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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 213 / Monday, November 8, 2021 / Rules and Regulations requirements contained in the Order and accompanying Rules and Regulations have previously been approved by OMB and were assigned OMB control number 05810093.

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Background The Board was initially appointed on July 11, 1991, pursuant to the provisions of the Act 7 U.S.C. 63016311, and the Order 7 CFR part 1220 issued thereunder. The Order established an initial Board with 60 members, composed of soybean producers. 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.
Reapportionment Section 1220.201c 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.
Section 1220.130 of the Order defines a unit as each State, or group of States, which is represented on the Board. The Board may recommend to the Secretary modification in the levels of production necessary for Board membership for each unit.
Section 1220.201d of the Order provides that at the end of each 3-year 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 1220.201e: 1 To the extent practicable, States with annual average soybean production of less than 3
million bushels shall be grouped into geographically contiguous units, each of which has a combined production level equal to or greater than 3 million bushels, and each such group shall be entitled to at least one member on the Board; 2 units with at least 3 million bushels, but fewer than 15 million bushels shall be entitled to one board member; 3 units with 15 million bushels or more but fewer than 70
million bushels shall be entitled to two Board members; 4 units with 70
million bushels or more but fewer than 200 million bushels shall be entitled to three Board members; and 5 units with 200 million bushels or more shall be entitled to four Board members.
The Board was last reapportioned in 2018. The total Board membership increased from 73 to 78 members, with Alabama, Kentucky, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Tennessee each gaining one additional member. The
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final rule was published in the Federal Register 83 FR 53365 on October 23, 2018. This change was effective with the 2019 appointments.
This final rule decreases total membership on the Board from 78 to 77, without affecting the overall number of states and regions. Thus, this change will not affect the number of geographical units.
This final rule adjusts representation on the Board as follows:
State
Current representation
Final representation
Alabama

2

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Board adjustments by this rulemaking will take effect with the Secretarys 2022
appointment process.
This final rule also corrects the number of States and units to the Order.
During a previous reapportionment, the final rule did not account for the change in the number of States and units, as New Jersey production levels met the threshold to separate from the Eastern Region. Due to that oversight, AMS is making the correction. Technical corrections to the regulations adjust the number of States and units from 30 to 31.
Summary of Comments A proposed rule was published in the Federal Register 86 FR 19788 on April 15, 2021, with a 60-day comment period. USDA received 10 comments.
The comments communicated displeasure for Alabamas decreased number from two seats to one seat. The commenters contend that due to Alabamas lower production levels, compared to the Midwest, the producers do not have as much of a voice for their state and region. Given the Southeasts different climate, soil, and production factors, the commenters feel a second seat would give them stronger representation to help with issues that are specific to Alabama and the Southeast. Leaving the Alabama seat at two would not be consistent with the Act and Order, which requires that at the end of each 3-year period, the Secretary 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 formula to determine the number of directors for each unit set forth in 1220.201e. This was done by calculating production data for years 20152019 excluding the crops in years in which production was the highest and in which production was the lowest in each State as reported by the USDA

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NASS, resulting in a 3-year average for Alabama that fell below the required amount of bushels to retain two seats under the Order 1220.201e2.
Accordingly, no change is made as a result of these comments.
Regulatory Flexibility Act Pursuant to the requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility Act RFA
5 U.S.C. 601612, AMS considered the economic effect of this action on small entities and determined that this final rule would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The purpose of RFA is to fit regulatory actions to the scale of businesses subject to such actions in order that small businesses will not be unduly burdened.
Effective November 20, 2019, the Small Business Administration SBA
13 CFR 121.201 published an interim final rule 84 FR 64013 that adjusts the monetary-based size standards for inflation. As a result of this rule, the size classification for soybean producers changed from sales of $750,000 or less to sales of $1,000,000 or less. There are an estimated 515,008 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 SBA.
According to USDAs NASS 2017
Census of Agriculture, the number of operations in the United States with soybean production totaled 303,191.1
The most recent 2017 Census of Agriculture data show that roughly 2
percent of producers with soybean production, or 35,852 operations, have annual receipts of $1,000,000 or more.2
The final rule imposes no new burden on the industry, as it only adjusts representation on the Board to reflect changes in soybean production. This adjustment is required by the Order and results in a decrease in Board membership from 78 to 77. AMS is committed to complying with EGovernment Act of 2002 to promote the use of the internet and other information technologies to provide increased opportunities for citizen access to government information and services, and for other purposes.
USDA has not identified any relevant Federal rules that duplicate, overlap, or conflict with this rule.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1220
Administrative practice and procedure, Advertising, Agricultural 1 https www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/
index.php.
2 https quickstats.nass.usda.gov/results/
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