Notice of Request for Extension and Revision of a Currently Approved Information Collection, 16326-16327 [E7-6248]
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16326
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 64 / Wednesday, April 4, 2007 / Notices
Dated: March 29, 2007.
Lloyd C. Day,
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing
Service.
[FR Doc. E7–6246 Filed 4–3–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–02–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
[Docket No. DA–07–04]
Notice of Request for Extension and
Revision of a Currently Approved
Information Collection
Agricultural Marketing Service,
USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice
announces the Agricultural Marketing
Service’s (AMS) intention to request an
extension for and revision to a currently
approved information collection for
report forms under the Federal milk
marketing order program.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be
received by June 4, 2007 to be assured
of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit written comments on
the Internet at https://
www.regulations.gov or to the Office of
the Deputy Administrator, Dairy
Programs, AMS, USDA, 1400
Independence Avenue, SW., Room 2968
South, Stop 0225, Washington, DC
20250–0225. Comments should make
reference to the date and page number
of this issue of the Federal Register. All
comments will be made available for
public inspection in the above office
during regular business hours.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Contact William F. Newell, Chief, Order
Operations Branch, Dairy Programs,
(202) 690–2375, FAX: (202) 720–2454.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Report Forms Under Federal
Milk Orders (From Milk Handlers and
Milk Marketing Cooperatives).
OMB Number: 0581–0032.
Expiration Date of Approval:
September 30, 2007.
Type of Request: Extension and
revision of a currently approved
information collection.
Abstract: Federal milk marketing
order regulations authorized under the
Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act
of 1937, as amended (7 U.S.C. 601–674),
require milk handlers to report in detail
the receipts and utilization of milk and
VerDate Aug<31>2005
17:57 Apr 03, 2007
Jkt 211001
milk products handled at each of their
plants that are regulated by a Federal
order. The data are needed to administer
the classified pricing system and related
requirements of each Federal order.
A Federal milk marketing order
(hereinafter, Order) is a regulation
issued by the Secretary of Agriculture
that places certain requirements on the
handling of milk in the area it covers.
Each Order is established under the
authority of the Act. The Order requires
that handlers of milk for a marketing
area pay not less than certain minimum
class prices according to how the milk
is used. These prices are established
under each Order after a public hearing
at which evidence is received on the
supply and demand conditions for milk
in the market. An Order requires that
payments for milk be pooled and paid
to individual farmers or cooperative
associations of farmers on the basis of a
uniform or average price. Thus, all
eligible farmers (producers) share in the
market wide use-values of milk by
regulated handlers.
Milk Orders help ensure adequate
supplies of milk and dairy products for
consumers and adequate returns to
producers.
The Orders also provide for the public
dissemination of market statistics and
other information for the benefit of
producers, handlers, and consumers.
Formal rulemaking amendments to
the Orders must be approved in
referenda conducted by the Secretary.
During 2006, 52,725 dairy farmers
delivered over 120 billion pounds of
milk to handlers regulated under the
milk orders. This volume represents 67
percent of all milk marketed in the U.S.
and 68 percent of the milk of bottling
quality (Grade A) sold in the country.
The value of this milk delivered to
Federal milk order handlers at
minimum order blend prices was nearly
$16.0 billion. Producer deliveries of
milk used in Class I products (mainly
fluid milk products) totaled 45 billion
pounds—38 percent of total producer
deliveries. More than 239 million
Americans reside in Federal milk order
marketing areas—80 percent of the total
U.S. population.
Each Order is administered by a
market administrator who is an agent of
the Secretary of Agriculture. The market
administrator is authorized to levy
assessments on regulated handlers to
carry out the market administrator’s
duties and responsibilities under the
Orders. Additional duties of the market
administrators are to prescribe reports
required of each handler, to assure that
handlers properly account for milk and
milk products, and to assure that such
handlers pay producers and associations
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
of producers according to the provisions
of the Order. The market administrator
employs a staff that verifies handlers’
reports by examining records to
determine that the required payments
are made to producers. Most reports
required from handlers are submitted
monthly to the market administrator.
