Request for Information and Stakeholder Listening Sessions on Prevented Planting, 33081-33084 [2023-10926]
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 23, 2023 / Notices
The number of responses decreased by
17,956 while the number of burden
hours decreased by 18,603 in the
information collection request. Those
decreases were due to the Executive
Order 14058 requiring FSA to simplify
the direct loan application process. As
such, forms FSA–2001, FSA–2002,
FSA–2003, FSA–2004, FSA–2005, FSA–
2006, FSA–2037, FSA–2038, FSA–2302,
and FSA–2330 have been consolidated
in a single form for the purposes of
direct loan making and that
consolidation is reflected in this
collection. Forms FSA–2037 and FSA–
2038 are covered by OMB Control
Number 0560–0238. The revised FSA–
2001 is used for direct loan making to
replace the use of the listed forms; other
FLP uses, for example loan servicing
may still use the original forms in some
cases. The consolidating of 10 forms
illustrates the reduction in those
responses and burden hours affected by
the streamlining.
For the following estimated total
annual burden on respondents, the
formula used to calculate the total
burden hours is the estimated average
time per response multiplied by the
estimated total annual responses.
Estimated Respondent Burden: Public
reporting burden for this collection of
information is estimated to average
1.00204 hours per response.
Type of Respondents: Individuals or
households, businesses or other for
profit and farms.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
64,802.
Estimated Number of Responses per
Respondent: 2.259.
Estimated Total Annual Number of
Responses: 146,434.
Estimated Average Time per
Response: 1.0204 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 149,426 hours.
FSA is requesting comments on all
aspects of this information collection to
help us to:
(1) Evaluate whether the collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of FSA,
including whether the information will
have practical utility;
(2) Evaluate the accuracy of FSA’s
estimate of burden including the
validity of the methodology and
assumptions used;
(3) Enhance the quality, utility and
clarity of the information to be
collected;
(4) Minimize the burden of the
collection of information on those who
are to respond, including using
appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological
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collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
All comments received in response to
this notice, including names and
addresses when provided, will be a
matter of public record. Comments will
be summarized and included in the
submission for Office of Management
and Budget approval.
USDA Non-Discrimination Policy
In accordance with Federal civil
rights law and USDA civil rights
regulations and policies, USDA, its
Agencies, offices, and employees, and
institutions participating in or
administering USDA programs are
prohibited from discriminating based on
race, color, national origin, religion, sex,
gender identity (including gender
expression), sexual orientation,
disability, age, marital status, family or
parental status, income derived from a
public assistance program, political
beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior
civil rights activity, in any program or
activity conducted or funded by USDA
(not all bases apply to all programs).
Remedies and complaint filing
deadlines vary by program or incident.
Individuals who require alternative
means of communication for program
information (for example, braille, large
print, audiotape, American Sign
Language, etc.) should contact the
responsible Agency or USDA TARGET
Center at (202) 720–2600 (voice and text
telephone (TTY) or dial 711 for
Telecommunications Relay Service
(both voice and text telephone users can
initiate this call from any telephone).
Additionally, program information may
be made available in languages other
than English.
To file a program discrimination
complaint, complete the USDA Program
Discrimination Complaint Form, AD–
3027, found online at https://
www.usda.gov/oascr/how-to-file-aprogram-discrimination-complaint and
at any USDA office or write a letter
addressed to USDA and provide in the
letter all the information requested in
the form. To request a copy of the
complaint form, call (866) 632–9992.
Submit your completed form or letter to
USDA by mail to: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Washington,
DC 20250–9410 or email: OAC@
usda.gov.
USDA is an equal opportunity
provider, employer, and lender.
Zach Ducheneaux,
Administrator, Farm Service Agency.
[FR Doc. 2023–10910 Filed 5–22–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–E2–P
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33081
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Federal Crop Insurance Corporation
Risk Management Agency
[Docket ID FCIC–23–0001]
Request for Information and
Stakeholder Listening Sessions on
Prevented Planting
Federal Crop Insurance
Corporation and Risk Management
Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA).
ACTION: Notice of request for
information.
