[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 53 (Monday, March 18, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10902-10903]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-6345]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 29

[Docket No. TB-95-15]


Tobacco Inspection--Growers Referendum

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of referendum.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that a referendum will be conducted by 
mail during the period of April 15-26, 1996, for producers of burley 
tobacco who sell their tobacco at auction in Boone and West Jefferson, 
North Carolina, and Mountain City, Tennessee, to determine producer 
approval of the designation of the Boone, West Jefferson, and Mountain 
City tobacco markets as one consolidated auction market.

DATES: The referendum will be held April 15-26, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rebecca Fial, Assistant to the 
Director, Tobacco Division, Agricultural Marketing Service, United 
States Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-
6456; telephone number (202) 260-0151.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given of a mail referendum 
on the designation of a consolidated auction market at Boone and West 
Jefferson, North Carolina, and Mountain City, Tennessee. Boone, West 
Jefferson, and Mountain City were designated on October 25, 1941, 
October 25, 1948, and November 1, 1951, respectively, (7 CFR 29.8001) 
as burley tobacco auction markets under the Tobacco Inspection Act (7 
U.S.C. 511 et seq.). Under this Act those markets have been receiving 
mandatory grading services from USDA.
    On July 10, 1995, an application was made to the Secretary of 
Agriculture to consolidate the designated markets of Boone and West 
Jefferson, North Carolina, and Mountain City, Tennessee. The 
application, filed by warehouse operators in those markets, was made 
pursuant to the regulations promulgated under the Tobacco Inspection 
Act (7 CFR Part 29.1-29.3). On September 15, 1995, a public hearing was 
held in Boone, North Carolina, pursuant to the regulations. A Review 
Committee, established pursuant to Sec. 29.3(h) of the regulations (7 
CFR 29.3(h)), has reviewed and considered the application, the 
testimony presented at the hearing, the

[[Page 10903]]
exhibits received in evidence, and other available information. The 
Committee recommended to the Secretary that the application be granted 
and the Secretary approved the application on February 26, 1996.
    Before a new market can be officially designated, a referendum must 
be held to determine that a two-thirds majority of producers favor the 
designation. It is hereby determined that the referendum will be held 
by mail during the period of April 15-26, 1996. The purpose of the 
referendum is to determine whether farmers who sold their tobacco on 
the designated markets at Boone, West Jefferson, and Mountain City are 
in favor of, or opposed to, the designation of the consolidated market 
for the 1996 and succeeding crop years. Accordingly, if a two-thirds 
majority of those tobacco producers voting in the referendum favor this 
consolidation, a new market will be designated as and will be called 
Boone-West Jefferson-Mountain City.
    To be eligible to vote in the referendum a tobacco producer must 
have sold burley tobacco on either the Boone or West Jefferson, North 
Carolina, or Mountain City, Tennessee, auction markets during the 1995 
marketing season. Any farmer who believes he or she is eligible to vote 
in the referendum but has not received a mail ballot by April 15, 1996, 
should immediately contact Rebecca Fial at (202) 260-0151.
    The referendum will be held in accordance with the provisions for 
referenda of the Tobacco Inspection Act, as amended (7 U.S.C. 511d) and 
the regulations for such referendum set forth in 7 CFR 29.74.

    Dated: March 11, 1996.
Lon Hatamiya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-6345 Filed 3-15-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P