Voglio sapere a riguardo di…

72150

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 242 / Tuesday, December 21, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with RULES1

fill the at-large seats will take place during the next nomination cycle.
Accordingly, this rule will amend 1216.15 and 1216.21 to define the state of New Mexico as a minor peanutproducing state. This rule will require primary peanut-producing states to maintain a 3-year average production of at least 20,000 tons of peanuts. This rule will also revise 1216.40a to specify that the Board will be comprised of no more than 12 peanut producer members and their alternates rather than 13, and revise 1216.40a1 to reflect the new number of primary peanut-producing states, by revising 12 to 11.
Final Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis In accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act RFA 5 U.S.C. 601
612, AMS is required to examine the impact of the final rule on small entities. Accordingly, AMS has considered the economic impact of this action on small entities.
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. The Small Business Administration SBA defines, in 13 CFR part 121, small agricultural producers as those having annual receipts of no more than $1 million and small agricultural service firms handlers as those having annual receipts of no more than $30 million.
According to the Board, there were approximately 7,200 producers and 34
handlers of peanuts who were subject to the program in 2019.
Most producers would be classified as small agricultural production businesses under the criteria established by the SBA no more than $1 million in annual peanut sales. USDAs National Agricultural Statistics Service NASS
reported that crop values of peanuts produced in the top 11 peanutproducing states for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019 were $1.63 billion, $1.17
billion, and $1.13 billion, respectively.
The 3-year crop average was $1.31
billion. With a 2019 crop value of $1.13
billion and a total of 7,200 producers, average peanut sales per producer were approximately $157,000. With a 2017
2018 average crop value of $1.31 billion, average sales per producer were approximately $182,000. Both figures are well below the $1 million threshold for a small producer, providing strong evidence that most peanut producers are small businesses.
With 34 handlers, the average annual peanut crop value per handler from 2017 to 2019 ranged from $33 million to $48 million, with a 3-year average of
VerDate Sep<11>2014

17:14 Dec 20, 2021

Jkt 256001

$39 million. With average sales figures moderately higher than the small business threshold size of $30 million, it appears that several handlers are small businesses and there are also a number that are large businessesno definitive statement can be made.
According to NASS, the number of pounds of U.S. peanut production from 11-primary peanut-producing states for 2017, 2018, and 2019 were 7.12 billion, 5.50 billion and 5.47 billion, respectively. The 3-year average production was 6.03 billion pounds.
Computations based on NASS data show that Georgia was the largest producer, with 50.9 percent of the 3year average quantity, followed by Alabama 9.9 percent, Florida 9.9
percent, Texas 9.1 percent, North Carolina 7.2 percent, South Carolina 5.4 percent, Arkansas 2.4 percent, Mississippi 1.9 percent, Virginia 1.8
percent, Oklahoma 1.0 percent, and New Mexico under one percent.
This action will amend 1216.15, 1216.21, and 1216.40 to redefine the state of New Mexico from a primary peanut-producing state to a minor peanut-producing state. The Order is administered by the Board with oversight by USDA. Under the Order, primary peanut-producing states must maintain a 3-year average production of at least 10,000 tons of peanuts. This action will increase the production threshold to 20,000 tons of peanuts.
This action will expand the number of minor peanut-producing states to ensure that the Board obtains an adequate pool of qualified producers to serve on the Board to represent minor peanutproducing states. This action is authorized under 1216.87 of the Order.
Regarding the economic impact of this final rule on affected entities, this action will impose no costs on producers or handlers. Changes will define the state of New Mexico as a minor peanutproducing state based on the proposed increase to the threshold to 20,000 tons of peanuts.
Regarding alternatives, the Board has been concerned about obtaining the required two nominees for each open seat to be submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture for primary peanutproducing states and minor peanutproducing states. For years, the Boards staff has actively recruited candidates to be considered for nomination from multiple primary peanut-producing states and minor peanut-producing states, sometimes with little success.
The Board considered increasing the threshold for primary peanut-producing states from 10,000 to 30,000 per ton for a 3-year production average. After discussion, the Board voted to double
PO 00000

Frm 00006

Fmt 4700

Sfmt 4700

the threshold and require the primary peanut-producing states to maintain a 3year production average of at least 20,000 tons of peanuts.
In accordance with OMB regulation 5
CFR part 1320, which implements information collection requirements imposed by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., there are no new requirements contained in this rule. In fact, a decrease of 0.30 hours in the information collection burden for the peanut program is expected. Information collection requirements have been previously approved by OMB under OMB control number 05810093 and 05050001.
As with all Federal promotion programs, reports and forms are periodically reviewed to reduce information requirements and duplication by industry and public sector agencies. USDA has not identified any relevant Federal rules that duplicate, overlap, or conflict with this rule.
AMS is committed to complying with the E-Government Act, 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.
Regarding outreach efforts, the Board invited Executive Directors of certified peanut producer organizations who represent the primary peanut-producing states Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, Virginia, Oklahoma, and New Mexico to attend its annual meeting on February 3, 2021. Most of the Executive Directors for certified peanut producer organizations attended this meeting. All the Boards meetings are open to the public and interested persons are invited to participate and express their views. The Board announced that it voted to increase the threshold level from 10,000 to 20,000 per ton on a 3year average production for a state to become a primary peanut-producing state. No concerns were raised.
A 30-day comment period was provided to allow interested persons to respond to the proposal which was published in the Federal Register on August 27, 2021 86 FR 48046. Copies of the rule were made available through the internet by the Department and the Office of the Federal Register. The comment period ended September 27, 2021.
Analysis of Comments Three comments were received in response to the proposed rule. Two
E:FRFM21DER1.SGM

21DER1