[Federal Register: December 5, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 235)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 74078-74080]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05de08-20]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 1220
[Docket No. AMS-LS-08-0074]
Soybean Promotion, Research, and Information Program: Amend
Procedures To Request a Referendum
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: This rule would amend the regulations that provide for
procedures to request a referendum under the Soybean Promotion,
Research, and Consumer Information Program, commonly known as the
soybean checkoff program. The number of soybean producers referred to
the in the regulations would change from 663,880 to 589,182, based on
information provided by the Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm
Service Agency (FSA). This change is necessary to establish the number
of soybean producers who are eligible to participate in the 2009
Request for Referendum. Additionally, this rule would amend the
regulations pursuant to administrative changes to Web site addresses
and office locations made for the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service
(AMS).
DATES: Comments must be received by December 22, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be posted online at http://www.regulations.gov,
or sent to Kenneth R. Payne, Chief, Marketing Programs Branch,
Livestock and Seed Program, AMS, USDA, Room 2628-S, STOP 0251, 1400
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-0251; or via Fax to
(202) 720-1125. Comments will be made available for public inspection
at the above address during regular business hours or via the Internet
at http://www.regulations.gov. Comments received will be posed
[[Page 74079]]
without change, including any personal information provided. All
comments should reference the docket number, Docket No. AMS-LS-08-0074;
the date of submission; and the page number of this issue of the
Federal Register.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth R. Payne, Chief, Marketing
Programs Branch, Livestock and Seed Program, AMS, USDA, Room 2628-S,
STOP 0251, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-0251;
Telephone 202/720-1115; Fax 202/720-1125; or e-mail to
Kenneth.Payne@usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Executive Order 12866
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has waived the review
process required by Executive Order 12866 for this action.
Executive Order 12988
This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988,
Civil Justice Reform. This proposal is not intended to have a
retroactive effect. The proposed rule would not preempt any other
Federal or State laws, regulations, or policies.
The Soybean Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act (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 Soybean Promotion and Research Order (Order) may file a
petition with 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 requesting 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.
Further, section 1974 of the Act provides, with certain exceptions,
that nothing in the Act may be construed to preempt or supersede any
other program relating to soybean promotion, research, consumer
information, or industry information organized under the laws of the
United States or any State. One exception in the Act concerns
assessments collected by Qualified State Soybean Boards (QSSBs). The
exception provides that to ensure adequate funding of the operations of
QSSBs under the Act, no State law or regulation may limit or have the
effect of limiting the full amount of assessments that a QSSB in that
State may collect, and which is authorized to be credited under the
Act. Another exception concerns certain referenda conducted during
specified periods by a State relating to the continuation of a QSSB or
State soybean assessment.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
In accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C.
601-612), USDA is required to examine the impact of the proposed rule
on small entities. The purpose of the RFA is to fit regulatory actions
to the scale of businesses subject to such actions so that small
businesses will not be disproportionately burdened.
For the purpose of the Request for Referendum, the Secretary would
use the most recent number of soybean producers identified by USDA's
FSA. The latest number of soybean producers identified by FSA is
589,182 and was obtained using information from 2006 and 2007 acreage
reports. The data were sorted in such a manner as to include all
producers that were engaged in the production of soybeans in at least
one of the 2 years and exclude counting a producer more than once if
that producer engaged in production during both years. Therefore, the
number of soybean producers who would be eligible to participate in the
Request for Referendum would be 589,182. The majority of producers
subject to the Order are small businesses under the criteria
established by the Small Business Administration (SBA) [13 CFR
121.201]. SBA defines small agricultural producers as those having
annual receipts of less than $750,000.
Further, the information collection requirements are minimal.
Requesting form LS-51-1 to participate in a Request for Referendum may
be done by mail, in-person, by facsimile, or via the Internet and would
not impose a significant economic burden on participants. Finally, this
action would amend the regulations pursuant to administrative changes
to web site addresses and office locations for the AMS. Accordingly,
the Administrator of AMS has determined that this proposed rule will
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
business entities.
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
The Act (7 U.S.C. 6301-6311) provides for the establishment of a
coordinated program of promotion and research designed to strengthen
the soybean industry's position in the marketplace, and to maintain and
expand domestic and foreign markets and uses for soybeans and soybean
products. The program is financed by an assessment of 0.5 of 1 percent
of the net market price of soybeans sold by producers. The final rule
establishing a Soybean Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information
program was published in the July 9, 1991, issue of the Federal
Register (56 FR 31043) and assessments began on September 1, 1991.
The Act required that an initial referendum be conducted no earlier
than 18 months and not later than 36 months after the issuance of the
Order to determine whether the Order should be continued. The initial
referendum was conducted on February 9, 1994. On April 1, 1994, the
Secretary announced that of the 85,606 valid ballots cast, 46,060 (53.8
percent) were in favor of continuing the Order and the remaining 39,546
votes (46.2 percent) were against continuing the Order. The Act
required approval by a simple majority for the Order to continue.
The Act also required that within 18 months after the Secretary
announced the results of the initial referendum, the Secretary would
conduct a poll among producers to determine if producers favored a
referendum on the continuance of the payment of refunds under the
Order.