The forms used by the market
administrators are required by the
respective Orders that are authorized by
the Act. The forms are used to establish:
The quantity of milk received by
handlers, the pooling status of the
handler, the class-use of the milk used
by the handler, and the butterfat content
and amounts of other components of the
milk.
The forms covered under this
information collection require the
minimum information necessary to
effectively carry out the requirements of
the Orders, and their use is necessary to
fulfill the intent of the Act as expressed
in the Orders and in the rules and
regulations issued under the Orders.
The information collected is used
only by authorized employees of the
market administrator and authorized
representatives of the USDA, including
AMS Dairy Programs’ headquarters staff.
Estimate of Burden: Public reporting
burden for this collection of information
is estimated to average 1.07 hours per
response.
Respondents: Milk handlers and milk
marketing cooperatives.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
740.
Estimated Number of Responses:
20,565.
Estimated Number of Responses per
Respondent: 28.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 21,818 hours.
Comments are invited on: (1) Whether
the proposed collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance
of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (3)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (4) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on those who are to respond, including
the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
All responses to this notice will be
summarized and included in the request
for OMB approval. All comments will
become a matter of public record.
E:\FR\FM\04APN1.SGM
04APN1
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 64 / Wednesday, April 4, 2007 / Notices
Dated: March 29, 2007.
Lloyd C. Day,
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing
Service.
[FR Doc. E7–6248 Filed 4–3–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–02–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS–2007–0012]
Risk-Based Inspection System
Food Safety and Inspection
Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meetings on
risk-based inspection
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Food Safety and
Inspection (FSIS) will hold a series of
public meetings on specific topics
relating to risk-based inspection in
processing. The first meeting will focus
on the algorithm that the Agency
intends to use to compute risk-based
inspection levels for processing
establishments. A second meeting will
address the issue of attributing illness to
food. Production volume will be
discussed at the third meeting, and
industry data will be the focus of the
fourth meeting. The expert elicitation
process will be discussed at the fifth
meeting.
FSIS will hold the meetings on
the following dates:
Monday, April 2, 2007 from 9 a.m. to
1 p.m. The first meeting will focus on
the algorithm the Agency intends to use
to compute risk-based inspection levels
for processing establishments.
Thursday, April 5, 2007 from 8:30
a.m. to 4 p.m. This meeting will discuss
the issue of attributing illness to food.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 from 9
a.m. to 1 p.m. Production volume will
be discussed at the third meeting.
Monday, April 30, 2007 from 9 a.m.
to 1 p.m. The topic of industry data is
the focus of the fourth meeting. A
technical meeting on the expert
elicitation process is also planned as the
fifth meeting. The date of this meeting
will be announced at a later time. Any
changes in meeting dates or times will
be posted on the FSIS Web site at
https://www.fsis.usda.gov.
ADDRESSES: The meetings will be held
in Room 244 at George Mason
University, 3401 N. Fairfax Drive,
Arlington, VA 22201. Directions to the
site, the agenda, and other meeting
materials will be posted on the FSIS
Web site at https://www.fsis.usda.gov.
All meetings will be accessible
through conference call. Specific
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
DATES:
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18:47 Apr 03, 2007
Jkt 211001
information concerning connections and
the telephone number will also be
posted on the FSIS Web site. Members
of the public should pre-register for the
meetings (see Background). Online
registration information is also located
on the Web site.
FSIS welcomes comments on the
topics to be discussed at the public
meetings. An issue paper concerning the
respective topics will be posted on the
FSIS Web site, https://www.fsis.usda.gov,
a week prior to each meeting, with the
exception of the meeting on attribution.
Comments may be submitted on the
meeting topics by any of the following
methods for 30 days from the date of
completion of each public meeting:
• Electronic mail: An e-mail box has
been established specifically for
comments for RBI. Comments can be
submitted to:
riskbasedinspection@fsis.usda.gov.