AGENCY:
The Federal Crop Insurance
Corporation (FCIC) is hosting listening
sessions and requesting public input
about the prevented planting provisions
of the Common Crop Insurance Policy
(CCIP), Basic Provisions. Prevented
planting is a feature of many crop
insurance plans that provides a payment
to cover certain pre-plant costs for a
crop that was prevented from being
planted due to an insurable cause of
loss. FCIC is interested in public input
on the following: additional prevented
planting coverage based on harvest
prices in situations when harvest prices
are higher than established prices
initially set by FCIC prior to planting;
the requirement that acreage must have
been planted to a crop, insured, and
harvested, in at least 1 of the 4 most
recent crop years; additional levels of
prevented planting coverage; prevented
planting coverage on contracted crops;
and other general prevented planting
questions. We invite stakeholders to
respond to this request for information
or to participate in the listening
session(s). All listening sessions will be
posted publicly and open to the public
for registration.
DATES: Comments: We will consider
comments that we receive by September
1, 2023.
ADDRESSES:
Listening sessions: To attend any of
the listening sessions, go to
www.rma.usda.gov for dates, times, and
locations. No RSVP or reservation is
required.
Comments: We invite you to send
comments in response to this notice. In
addition, if you plan to provide oral
comments at a listening session, please
see the information in the Listening
Sessions section below. Send your
comments through the method below:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID FCIC–23–0001. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 23, 2023 / Notices
Prevented Planting Coverage Based on
Harvest Prices for Revenue Protection
Insurance
Under the revenue protection plan of
insurance, yield losses are compensated
using the harvest-time price if it is
higher than the price FCIC projected
prior to planting. This compensates
producers for the replacement value of
lost bushels. This type of coverage was
intended to help producers mitigate the
risk of having to buy out of delivery
contracts they are unable to fulfill due
to production losses. Currently, the
prevented planting calculation for
revenue protection is based on the
projected price and does not increase
with the harvest price.
Revenue protection is the most
popular insurance coverage in the crop
insurance program. Under revenue
protection, producers may elect a
harvest price exclusion option which
removes the protection against loss of
revenue due to harvest price increase.
Over 99 percent of revenue protection
policies maintain harvest price
coverage.
Following the volume of prevented
planting payments for 2019 and 2020, a
consistent suggestion emerged to allow
prevented planting payments to increase
with the harvest price, as is currently
done for lost production. Allowing the
harvest price for prevented planting
payments would not impact most years
as there needs to be both an increase in
the harvest price and a prevented
planting claim. Historical data suggests
the additional coverage would increase
prevented planting payments by
approximately 6 percent on average for
those policies with harvest price
revenue coverage. Consequently, there
would need to be a corresponding
increase in premium for these policies.
The following are questions for input
regarding prevented planting coverage
based on the harvest price:
1. Should prevented planting
payments be based on the harvest price
or the price used to establish the
insurance guarantee (projected price)?
2. What specific advantages or
disadvantages do you see for allowing
prevented planting coverage to be based
on the harvest price?
3. When a producer is prevented from
planting, what additional loss does a
producer suffer when the harvest price
increases and what should be
considered to estimate the value of the
loss?
4. Do you have any concerns about
allowing prevented planting coverage to
be based on the harvest price?
Revenue protection is a plan of
insurance that provides protection
against loss of revenue due to a
production loss, price decline or
increase, or a combination of both.
Prevented Planting ‘‘1 in 4’’
Requirement
Beginning with the 2021 crop year,
FCIC revised the prevented planting
provisions to implement the ‘‘1 in 4’’
All comments will be posted without
change and will be publicly available on
www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Francie Tolle; telephone (816) 926–
7829; or email francie.tolle@usda.gov.
Persons with disabilities who require
alternative means for communication
should contact the USDA Target Center
at (202) 720–2600 (voice).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
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FCIC serves America’s agricultural
producers through effective, marketbased risk management tools to
strengthen the economic stability of
agricultural producers and rural
communities. FCIC is committed to
increasing the availability and
effectiveness of Federal crop insurance
as a risk management tool. The Risk
Management Agency (RMA) administers
the FCIC regulations. The Approved
Insurance Providers (AIP) sell and
service Federal crop insurance policies
in every state through a public-private
partnership. FCIC reinsures the AIPs
who share the risk associated with
losses due to natural causes. FCIC’s
vision is to secure the future of
agriculture by providing world class risk
management tools to rural America.
Prevented planting coverage pays
when a producer is unable to plant an
insured crop due to an insured cause of
loss. The payment is intended to assist
in covering the normal costs associated
with preparing the land up to the point
of the seed going in the ground (preplant costs). These pre-plant costs can
include seed, purchase of machinery,
land rent, fertilizer, actions taken to
ready the field, pesticide, labor, and
repairs. Coverage is calculated as a
percent of the producer’s insurance
guarantee (for example, 60 percent for
soybeans).
