

instead and still receive a payment if the

producer enters into an agreement with

the Secretary to forgo any other

harvesting of the wheat, barley, or oats

on that acreage. That section (Section

205 of ARPA) provides further that the

amount of the payment shall be

determined using the loan deficiency

payment rate determined under section

135(c) of the Agricultural Market

Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7235(c)) in

effect, as of the date of the agreement,

for the county in which the farm is

located. That rate, the statute provides,

will be multiplied by the payment

quantity. The payment quantity, the law

provides, is determined by multiplying

(for the commodity involved) the

quantity of the grazed acreage involved

by the higher of the farm’s established

yield or the county’s average yield.

Further, section 205 provides that the

payment shall be made at the same time

and in the same manner as loan

deficiency payments. Still further, the

statute specifies that the payment shall

be made not later than September 30,

2001. Also, section 205 provides that, in

operating this program, the Secretary

shall establish an availability period for

the payment consistent with the

availability period for wheat, barley,

and oats established for AMTA

marketing assistance loans. Section 205

further specifies that the Secretary shall

promulgate such regulations as are

needed to administer the payments in a

fair and equitable manner with respect

to those producers of wheat and feed

grains that will not receive the new

payments.

This rule implements those

provisions by regulations that will be

codified in a new subpart in 7 CFR part

1421. In so doing, however, several

important determinations had to be

made. Among those, was a

determination with respect to

limitations on payments. LDPs under

section 135 of AMTA are, by the

provisions of section 1001 of the Food

Security Act of 1985, 7 U.S.C. 1308, as

amended, payment-limited. That is, the

amount that any one ‘‘person’’ (as

defined in rules in 7 CFR part 1400) can

receive in any one program year, in the

form of LDPs, is limited to a set amount.

By the terms of section 1001 of the Food

Security Act, the limit applies to

payments under section 135 of AMTA,

and does not, for that reason, cover

these new grazing payments, as such, in

section 205 of ARPA. That follows

because section 205 does not, as such,

amend section 135 of AMTA. Rather,

13404 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 44 / Tuesday, March 6, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

section 205 is a stand-alone source of

authority for making the new payments.

Nonetheless, as indicated above,

Congress, by the terms of section 205,

instructs the agency to make the

payment ‘‘in the same manner’’ as

section 135 of AMTA and further

instructs the agency to make the

payments in such a way as to be fair

with respect to farmers who will not be

making use of the new authority. For

those reasons, it seems clear that the

payments should be treated as limited

as well and, in order to do so, it is

provided in these rules that a farmer

will be considered to be eligible to

receive, or retain, payments under

section 205 of ARPA only to the extent

that the farmer would have a remaining

eligibility for payments under section

135 of AMTA taking into account the

payment limit that applies to payment

under that section. That is, if the

producer had for example hit the

payment limit under that section by

receiving LDP’s up to that limit, then

the producer would not be eligible for

grazing payments under the new

program and would, if payments for

grazing had already been received, be

required to return those payments with

interest. This conclusion—linking the

two payments—is consistent with still

another provision in section 205 of

ARPA that being the provision which

specifies that the producer will only be

eligible for payments under section 205

to the extent that the farmer would be

eligible for a payment under section

135. While that provision does not

directly address the situation where the

producer was eligible for the payment

when it was received and only later hits

the LDP payment limit, it would not

make sense to have the rules allow the

farmer retain the grazing as such would

change the connection between the two

programs from being a matter of

substance to being one of timing only.

Presumably, placing form over

substance was not intended.

Accordingly, once it has been

determined that the grazing payment

will in effect be tied to the same

payment limit it follows that this rule

will apply regardless of which payments

were requested first. As indicated, this

seems to be fully consistent with the

idea of the statute which appear to be

that the LDP program should not force

farmers to harvest forage of certain crops

just to utilize their LDP eligibility.

Provision has been made in the rule to

assure that the connection between the

two programs will be enforced

irrespective of whether the normal rules

of offset would allow a charge-off

between the two programs.

Other provisions in the new

regulations specify that producers will

not be eligible for the payment if the

crop could not be harvested anyway

because of weather or other reasons.

