Soybean Promotion and Research: Amend the Order To Adjust Representation on the United Soybean Board, 63909-63910 [2015-26952]
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 204 / Thursday, October 22, 2015 / Rules and Regulations
63909
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Agriculture programs:
P1 ..................................
Food and food resources (civilian) .................................
USDA, Department of Homeland Security, Federal
Emergency Management Agency
USDA
P2 ..................................
P3 ..................................
P4 ..................................
Agriculture and food critical infrastructure protection
and restoration.
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USDA
1 Department of Defense includes: The Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Military Departments, the Joint Staff, the Combatant Commands, the Defense Agencies, the Defense Field Activities, all other organizational entities in the Department of Defense, and for purpose of this
part, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as Associated Agencies.
Val Dolcini,
Administrator, Farm Service Agency.
by Executive Order 12866 for this
action.
[FR Doc. 2015–26766 Filed 10–21–15; 8:45 am]
Executive Order 12988
This final rule was reviewed under
Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice
Reform. It is not intended to have a
retroactive effect. This action would not
preempt any State or local laws,
regulations, or policies unless they
present an irreconcilable conflict with
this rule.
The Act provides that administrative
proceedings must be exhausted before
parties may file suit in court. Under
section 1971 of the Act, a person subject
to the Order may file a petition with the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
stating that the Order, any provision of
the Order, or any obligation imposed in
connection with the Order, is not in
accordance with the law and request a
modification of the Order or an
exemption from the Order. The
petitioner is afforded the opportunity
for a hearing on the petition. After a
hearing, USDA would rule on the
petition. The Act provides that district
courts of the United States in any
district in which such person is an
inhabitant, or has their principal place
of business, has jurisdiction to review
USDA’s ruling on the petition, if a
complaint for this purpose is filed
within 20 days after the date of the entry
of the ruling.
BILLING CODE 3410–05–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 1220
[Doc. No. AMS–LPS–15–0016]
Soybean Promotion and Research:
Amend the Order To Adjust
Representation on the United Soybean
Board
Agricultural Marketing Service,
USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
This final rule adjusts the
number of members on the United
Soybean Board (Board) to reflect
changes in production levels that have
occurred since the Board was last
reapportioned in 2012. As required by
the Soybean Promotion, Research, and
Consumer Information Act (Act),
membership on the Board is reviewed
every 3 years and adjustments are made
accordingly. This change will result in
an increase in Board membership for
three States, resulting in an increase in
the total number of Board members from
70 to 73. These changes will be reflected
in the Soybean Promotion and Research
Order (Order) and will be effective for
the 2016 appointment process.
DATES: Effective Date: October 23, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
James Brow; Research and Promotion
Division, Livestock, Poultry, and Seed
Program, Agricultural Marketing Service
(AMS), USDA, Room 2096–S, STOP
0249, 1400 Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20250–0249, telephone
202–720–0633, fax 202–720–1125, or
email: James.Brow@ams.usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with RULES
SUMMARY:
Executive Order 12866
The Office of Management and Budget
has waived the review process required
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:45 Oct 21, 2015
Jkt 238001
Regulatory Flexibility Act
AMS has determined that this rule
will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small
entities, as defined by the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601–
612), because it only adjusts
representation on the Board to reflect
changes in production levels that have
occurred since the Board was last
reapportioned in 2012. 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. As
such, these changes will not impose a
significant impact on persons subject to
the program.
PO 00000
Frm 00021
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
There are an estimated 569,998
soybean producers and an estimated
10,000 first purchasers who collect the
assessment, most of whom would be
considered 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.
Paperwork Reduction Act
In accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35), the reporting and
recordkeeping requirements included in
7 CFR part 1220 were previously
approved by OMB and were assigned
control number 0581–0093.
Background and Proposed Changes
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 percent of the net
market price of soybeans sold by
producers. Pursuant to the Act, an Order
was made effective July 9, 1991. The
Order established an initial Board with
60 members. For purposes of
establishing the Board, the United States
was divided into 31 States and
geographical units. Representation on
the Board from each unit was
determined by the level of production in
each unit. The initial Board was
appointed on July 11, 1991. The Board
is comprised of soybean producers.
