[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 232 (Tuesday, December 3, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 71797-71798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-30702]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 232 / Tuesday, December 3, 2002 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 71797]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Farm Service Agency

7 CFR Part 718

RIN: 0560-AG55


Skip Row and Strip Crops

AGENCY: Farm Service Agency, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is amending its regulations to 
revise the provisions governing how densely a producer's acreage must 
be planted in order for the full acre to be considered planted for 
program purposes in the Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program 
and other programs. Under the revised rule the amount of a field 
considered planted will be limited to certain specified widths beyond 
the actual planted rows, which will allow for a more uniform 
determination of acreage.

EFFECTIVE DATE: November 29, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel McGlynn (202) 720-3463.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Executive Order 12866

    This final rule is issued in conformance with Executive Order 12866 
and has been determined to be significant and has been reviewed by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    It has been determined that the Regulatory Flexibility Act is not 
applicable to this final rule because FSA is not required by 5 U.S.C. 
553 or any other provisions of the law to publish a notice of final 
rule making regarding the subject matter of this rule.

Environmental Evaluation

    It has been determined by an environmental evaluation that this 
action will have no significant impact on the quality of the human 
environment. Therefore, neither an Environmental Assessment nor an 
Environmental Impact Statement is needed.

Executive Order 12988

    This rule has been reviewed in accordance with Executive Order 
12988. The provisions of this final rule preempt State laws to the 
extent such laws are inconsistent with the provisions of this rule.

Executive Order 12372

    This activity is not subject to the provisions of Executive Order 
12372, which requires intergovernmental consultation with State and 
local officials. See the notice related to 7 CFR part 3015, subpart V, 
published at 48 FR 29115 (June 24, 1983).

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

    This rule contains no Federal mandates under the provisions of 
Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (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 UMRA.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This rule does not contain any new information collection 
requirements.

Executive Order 12612

    It has been determined that this rule does not have sufficient 
Federalism implications to warrant the preparation of a Federalism 
Assessment. The provisions contained in this rule will not have a 
substantial direct effect on States or their political subdivisions, or 
on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various 
levels of Government.

Discussion of the Final Rule

    For purposes of the operation of several programs, including the 
Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), operated under 
rules set out at 7 CFR part 1437, it is necessary and important to 
determine how much of a field can be considered planted to a particular 
crop, and that determination can raise issues of how densely the field 
must be planted in order for the full acreage to be considered planted. 
Such determinations for NAP and other programs administered by FSA and 
the Commodity Credit Corporation are made using standards that are set 
out in regulations found at 7 CFR part 718. In particular, 7 CFR 
718.107 addresses this issue. For example, persons filing for NAP 
benefits will indicate that they had a loss on a certain number of 
acres. That loss, in numbers of acres, will be multiplied by a yield 
per acre to arrive at a gross estimate of the amount of loss. This 
means, accordingly, that the number of acres considered committed to 
the crop can be critical in determining the amount of payments that the 
farmers can receive. In recent years, several situations have arisen in 
which farmers have reported unusual planting patterns that raise a 
question of whether the pattern reflected a desire to increase benefits 
rather than simply a desire to farm in the most productive manner 
possible for the market for the crop. These situations have prompted a 
review of the rule. That review has indicated that an overhaul of the 
measurement regulation is in order. Such an overhaul is undertaken in 
this rule, which provides that acreage planted to a crop will only be 
considered to be the rows of the crop itself and a set amount (as 
defined in the rule) on either side of the actual planted rows 
(including those rows which might be the last rows before a row is 
skipped and the first row after the skip). In the past, under the terms 
of the pre-existing regulation, it could occur that the full area of 
the skip might be considered to be planted even though the space was 
far greater than that which would normally occur between rows. It is 
believed that this revised rule will be fairer and will give a more 
accurate measure of the amount of the field that should be considered 
planted to a crop, assuming an intended full production of the crop.
    The rules in 7 CFR part 718 were revised in response to the 
Agricultural Market Transition Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-127, which, 
among other things, in section 196, re-instituted NAP within the CCC as 
it is now constituted. Originally, NAP was administered by the Federal 
Crop Insurance Program and the Risk Management Agency. After the 1996 
Act, new rules were finalized for NAP (61 FR 69005, December 31, 1996) 
and also for the generic regulations in 7

[[Page 71798]]

CFR part 718 (61 FR 37552, July 18, 1996), which cover a number of 
issues common to a number of programs, including NAP. Section 161 of 
the 1996 Act provides for an exemption from the normal provisions of 
rule-making for implementing decisions made pursuant to that Act, and 
this exemption applies in this instance as well because this rule is 
part of the overall implementation of the 1996 Act and the 
administration of NAP. The rule has been designed to accommodate normal 
planting practices and to be flexible where needed to handle the 
special needs of special crops or special conditions in special areas.
    Also, to provide for a transition from the old rules that would not 
occur in the middle of a crop year, the amended regulation in Sec.  
718.107 provides that the new provisions will apply only to the 2003 
and subsequent crops.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 718

    Determination of Acreage and Compliance, Reconstitution of Farms, 
Allotments, Quotas, and Acreages.
    For reasons set out in the preamble, 7 CFR part 718 is revised as 
follows:

PART 718--PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO MULTIPLE PROGRAMS

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 718 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1373, 1374, 7201 et seq.; 15 U.S.C. 714b and 
714c; and 21 U.S.C. 889.

    2. Revise Sec.  718.107 to read as follows:


Sec.  718.107  Measuring acreage including skip row acreage.

    (a) When one crop is alternating with another crop, whether or not 
both crops have the same growing season, only the acreage that is 
actually planted to the crop being measured will be considered to be 
acreage devoted to the measured crop.
    (b) Subject to the provisions of this paragraph and section, 
whether planted in a skip row pattern or without a pattern of skipped 
rows, the entire acreage of the field or subdivision may be considered 
as devoted to the crop only where the distance between the rows, for 
all rows, is 40 inches or less. If there is a skip that creates idle 
land wider than 40 inches, or if the distance between any rows is more 
than 40 inches, then the area planted to the crop shall be considered 
to be that area which would represent the smaller of: a 40-inch width 
between rows, or the normal row spacing in the field for all other rows 
in the field--those that are not more than 40 inches apart. The 
allowance for individual rows would be made based on the smaller of: 
actual spacing between those rows, or the normal spacing in the field. 
For example, if the crop is planted in single wide rows that are 48 
inches apart, only 20 inches to either side of each row (for a total of 
40 inches between the two rows) could, at a maximum, be considered as 
devoted as the crop and normal spacing in the field would control. Half 
the normal distance between rows will also be allowed beyond the 
outside planted rows not to exceed 20 inches and will reflect normal 
spacing in the field.
    (c) In making calculations under this section, further reductions 
may be made in the acreage considered planted to the extent it is 
determined that the acreage is more sparsely planted than would be 
normal using reasonable and customary full production planting 
techniques.
    (d) The Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs has the 
discretionary authority to allow row allowances other than those 
specified in this section in those instances in which crops are 
normally planted with spacings greater or less than 40 inches, such as 
in the case of tobacco, or where other circumstances are presented 
which the Deputy Administrator finds justifies that allowance.
    (e) Paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section shall apply with 
respect to the 2003 and subsequent crops. For preceding crops, the 
rules in effect on January 1, 2002, shall apply.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on November 27, 2002.
James R. Little,
Administrator, Farm Service Agency.
[FR Doc. 02-30702 Filed 11-29-02; 1:54 pm]
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