Also, the rules provide that applications

cannot be filed before the date on which

mechanical harvesting of the crop

would, otherwise, have first been

possible. This provision is consistent

with the timing provisions of the statute

as described above. Also, there are

provisions, requiring consistency

between the producer’s grazing reports

and others that might be filed, and a

number of other aspects of the program

as well. Further, since the grazing

payments allowed by the new rules only

apply where the producer could

otherwise have obtained LDP for the

crop, the new rules will only apply to

wheat, barley and oats crops produced

by the applicant on a farm on which

that person has an existing and valid

production flexibility contract (PFC).

That is because wheat, barley, and oats

are so-called ‘‘contract commodities’’

and, by statute, generally, contract

commodities are eligible for LDP only if

produced on a PFC farm. The PFC

program is a program in which farmers

with certain crop bases under older

programs can receive certain special

payments it they agreed to abide by

certain limited conditions with respect

to the operation of their farms. The PFC

program is administered under 7 CFR

part 12. For the 2000 crop only,

Congress has severed the tie between

PFC’s and LDP’s. However, as the new

grazing payment program applies only

to the 2001 crops wheat, barley, and

oats, the existence of a PFC contract will

continue to be an eligibility requirement

for the new payment. Should the

requirements for LDP’s be modified

again, it would have to be determined

whether such a change would also

expand eligibility for the new grazing

payment provided for in these new

rules.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1421

Loan programs/Agriculture, Loan

Deficiency Payment, Grazing Payments

for 2001 Crop of Wheat, Barley, or Oats,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

Accordingly, 7 CFR part 1421 is

amended to read as follows:

PART 1421—GRAINS AND SIMILARLY

HANDLED COMMODITIES

1. The authority citation for part 1421

is revised to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7213–7235, 7237; 15

U.S.C. 714b, 714c; Sec. 813, Pub. L. 106–78,

113 Stat. 1182; Secs. 205 and 206, Pub. L.

106–224 (7 U.S.C. 1421 note).

2. Part 1421 is amended by adding

Subpart—Grazing Payments for 2001

Crop of Wheat, Barley, or Oats to read

as follows:

Subpart—Grazing Payments for 2001

Crop of Wheat, Barley, or Oats

Sec.

1421.300 Applicability.

1421.301 Administration.

1421.302 Definitions.

1421.303 Eligible producer and eligible

land.

1421.304 Time and method for application.

1421.305 Payment amount.

1421.306 Misrepresentation and scheme or

device.

1421.307 Refunds; joint and several

liability.

§ 1421.300 Applicability.

(a) The regulations in this subpart are

applicable to 2001 crops of eligible

acreage planted to wheat, barley, or oats

that is grazed by livestock and not

harvested in any other manner. This

subpart sets forth the terms and

conditions under which a grazing

payment in lieu of a loan deficiency

payment can be made by the

Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC).

(b) The form that is used in

administering these payments is

available in State and county FSA

offices and shall be prescribed by CCC.

§ 1421.301 Administration.

(a) This subpart shall be administered

by the Farm Service Agency (FSA)

under the general direction and

supervision of the Executive Vice

President, CCC or designee. The

program shall be carried out in the field

by State and county FSA employees

under the general direction and

supervision of the State and county FSA

committees.

(b) State and county committees, and

representatives and employees thereof,

do not have the authority to modify or

waive any of the provisions of the

regulations in this part, as amended or

supplemented.

(c) The State committee shall take any

action required by this part which has

not been taken by the county committee.

The State committee shall also:

(1) Correct, or require a county

committee to correct, any action taken

by such county committee which is not

in accordance with the regulations of

this part; or

(2) Require a county committee to

withhold taking any action which is not

in accordance with the regulations of

this part.

(d) No delegation herein to a State or

county committee shall preclude the

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 44 / Tuesday, March 6, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 13405

Executive Vice President, CCC, or a

designee, from determining any

question arising under the program or

from reversing or modifying any

determination made by a State or county

committee.

(e) The Deputy Administrator for

Farm Programs (DAFP), FSA, may

authorize State and county committees

to waive or modify deadlines and other

program requirements in cases where

timeliness or failure to meet such other

requirements does not adversely affect

the operation of the program. In

addition, DAFP may establish other

conditions for payments that will assist

in achieving the goals of the program

and may include such provisions in the

program agreement or other program

documents.

§ 1421.302 Definitions.

The definitions set forth in this

section shall be applicable for all

purposes of program administration

under this subpart:

COC means the FSA county office

committee.

CCC means the Commodity Credit

Corporation.

Department means the United States

Department of Agriculture.