A July 25, 1995, nationwide poll of soybean producers did not
generate sufficient support for a refund referendum to be held. A
refund referendum would have been held if at least 20 percent (not in
excess of one-fifth of which may be producers in any one State) of the
381,000 producers (76,200) nationwide requested it. Only 48,782 soybean
producers participated in the poll. Consequently, refunds were
discontinued on October 1, 1995.
The Act also specifies that the Secretary shall, 5 years after the
conduct of the initial referendum and every 5 years thereafter, provide
soybean producers an opportunity to request a referendum on the Order.
Additionally, the Act specifies that these subsequent polls require
that at least 10 percent (not in excess of one-fifth in any one State)
of all producers must request a
[[Page 74080]]
referendum in order to trigger the conduct of a referendum. If a
referendum is requested, it will be held within 1 year of that
determination.
On October 1, 1999, through November 16, 1999, a nationwide Request
for Referendum was conducted to determine if there was sufficient
interest among soybean producers to vote on whether to continue the
soybean checkoff program. Ten percent of the 600,813 soybean producers
nationwide (not in excess of one-fifth of which may be producers in any
one State) needed to participate in the Request for Referendum to
trigger a referendum. Only 17,970 eligible soybean producers completed
valid requests.
Five years later, another Request for Referendum was conducted May
1, 2004, through May 28, 2004. As in the prior Request for Referendum,
the purpose was to determine if there was sufficient interest among
soybean producers to vote on whether to continue the soybean checkoff
Program. To be eligible to participate in the Request for Referendum,
producers or the producer entity that they are authorized to represent
had to certify and provide supporting documentation showing that they
or the producer entity they represent paid an assessment sometime
during the representative period between January 1, 2002, and December
31, 2003. Of the total 663,880 soybean producers eligible to
participate, 3,206 valid Requests for Referendum were completed. This
number did not meet the requisite number of 66,388; therefore, a
referendum was not conducted.
In accordance with the Act, another Request for Referendum will be
conducted in 2009. In this proposed rule, data provided by USDA's FSA
would be used to amend the number of soybean producers in preparation
for this upcoming Request for Referendum. Presently, Sec. 1220.616 of
the Order states that the number of soybean producers in the United
States is 663,880. The latest number of soybean producers identified by
FSA is 589,182 soybean producers for crop years 2006 and 2007, using
information based on acreage reports compiled on a daily basis. The
data were sorted in such a manner as to include all producers that were
engaged in the production of soybeans in at least one of the 2 years
and exclude counting a producer more than once if that producer engaged
in production during both years. Using the last two crop years for
which complete data is available ensures that all eligible producers
are counted, as some producers use soybeans in rotation with other
crops and do not plant soybeans every year or the market for some
producers in a particular crop year may not have been conducive to
growing soybeans. This methodology is consistent with that used during
the last amendment to Sec. 1220.616 in 2004.
In addition to the changes proposed relating to the number of
eligible soybean producers, AMS also intends to amend Sec. Sec.
1220.622 and 1220.628 to update Web site addresses and office locations
as a result of internal changes within the agency.
A 15-day comment period is provided for interested persons to
comment on the proposed changes to section 1220.616. This comment
period is deemed appropriate because the Act provides that the
Secretary, every 5 years after the initial continuation referendum,
will give soybean producers the opportunity to request additional
referenda on the Order. A 15-day comment period will allow sufficient
time to publish a final rule to amend Sec. 1220.616 before the
upcoming Request for Referendum. As such, the number of soybean
producers eligible to participate in a Request for Referendum will be
established, and a Request for Referendum can be conducted as early in
2009 as practicable.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1220
Administrative practice and procedure, Advertising, Agricultural
research, Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Soybeans and soybean products.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, it is proposed that 7
CFR part 1220 be amended as follows:
PART 1220--SOYBEAN PROMOTION, RESEARCH, AND CONSUMER INFORMATION
1. The authority citation for part 1220 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 6301-6311 and 7 U.S.C. 7401.
Subpart F--Procedures To Request a Referendum
2. In Sec. 1220.616, paragraph (d) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 1220.616 General.
* * * * *
(d) For purposes of paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, the
number of soybean producers in the United States is determined to be
589,182.
Sec. 1220.622 [Amended]
3. In Sec. 1220.622, paragraph (b) the Web site
``www.ams.usda.gov/lsg/mpb/rp-soy.htm'' is removed and a new Web site
``www.ams.usda.gov/lsmarketingprograms'' is added in its place.
4. In Sec. 1220.628, paragraph (a) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 1220.628 Results of the request for referendum.
(a) The Administrator, FSA, shall submit to the Administrator, AMS,
the reports from all State FSA offices. The Administrator, AMS shall
tabulate the results of the Request for Referendum. USDA will issue an
official press release announcing the results of the Request for
Referendum and publish the same results in the Federal Register. In
addition, USDA will post the official results at the following Web
site: http://www.ams.usda.gov/lsmarketingprograms. Subsequently, State
reports and related papers shall be available for public inspection
upon request during normal business hours in the Marketing Programs
Branch office, Livestock and Seed Program, AMS, USDA, Room 2628-S, STOP
0251, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC.
* * * * *
Dated: November 26, 2008.
James E. Link,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. E8-28674 Filed 12-4-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P