Section 1220.201(c) of the Order
provides that at the end of each 3-year
period, the Board shall review soybean
production levels in the geographic
units throughout the United States. The
Board may recommend to the Secretary
of Agriculture (Secretary) modification
in the levels of production necessary for
Board membership for each unit.
Section 1220.201(d) of the Order
provides that at the end of each 3-year
E:\FR\FM\22OCR1.SGM
22OCR1
63910
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 204 / Thursday, October 22, 2015 / Rules and Regulations
period, the Secretary must review the
volume of production of each unit and
adjust the boundaries of any unit and
the number of Board members from
each such unit as necessary to conform
with the criteria set forth in
§ 1220.201(e): (1) To the extent
practicable, States with annual average
soybean production of less than
3,000,000 bushels shall be grouped into
geographically contiguous units, each of
which has a combined production level
equal to or greater than 3,000,000
bushels, and each such group shall be
entitled to at least one member on the
Board; (2) units with at least 3,000,000
bushels, but fewer than 15,000,000
bushels shall be entitled to one board
member; (3) units with 15,000,000
bushels or more but fewer than
70,000,000 bushels shall be entitled to
two Board members; (4) units with
70,000,000 bushels or more but fewer
than 200,000,000 bushels shall be
entitled to three Board members; and (5)
units with 200,000,000 bushels or more
shall be entitled to four Board members.
The Board was last reapportioned in
2012. The total Board membership
increased from 69 to 70 members, with
Mississippi gaining one additional
member. The final rule was published
in the Federal Register (74 FR 27467) on
January 2, 2013. This change was
effective with the 2013 appointments.
Currently, the Board has 70 members
representing 31 geographical units. This
membership is based on average
production levels for the years 2007–
2011 (excluding crops in years that
production was the highest and
production was the lowest) as reported
by USDA’s National Agricultural
Statistics Service (NASS).
This final rule increases total
membership on the Board from 70 to 73.
Production data for the years 2010–2014
(excluding the crops in years in which
production was the highest and in
which production was the lowest) was
gathered from NASS. This change will
not affect the number of geographical
units. The NASS information combines
the production from the Western and
Eastern Regions into one production
data without distinguishing between the
two regions. The NASS data does not
support a change in membership for
either region. As such, this final rule
will leave the membership of both
regions unchanged with one member
each.
This final rule adjusts representation
on the Board as follows:
Current
representation
State
Missouri ............................................................................................................................................................
New Jersey ......................................................................................................................................................
Wisconsin .........................................................................................................................................................
Board adjustments will become
effective with the 2016 appointment
process.
■
A proposed rule was published in the
Federal Register (80 FR 34325) on June
16, 2015, with a 60-day comment
period. USDA received no comments.
During the drafting of this final rule,
AMS found a typographical error in the
table titled ‘‘§ 1220.201 Membership of
board’’ as presented in the proposed
rule. The table showed the State of
Georgia with two representatives on the
Board. Based on production, Georgia is
currently entitled to one member. As a
result, AMS has corrected the table in
this final rule to reflect Georgia with one
member rather than two. This correction
does not impact the makeup of the
Board or this reapportionment.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1220
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with RULES
3
0
2
PART 1220—SOYBEAN PROMOTION,
RESEARCH, AND CONSUMER
INFORMATION
Comments
Administrative practice and
procedure, Advertising, Agricultural
research, Marketing agreements,
Soybeans and soybean products,
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
For the reasons set forth in the
preamble, Title 7, part 1220 is amended
as follows:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:39 Oct 21, 2015
Jkt 238001
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 6301–6311 and 7
U.S.C. 7401.
2. In § 1220.201, the table
immediately following paragraph (a) is
revised to read as follows:
■
Membership of Board.
*
*
*
*
*
Number
of
members
Unit
Illinois ............................................
Iowa ..............................................
Minnesota .....................................
Indiana ..........................................
Nebraska ......................................
Ohio ..............................................
Missouri ........................................
Arkansas .......................................
South Dakota ................................
Kansas ..........................................
Michigan .......................................
North Dakota ................................
Mississippi ....................................
Wisconsin .....................................
Louisiana ......................................
Tennessee ....................................
North Carolina ..............................
Kentucky .......................................