FCIC is hosting listening sessions to
provide an opportunity for stakeholders
and interested members of the public to
share input about ways to improve
prevented planting coverage for
producers while maintaining program
integrity. FCIC is interested in all
general prevented planting comments
but requests public input from
stakeholders on the following specific
topics:
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requirement nationwide. The ‘‘1 in 4’’
requirement states that acreage must
have been planted to a crop, insured,
and harvested (or if not harvested,
adjusted for claim purposes due to an
insurable cause of loss) in at least 1 out
of the previous 4 crop years. This was
meant to reduce prevented planting
payments on land that is not generally
available to plant, thus lowering
insurance costs for all producers. Prior
to the 2021 crop year, the ‘‘1 in 4’’
requirement was only applicable to the
Prairie Pothole National Priority Area
and required that the acreage must be
physically available for planting.
In late 2022, FCIC announced the ‘‘1
in 4’’ requirement would be removed
from western states that have
experienced significant ongoing drought
in recent years. The purpose of
removing the requirement in these states
was to give FCIC more time to better
understand the unique needs of western
producers and to also ensure all parties
can provide input on the change.
The following are questions regarding
the prevented planting ‘‘1 in 4’’
requirement:
1. Since the nationwide
implementation of the ‘‘1 in 4’’
requirement, what situations have
created challenges due to this
requirement for producers that have
been prevented from planting?
2. Do you have recommendations that
would make the requirement more
flexible for producers while protecting
the integrity of the Federal Crop
Insurance Program?
3. Are there specific situations that
should exempt land from the ‘‘1 in 4’’
requirement and why?
4. Should the requirement be removed
from specific areas and why?
5. A portion of the ‘‘1 in 4’’
requirement allows crops that have been
adjusted for claims purposes due to an
insured cause of loss to be considered
harvested. However, this allowance
excludes claims adjusted due to the
following causes of loss: flood, excess
moisture, and drought. Should the
requirement exclude specific causes of
loss adjusted for claims purposes and
why?
6. Are you aware of additional
program integrity measures or
safeguards that should be considered
beyond what is in place today?
7. Do you believe there should be a
limit on the number of consecutive
years that a producer is eligible to
receive a prevented planting payment
on the same acreage? If so, what do you
believe the limit should be?
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 23, 2023 / Notices
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Prevented Planting 10 Percent
Additional Coverage
Insureds with additional coverage, a
coverage level greater than catastrophic
risk protection, may elect an additional
level of prevented planting coverage,
commonly referred to as buy-up
coverage, on or before the sales closing
date. The additional coverage level
allows producers to better tailor their
coverage to match their actual prevented
planting costs. The additional level of
prevented planting coverage also
requires the producer pay additional
premium. Prior to the 2018 crop year,
two additional prevented planting
coverage levels were available, 5 percent
(+5) and 10 percent (+10). FCIC
removed the +10 additional coverage
option beginning in the 2018 crop year.
Removing the +10 additional coverage
option maintained the balance between
providing coverage to producers and the
cost to taxpayers. While FCIC has
removed the +10 additional coverage
option, the +5 additional coverage
option is still available.
RMA is considering reinstating the
+10 additional coverage option. The
following are questions regarding the
+10 additional coverage option:
1. What specific advantages or
disadvantages do you see regarding
reinstating the +10 additional coverage
option?
2. If you believe reinstating the +10
additional coverage option will provide
needed protection for producers, why is
it needed in addition to the current +5
additional coverage option?
3. Do you have any concerns about
reinstating the +10 additional coverage
option?
Prevented Planting Coverage on
Contracted Crops
For several crops, crop types, or
specific practices grown under a
contract with a processor, a contract
price option allows a producer to use
their contract price to determine the
insurance guarantee. For example, the
Contract Price Addendum allows
organic certified and transitional
producers of many crops to use the
price contained in their organic contract
for insurance. Currently, when the
contract price option is elected, the
prevented planting coverage is based on
the contract price. However, it has been
suggested that prevented planting costs
may be the same regardless of whether
the producer had a contract. FCIC is
requesting input on whether the
prevented planting guarantee should
use the RMA established price (price
election or projected price), regardless
of if the contract price option has been
elected.
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The price election is the amount
contained in the actuarial documents
that is the value per pound, bushel, ton,
carton, or other applicable unit of
measure for the purposes of determining
premium and indemnity under the
policy. The projected price is the price
for each crop determined in accordance
with the 1 Commodity Exchange Price
Provisions. The applicable projected
price is used for each crop for which
revenue protection is available,
regardless of whether you elect to obtain
revenue protection or yield protection
for the crop.