• Mail, including floppy disks or CD–
ROMs: Send to: Ellyn Blumberg, USDA,
FSIS, Aerospace Building, 3rd floor,
room 405, 14th and Independence
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250.
• Hand or courier-delivered items:
Deliver to: Ellyn Blumberg at 901 D
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20024.
Have security guard call (202) 690–6520
in order to hand deliver items.
• Facsimile: Fax comments to: (202)
690–6519.
All submissions received must
include the Agency name and docket
number FSIS–2007–0012 and meeting
topic. The comments also will be posted
on the Agency’s Web site at https://
www.fsis.usda.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sally Fernandez for meeting information
at (202) 690–6524, Fax (202) 690–6519,
or e-mail sally.fernandez@fsis.usda.gov.
Keith Payne for technical information at
(202) 690–6522 or e-mail at
keith.payne@fsis.usda.gov. Persons
requiring a sign language interpreter or
other special accommodations should
notify the Agency contacts no later than
two weeks before the meeting, at the
numbers above or by e-mail.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
FSIS is the public health regulatory
agency in the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) responsible for
ensuring that the nation’s commercial
supply of meat, poultry, and egg
products is safe, wholesome, and
correctly labeled and packaged.
To better address the food safety and
public health challenges it faces, FSIS is
working to make its inspection system
more risk-based and to continue to
implement science-based policies.
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
16327
Although the Agency acknowledges that
some types of meat and poultry
products pose greater health risks than
others, and some establishments control
risks better than others, under the
current system of processing inspection,
a Consumer Safety Inspector visits every
plant at least once every shift to perform
a variety of verification procedures
scheduled by the Performance Based
Inspection System (PBIS.) PBIS
schedules inspection procedures the
same way in all processing plants,
regardless of the particular food safety
hazard associated with the products
produced or processes performed at one
plant versus another.
In July 2004, the Agency outlined the
basic features of a predictive model that
would permit FSIS to improve resource
allocation by considering the inherent
risks and risk control effectiveness of
the meat and poultry establishments
under Federal inspection. Since that
time, FSIS has continued to develop and
refine these ideas. In November 2005,
FSIS addressed the National Advisory
Committee on Meat and Poultry
Inspection (NAMCPI) on Agency
progress toward a Risk-Based Inspection
System (RBIS). In May 2006, the Agency
again addressed NAMCPI—this time on
ideas the Agency has on measuring risk
control effectiveness for RBI.
Reductions in the number of illnesses
attributed to the consumption of
adulterated meat and poultry products
can be achieved by placing greater
inspection and verification emphasis on
establishments whose processes, owing
to the nature and volume of their
production, require greater control of
the risks. FSIS believes that it can
improve public health by focusing its
efforts on processing establishments that
produce products presenting high
inherent risk and that are less effective
in controlling risks. At the same time,
FSIS can focus less on processing
establishments that produce products
that present low inherent risk and that
exercise effective risk control. In both
cases, establishments will continue to
be inspected on a per shift basis,
although the intensity of inspection will
vary, depending on risk factors.
In October 2006, FSIS held a public
meeting to present ideas about how the
Agency can develop these measures for
federally-inspected meat and poultry
processing establishments and to accept
stakeholder input.
This series of technical meetings that
the Agency is announcing will address
various dimensions of RBI and
protecting public health, and FSIS is
seeking input from all stakeholders on
these matters. Prior to each meeting,
FSIS will post on its Web site an issue
E:\FR\FM\04APN1.SGM
04APN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 4, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16326-16327]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-6248]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
[Docket No. DA-07-04]
Notice of Request for Extension and Revision of a Currently
Approved Information Collection
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice announces the Agricultural Marketing
Service's (AMS) intention to request an extension for and revision to a
currently approved information collection for report forms under the
Federal milk marketing order program.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by June 4, 2007 to be
assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments on
the Internet at https://www.regulations.gov or to the Office of the
Deputy Administrator, Dairy Programs, AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence
Avenue, SW., Room 2968 South, Stop 0225, Washington, DC 20250-0225.