Deputy Administrator means the

Deputy Administrator for Farm

Programs, Farm Service Agency (FSA)

or a designee of that person.

FSA means the Farm Service Agency

of the Department.

Secretary means the Secretary of the

United States Department of

Agriculture, or the Secretary’s delegate.

STC means the FSA State committee.

§ 1421.303 Eligible producer and eligible

land.

(a) To be an eligible producer for

purposes of this subpart, the person

must be a producer of an eligible crop

which the producer agrees under the

terms of this part to graze in lieu of any

other harvesting. The only crops which

are eligible for this program are the 2001

crops of wheat, barley or oats, and then

only if all other conditions for eligibility

under this part have met. For this

purpose and all purposes of this

subpart, the ‘‘person’’ may be an

individual, partnership, association,

corporation, estate, trust, or State or

political subdivision or agency thereof,

or other legal entity. The crop year will

be determined using the normal

designations that apply in connection

with farm commodity programs

operated under this chapter. Also, to be

an eligible producer, the person must

meet all other qualifications for

payment that are set out in this subpart,

set out in the program agreement, set

out under other provisions of this title,

including regulations that appeal in

parts 12, 718, 1400, and 1405 of this

title, or otherwise set out. A person will

not be considered the ‘‘producer’’ of the

crop unless that person was responsible

for the planting of the crop and had the

risk of loss in the crop at all times

material to the request for payment,

including, but not limited to, the time

of planting and the time of the request

for, and payment of benefits under, this

part.

(b) A minor may participate in the

program if the right of majority has been

conferred on the minor by court order

or by statute, or if the minor participates

through a guardian authorized to act on

the minor’s behalf in these matters.

Alternatively, a minor may participate if

the program documents are all signed by

an acceptable (to CCC) guarantor or if

bond, acceptable to CCC, is provided by

a surety.

(c) For the crop to be eligible, the

crop, in addition to other standards that

may apply, must be grown on land that

is classified as ‘‘cropland’’ in FSA farm

records or on land that FSA determines

has been cropped in the last 3 years

except that the land may also qualify if

the land is committed to a crop rotation,

normal for the locality, that includes

harvesting the subject crop for grain.

These rules are designed to assure, to

the extent practicable, the available

payment did not produce plantings that

otherwise would not have occurred and

the CCC may deny payments in any

instance in which there is reason to

believe that the planting was done for

that purpose. To that end, if the

commodity involved has not been

previously grown by the producer or is

not one which is not predominately

produced locally, the producer must

submit evidence of seed purchases for

planting the commodities and other

evidence deemed needed or appropriate

by the COC in order to assure that the

program goals are made and that the

land was not planted to an eligible

commodity simply to obtain a payment.

Also, the land to be eligible must, for

the year involved, be grazed and cannot,

during the crop year, be harvested at

any time for any purpose, except as

determined by the Deputy

Administrator to accommodate

producers with a history of doublecropping when the crop to be harvested

is not the crop for which a payment is

to be made under this subpart. Land

will be considered grazed only to the

extent that the crop on the land is

consumed in the field as live plants by

livestock for the normal period of time

for grazing in the area.

(d) Further, the producers must have,

to be eligible at the time the crop is

grown and used, full right of possession

in the property with the consent of the

landowner and must have, but for an

agreement made to receive payments

under this subpart, the right to harvest

and market the crop as grain and, as that

time the crop is grazed, the right and

ability to obtain a loan deficiency

payment (LDP) under this title. Further,

the producer must, at the time of the

agreement made under this part to

obtain a payment, meet all other eligible

criteria for LDP’s including the general

statutory requirement that the producer

will eligible for LDP for ‘‘contract

commodities’’ only if they were

produced by that person on the farm on

which there is a ‘‘production flexibility

contract’’ (PFC) under the PFC program

administered under 7 CFR part 1412. As

wheat, barley and oats are contract

commodities, this means that no grazing

payments will be made under this

subpart unless the wheat, barley or oat

crop which is, or will be, grazed, was

produced by the person seeking the

payment on land on which there is PFC

to which such person is party. In the

event, that Congress, as it did for the

2000 crop, change the requirements for

LDP’s so as to eliminate the tie to an

existing PFC, CCC shall determine

whether that waiver will also expand

the eligibility of producers for grazing

payments under this subpart.

