[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 59 (Monday, March 27, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 16117-16118]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-7399]



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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 59 / Monday, March 27, 2000 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 16117]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Farm Service Agency

7 CFR Part 729

RIN 0560-AF48


1999-Crop Peanuts National Poundage Quota

AGENCY: Farm Service Agency, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The purpose of this final rule is to codify the establishment 
of the national poundage quota for peanuts at 1,180,000 short tons 
(st).

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 14, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth M. Robison, USDA, Farm Service 
Agency, STOP 0514, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-
0514, telephone 202-720-9255. Copies of the cost-benefit assessment 
prepared for this rule can be obtained from Mr. Robison.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:   

Executive Order 12866

    This final rule has been determined to be significant for purposes 
of Executive Order 12866 and, therefore, has been reviewed by OMB.

Federal Assistance Program

    The title and number of the Federal Assistance Program, as found in 
the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, to which this rule applies 
are: Commodity Loans and Purchases--10.051.

Executive Order 12988

    This final rule has been reviewed in accordance with Executive 
Order 12988. The provisions of this final rule do not preempt State 
laws, are not retroactive, and do not involve administrative appeals.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This amendment does not contain information collections that 
require clearance by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the provisions of 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    It has been determined that the Regulatory Flexibility Act is not 
applicable to this final rule because the Farm Service Agency (FSA) is 
not required by 5 U.S.C. 553 or any other provision of law to publish a 
notice of proposed rulemaking with respect to the subject of this 
determination.

Unfunded Federal Mandates

    This rule contains no Federal mandates under the regulatory 
provisions of Title II of the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act (UMRA), for 
State, local, and tribal governments or the private sector. Thus, this 
rule is not subject to the requirements of sections 202 and 205 of the 
UMRA.

Background

    The determination made in this notice follows a proposed rule 
published on November 25, 1998, in the Federal Register (63 FR 65133). 
That notice proposed a marketing year (MY) 1999 national poundage quota 
level between 1,175,000 and 1,225,000 st. There were 16 comments 
received. Comments were submitted by 11 producer groups, two 
manufacturers' groups, one sheller group, one consumer group, and one 
manufacturer. The comments received and the determination made are 
discussed below.

A. Determination of the Quota

    Peanut producers voting in a mail referendum held December 1 
through 4, 1997, approved poundage quotas for the 1998 through 2002 MY 
by an affirmative vote of 94.8 percent. Therefore, as provided for in 
the Agriculture Adjustment Act of 1938 (1938 Act), the Secretary is 
required to administer a peanut program in which marketings are 
governed through the use of federally-granted quota and in which price 
support is offered.
    Section 358-1(a)(1) of the 1938 Act, as amended in 1996 by the 
Agricultural Market Transition Act, requires that the national poundage 
quota for peanuts for each of the 1996 through 2002 MYs be established 
by the Secretary at a level that is equal to the quantity of peanuts 
(in tons) that the Secretary estimates will be devoted in each MY to 
domestic edible use (excluding seed use) and related uses. Under the 
1996 amendments to the 1938 Act, seed use remains a quota use but, 
unlike in the past, the seed aspect of the quota is accounted for by 
the granting of a temporary seed quota to all producers. As a result, 
seed is no longer part of the basic quota calculation codified in this 
determination.
    The MY for 1999-crop peanuts begins on August 1, 1999, and ends 
July 31, 2000.
    The national poundage quota for the 1999 crop, which will be 
marketed in MY 1999, was established at 1,180,000 st, based on the 
following data:

    Estimated Domestic Edible and Related Uses for 1999-Crop Peanuts
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          Farmer stock
                         Item                              equivalent
                                                          (short tons)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regular domestic food use.............................           984,000
Related uses:.........................................
    Crushing residual.................................           128,500
    Shrinkage and other losses........................            44,000
Unused quota..........................................            23,500
                                                       -----------------
      Total...........................................         1,180,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The estimate of MY 1999 domestic food use of peanuts was developed 
in two steps. First, normal commercial use was estimated based upon 
figures from the USDA Interagency Commodity Estimates Committee (ICEC) 
adjusted to take out peanut imports, peanut butter imports, and peanut 
butter exports (which normally consist of additional peanuts only). 
Then, farm sales and other direct marketings to consumers were added 
based upon differences between production data and Federal-State 
Inspection Service inspection data. Insofar as related uses are 
concerned, an added allowance is made for the normal crushing residual 
that cannot effectively be used for food. That amount is traditionally 
expected to be about 12 percent, on a farmer stock basis, of the total 
domestic production. An allowance for shrinkage and other losses is 
made to account for reduced kernel and other kernel losses during 
storage using the customary factor of 4 percent of domestic food use. 
Finally, the

[[Page 16118]]

unused quota allowance applies to those instances where the farmer 
cannot fulfill a quota either because of underplanting or because the 
farmer is unable to produce enough Segregation 1 peanuts to fulfill the 
quota. Because of the changes in the law as enacted in 1996, which have 
been outlined in previous notices, a greater incentive now exists than 
in the past to fully market the quota. It is expected that, after 
discounting for quality problems, more than 98.1 percent of the quota 
will be marketed.
    With respect to comments on these issues, the 11 producer groups 
and the sheller group expressed concern about USDA's projected growth 
in demand, projected stocks levels, the buy back program, and the 
export/import situation. The producer groups and the sheller group 
proposed setting the quota at the lower end of the proposed range. The 
manufacturer groups, the consumer group, and the manufacturer all 
expressed concern about adequate supplies. They proposed setting the 
quota above the minimum and one proposed setting it at the upper end of 
the proposed range. As indicated, however, the quota amount is 
controlled by a statutory formula which led to the announced amount for 
the reasons given above.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 729

    Peanuts, Penalties, Poundage quotas, Reporting and record keeping 
requirements.

    Accordingly, this final rule amends 7 CFR part 729 as follows:

PART 729--PEANUTS

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 729 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1301, 1357 et seq., 1372, 1373, 1375, and 
7271.

    2. Section 729.216 is amended by adding a new paragraph (c)(4) to 
read as follows:


Sec. 729.216  National poundage quota.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (4) The national poundage quota for quota peanuts for marketing 
year 1999 is 1,180,000 short tons.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on March 20, 2000.
Parks Shackelford,
Acting Administrator, Farm Service Agency.
[FR Doc. 00-7399 Filed 3-24-00; 8:45 am]
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