Pennsylvania ................................
Virginia ..........................................
Maryland .......................................
Georgia .........................................
PO 00000
Frm 00022
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 9990
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
4
1
3
Number
of
members
Unit
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR
part 1220 continues to read as follows:
§ 1220.201
New
representation
South Carolina ..............................
Alabama ........................................
Delaware .......................................
Texas ............................................
Oklahoma .....................................
New York ......................................
New Jersey ...................................
Eastern Region (Massachusetts,
Connecticut, Florida, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire,
Maine, West Virginia, District of
Columbia, and Puerto Rico .......
Western Region (Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico,
Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, California, Hawaii, and Alaska) .......
*
*
*
*
*
Dated: October 19, 2015
Rex A. Barnes,
Associate Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2015–26952 Filed 10–21–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–02–P
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22OCR1
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1
1
1
1
1
1
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 204 (Thursday, October 22, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 63909-63910]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-26952]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 1220
[Doc. No. AMS-LPS-15-0016]
Soybean Promotion and Research: Amend the Order To Adjust
Representation on the United Soybean Board
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This final rule adjusts the number of members on the United
Soybean Board (Board) to reflect changes in production levels that have
occurred since the Board was last reapportioned in 2012. As required by
the Soybean Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act (Act),
membership on the Board is reviewed every 3 years and adjustments are
made accordingly. This change will result in an increase in Board
membership for three States, resulting in an increase in the total
number of Board members from 70 to 73. These changes will be reflected
in the Soybean Promotion and Research Order (Order) and will be
effective for the 2016 appointment process.
DATES: Effective Date: October 23, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Brow; Research and Promotion
Division, Livestock, Poultry, and Seed Program, Agricultural Marketing
Service (AMS), USDA, Room 2096-S, STOP 0249, 1400 Independence Avenue
SW., Washington, DC 20250-0249, telephone 202-720-0633, fax 202-720-
1125, or email: James.Brow@ams.usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Executive Order 12866
The Office of Management and Budget has waived the review process
required by Executive Order 12866 for this action.
Executive Order 12988
This final rule was reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil
Justice Reform. It is not intended to have a retroactive effect. This
action would not preempt any State or local laws, regulations, or
policies unless they present an irreconcilable conflict with this rule.
The Act provides that administrative proceedings must be exhausted
before parties may file suit in court. Under section 1971 of the Act, a
person subject to the Order may file a petition with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) stating that the Order, any provision
of the Order, or any obligation imposed in connection with the Order,
is not in accordance with the law and request a modification of the
Order or an exemption from the Order. The petitioner is afforded the
opportunity for a hearing on the petition. After a hearing, USDA would
rule on the petition. The Act provides that district courts of the
United States in any district in which such person is an inhabitant, or
has their principal place of business, has jurisdiction to review
USDA's ruling on the petition, if a complaint for this purpose is filed
within 20 days after the date of the entry of the ruling.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
AMS has determined that this rule will not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, as defined
by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601-612), because it
only adjusts representation on the Board to reflect changes in
production levels that have occurred since the Board was last
reapportioned in 2012. 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. As such,
these changes will not impose a significant impact on persons subject
to the program.
There are an estimated 569,998 soybean producers and an estimated
10,000 first purchasers who collect the assessment, most of whom would
be considered 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.
Paperwork Reduction Act
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35), the reporting and recordkeeping requirements included in 7
CFR part 1220 were previously approved by OMB and were assigned control
number 0581-0093.
Background and Proposed Changes
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 percent of
the net market price of soybeans sold by producers. Pursuant to the
Act, an Order was made effective July 9, 1991. The Order established an
initial Board with 60 members. For purposes of establishing the Board,
the United States was divided into 31 States and geographical units.
Representation on the Board from each unit was determined by the level
of production in each unit. The initial Board was appointed on July 11,
1991. The Board is comprised of soybean producers.
Section 1220.201(c) of the Order provides that at the end of each
3-year period, the Board shall review soybean production levels in the
geographic units throughout the United States. The Board may recommend
to the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) modification in the levels
of production necessary for Board membership for each unit.