(e) In addition, no payment will be

made if the crop could not have been

harvested and used to obtain LDP’s

because of weather or other conditions

that may have occurred or because of

any legal restrictions against harvesting

the crop, or because of promises made

in connection with other programs, or

because of any promise to any person,

or because of any other reason. The

producer must, in addition, to be

considered eligible to receive a grazing

payment on the commodity under this

subpart, retain the control, title and risk

of loss in the commodity for which the

payment is sought from the date of

planting through the date on which no

mechanical harvesting of the crop is still

possible. However, nothing in the prior

sentence shall prevent a person from

receiving a payment merely because the

producer has granted a licence or

permission to some other party to graze

their animals upon the property. In

addition, the producer can receive no

payment for any crop on any land for

which, for the relevant crop year, the

producer reported to anyone for any

purpose, harvesting the crop for grain.

This prohibition and others under the

program only apply to land for which

13406 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 44 / Tuesday, March 6, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

the payment is sought (that is, the part

of the farm on which the crop is to be

grazed) and does not extend to other

parts of the farm. Any condition that

applies under this subpart as a

condition of payment, shall also be

considered to be a condition for

retaining payment.

§ 1421.304 Time and method for

application.

Application for the program must be

received, at the county office that is

responsible for administering programs

for the farm, no earlier than the date on

which eligible crops would, for the 2001

crop, normally be harvested and no later

than August 31, 2001. The application

must describe the land to be grazed and,

in accordance with standards set by

CCC, the tract/field location. The COC

will determine the first harvest date

which shall take into account the date

on which such crops are, locally,

normally harvested for any purpose.

Where multiple producers are involved,

the form must reflect each producer’s

share in the crop. No producer must

receive payments under this subpart

except to the extent that the payments

are commensurate with that share.

Should a person who is entitled to

receive a payment under this subpart

die, that payment, as earned, may be

made to other persons as provided for

in the rules set out in part 707. Third

parties may also receive payments to the

extent provided for in that part for other

situations involving an incapacitation of

the producer. Refusals to allow CCC to

verify information on any form or report

utilized for this subpart can result in

program ineligibility and producers

must provide CCC and its agent to the

property involved and to all records as

may be relevant to the making of

payments under this subpart. Further,

false statements will disqualify the

producer from the program and may be

subject to other sanctions including

criminal sanctions.

§ 1421.305 Payment amount.

(a) Eligible persons growing an

eligible crop and agreeing to the

restrictions provided for in this subpart

may (if all other conditions of eligibility

are met) receive a payment under this

subpart. That payment for purposes of

this section shall be referred to as a

‘‘grazing payment’’. The grazing

payment shall be made at the per/unit

LDP rate for the relevant crop. The LDP

rate that applies shall be that which is

current on the date on which the

producer submits a complete program

application or is deemed, by CCC, to

have submitted a completed

application. The rate shall be the rate for

the relevant county in which the farm

is located. The ‘‘LDP rate’’ for this

purpose means the rate for ‘‘loan

deficiency payments’’ under this

subpart. The LDP rate shall be applied

against the payable units of production

as determined under this section.

(b) The payable units of production

shall be computed by multiplying the

eligible grazed acres by the applicable

yield determined under paragraph (c) of

this section.

(c) The yield shall be either the farm’s

established yield for the crop as

determined under part 1412 by the FSA

or the relevant average county yield as

determined by the FSA. The average

county yield must be established by the

COC by August 31, 2001, but shall be

valid only if the STC concurs. That

yield shall, if acceptable data is

available, be based on NASS data using

an Olympic average for the 1996

through 2000 crop years. If that data is

not available, or STC does not concur,

other sources may be used.

(d) No payment may be received or

retained under this subpart to the extent

that the payment, were they considered

to be LDP’s, would place that person

over the per person per year payment

limit that applies to LDP’s. The

producer agrees that the CCC may

collect any payment considered to be an

overpayment by reason of this

subsection by withholding LDP

payments until the matter is resolved,

by treating the LDP as being not payable

to the extent that a grazing refund

would otherwise be due , by setoff, or

by any other means available to CCC.

(e) Payments can be withheld until

the actual grazed acreage is verified and

justified in connection with any other

reports filed with FSA with respect to

the farm (or filed with some other

person or agency) and until all other

necessary information is obtained. The

CCC may require such other verification

as it deems appropriate to assure that

the program goals are met.

