Rural Business Investment Program, 14712-14713 [07-1530]
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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 60 / Thursday, March 29, 2007 / Proposed Rules
For the reasons set forth in the
preamble, 7 CFR parts 916 and 917 are
proposed to be amended as follows:
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR
parts 916 and 917 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601–674.
PART 916—NECTARINES GROWN IN
CALIFORNIA
2. Add § 916.141 to read as follows:
§ 916.141
Delinquent assessments.
PART 917—PEACHES GROWN IN
CALIFORNIA
3. Add § 917.137 to read as follows:
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with PROPOSALS
Dated: March 23, 2007.
Kenneth C. Clayton,
Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing
Service.
[FR Doc. E7–5789 Filed 3–28–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–02–P
(a) The Nectarine Administrative
Committee shall impose a late payment
charge on any assessment that has not
been received in the Nectarine
Administrative Committee’s office, or
legibly postmarked by the U.S. Postal
Service, within 60 days of the invoice
date shown on the handler’s assessment
statement. The late payment charge
shall be 10 percent of the unpaid
balance.
(b) In addition to that specified in
paragraph (a) of this section, the
Nectarine Administrative Committee
shall impose an interest charge on any
assessment payment that has not been
received in the committee’s office, or
legibly postmarked by the U.S. Postal
Service, within 60-days of the invoice
date. The interest charge shall be 1.5
percent per month and shall be applied
to the unpaid balance and late payment
charge for the number of days all or any
part of the assessment specified in the
handler’s assessment statement is
delinquent beyond the 60-day payment
period.
§ 917.137
payment charge for the number of days
all or any part of the assessment
specified in the handler’s assessment
statement is delinquent beyond the 60day payment period.
Delinquent assessments.
(a) The Peach Commodity Committee
shall impose a late payment charge on
any assessment that has not been
received in the Peach Commodity
Committee’s office, or legibly
postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service,
within 60 days of the invoice date
shown on the handler’s assessment
statement. The late payment charge
shall be 10 percent of the unpaid
balance.
(b) In addition to that specified in
paragraph (a) of this section, the Peach
Commodity Committee shall impose an
interest charge on any assessment
payment that has not been received in
the Peach Commodity Committee’s
office, or legibly postmarked by the U.S.
Postal Service, within 60 days of the
invoice date. The interest charge shall
be 1.5 percent per month and shall be
applied to the unpaid balance and late
VerDate Aug<31>2005
18:15 Mar 28, 2007
Jkt 211001
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Business-Cooperative Service
Rural Utilities Service
7 CFR Part 4290
RIN 0570–AA35
Rural Business Investment Program
Rural Business-Cooperative
Service and the Rural Utilities Service,
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
ACTION: Advanced notice of proposed
rulemaking; comments requested.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Rural BusinessCooperative Service and the Rural
Utilities Service seek public input
regarding the possibility of operating the
Rural Business Investment Program, in
light of the loss of funding starting in
the 2007 Fiscal Year, to provide for nonleveraged Rural Business Investment
Companies.
Written or e-mail comments on
this advance notice of proposed
rulemaking must be received on or
before 30 days from the date of
publication in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
to this rule by any of the following
methods:
• Agency Web Site: https://
www.rurdev.usda.gov/regs. Follow
instructions for submitting comments
on the Web Site.
• E-Mail: comments@wdc.usda.gov.
Include the RIN No. 0570—in the
subject line of the message.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Submit written comments via
the U.S. Postal Service to the Branch
Chief, Regulations and Paperwork
Management Branch, U.S. Department
of Agriculture, STOP 0742, 1400
Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20250–0742.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: Submit
written comments via Federal Express
Mail or other courier service requiring a
street address to the Branch Chief,
DATES:
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
Regulations and Paperwork
Management Branch, U.S. Department
of Agriculture, 300 7th Street, SW., 7th
Floor, Washington, DC 20024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michael Foore, Program Advisor, Rural
Development, Business and Cooperative
Programs, 1400 Independence Ave.,
SW., Stop 3201, Washington, DC 20250–
3201, Telephone: (202) 690–4730.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Executive Order 12866
This advance notice has been
reviewed under Executive Order 12866
by the Office of Management and
Budget and has been determined to be
significant for the purposes of Executive
Order 12866.