The following are questions regarding
prevented planting coverage on
contracted crops that can elect the
contract price option:
1. Are pre-planting costs higher for
contracted crops? If so, explain.
2. Should prevented planting
payments be based on the contract price
or RMA’s established price (price
election or projected price)? Please
explain why.
3. If a contract price is used for
prevented planting guarantee purposes,
should there be any limitations as to
when the contract is secured,
specifically when a cause of loss is
present that may prevent planting?
Other General Prevented Planting
Questions
1. Do you believe all producers will
support paying higher premiums to
cover the costs of expanded prevented
planting benefits?
2. Are pre-planting costs the same for
all causes of loss? For example: Does a
multi-year drought leading to failure of
irrigation supply have the same preplanting costs as unexpected flooding
prior to planting?
Listening Sessions
FCIC will host listening sessions for
public input to examine the current
policy and explore policy improvements
regarding prevented planting coverage.
The listening sessions will provide an
opportunity for stakeholders and
interested members of the public to
share their thoughts about ways to
improve prevented planting coverage for
producers while maintaining program
1 The Commodity Exchange Price Provisions
(CEPP) are used in conjunction with either the
Common Crop Insurance Policy Basic Provisions or
the Area Risk Protection Insurance Basic
Provisions, along with Crop Provisions for the
following crops: barley, canola/rapeseed, corn,
cotton, grain sorghum, rice, soybeans, sunflowers,
and wheat. The CEPP specifies how and when the
projected and harvest price components will be
determined. Updated CEPP documents are on the
RMA website at www.rma.usda.gov/Policy-andProcedure/Insurance-Plans/Commodity-ExchangePrice-Provisions-CEPP.
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33083
integrity. Each listening session will
begin with brief opening remarks from
USDA officials. All stakeholders and
interested members of the public are
welcome to provide oral and written
comments; however, based on the
listening session time or topic area
constraints, FCIC may not be able to
allocate time for all attendees to provide
oral comments during the listening
sessions. In your comments, provide
your input about the prevented planting
coverage, changes, and anything else
that may be helpful for FCIC to be aware
of or consider. We welcome public
input that we can factor into decisions
that need to be made to implement any
changes to prevented planting coverage.
We request that speakers planning to
provide oral comments also provide a
written copy of their comments at the
listening session. All written comments
received at the listening sessions will be
posted without change and will be
publicly available on
www.regulations.gov.
Instructions for Attending the Meeting
All persons wishing to attend the
listening session can view dates, times,
and locations at www.rma.usda.gov. No
RSVP is required. For those unable to
attend an in-person listening session,
some virtual sessions will be available.
The virtual session may be attended
online or by telephone.
Meeting Accommodation Request
If you are a person requiring
reasonable accommodation to attend a
listening session, please make requests
in advance for sign language
interpretation, assistive listening
devices, or other reasonable
accommodations, including language
translation, to Francie Tolle as
identified in the contact information
section above. Determinations for
reasonable accommodation will be
made on a case-by-case basis. The
listening session locations are accessible
to persons with disabilities.
USDA Non-Discrimination Policy
In accordance with Federal civil
rights law and USDA civil rights
regulations and policies, USDA, its
Agencies, offices, and employees, and
institutions participating in or
administering USDA programs are
prohibited from discriminating based on
race, color, national origin, religion, sex,
gender identity (including gender
expression), sexual orientation,
disability, age, marital status, family or
parental status, income derived from a
public assistance program, political
beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior
civil rights activity, in any program or
E:\FR\FM\23MYN1.SGM
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33084
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 23, 2023 / Notices
activity conducted or funded by USDA
(not all bases apply to all programs).
Remedies and complaint filing
deadlines vary by program or incident.
Individuals who require alternative
means of communication for program
information (for example, braille, large
print, audiotape, American Sign
Language, etc.) should contact the
responsible Agency or USDA TARGET
Center at (202) 720–2600 (voice and text
telephone (TTY)) or dial 711 for
Telecommunications Relay Service
(both voice and text telephone users can
initiate this call from any telephone).
Additionally, program information may
be made available in languages other
than English.
To file a program discrimination
complaint, complete the USDA Program
Discrimination Complaint Form, AD–
3027, found online at https://
www.usda.gov/oascr/how-to-file-aprogram-discrimination-complaint and
at any USDA office or write a letter
addressed to USDA and provide in the
letter all the information requested in
the form. To request a copy of the
complaint form, call (866) 632–9992.
