[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 152 (Thursday, August 7, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47010-47012]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-20080]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 152 / Thursday, August 7, 2003 / 
Notices  

[[Page 47010]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Commodity Credit Corporation


2003 Hurricane Assistance Program for Louisiana's Sugarcane 
Producers and Sugarcane Processors

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is issuing this Notice 
to implement section 207 of the Agricultural Assistance Act of 2003. 
This Act requires CCC to provide compensation to Louisiana sugarcane 
producers and processors who suffered economic losses from the 
cumulative effects of Tropical Storm Isadore, Hurricane Lili, and 
excessive rains in October 2002. CCC will make payments to affected 
sugarcane processors. The processors shall then disburse payments to 
affected producers from the payments they receive in a manner 
reflecting current contracts between the two parties. This Notice 
provides eligibility criteria and application procedures that will be 
used to conduct this program.

DATES: The dates applicable to the 2003 Hurricane Assistance Program 
are as follows:
    (1) Eligible producers have until August 18, 2003, to select a base 
year other than 1999 for the purpose of calculating their 2002-crop 
sugar loss.
    (2) Farm operators have until September 2, 2003, to certify 
ownership tract sugar losses on their farms.
    (3) Sugarcane processor applications must be submitted after 
September 4, 2003 but no later than September 22, 2003.
    (4) Payments will be issued to applicants meeting all eligibility 
requirements beginning October 8, 2003, or as the Louisiana Farm 
Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director determines.
    (5) Producers must be paid within 30 days of the date the initial 
payments were made to the applicants.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara Fecso, Dairy and Sweeteners 
Group, USDA/FSA/EPAS, 1400 Independence Ave., SW., STOP 0516, 
Washington, DC 20250-0516; telephone (202) 720-4146; facsimile (202) 
690-1480; electronic mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Environmental Compliance

    A review for the need of an environmental assessment was completed 
to consider this action's potential impacts on the human environment in 
accordance with the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969 (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., regulations of the Council on 
Environmental Quality (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), and FSA's regulations 
for NEPA compliance, 7 CFR part 799. It was determined that this 
program will have slight to no significant impact on the quality of the 
human environment. Therefore, these actions are categorically excluded 
from compliance with 7 CFR part 799 and no further review or assessment 
is necessary. These findings are available for public review upon 
request.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    Section 217(b) of Title II of Division N of the Consolidated 
Appropriations Resolution, 2003 (Public Law 108-7) (2003 Act) requires 
that this Notice be promulgated and the programs administered without 
regard to 44 U.S.C. 35, the Paperwork Reduction Act. Thus, information 
to be collected from the public to implement this program and the 
associated burden, in time and money, the information collection will 
have on the public do not need Office of Management and Budget approval 
and are not subject to the 60-day public comment period 5 CFR 
1320.8(d)(1) requires.

Background

    This Notice implements the 2003 Hurricane Assistance Program. 
Section 207 of the 2003 Act authorizes this program which requires CCC 
to assist certain processors by providing them payments or commodities 
from CCC inventory. The law was intended to partially compensate 
Louisiana sugarcane producers and processors for losses related to the 
natural disaster declaration resulting from Tropical Storm Isadore, 
Hurricane Lili, and excessive rains in October 2002. CCC sugar 
inventory is not available. Thus, this program will be carried out by 
issuing payments. CCC has resolved other discretionary matters for 
carrying this program as follows:

Determination of Hurricane Assistance Program Payment Rate Per Pound

    On February 20, 2003, the date the 2003 Act was passed, the sugar 
14 New York Exchange nearby price for raw sugar was 21.96 
cents per pound. Subtracting out the Louisiana average transportation 
cost per pound of 1.21 cents and Louisiana's average location discount 
results in a base price of about 20 cents per pound. Thus, CCC will 
make payments based on 20 cents per pound.

