[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 204 (Thursday, October 22, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 63909-63910]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-26952]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 1220

[Doc. No. AMS-LPS-15-0016]


Soybean Promotion and Research: Amend the Order To Adjust 
Representation on the United Soybean Board

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This final rule adjusts the number of members on the United 
Soybean Board (Board) to reflect changes in production levels that have 
occurred since the Board was last reapportioned in 2012. As required by 
the Soybean Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act (Act), 
membership on the Board is reviewed every 3 years and adjustments are 
made accordingly. This change will result in an increase in Board 
membership for three States, resulting in an increase in the total 
number of Board members from 70 to 73. These changes will be reflected 
in the Soybean Promotion and Research Order (Order) and will be 
effective for the 2016 appointment process.

DATES: Effective Date: October 23, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Brow; Research and Promotion 
Division, Livestock, Poultry, and Seed Program, Agricultural Marketing 
Service (AMS), USDA, Room 2096-S, STOP 0249, 1400 Independence Avenue 
SW., Washington, DC 20250-0249, telephone 202-720-0633, fax 202-720-
1125, or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Order 12866

    The Office of Management and Budget has waived the review process 
required by Executive Order 12866 for this action.

Executive Order 12988

    This final rule was reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil 
Justice Reform. It is not intended to have a retroactive effect. This 
action would not preempt any State or local laws, regulations, or 
policies unless they present an irreconcilable conflict with this rule.
    The 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 Order may file a petition with the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (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 request 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.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    AMS has determined that this rule will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, as defined 
by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601-612), because it 
only adjusts representation on the Board to reflect changes in 
production levels that have occurred since the Board was last 
reapportioned in 2012. 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. As such, 
these changes will not impose a significant impact on persons subject 
to the program.
    There are an estimated 569,998 soybean producers and an estimated 
10,000 first purchasers who collect the assessment, most of whom would 
be considered 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.

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 and Proposed Changes

    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 percent of 
the net market price of soybeans sold by producers. Pursuant to the 
Act, an Order was made effective July 9, 1991. The Order established an 
initial Board with 60 members. For purposes of establishing the Board, 
the United States was divided into 31 States and geographical units. 
Representation on the Board from each unit was determined by the level 
of production in each unit. The initial Board was appointed on July 11, 
1991. The Board is comprised of soybean producers.
    Section 1220.201(c) of the Order provides that at the end of each 
3-year period, the Board shall review soybean production levels in the 
geographic units throughout the United States. The Board may recommend 
to the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) modification in the levels 
of production necessary for Board membership for each unit.
    Section 1220.201(d) of the Order provides that at the end of each 
3-year

[[Page 63910]]

period, the Secretary must review the volume of production of each unit 
and adjust the boundaries of any unit and the number of Board members 
from each such unit as necessary to conform with the criteria set forth 
in Sec.  1220.201(e): (1) To the extent practicable, States with annual 
average soybean production of less than 3,000,000 bushels shall be 
grouped into geographically contiguous units, each of which has a 
combined production level equal to or greater than 3,000,000 bushels, 
and each such group shall be entitled to at least one member on the 
Board; (2) units with at least 3,000,000 bushels, but fewer than 
15,000,000 bushels shall be entitled to one board member; (3) units 
with 15,000,000 bushels or more but fewer than 70,000,000 bushels shall 
be entitled to two Board members; (4) units with 70,000,000 bushels or 
more but fewer than 200,000,000 bushels shall be entitled to three 
Board members; and (5) units with 200,000,000 bushels or more shall be 
entitled to four Board members.
    The Board was last reapportioned in 2012. The total Board 
membership increased from 69 to 70 members, with Mississippi gaining 
one additional member. The final rule was published in the Federal 
Register (74 FR 27467) on January 2, 2013. This change was effective 
with the 2013 appointments.
    Currently, the Board has 70 members representing 31 geographical 
units. This membership is based on average production levels for the 
years 2007-2011 (excluding crops in years that production was the 
highest and production was the lowest) as reported by USDA's National 
Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
    This final rule increases total membership on the Board from 70 to 
73. Production data for the years 2010-2014 (excluding the crops in 
years in which production was the highest and in which production was 
the lowest) was gathered from NASS. This change will not affect the 
number of geographical units. The NASS information combines the 
production from the Western and Eastern Regions into one production 
data without distinguishing between the two regions. The NASS data does 
not support a change in membership for either region. As such, this 
final rule will leave the membership of both regions unchanged with one 
member each.
    This final rule adjusts representation on the Board as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Current             New
                State                  representation    representation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Missouri............................                 3                 4
New Jersey..........................                 0                 1
Wisconsin...........................                 2                 3
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    Board adjustments will become effective with the 2016 appointment 
process.

Comments

    A proposed rule was published in the Federal Register (80 FR 34325) 
on June 16, 2015, with a 60-day comment period. USDA received no 
comments.
    During the drafting of this final rule, AMS found a typographical 
error in the table titled ``Sec.  1220.201 Membership of board'' as 
presented in the proposed rule. The table showed the State of Georgia 
with two representatives on the Board. Based on production, Georgia is 
currently entitled to one member. As a result, AMS has corrected the 
table in this final rule to reflect Georgia with one member rather than 
two. This correction does not impact the makeup of the Board or this 
reapportionment.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1220

    Administrative practice and procedure, Advertising, Agricultural 
research, Marketing agreements, Soybeans and soybean products, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, Title 7, part 1220 is 
amended as follows:

PART 1220--SOYBEAN PROMOTION, RESEARCH, AND CONSUMER INFORMATION

0
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 1220 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority:  7 U.S.C. 6301-6311 and 7 U.S.C. 7401.


0
2. In Sec.  1220.201, the table immediately following paragraph (a) is 
revised to read as follows:


Sec.  1220.201  Membership of Board.

* * * * *

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Number of
                             Unit                               members
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Illinois.....................................................          4
Iowa.........................................................          4
Minnesota....................................................          4
Indiana......................................................          4
Nebraska.....................................................          4
Ohio.........................................................          4
Missouri.....................................................          4
Arkansas.....................................................          3
South Dakota.................................................          3
Kansas.......................................................          3
Michigan.....................................................          3
North Dakota.................................................          3
Mississippi..................................................          3
Wisconsin....................................................          3
Louisiana....................................................          2
Tennessee....................................................          2
North Carolina...............................................          2
Kentucky.....................................................          2
Pennsylvania.................................................          2
Virginia.....................................................          2
Maryland.....................................................          2
Georgia......................................................          1
South Carolina...............................................          1
Alabama......................................................          1
Delaware.....................................................          1
Texas........................................................          1
Oklahoma.....................................................          1
New York.....................................................          1
New Jersey...................................................          1
Eastern Region (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Florida, Rhode             1
 Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, West Virginia,
 District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.......................
Western Region (Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico,                1
 Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Nevada,
 California, Hawaii, and Alaska).............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

* * * * *

    Dated: October 19, 2015
Rex A. Barnes,
Associate Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2015-26952 Filed 10-21-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P