Submit your completed form or letter to
USDA by mail to: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Washington,
DC 20250–9410 or email: OAC@
usda.gov.
USDA is an equal opportunity
provider, employer, and lender.
Marcia Bunger,
Manager, Federal Crop Insurance
Corporation; and Administrator, Risk
Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2023–10926 Filed 5–22–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–08–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Federal Crop Insurance Corporation
[Docket No. FCIC–23–0005]
Notice of Request for Extension of a
Currently Approved Information
Collection
Federal Crop Insurance
Corporation, USDA.
ACTION: Extension of approval of an
information collection; comment
request.
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AGENCY:
This notice announces a
public comment period on the
information collection requests (ICRs)
associated with the Subpart U—
Ineligibility for Programs under the
Federal Crop Insurance Act.
SUMMARY:
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17:24 May 22, 2023
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Comments that we receive on
this notice will be accepted until close
of business July 24, 2023.
ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit
comments on this notice. You may
submit comments electronically through
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID FCIC–23–0005. Follow the
online instructions for submitting
comments. Comments will be available
for viewing online at https://
www.regulations.gov.
DATES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Francie Tolle; telephone (816) 926–
7829; email francie.tolle@usda.gov.
Persons with disabilities who require
alternative means of communication
should contact the USDA Target Center
at (202) 720–2600 (voice) or (844) 433–
2774 (toll-free nationwide).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Subpart U—Ineligibility for
Programs under the Federal Crop
Insurance Act.
OMB Control Number: 0563–0085.
Type of Request: Notice of request for
extension of a currently approved
information collection.
Abstract: The following mandates
require FCIC to identify persons who are
ineligible to participate in the Federal
crop insurance program administered
under the Federal Crop Insurance Act:
(1) Section 1764 of the Food Security
Act of 1985 (Pub. L. 99–198);
(2) 21 U.S.C. chapter 13;
(3) Section 14211 of the Food,
Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008
(Pub. L. 110–246);
(4) Executive Order 12549; and
(5) 7 U.S.C. 1515.
The FCIC and approved insurance
providers use the information collected
to determine whether persons seeking to
obtain Federal crop insurance coverage
are ineligible for such coverage
according to those mandates. The
purpose of collecting the information is
to ensure persons that are ineligible for
benefits under the Federal crop
insurance program are accurately
identified as such and do not obtain
benefits to which they are not eligible.
FCIC and RMA do not obtain
information used to identify a person as
ineligible for benefits under the Federal
crop insurance program directly from
the ineligible person. Approved
insurance providers notify RMA of
persons with a delinquent debt
electronically through a secure
automated system. RMA (1) sends
written notification to the person
informing them they are ineligible for
benefits under the Federal crop
insurance program; and (2) places that
person on the RMA Ineligible Tracking
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System until the person regains
eligibility for such benefits.
RMA’s Office of General Counsel
notifies RMA in writing of persons
convicted of controlled substance
violations. RMA (1) sends written
notification to the person informing
them they are ineligible for benefits
under the Federal crop insurance
program; and (2) places that person on
RMA’s Ineligible Tracking System until
the person regains eligibility for such
benefits.
Persons debarred, suspended or
disqualified by RMA are (1) notified, in
writing, they are ineligible for benefits
under the Federal crop insurance
program; and (2) placed on RMA’s
Ineligible Tracking System until the
person regains eligibility for such
benefits.
Information identifying persons who
are ineligible for benefits under the
Federal crop insurance program is made
available to all approved insurance
providers through RMA’s Ineligible
Tracking System. The Ineligible
Tracking System is an electronic system,
maintained by RMA, which identifies
persons who are ineligible to participate
in the Federal crop insurance program.
The information must be made available
to all approved insurance providers to
ensure ineligible persons cannot
circumvent the mandates by switching
from one approved insurance providers
to another.
In addition, information identifying
persons who are debarred, suspended or
disqualified by RMA is provided to the
General Services Administration to be
included in the Excluded Parties List
System, an electronic system
maintained by the General Services
Administration that provides current
information about persons who are
excluded or disqualified from covered
transactions.
Estimate of burden: Reporting burden
for the collection and transmission of
information by approved insurance
providers, including reporting for late
payment of debt for approved insurance
provider reinstatement and
Administrator reinstatement, is
estimated to average 21 minutes per
response.
Respondents: Approved insurance
providers.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 14
approved insurance providers.