Background
The Rural Development Mission Area
of the Department of Agriculture (Rural
Development) is responsible for
assisting rural communities in
improving the quality of life for their
residents and in increasing their
economic opportunities. Most of the
programs and activities of Rural
Development provide assistance in the
form of loans, loan guarantees, and
grants. However, Rural Development
estimates that at least $1.45 trillion of
equity in rural America is idle and
could be used to assist the development
of rural America.
In an attempt to tap this equity in
rural America and provide for
investment capital opportunities which
are not widely available, Congress
created the Rural Business Investment
Program in section 6029 of the Farm
Security and Rural Investment Act of
2002 (Pub. L. 107–171; 116 Stat. 134).
The Rural Business Investment Program
authorized the Secretary of Agriculture
to encourage, with financial and
technical assistance, the creation of
investment companies, called Rural
Business Investment Companies, which
would provide equity investments to
rural small businesses. These
investment companies would leverage
capital raised from private investors,
including rural residents into
investments in rural small businesses.
The legislation strongly encouraged that
the Secretary of Agriculture operate this
Program with the assistance of the Small
Business Administration (SBA) because
it was modeled after the SBA Small
Business Investment Program. The
legislation even provided funding to
cover SBA’s costs of providing such
assistance. On June 8, 2004, Rural
Development promulgated an interim
rule to implement the Rural Business
Investment Program [7 CFR part 4290;
69 FR 32200].
E:\FR\FM\29MRP1.SGM
29MRP1
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 60 / Thursday, March 29, 2007 / Proposed Rules
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with PROPOSALS
The legislation that created the Rural
Business Investment Program gave the
Secretary of Agriculture two choices
concerning the creation of Rural
Business Investment Companies:
leveraged and non-leveraged. A
leveraged Rural Business Investment
Company is a company that is created
with an infusion of Federal capital. A
non-leveraged Rural Business
Investment Company is a company that
is created without the infusion of
Federal capital. Since the legislation
authorizing this Program provided
funds for leveraged Rural Business
Investment Companies and SBA’s own
programs operate with leveraged
entities, the focus of the current Rural
Business Investment Program has been
on the creation of leveraged Rural
Business Investment Companies. Since
the promulgation of the interim rule,
Rural Development, with SBA’s
support, has conditionally selected
three leveraged Rural Business
Investment Companies. These
companies have initiated the process of
making equity investments in rural
small businesses.
Issue
With the enactment of section 1403 of
the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (Pub.
L. 109–171; 120 Stat. 4), all unobligated
funds for the Rural Business Investment
Program for administrative costs for
SBA and for the assistance grants and
leveraging for the Rural Business
Investment Companies will be
rescinded at the end of Fiscal Year 2006.
The enactment of this legislation
effectively prevents the funding and
support of new Rural Business
Investment Companies after the end of
this Fiscal Year.
Rural Development believes that a
greater focus on tapping the equity in
rural America for the purposes of
furthering rural development should be
maintained. By encouraging
investments in rural businesses with
rural equity, not only is there the
development of an underutilized rural
resource, but also there is the potential
to use such investments to increase
wealth in rural communities.
The development of renewable energy
resources such as biofuels and wind
represents an example of the economic
development power of tapping rural
equity. The development of these new
energy resources has reached a stage
where it is possible to find capital in the
United States and elsewhere to develop
many of these rural resources. While the
rural areas where these outside funded
projects are located will reap some
economic benefits, the profits and
equity they create will be owned by
VerDate Aug<31>2005
18:15 Mar 28, 2007
Jkt 211001
those outside these rural communities.