Section 1220.201(d) of the Order provides that at the end of each
3-year
[[Page 63910]]
period, the Secretary must review the volume of production of each unit
and adjust the boundaries of any unit and the number of Board members
from each such unit as necessary to conform with the criteria set forth
in Sec. 1220.201(e): (1) To the extent practicable, States with annual
average soybean production of less than 3,000,000 bushels shall be
grouped into geographically contiguous units, each of which has a
combined production level equal to or greater than 3,000,000 bushels,
and each such group shall be entitled to at least one member on the
Board; (2) units with at least 3,000,000 bushels, but fewer than
15,000,000 bushels shall be entitled to one board member; (3) units
with 15,000,000 bushels or more but fewer than 70,000,000 bushels shall
be entitled to two Board members; (4) units with 70,000,000 bushels or
more but fewer than 200,000,000 bushels shall be entitled to three
Board members; and (5) units with 200,000,000 bushels or more shall be
entitled to four Board members.
The Board was last reapportioned in 2012. The total Board
membership increased from 69 to 70 members, with Mississippi gaining
one additional member. The final rule was published in the Federal
Register (74 FR 27467) on January 2, 2013. This change was effective
with the 2013 appointments.
Currently, the Board has 70 members representing 31 geographical
units. This membership is based on average production levels for the
years 2007-2011 (excluding crops in years that production was the
highest and production was the lowest) as reported by USDA's National
Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
This final rule increases total membership on the Board from 70 to
73. Production data for the years 2010-2014 (excluding the crops in
years in which production was the highest and in which production was
the lowest) was gathered from NASS. This change will not affect the
number of geographical units. The NASS information combines the
production from the Western and Eastern Regions into one production
data without distinguishing between the two regions. The NASS data does
not support a change in membership for either region. As such, this
final rule will leave the membership of both regions unchanged with one
member each.
This final rule adjusts representation on the Board as follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current New
State representation representation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Missouri............................ 3 4
New Jersey.......................... 0 1
Wisconsin........................... 2 3
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Board adjustments will become effective with the 2016 appointment
process.
Comments
A proposed rule was published in the Federal Register (80 FR 34325)
on June 16, 2015, with a 60-day comment period. USDA received no
comments.
During the drafting of this final rule, AMS found a typographical
error in the table titled ``Sec. 1220.201 Membership of board'' as
presented in the proposed rule. The table showed the State of Georgia
with two representatives on the Board. Based on production, Georgia is
currently entitled to one member. As a result, AMS has corrected the
table in this final rule to reflect Georgia with one member rather than
two. This correction does not impact the makeup of the Board or this
reapportionment.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1220
Administrative practice and procedure, Advertising, Agricultural
research, Marketing agreements, Soybeans and soybean products,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, Title 7, part 1220 is
amended as follows:
PART 1220--SOYBEAN PROMOTION, RESEARCH, AND CONSUMER INFORMATION
0
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 1220 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 6301-6311 and 7 U.S.C. 7401.
0
2. In Sec. 1220.201, the table immediately following paragraph (a) is
revised to read as follows:
Sec. 1220.201 Membership of Board.
* * * * *
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of
Unit members
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Illinois..................................................... 4
Iowa......................................................... 4
Minnesota.................................................... 4
Indiana...................................................... 4
Nebraska..................................................... 4
Ohio......................................................... 4
Missouri..................................................... 4
Arkansas..................................................... 3
South Dakota................................................. 3
Kansas....................................................... 3
Michigan..................................................... 3
North Dakota................................................. 3
Mississippi.................................................. 3
Wisconsin.................................................... 3
Louisiana.................................................... 2
Tennessee.................................................... 2
North Carolina............................................... 2
Kentucky..................................................... 2
Pennsylvania................................................. 2
Virginia..................................................... 2
Maryland..................................................... 2
Georgia...................................................... 1
South Carolina............................................... 1
Alabama...................................................... 1
Delaware..................................................... 1
Texas........................................................ 1
Oklahoma..................................................... 1
New York..................................................... 1
New Jersey................................................... 1
Eastern Region (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Florida, Rhode 1
Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, West Virginia,
District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.......................
Western Region (Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, 1
Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Nevada,
California, Hawaii, and Alaska).............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * *
Dated: October 19, 2015
Rex A. Barnes,
Associate Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2015-26952 Filed 10-21-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