(f) To receive the payment, the

eligible producer must submit a request

for payment on the FSA-approved form.

That form will be ‘‘CCC–633 Grazing

(Grazing Payment Program

Application)’’. The form may be

obtained from the county FSA office.

Also, a copy may be obtained at http:/

/www.fsa.usda.gov/dafp/psd. The form

must be submitted to the county by the

close of business on August 31, 2001.

(g) The producer will ineligible for

payments under this subpart if any

discrepancies between the reported

acreage on the program form and other

reports of acreage by the producer are

not resolved by a date set by the CCC.

(h) Unless otherwise authorized by

the Deputy Administrator, all payment

shall be made no later than September

28, 2001.

§ 1421.306 Misrepresentation and scheme

or device.

(a) A producer shall be ineligible to

receive payments under this subpart if

it is determined by DAFP, the State

committee, or the county committee to

have:

(1) Adopted any scheme or device

which tends to defeat the purpose of

this program;

(2) Made any fraudulent

representation; or

(3) Misrepresented any fact affecting a

program determination.

(b) Any funds disbursed pursuant to

this subpart to a producer engaged in a

misrepresentation, scheme, or device, or

to any other person as a result of the

producer’s actions, shall be refunded

with interest together with such other

sums as may become due. Any producer

engaged in acts prohibited by this

section and any person receiving

payment under this subpart, as a result

of such acts, shall be jointly and

severally liable for any refund due

under this section and for related

charges. The remedies provided in this

subpart shall be in addition to other

civil, criminal, or administrative

remedies which may apply.

§ 1421.307 Refunds; joint and several

liability.

(a) In the event there is a failure to

comply with any term, requirement, or

condition for payment arising under this

application, or this subpart, and if any

refund of a payment to CCC shall

become due for that or other reason in

connection with the application, or this

subpart, all payments made under this

subpart to any producer shall be

refunded to CCC together with interest

as determined in accordance with

paragraph (c) of this section and latepayments charges as provided for in

part 1402 of this chapter.

(b) All persons listed on an

application shall be jointly and

severally liable for any refund due in

connection with that application and for

any related charges which may be

determined to be due for any reason.

(c) Interest shall be applicable to

refunds required of the producer. Such

interest shall be charged at the rate of

interest which the United States

Treasury charges CCC for funds, as of

the date CCC made such benefits

available. Such interest shall accrue

from the date such benefits were made

available to the date of repayment but

the interest rate shall increase to reflect

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 44 / Tuesday, March 6, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 13407

any increase in the rate charged to CCC

by Treasury for any percent of time for

which the interest assessment is

collected. CCC may waive the accrual of

interest if CCC determines that the cause

of the erroneous determination was not

due to any action of the producer.

(d) Late payment interest shall be

assessed on refunds in accordance with

the provisions of, and subject to the

rates in 7 CFR part 1403.

(e) Producers must refund to CCC any

excess payments made by CCC with

respect to any application in which they

have an interest. Such refund shall be

subject to interest at the same rate that

applies to other refunds.

Signed at Washington, D.C., on March 1,

2001.

Diane Sharp,

Executive Vice President, Commodity Credit

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 01–5492 Filed 3–2–01; 3:18 pm]

BILLING CODE 3410–05–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72

RIN 3150–AG70

List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage

Casks: VSC–24 Revision

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Direct final rule.

SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) is amending its

regulations revising the Pacific Sierra

Nuclear Associates (PSNA) VSC–24

listing within the ‘‘List of approved

spent fuel storage casks’’ to include

Amendment No. 3 to the Certificate of

Compliance (CoC). This amendment

changes the Technical Specifications

1.2.1 and 1.2.6 to modify the fuel

specifications for Combustion

Engineering 16x16 spent fuel stored in

the VSC–24 cask system, modifies the

text in TS 1.2.7 for accuracy, modifies

the text in Certificate Section 2.b. to

remove ambiguity, modifies Certificate

Section 3 to be consistent with TS 1.1.4,

modifies Certificate Section 4 for

consistency with TS 1.1.3, and modifies

Certificate Section 5 to remove

ambiguity.

DATES: The final rule is effective May

21, 2001, unless significant adverse

comments are received by April 5, 2001.

If either the rule is withdrawn or the

effective date is delayed, timely notice

will be published in the Federal

Register.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to:

Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555–

0001, Attn: Rulemakings and

Adjudications Staff. Deliver comments

to 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD,

between 7:30 am and 4:15 pm on

Federal workdays.