Determination of Loss Eligibility

    To be eligible for this program, this notice requires evidence of a 
tract 2002-crop sugar percentage loss equal or greater than 20 percent. 
This percent loss, coupled with the estimated 15 percent economic loss 
due to time and money spent salvaging the sugarcane plants (which are 
perennials), maintenance to machinery damaged by mud, as well as on 
field repair and replanting, results in an implicit required loss of 
35%. FSA is using the estimate of 15 percent economic loss based on a 
Louisiana State University study. Louisiana sugarcane processor and 
producer losses are estimated to be far greater than the amount of 
assistance the 2003 Act provided. Compensation will then be paid on a 
portion of losses exceeding this threshold--limited by the amount 
(150,000 tons or 300,000,000 pounds) provided in the 2003 Act.

2003 Hurricane Assistance Program Operation

I. Applicability
    This Notice sets forth terms and conditions under which CCC will 
make payments to eligible Louisiana sugarcane processors for 2002-crop 
weather-related sugarcane losses.

[[Page 47011]]

II. Definitions
    Commercially Recoverable Sugar (CRS) Final Settlement Payment 
Pounds. The total actual pounds of 96 sugar degrees the producer 
delivers to a sugarcane processor during a given crop year.
    Farm. The acreage identified under one FSA Farm Serial Number.
    Farm Operator. The person in general control of the farming 
operations on all ownership tracts of a farm during the program.
    FSA. FSA means the Farm Service Agency.
    Ownership Tract. A subset of the acreage of a farm associated with 
a separate ownership interest.
    Producer. A person (including owners) who receives a payment or 
shares in the payment a sugarcane processor makes for delivery of 
sugarcane.
    Split-Shippers. Farm operators who deliver their harvested cane to 
more than one sugarcane processor during a given crop year.
    Sugarcane Processor. A person or entity who produces raw cane sugar 
by commercially processing sugarcane and has an allocation under the 
sugar marketing allotment program.
III. Applicant Eligibility Requirements
    Applicants must meet all the following requirements to be eligible 
for 2003 Hurricane Assistance Program benefits:
    (1) Be a sugarcane processor located in Louisiana.
    (2) Be eligible to obtain a loan under section 156(a) of the 
Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 
7272(a)).
    (3) Submit the application according to the requirements and 
deadlines the Notice specifies.
IV. Aggregate Amount of Assistance
    Total compensation equals the market value of 150,000 tons or 300 
million pounds of CCC sugar. CCC has determined that this value is 20 
cents per pound (or $60 million in total). CCC will maintain a 7 
percent reserve ($4.2 million) in the event of appeals. The reserve 
will be dispersed once the appeals process is satisfied.
V. 2002-Crop Sugar Loss
    (1) Loss will be measured for each ownership tract by the following 
formula: Loss = [sugar per acre (base year) - sugar per acre (2002 
crop)] x tract acres in 2002.
    (2) The base year for figuring losses will be 1999 unless the 
producer requests a different year (2000 or 2001).
    (A) Producers have until August 18, 2003, to select a different 
base year.
    (B) The same base year will be used for all farms with the same 
operator. If some tracts (cannot be ALL tracts) had no production in 
the base year, the State yield will be used.
    (C) Tracts with production in the base year and no FSA certified 
acres will require the operator to:
    (i) Pick a different base year; or
    (ii) Make this tract ineligible for disaster benefits.
    (D) Tracts with FSA certified acreage and no production in the base 
year will require the operator to:
    (i) Pick a different base year; or
    (ii) Make this tract ineligible for disaster benefits.
    (E) Tracts not harvested for sugar or seed will be assigned a zero 
yield in the base year.
    (3) Sugar per acre for each ownership tract is calculated as:
    (A) The CRS Final Settlement Payment Pounds from sugarcane 
processor records for the applicable year divided by
    (B) The ownership tract's total cane acres (minus Payment-in-Kind 
acres) identified in the FSA Certified Acreage Report for the same 
year.
    (4) The 1999 average state yield will be applied to any operator 