Comments should make reference to the date and page number of this
issue of the Federal Register. All comments will be made available for
public inspection in the above office during regular business hours.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact William F. Newell, Chief,
Order Operations Branch, Dairy Programs, (202) 690-2375, FAX: (202)
720-2454.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Report Forms Under Federal Milk Orders (From Milk Handlers
and Milk Marketing Cooperatives).
OMB Number: 0581-0032.
Expiration Date of Approval: September 30, 2007.
Type of Request: Extension and revision of a currently approved
information collection.
Abstract: Federal milk marketing order regulations authorized under
the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7 U.S.C.
601-674), require milk handlers to report in detail the receipts and
utilization of milk and milk products handled at each of their plants
that are regulated by a Federal order. The data are needed to
administer the classified pricing system and related requirements of
each Federal order.
A Federal milk marketing order (hereinafter, Order) is a regulation
issued by the Secretary of Agriculture that places certain requirements
on the handling of milk in the area it covers. Each Order is
established under the authority of the Act. The Order requires that
handlers of milk for a marketing area pay not less than certain minimum
class prices according to how the milk is used. These prices are
established under each Order after a public hearing at which evidence
is received on the supply and demand conditions for milk in the market.
An Order requires that payments for milk be pooled and paid to
individual farmers or cooperative associations of farmers on the basis
of a uniform or average price. Thus, all eligible farmers (producers)
share in the market wide use-values of milk by regulated handlers.
Milk Orders help ensure adequate supplies of milk and dairy
products for consumers and adequate returns to producers.
The Orders also provide for the public dissemination of market
statistics and other information for the benefit of producers,
handlers, and consumers.
Formal rulemaking amendments to the Orders must be approved in
referenda conducted by the Secretary.
During 2006, 52,725 dairy farmers delivered over 120 billion pounds
of milk to handlers regulated under the milk orders. This volume
represents 67 percent of all milk marketed in the U.S. and 68 percent
of the milk of bottling quality (Grade A) sold in the country. The
value of this milk delivered to Federal milk order handlers at minimum
order blend prices was nearly $16.0 billion. Producer deliveries of
milk used in Class I products (mainly fluid milk products) totaled 45
billion pounds--38 percent of total producer deliveries. More than 239
million Americans reside in Federal milk order marketing areas--80
percent of the total U.S. population.
Each Order is administered by a market administrator who is an
agent of the Secretary of Agriculture. The market administrator is
authorized to levy assessments on regulated handlers to carry out the
market administrator's duties and responsibilities under the Orders.
Additional duties of the market administrators are to prescribe reports
required of each handler, to assure that handlers properly account for
milk and milk products, and to assure that such handlers pay producers
and associations of producers according to the provisions of the Order.
The market administrator employs a staff that verifies handlers'
reports by examining records to determine that the required payments
are made to producers. Most reports required from handlers are
submitted monthly to the market administrator.
The forms used by the market administrators are required by the
respective Orders that are authorized by the Act. The forms are used to
establish: The quantity of milk received by handlers, the pooling
status of the handler, the class-use of the milk used by the handler,
and the butterfat content and amounts of other components of the milk.
The forms covered under this information collection require the
minimum information necessary to effectively carry out the requirements
of the Orders, and their use is necessary to fulfill the intent of the
Act as expressed in the Orders and in the rules and regulations issued
under the Orders.
The information collected is used only by authorized employees of
the market administrator and authorized representatives of the USDA,
including AMS Dairy Programs' headquarters staff.
Estimate of Burden: Public reporting burden for this collection of
information is estimated to average 1.07 hours per response.
Respondents: Milk handlers and milk marketing cooperatives.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 740.
Estimated Number of Responses: 20,565.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 28.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 21,818 hours.
Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information will have practical
utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who
are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms
of information technology.
All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the
request for OMB approval. All comments will become a matter of public
record.
[[Page 16327]]
Dated: March 29, 2007.
Lloyd C. Day,
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. E7-6248 Filed 4-3-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P