Rural Development believes that if at
least a portion of the funding of these
projects can be supported by the equity
in the surrounding rural communities,
the projects are likely to be more
successful because they will have
greater local support and generate
profits and equity that will be retained
in the these rural communities which
could be applied to support further
development.
Potential Strategies for Continuation of
the Rural Business Investment Program
Rural Development seeks to
encourage not only the placement of
economic development projects in rural
areas, like an ethanol plant, but also the
development of business and
investment models that will lead to the
greater use of, and growth in, wealth,
equity, and economic opportunities in
rural communities. For these reasons,
Rural Development would like to
investigate whether there may be a way
to continue the Rural Business
Investment Program, despite the
enactment of the Deficit Reduction Act
of 2005, as part of a strategy to help
unlock the potential power that rural
equity has to finance rural development
in a manner that will help rural
residents share in the benefits of the
economic growth potential of rural
America.
After reviewing the legislation
creating the Rural Business Investment
Program, it may be possible for the
Secretary of Agriculture to operate this
Program with another partner. The
legislation authorizing the Rural
Business Investment Program
authorized certain financial institutions
to create and invest in Rural Business
Investment Companies (7 U.S.C.
2009cc–9). Eligible financial institutions
include banks and savings associations
whose deposits are insured by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
and Farm Credit System institutions.
The Farm Credit Administration (FCA),
the independent Federal agency that
regulates the Farm Credit System, is
responsible for the chartering, oversight
and examination of the financial
institutions of the Farm Credit System
(FCS). Additionally, FCA has
experience in examining other nonSystem institutions, such as Small
Business Investment Companies.
Therefore, FCA has the expertise to
operate the non-leveraged program for
the Secretary of Agriculture. If the focus
of this Program shifted to the creation of
non-leveraged Rural Business
Investment Companies, the only funds
that would be needed would be
administrative costs to administer the
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
14713
program and provide technical
assistance. It is Rural Development’s
understanding that these funds could be
raised through the fees the FCA can
currently charge regulated entities. If the
FCA would become a partner of this
Program, provisions would be made to
ensure that non-Farm Credit System
members would be allowed to
participate in the creation and financing
of non-leveraged Rural Business
Investment Companies in accordance
with the statute. This proposal is based
on a comment Rural Development
received from the FCA during the
interim rule commenting period for the
Rural Business Investment Program [69
FR 32200; June 8, 2004].
Requests for Comments
Rural Development is seeking help
from the public regarding the following
questions related to this matter:
(1) In what ways can Rural
Development leverage the Rural
Business Investment Program, a
developmental venture capital program,
to help encourage an expanded use of
rural equity in the development of rural
America?
(2) Does the Rural Business
Investment Program provide an
appropriate basis to encourage the
expanded use of rural equity in rural
development? If not, are there changes
in the regulation that could be made to
make the Program more effective?
(3) If USDA chooses to use one or
more partners in order to provide for the
licensing of non-leveraged Rural
Business Investment Companies, what
type of considerations should be made?
How could such a partnership, between
USDA and FCA, be made most effective
for USDA, FCA, and the rural business
community? If other Federal agencies in
addition to FCA wish to become a
partner, how should this be addressed
within the regulation?
Dated: March 21, 2007.
Thomas C. Dorr,
Under Secretary, Rural Development.
[FR Doc. 07–1530 Filed 3–28–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–XY–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 50
[Docket No. PRM–50–83]
Project on Government Oversight and
Union of Concerned Scientists;
Receipt of Petition for Rulemaking
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
AGENCY:
E:\FR\FM\29MRP1.SGM
29MRP1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 60 (Thursday, March 29, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14712-14713]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-1530]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Business-Cooperative Service
Rural Utilities Service
7 CFR Part 4290
RIN 0570-AA35
Rural Business Investment Program
AGENCY: Rural Business-Cooperative Service and the Rural Utilities
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
ACTION: Advanced notice of proposed rulemaking; comments requested.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Rural Business-Cooperative Service and the Rural Utilities
Service seek public input regarding the possibility of operating the
Rural Business Investment Program, in light of the loss of funding
starting in the 2007 Fiscal Year, to provide for non-leveraged Rural
Business Investment Companies.