Estimated Number of Forms per
Respondent: All information is obtained
electronically from approved insurance
providers.
Estimated Total Annual Responses:
6,328 from all respondents.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent
Burden: 2,207 from all respondents.
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 23, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33081-33084]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10926]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Federal Crop Insurance Corporation
Risk Management Agency
[Docket ID FCIC-23-0001]
Request for Information and Stakeholder Listening Sessions on
Prevented Planting
AGENCY: Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and Risk Management Agency,
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
ACTION: Notice of request for information.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) is hosting
listening sessions and requesting public input about the prevented
planting provisions of the Common Crop Insurance Policy (CCIP), Basic
Provisions. Prevented planting is a feature of many crop insurance
plans that provides a payment to cover certain pre-plant costs for a
crop that was prevented from being planted due to an insurable cause of
loss. FCIC is interested in public input on the following: additional
prevented planting coverage based on harvest prices in situations when
harvest prices are higher than established prices initially set by FCIC
prior to planting; the requirement that acreage must have been planted
to a crop, insured, and harvested, in at least 1 of the 4 most recent
crop years; additional levels of prevented planting coverage; prevented
planting coverage on contracted crops; and other general prevented
planting questions. We invite stakeholders to respond to this request
for information or to participate in the listening session(s). All
listening sessions will be posted publicly and open to the public for
registration.
DATES: Comments: We will consider comments that we receive by September
1, 2023.
ADDRESSES:
Listening sessions: To attend any of the listening sessions, go to
www.rma.usda.gov for dates, times, and locations. No RSVP or
reservation is required.
Comments: We invite you to send comments in response to this
notice. In addition, if you plan to provide oral comments at a
listening session, please see the information in the Listening Sessions
section below. Send your comments through the method below:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID FCIC-23-0001. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
[[Page 33082]]
All comments will be posted without change and will be publicly
available on www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Francie Tolle; telephone (816) 926-
7829; or email [email protected]. Persons with disabilities who
require alternative means for communication should contact the USDA
Target Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
FCIC serves America's agricultural producers through effective,
market-based risk management tools to strengthen the economic stability
of agricultural producers and rural communities. FCIC is committed to
increasing the availability and effectiveness of Federal crop insurance
as a risk management tool. The Risk Management Agency (RMA) administers
the FCIC regulations. The Approved Insurance Providers (AIP) sell and
service Federal crop insurance policies in every state through a
public-private partnership. FCIC reinsures the AIPs who share the risk
associated with losses due to natural causes. FCIC's vision is to
secure the future of agriculture by providing world class risk
management tools to rural America.
Prevented planting coverage pays when a producer is unable to plant
an insured crop due to an insured cause of loss. The payment is
intended to assist in covering the normal costs associated with
preparing the land up to the point of the seed going in the ground
(pre-plant costs). These pre-plant costs can include seed, purchase of
machinery, land rent, fertilizer, actions taken to ready the field,
pesticide, labor, and repairs. Coverage is calculated as a percent of
the producer's insurance guarantee (for example, 60 percent for
soybeans).
FCIC is hosting listening sessions to provide an opportunity for
stakeholders and interested members of the public to share input about
ways to improve prevented planting coverage for producers while
maintaining program integrity. FCIC is interested in all general
prevented planting comments but requests public input from stakeholders
on the following specific topics:
Prevented Planting Coverage Based on Harvest Prices for Revenue
Protection Insurance
Revenue protection is a plan of insurance that provides protection
against loss of revenue due to a production loss, price decline or
increase, or a combination of both. Under the revenue protection plan
of insurance, yield losses are compensated using the harvest-time price
if it is higher than the price FCIC projected prior to planting. This
compensates producers for the replacement value of lost bushels. This
type of coverage was intended to help producers mitigate the risk of
having to buy out of delivery contracts they are unable to fulfill due
to production losses. Currently, the prevented planting calculation for
revenue protection is based on the projected price and does not
increase with the harvest price.
Revenue protection is the most popular insurance coverage in the
crop insurance program. Under revenue protection, producers may elect a
harvest price exclusion option which removes the protection against
loss of revenue due to harvest price increase. Over 99 percent of
revenue protection policies maintain harvest price coverage.
Following the volume of prevented planting payments for 2019 and
2020, a consistent suggestion emerged to allow prevented planting
payments to increase with the harvest price, as is currently done for
lost production. Allowing the harvest price for prevented planting
payments would not impact most years as there needs to be both an
increase in the harvest price and a prevented planting claim.