with no production history in 1999, 2000 or 2001 and produces sugarcane 
in the 2002 crop year.
    (5) In the case of split-shippers, total FSA certified acres will 
be prorated to each mill based on pounds of sugar each mill produced. 
For mills that did not identify sugar produced by ownership tract at 
time of delivery, the total production will be prorated to each tract 
based on total FSA certified acres.
    (6) Farm operators have until September 2, 2003, to certify 
ownership tract sugar losses on their farms.
    (7) Applicants must submit a CCC-prescribed form certifying the 
sugarcane processor's loss calculation to CCC, no earlier than 
September 4, 2003, and no later than September 22, 2003.
    (A) No late-filed applications will be accepted.
    (B) All eligible farm operators must certify the loss calculations 
included in the application.
VI. 2002-Crop Eligible Tract Sugar Losses
    (1) Ownership tract sugar losses are eligible if the tract's 2002-
crop sugar percentage loss is equal to or greater than 20 percent.
    (2) The 2002-crop sugar percentage loss for an FSA ownership tract 
is defined as: [1 - (sugar per acre (2002 crop) / sugar per acre (base 
year))] x 100.
    The eligible tract sugar losses are defined as follows: 80% of the 
2002-crop sugar losses greater than or equal to 40%, plus 60% of the 
2002-crop sugar losses greater than or equal to 30% and less than 40%, 
plus 40% of the 2002-crop sugar losses greater than or equal to 20% and 
less than 30%.
    (4) If the computed total of all 2002-crop eligible tract sugar 
losses across all eligible sugarcane processors is less than, or 
exceeds, 300 million pounds, a factor will be applied to make this 
total exactly 300 million pounds.
VII. Payment Calculation
    An applicant's payment will equal the total eligible tract sugar 
losses for its producers multiplied by 20 cents per pound.
VIII. Payments to Affected Producers
    Applicants must share their hurricane assistance payments with 
affected producers according to the percentage shares for dividing net 
revenue as stated in their 2002 farm processor/producer contracts. 
Payments to producers must be made within 30 days of the date initial 
payments were made to eligible processors.
IX. Contract Liability
    All sugarcane processors and associated operators receiving a share 
of the total hurricane assistance payment are jointly and severally 
liable for program violations and resulting repayments, if applicable.
X. Misrepresentation, scheme, or device
    A person shall be ineligible to receive assistance under this 
Notice and be subject to such other remedies as law may allow, if the 
FSA State or county committee, or any other FSA official, determines 
that such person has:
    (1) Adopted a scheme or other device that tends to defeat the 
purpose of the program operated under this Notice,
    (2) Made any fraudulent representation regarding this program, or
    (3) Misrepresented any fact affecting a program determination.
XI. Creditor liens and claims; and CCC offsets and withholdings
    (1) Any benefit or portion thereof due any person under this 
program shall be allowed without regard to questions of title under 
State law and without regard to any claim or lien in favor of any 
person, except agencies of the U.S. Government.
    (2) CCC may offset or withhold any amount due CCC in accordance 
with the provisions of the regulations at 7 CFR part 1403 or successor 
regulations as designated by the Department.

[[Page 47012]]

XII. Administration
    When circumstances beyond the applicant's control preclude 
compliance, the county committee may request the Louisiana FSA State 
Executive Director to grant relief. In such cases, except for statutory 
requirements, the Louisiana FSA State Executive Director may, in order 
to more equitably accomplish this Notice's goals, waive or modify 
deadlines if the failure to meet such deadlines does not adversely 
affect program operation. All program payments will be subject to 
review.
XIII. Appeals
    Regulations at 7 CFR part 11 apply to this Notice. CCC is not 
involved in resolving disputes between processors and producers.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on August 1, 2003.
James R. Little,
Executive Vice President, Commodity Credit Corporation.
[FR Doc. 03-20080 Filed 8-1-03; 4:24 pm]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P