DATES: Written or e-mail comments on this advance notice of proposed
rulemaking must be received on or before 30 days from the date of
publication in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments to this rule by any of the following
methods:
Agency Web Site: https://www.rurdev.usda.gov/regs. Follow
instructions for submitting comments on the Web Site.
E-Mail: comments@wdc.usda.gov. Include the RIN No. 0570--
in the subject line of the message.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Submit written comments via the U.S. Postal Service
to the Branch Chief, Regulations and Paperwork Management Branch, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, STOP 0742, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20250-0742.
Hand Delivery/Courier: Submit written comments via Federal
Express Mail or other courier service requiring a street address to the
Branch Chief, Regulations and Paperwork Management Branch, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, 300 7th Street, SW., 7th Floor, Washington,
DC 20024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Foore, Program Advisor, Rural
Development, Business and Cooperative Programs, 1400 Independence Ave.,
SW., Stop 3201, Washington, DC 20250-3201, Telephone: (202) 690-4730.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Executive Order 12866
This advance notice has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866
by the Office of Management and Budget and has been determined to be
significant for the purposes of Executive Order 12866.
Background
The Rural Development Mission Area of the Department of Agriculture
(Rural Development) is responsible for assisting rural communities in
improving the quality of life for their residents and in increasing
their economic opportunities. Most of the programs and activities of
Rural Development provide assistance in the form of loans, loan
guarantees, and grants. However, Rural Development estimates that at
least $1.45 trillion of equity in rural America is idle and could be
used to assist the development of rural America.
In an attempt to tap this equity in rural America and provide for
investment capital opportunities which are not widely available,
Congress created the Rural Business Investment Program in section 6029
of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-171;
116 Stat. 134). The Rural Business Investment Program authorized the
Secretary of Agriculture to encourage, with financial and technical
assistance, the creation of investment companies, called Rural Business
Investment Companies, which would provide equity investments to rural
small businesses. These investment companies would leverage capital
raised from private investors, including rural residents into
investments in rural small businesses. The legislation strongly
encouraged that the Secretary of Agriculture operate this Program with
the assistance of the Small Business Administration (SBA) because it
was modeled after the SBA Small Business Investment Program. The
legislation even provided funding to cover SBA's costs of providing
such assistance. On June 8, 2004, Rural Development promulgated an
interim rule to implement the Rural Business Investment Program [7 CFR
part 4290; 69 FR 32200].
[[Page 14713]]
The legislation that created the Rural Business Investment Program
gave the Secretary of Agriculture two choices concerning the creation
of Rural Business Investment Companies: leveraged and non-leveraged. A
leveraged Rural Business Investment Company is a company that is
created with an infusion of Federal capital. A non-leveraged Rural
Business Investment Company is a company that is created without the
infusion of Federal capital. Since the legislation authorizing this
Program provided funds for leveraged Rural Business Investment
Companies and SBA's own programs operate with leveraged entities, the
focus of the current Rural Business Investment Program has been on the
creation of leveraged Rural Business Investment Companies. Since the
promulgation of the interim rule, Rural Development, with SBA's
support, has conditionally selected three leveraged Rural Business
Investment Companies. These companies have initiated the process of
making equity investments in rural small businesses.
Issue
With the enactment of section 1403 of the Deficit Reduction Act of
2005 (Pub. L. 109-171; 120 Stat. 4), all unobligated funds for the
Rural Business Investment Program for administrative costs for SBA and
for the assistance grants and leveraging for the Rural Business
Investment Companies will be rescinded at the end of Fiscal Year 2006.
