Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2008/12/05/E8-28674/soybean-promotion-research-and-information-program-amend-procedures-to-request-a-referendum
Timestamp: 2017-09-20 00:34:01
Document Index: 43936681

Matched Legal Cases: ['§\u20091220', '§\u20091220', '§\u20091220', '§\u20091220', 'art 1220', '§\u20091220']

A Proposed Rule by the Agricultural Marketing Service on 12/05/2008
Comments must be received by December 22, 2008.
73 FR 74078
74078-74080 (3 pages)
Docket No. AMS-LS-08-0074
E8-28674
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E8-28674 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E8-28674
Comments may be posted online at http://www.regulations.gov, or sent to Kenneth R. Payne, Chief, Marketing Programs Branch, Livestock and Seed Program, AMS, USDA, Room 2628-S, STOP 0251, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-0251; or via Fax to (202) 720-1125. Comments will be made available for public inspection at the above address during regular business hours or via the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov. Comments received will be posed Start Printed Page 74079without change, including any personal information provided. All comments should reference the docket number, Docket No. AMS-LS-08-0074; the date of submission; and the page number of this issue of the Federal Register.
This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform. This proposal is not intended to have a retroactive effect. The proposed rule would not preempt any other Federal or State laws, regulations, or policies.
In accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601-612), USDA is required to examine the impact of the proposed rule on small entities. The purpose of the RFA is to fit regulatory actions to the scale of businesses subject to such actions so that small businesses will not be disproportionately burdened.
For the purpose of the Request for Referendum, the Secretary would use the most recent number of soybean producers identified by USDA's FSA. The latest number of soybean producers identified by FSA is 589,182 and was obtained using information from 2006 and 2007 acreage reports. The data were sorted in such a manner as to include all producers that were engaged in the production of soybeans in at least one of the 2 years and exclude counting a producer more than once if that producer engaged in production during both years. Therefore, the number of soybean producers who would be eligible to participate in the Request for Referendum would be 589,182. The majority of producers subject to the Order are small businesses under the criteria established by the Small Business Administration (SBA) [13 CFR 121.201]. SBA defines small agricultural producers as those having annual receipts of less than $750,000.
Further, the information collection requirements are minimal. Requesting form LS-51-1 to participate in a Request for Referendum may be done by mail, in-person, by facsimile, or via the Internet and would not impose a significant economic burden on participants. Finally, this action would amend the regulations pursuant to administrative changes to web site addresses and office locations for the AMS. Accordingly, the Administrator of AMS has determined that this proposed rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small business entities.
The Act (7 U.S.C. 6301-6311) provides for the establishment of a coordinated program of promotion and research designed to strengthen the soybean industry's position in the marketplace, and to maintain and expand domestic and foreign markets and uses for soybeans and soybean products. The program is financed by an assessment of 0.5 of 1 percent of the net market price of soybeans sold by producers. The final rule establishing a Soybean Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information program was published in the July 9, 1991, issue of the Federal Register (56 FR 31043) and assessments began on September 1, 1991.
The Act also specifies that the Secretary shall, 5 years after the conduct of the initial referendum and every 5 years thereafter, provide soybean producers an opportunity to request a referendum on the Order. Additionally, the Act specifies that these subsequent polls require that at least 10 percent (not in excess of one-fifth in any one State) of all producers must request a Start Printed Page 74080referendum in order to trigger the conduct of a referendum. If a referendum is requested, it will be held within 1 year of that determination.
Five years later, another Request for Referendum was conducted May 1, 2004, through May 28, 2004. As in the prior Request for Referendum, the purpose was to determine if there was sufficient interest among soybean producers to vote on whether to continue the soybean checkoff Program. To be eligible to participate in the Request for Referendum, producers or the producer entity that they are authorized to represent had to certify and provide supporting documentation showing that they or the producer entity they represent paid an assessment sometime during the representative period between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2003. Of the total 663,880 soybean producers eligible to participate, 3,206 valid Requests for Referendum were completed. This number did not meet the requisite number of 66,388; therefore, a referendum was not conducted.
In accordance with the Act, another Request for Referendum will be conducted in 2009. In this proposed rule, data provided by USDA's FSA would be used to amend the number of soybean producers in preparation for this upcoming Request for Referendum. Presently, § 1220.616 of the Order states that the number of soybean producers in the United States is 663,880. The latest number of soybean producers identified by FSA is 589,182 soybean producers for crop years 2006 and 2007, using information based on acreage reports compiled on a daily basis. The data were sorted in such a manner as to include all producers that were engaged in the production of soybeans in at least one of the 2 years and exclude counting a producer more than once if that producer engaged in production during both years. Using the last two crop years for which complete data is available ensures that all eligible producers are counted, as some producers use soybeans in rotation with other crops and do not plant soybeans every year or the market for some producers in a particular crop year may not have been conducive to growing soybeans. This methodology is consistent with that used during the last amendment to § 1220.616 in 2004.
In addition to the changes proposed relating to the number of eligible soybean producers, AMS also intends to amend §§ 1220.622 and 1220.628 to update Web site addresses and office locations as a result of internal changes within the agency.
A 15-day comment period is provided for interested persons to comment on the proposed changes to section 1220.616. This comment period is deemed appropriate because the Act provides that the Secretary, every 5 years after the initial continuation referendum, will give soybean producers the opportunity to request additional referenda on the Order. A 15-day comment period will allow sufficient time to publish a final rule to amend § 1220.616 before the upcoming Request for Referendum. As such, the number of soybean producers eligible to participate in a Request for Referendum will be established, and a Request for Referendum can be conducted as early in 2009 as practicable.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, it is proposed that 7 CFR part 1220 be amended as follows:
3. In § 1220.622, paragraph (b) the Web site “www.ams.usda.gov/​lsg/​mpb/​rp-soy.htm” is removed and a new Web site “www.ams.usda.gov/​lsmarketingprograms” is added in its place.
(a) The Administrator, FSA, shall submit to the Administrator, AMS, the reports from all State FSA offices. The Administrator, AMS shall tabulate the results of the Request for Referendum. USDA will issue an official press release announcing the results of the Request for Referendum and publish the same results in the Federal Register. In addition, USDA will post the official results at the following Web site: http://www.ams.usda.gov/​lsmarketingprograms. Subsequently, State reports and related papers shall be available for public inspection upon request during normal business hours in the Marketing Programs Branch office, Livestock and Seed Program, AMS, USDA, Room 2628-S, STOP 0251, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC.
[FR Doc. E8-28674 Filed 12-4-08; 8:45 am]