Historical data suggests the additional coverage would increase
prevented planting payments by approximately 6 percent on average for
those policies with harvest price revenue coverage. Consequently, there
would need to be a corresponding increase in premium for these
policies.
The following are questions for input regarding prevented planting
coverage based on the harvest price:
1. Should prevented planting payments be based on the harvest price
or the price used to establish the insurance guarantee (projected
price)?
2. What specific advantages or disadvantages do you see for
allowing prevented planting coverage to be based on the harvest price?
3. When a producer is prevented from planting, what additional loss
does a producer suffer when the harvest price increases and what should
be considered to estimate the value of the loss?
4. Do you have any concerns about allowing prevented planting
coverage to be based on the harvest price?
Prevented Planting ``1 in 4'' Requirement
Beginning with the 2021 crop year, FCIC revised the prevented
planting provisions to implement the ``1 in 4'' requirement nationwide.
The ``1 in 4'' requirement states that acreage must have been planted
to a crop, insured, and harvested (or if not harvested, adjusted for
claim purposes due to an insurable cause of loss) in at least 1 out of
the previous 4 crop years. This was meant to reduce prevented planting
payments on land that is not generally available to plant, thus
lowering insurance costs for all producers. Prior to the 2021 crop
year, the ``1 in 4'' requirement was only applicable to the Prairie
Pothole National Priority Area and required that the acreage must be
physically available for planting.
In late 2022, FCIC announced the ``1 in 4'' requirement would be
removed from western states that have experienced significant ongoing
drought in recent years. The purpose of removing the requirement in
these states was to give FCIC more time to better understand the unique
needs of western producers and to also ensure all parties can provide
input on the change.
The following are questions regarding the prevented planting ``1 in
4'' requirement:
1. Since the nationwide implementation of the ``1 in 4''
requirement, what situations have created challenges due to this
requirement for producers that have been prevented from planting?
2. Do you have recommendations that would make the requirement more
flexible for producers while protecting the integrity of the Federal
Crop Insurance Program?
3. Are there specific situations that should exempt land from the
``1 in 4'' requirement and why?
4. Should the requirement be removed from specific areas and why?
5. A portion of the ``1 in 4'' requirement allows crops that have
been adjusted for claims purposes due to an insured cause of loss to be
considered harvested. However, this allowance excludes claims adjusted
due to the following causes of loss: flood, excess moisture, and
drought. Should the requirement exclude specific causes of loss
adjusted for claims purposes and why?
6. Are you aware of additional program integrity measures or
safeguards that should be considered beyond what is in place today?
7. Do you believe there should be a limit on the number of
consecutive years that a producer is eligible to receive a prevented
planting payment on the same acreage? If so, what do you believe the
limit should be?
[[Page 33083]]
Prevented Planting 10 Percent Additional Coverage
Insureds with additional coverage, a coverage level greater than
catastrophic risk protection, may elect an additional level of
prevented planting coverage, commonly referred to as buy-up coverage,
on or before the sales closing date. The additional coverage level
allows producers to better tailor their coverage to match their actual
prevented planting costs. The additional level of prevented planting
coverage also requires the producer pay additional premium. Prior to
the 2018 crop year, two additional prevented planting coverage levels
were available, 5 percent (+5) and 10 percent (+10). FCIC removed the
+10 additional coverage option beginning in the 2018 crop year.
Removing the +10 additional coverage option maintained the balance
between providing coverage to producers and the cost to taxpayers.
While FCIC has removed the +10 additional coverage option, the +5
additional coverage option is still available.
RMA is considering reinstating the +10 additional coverage option.
The following are questions regarding the +10 additional coverage
option:
1. What specific advantages or disadvantages do you see regarding
reinstating the +10 additional coverage option?
2. If you believe reinstating the +10 additional coverage option
will provide needed protection for producers, why is it needed in
addition to the current +5 additional coverage option?
3. Do you have any concerns about reinstating the +10 additional
coverage option?
Prevented Planting Coverage on Contracted Crops
For several crops, crop types, or specific practices grown under a
contract with a processor, a contract price option allows a producer to
use their contract price to determine the insurance guarantee. For
example, the Contract Price Addendum allows organic certified and
transitional producers of many crops to use the price contained in
their organic contract for insurance. Currently, when the contract
price option is elected, the prevented planting coverage is based on
the contract price. However, it has been suggested that prevented
planting costs may be the same regardless of whether the producer had a
contract. FCIC is requesting input on whether the prevented planting
guarantee should use the RMA established price (price election or
projected price), regardless of if the contract price option has been
elected.