The enactment of this legislation effectively prevents the funding and
support of new Rural Business Investment Companies after the end of
this Fiscal Year.
Rural Development believes that a greater focus on tapping the
equity in rural America for the purposes of furthering rural
development should be maintained. By encouraging investments in rural
businesses with rural equity, not only is there the development of an
underutilized rural resource, but also there is the potential to use
such investments to increase wealth in rural communities.
The development of renewable energy resources such as biofuels and
wind represents an example of the economic development power of tapping
rural equity. The development of these new energy resources has reached
a stage where it is possible to find capital in the United States and
elsewhere to develop many of these rural resources. While the rural
areas where these outside funded projects are located will reap some
economic benefits, the profits and equity they create will be owned by
those outside these rural communities. Rural Development believes that
if at least a portion of the funding of these projects can be supported
by the equity in the surrounding rural communities, the projects are
likely to be more successful because they will have greater local
support and generate profits and equity that will be retained in the
these rural communities which could be applied to support further
development.
Potential Strategies for Continuation of the Rural Business Investment
Program
Rural Development seeks to encourage not only the placement of
economic development projects in rural areas, like an ethanol plant,
but also the development of business and investment models that will
lead to the greater use of, and growth in, wealth, equity, and economic
opportunities in rural communities. For these reasons, Rural
Development would like to investigate whether there may be a way to
continue the Rural Business Investment Program, despite the enactment
of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, as part of a strategy to help
unlock the potential power that rural equity has to finance rural
development in a manner that will help rural residents share in the
benefits of the economic growth potential of rural America.
After reviewing the legislation creating the Rural Business
Investment Program, it may be possible for the Secretary of Agriculture
to operate this Program with another partner. The legislation
authorizing the Rural Business Investment Program authorized certain
financial institutions to create and invest in Rural Business
Investment Companies (7 U.S.C. 2009cc-9). Eligible financial
institutions include banks and savings associations whose deposits are
insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Farm Credit
System institutions. The Farm Credit Administration (FCA), the
independent Federal agency that regulates the Farm Credit System, is
responsible for the chartering, oversight and examination of the
financial institutions of the Farm Credit System (FCS). Additionally,
FCA has experience in examining other non-System institutions, such as
Small Business Investment Companies. Therefore, FCA has the expertise
to operate the non-leveraged program for the Secretary of Agriculture.
If the focus of this Program shifted to the creation of non-leveraged
Rural Business Investment Companies, the only funds that would be
needed would be administrative costs to administer the program and
provide technical assistance. It is Rural Development's understanding
that these funds could be raised through the fees the FCA can currently
charge regulated entities. If the FCA would become a partner of this
Program, provisions would be made to ensure that non-Farm Credit System
members would be allowed to participate in the creation and financing
of non-leveraged Rural Business Investment Companies in accordance with
the statute. This proposal is based on a comment Rural Development
received from the FCA during the interim rule commenting period for the
Rural Business Investment Program [69 FR 32200; June 8, 2004].
Requests for Comments
Rural Development is seeking help from the public regarding the
following questions related to this matter:
(1) In what ways can Rural Development leverage the Rural Business
Investment Program, a developmental venture capital program, to help
encourage an expanded use of rural equity in the development of rural
America?
(2) Does the Rural Business Investment Program provide an
appropriate basis to encourage the expanded use of rural equity in
rural development? If not, are there changes in the regulation that
could be made to make the Program more effective?
(3) If USDA chooses to use one or more partners in order to provide
for the licensing of non-leveraged Rural Business Investment Companies,
what type of considerations should be made? How could such a
partnership, between USDA and FCA, be made most effective for USDA,
FCA, and the rural business community? If other Federal agencies in
addition to FCA wish to become a partner, how should this be addressed
within the regulation?
Dated: March 21, 2007.
Thomas C. Dorr,
Under Secretary, Rural Development.
[FR Doc. 07-1530 Filed 3-28-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-XY-P