All publicly available documents

related to this rulemaking, as well as all

public comments received on this

rulemaking, may be viewed and

downloaded electronically via the

NRC’s rulemaking website at http://

ruleforum.llnl.gov. You may also

provide comments via this website by

uploading comments as files (any

format) if your web browser supports

that function. For information about the

interactive rulemaking site, contact Ms.

Carol Gallagher (301) 415–5905; e-mail

CAG@nrc.gov.

Certain documents related to this rule,

including comments received by the

NRC, may also be examined at the NRC

Public Document Room, 11555

Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD. For more

information, contact the NRC’s Public

Document Room Reference staff at 1–

800–397–4209, (301) 415–4737 or by email to pdr@nrc.gov.

Documents created or received at the

NRC after November 1, 1999 are also

available electronically at the NRC

Public Electronic Reading Room on the

Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/

ADAMS/index.html. From this site, the

public can gain entry into the NRC’s

Agencywide Documents Access and

Management System (ADAMS), which

provides text and image files of NRC’s

public documents. An electronic copy

of the proposed CoC and preliminary

safety evaluation report (SER) can be

found under ADAMS Accession No.

ML003733556. For more information,

contact the NRC’s Public Document

Room Reference Staff at 1–800–397–

4209, 301–415–4737 or by e-mail at

pdr@nrc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stan

Turel, telephone (301) 415–6234, e-mail,

spt@nrc.gov, of the Office of Nuclear

Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Washington, DC 20555–0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 218(a) of the Nuclear Waste

Policy Act of 1982, as amended

(NWPA), requires that ‘‘[t]he Secretary

[of the Department of Energy (DOE)]

shall establish a demonstration program,

in cooperation with the private sector,

for the dry storage of spent nuclear fuel

at civilian nuclear power reactor sites,

with the objective of establishing one or

more technologies that the [Nuclear

Regulatory] Commission may, by rule,

approve for use at the sites of civilian

nuclear power reactors without, to the

maximum extent practicable, the need

for additional site-specific approvals by

the Commission.’’ Section 133 of the

NWPA states, in part, that ‘‘[t]he

Commission shall, by rule, establish

procedures for the licensing of any

technology approved by the

Commission under Section 218(a) for

use at the site of any civilian nuclear

power reactor.’’

To implement this mandate, the NRC

approved dry storage of spent nuclear

fuel in NRC-approved casks under a

general license by publishing a final

rule in 10 CFR Part 72 entitled, ‘‘General

License for Storage of Spent Fuel at

Power Reactor Sites’’ (55 FR 29181; July

18, 1990). This rule also established a

new Subpart L within 10 CFR Part 72,

entitled ‘‘Approval of Spent Fuel

Storage Casks’’ containing procedures

and criteria for obtaining NRC approval

of spent fuel storage cask designs. The

NRC subsequently issued a final rule on

April 7, 1993 (58 FR 17948), that

approved the VSC–24 cask design,

added it to the list of NRC-approved

cask designs in § 72.214, and issued

Certificate of Compliance Number (CoC

No.) 1007.

Discussion

On March 29, 2000, PSNA (the

certificate holder) submitted an

application to the NRC to amend CoC

No. 1007 to change Technical

Specifications (TS) 1.2.1 and 1.2.6. This

change modifies the fuel specifications

for Combustion Engineering 16x16

spent fuel stored in the VSC–24 cask

system. Amendment 3 also modifies the

text in TS 1.2.7 for accuracy, modifies

the text in Certificate Section 2.b. to

remove ambiguity, modifies Certificate

Section 3 to be consistent with TS 1.1.4,

modifies Certificate Section 4 for

consistency with TS 1.1.3, and modifies

Certificate Section 5 to remove

ambiguity and removes the ‘‘Basis’’

section from all TSs in accordance with

revised NRC TS format. The NRC staff

performed a detailed safety evaluation

of the proposed CoC amendment

request. The NRC staff found that the

changes stated above do not reduce the

safety margin. In addition, the NRC staff

has determined that changes do not

pose any increased risk to public health

and safety. A full discussion of the NRC

staff’s evaluation is presented in its SER

that can be found under ADAMS

Accession No. ML003733556.

This direct final rule revises the

PSNA VSC–24 cask system listing

within the list of NRC-approved casks