The price election is the amount contained in the actuarial
documents that is the value per pound, bushel, ton, carton, or other
applicable unit of measure for the purposes of determining premium and
indemnity under the policy. The projected price is the price for each
crop determined in accordance with the \1\ Commodity Exchange Price
Provisions. The applicable projected price is used for each crop for
which revenue protection is available, regardless of whether you elect
to obtain revenue protection or yield protection for the crop.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The Commodity Exchange Price Provisions (CEPP) are used in
conjunction with either the Common Crop Insurance Policy Basic
Provisions or the Area Risk Protection Insurance Basic Provisions,
along with Crop Provisions for the following crops: barley, canola/
rapeseed, corn, cotton, grain sorghum, rice, soybeans, sunflowers,
and wheat. The CEPP specifies how and when the projected and harvest
price components will be determined. Updated CEPP documents are on
the RMA website at www.rma.usda.gov/Policy-and-Procedure/Insurance-Plans/Commodity-Exchange-Price-Provisions-CEPP.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following are questions regarding prevented planting coverage
on contracted crops that can elect the contract price option:
1. Are pre-planting costs higher for contracted crops? If so,
explain.
2. Should prevented planting payments be based on the contract
price or RMA's established price (price election or projected price)?
Please explain why.
3. If a contract price is used for prevented planting guarantee
purposes, should there be any limitations as to when the contract is
secured, specifically when a cause of loss is present that may prevent
planting?
Other General Prevented Planting Questions
1. Do you believe all producers will support paying higher premiums
to cover the costs of expanded prevented planting benefits?
2. Are pre-planting costs the same for all causes of loss? For
example: Does a multi-year drought leading to failure of irrigation
supply have the same pre-planting costs as unexpected flooding prior to
planting?
Listening Sessions
FCIC will host listening sessions for public input to examine the
current policy and explore policy improvements regarding prevented
planting coverage. The listening sessions will provide an opportunity
for stakeholders and interested members of the public to share their
thoughts about ways to improve prevented planting coverage for
producers while maintaining program integrity. Each listening session
will begin with brief opening remarks from USDA officials. All
stakeholders and interested members of the public are welcome to
provide oral and written comments; however, based on the listening
session time or topic area constraints, FCIC may not be able to
allocate time for all attendees to provide oral comments during the
listening sessions. In your comments, provide your input about the
prevented planting coverage, changes, and anything else that may be
helpful for FCIC to be aware of or consider. We welcome public input
that we can factor into decisions that need to be made to implement any
changes to prevented planting coverage. We request that speakers
planning to provide oral comments also provide a written copy of their
comments at the listening session. All written comments received at the
listening sessions will be posted without change and will be publicly
available on www.regulations.gov.
Instructions for Attending the Meeting
All persons wishing to attend the listening session can view dates,
times, and locations at www.rma.usda.gov. No RSVP is required. For
those unable to attend an in-person listening session, some virtual
sessions will be available. The virtual session may be attended online
or by telephone.
Meeting Accommodation Request
If you are a person requiring reasonable accommodation to attend a
listening session, please make requests in advance for sign language
interpretation, assistive listening devices, or other reasonable
accommodations, including language translation, to Francie Tolle as
identified in the contact information section above. Determinations for
reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. The
listening session locations are accessible to persons with
disabilities.
USDA Non-Discrimination Policy
In accordance with Federal civil rights law and USDA civil rights
regulations and policies, USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees,
and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are
prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin,
religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual
orientation, disability, age, marital status, family or parental
status, income derived from a public assistance program, political
beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in
any program or
[[Page 33084]]
activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all
programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or
incident.
Individuals who require alternative means of communication for
program information (for example, braille, large print, audiotape,
American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible Agency or
USDA TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and text telephone (TTY))
or dial 711 for Telecommunications Relay Service (both voice and text
telephone users can initiate this call from any telephone).
Additionally, program information may be made available in languages
other than English.
To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA
Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at https://www.usda.gov/oascr/how-to-file-a-program-discrimination-complaint and
at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in
the letter all the information requested in the form. To request a copy
of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form
or letter to USDA by mail to: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of
the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue SW,
Washington, DC 20250-9410 or email: [email protected].
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.
Marcia Bunger,
Manager, Federal Crop Insurance Corporation; and Administrator, Risk
Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2023-10926 Filed 5-22-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-08-P
